Extension Week!

WOAH!  Extension week was a huge whirlwind for both campers and counselors alike.  In order to fulfill our promise that Extension Week would be CRAZY, we added daily all-camp group games to the mornings.  The week's favorites include a HPR-created classic, "MIGHTY MIGHTY SCOOP NOODLE CHALLENGE" and the annual counselor tug-of-war.

Wednesday was also the official Opposite Day at HPR (...or it was NOT Opposite Day...)!  We did all our afternoon activities in the morning and ended our day with our morning rotations.  It was a great way to spice up the typical camp day and we apologize if any opposite day lingo made its way to your cars and dinner tables!

Friday was our Great Race Day.  Campers were split up into teams of all ages and given a counselor "captain."  The morning was a chaotic blur of groups racing to accomplish tasks around camp in order to get a clue as to where the final winning location was located.  We had very excited 1st place winning teams in both our younger and older age brackets!

If that wasn't enough exhilaration, we played the longest game of Bonkers EVER!  We expanded our boundaries and added a "final death circle" where campers and counselors battled it out for the first official "WINNER OF BONKERS."

As we are now packing up camp, we want to thank you so much for bringing your kids to camp.  They truly touch our lives as much as we hope to touch theirs.  Thank you for your kindness and smiling faces each day during pick-up as we try to steal a bit of your air conditioning through your car windows!  We hope you enjoyed your summer at HPR and we all sincerely hope to see you next summer!

Good luck with the upcoming school year!

FYI: Please stop by camp this week if you are missing any items that may be in our Lost & Found.  We have TONS of sweatshirts and water bottles.  Everything is located under the awning of the pole barn facing the tennis court.  Feel free to drop on by.  All items will be donated to a charity after August 31st.

Week Eight 2013

WOW!  It is hard to believe, but for many of our campers this summer at HPR has come to an end. It is tough to say goodbye to so many wonderful campers, but we know we'll see many of them again next year! We don't have to say goodbye to everyone though because we are so blessed to have many returning next week for our Extension Week! We filled week eight with a ton of big events, which many of you already know about based on our parent turn out! Thursday almost 70 of our campers performed in the annual HPR Play. This year was the Lion King. Everyone worked so hard and it was an amazing success! On Friday, we showed our family and friends how excellent our horse back riding skills were. There were pie races, barrels, even jousting! We are so proud of every camper involved! It isn't easy to get in front of a big crowd and perform, but so many did and we are so happy!

The Middle School had an end of the summer trip to Como Zoo this week. It was a great way to have fun and make the last week of traditional camp really special.

Our LITs had their second overnight of the summer this week. This time we stayed at HPR and because of weather ended up sleeping indoors. Even though we didn't "camp" we had a fantastic time sharing stories from over the years and playing games with friends. Some of our LITs are leaving us this summer after being at HPR for many years and it is hard to say goodbye to those we've watched grow up. Who knows? Maybe they'll come back and be counselors some day!   :)

 

If all this wasn't enough, the entire camp had a great time at our Carnival themed Friday, which included a lot of candy, face paint, balloon animals, and a few bearded ladies!

Our Lost an Found collection is pretty incredible so feel free to stop by sometime during the day and pick up that sweatshirt that has been "missing" for the summer.    ;)

Week Eight went by fast but the summer has gone by even faster. We love spending time with your campers and can't wait to see all the familiar faces next summer. We will miss you all over the year! HPR isn't the same without you! We'll see some of you next week though and we can't wait for all the fun new programing in store!

Week Seven 2013

WOW!  We are definitely not slowing down as the summer is coming to a close.  Week Seven was filled with a ton of exciting programming as we hope you already know from your campers!  At Science, campers learned about many different constellations and a few of the older groups were able to craft and launch their own rockets.  Our Archery and Tennis programs congratulated a group of campers who have worked hard to pass the most levels this summer with off-site trips and ice cream treats.

LITs visited Feed My Starving Children and packed 25,488 meals, which will feed 70 kids for an entire year.  Middle School also went to Good Samaritan this week and spent time creating activities for those who live there.  They also biked to Mahtomedi beach to swim and eat off-site.

We finished off the week with our second traditional overnight at HPR.  Campers pitched their own tents, cooked their own food over the fire, and ate their fair share of marshmallows and s'mores!


In the morning, we all woke up to a Jungle Theme Friday, which included a lot of different counselors in animal and safari gear.  As usual, our morning was full of obstacle courses, scavenger hunts, and a few pieces of candy.  The horse group also travelled to the county fair to see the horse shows and walk around together.



When they returned, it was time for the summer's second HPR Hunger Games!  The games began on Monday and campers competed in week-long challenges to gain points for their districts.  With new rules, the games were as exciting as ever! 



Following the games, we had our annual counselor hide-and-seek, where the campers run around trying to score points by finding as many hiding counselors as possible!

We ended Week Seven on an even higher note with the final results of the Penny Wars!  As a camp, we raised $2,000 for the American Cancer Society.  It may be a camp record!  To reward the campers, the staff drank a blended concoction of ingredients found around camp.  And be sure to check out LIT counselor Joe Zorn, who is sporting a Mohawk as his own personal reward to the campers!



Week Eight is off to a fantastic start and we are hoping to fill up our final few spots for Extension Week!

As always, we are LOVING hanging out with your campers and we cannot believe the summer has flown by so quickly! Take a minute to check out all the fun we've had by looking at our
Facebook page

Week Six 2013

The week was much cooler than most of our summer, but we hardly noticed it with all the fun we had at HPR! We heated things up at Arts & Crafts by making homemade Lava Lamps! It was really fun and very colorful! Traditional camp also had an extra sweet treat this week when we made ice cream in a bag. Tasty!

The Middle Schoolers had their second 2 night overnight of the summer and it was an incredible time! They canoed down the river from Interstate Park all the way to William O'Brien State Park. They worked hard, but played just as hard and made a lot of memories!

Our special Friday theme this week was created and led by our own LITs and they did a fantastic job! The theme was Holiday Day and we had some really creative costumes and activities. We had crazy Christmas Dr. Seuss Who hair, trick or treating, and a search for a leprechaun's pot of gold!

If you haven't heard yet HPR is rehearsing for our annual musical at the end of the summer. This year is The Lion King! The production will take place on August 8th right at 3pm and everyone is invited to attend the show! If your camper is involved in the production, but doesn't normally come on Thursdays they are asked to attend Thursday as a normal camp day for a full day of rehearsal.

If that wasn't enough HPR has started our annual Penny War fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Ask your campers about the rules and find your loose change and bills to donate for a great cause! Any checks should be written out to the American Cancer Society and not HPR.


We're coming closer and closer to the end of a fantastic summer, but there is still plenty of fun in store for our campers! If you want to see more of our fun check out our Facebook Page!

Week Five 2013

As many of you know, Week Five was a HOT one!  In order to stay cool, we had a lot of waterslides, water balloon fights, car washes, and installed our special video camera at the drinking fountain to monitor how many times campers filled up their bottles! ;)

Highlights of Week Five for Traditional Camp included cooking over the fire at Nature Camp Craft, creating reactions at Science, playing hockey for Sports Field and passing a ton of levels at Tennis!  Additionally, our afternoon activities gave kids plenty of great opportunities to spend time with their counselors and fellow campers.  We held a spa day and gave campers blue facials, went on trail rides around the trails at HPR, and exploded pop bottles with Mentos!

The Kindergarten campers experienced plenty of "Wet and Wild" activities of their own as they spent time with the LIT campers "fishing" in the ocean and making rainbow fish out of computer discs and colored foam.

The Middle School campers made Hobo dinners over the fire, canoed on the St. Croix in preparation for their big canoe trip during Week Six, and constructed a "Mission Impossible" obstacle course that they led blindfolded campers through!

The LITs made tie blankets to donate to the Children's Hospital and spent a lot of time working with their younger camper groups during morning rotations and group time.  As always, they enjoy their time spent with the Kindergarten campers and are looking forward to this coming Friday, which they are in charge of planning!

We ended the week with a Lumberjack themed-Friday.  We flipped pancakes, raced to pound nails into stumps, played on wooden skis for team building, and learned how to tie a timber hitch to haul wood!

We also had our own Lumberjack Day Parade! The floats were incredible and the competition was fierce!

As we begin Week Six, we cannot believe we already have to say goodbye to a few two week campers.  We're excited the heat index is a liiiitle better this week and are already gearing up for Bonkers on Friday!

If you like what you see, you should take a look at our Facebook Page!

Week Four 2013

We definitely took advantage of the beautiful weather this past week at HPR and filled our days with as much excitement as possible!  Concluding the week with our Overnight and the Camper Variety Show reminded us of how lucky we are to be able to hang out with such fun, talented, and creative kids.  As we say goodbye to a few campers this week, we are hoping they have enjoyed their time here at HPR and we look forward to seeing them again next summer.

Traditional camp spent Week Four making pizzas at Nature Camp Craft, passing levels at horses, learning drills and playing games of basketball, and making scientific observations in the chicken coop.

Our resident game maker, Matt F, who brought us the Hunger Games, has worked his magic again and created the Colosseum.  This large afternoon game involved canoes, dodge balls, a go-cart, face paint, and plenty of exhausted campers and counselors! 

The Middle School program did something special this past week as campers rotated between our 4 counselors and participated in smaller, more specific activities.  Highlights include 3-D drawing, map-making, learning about New Orleans and Mardi Gras, and yard games.  The boys of the MS program also visited Good Samaritan and created their own programming for this visit.

The LIT campers spent much of their week working with the traditional campers, as they were scattered around camp to lend a hand and learn about the joys and difficulties of being a camp counselor.  Additionally, they built birdhouses with the Kindergarten campers as a part of their buddy program.

The Kindergarteners spent this week learning about animals.  They were decked out in safari vests, made out of paper grocery bags, and safari hats, from a paper bowl and plate, and found monkeys and gorillas all over camp!  They also worked with the LITs and built birdhouses, as mentioned above.

 We finished out our week with an "On Broadway" theme Friday and the Camper Variety Show.  We saw talents like singing, dancing, gymnastics, and musical instruments.

We are excited to greet new faces this week and are looking forward to a stellar Week Five!!

Want more Pictures? Check out our Facebook Page!

Week Three 2013

With only three days this week, we worked hard to pack as much fun and excitement into each day as possible.  By the looks of many campers and counselors alike at the end of the day today, it seems we have succeeded! :)

Campers experienced many Fourth of July-themed activities this week, including creating liquid "fireworks" at Science, writing our own HPR Constitution, and creating our own American flags.  In addition to these holiday activities, many campers were able to ride horses out into the pasture this week (a change of scenery for both the campers AND the horses!), participate in NASCAR races around the mound, and continue the exhilarating hunt for even more fairies around camp! 

The LIT campers, well-rested after last week's overnight, visited Feed My Starving Children on Tuesday and prepared enough meals to feed 75 children one meal a day for a year!  The LITS also spent Wednesday with the Kindergarteners preparing fake snot as a part of their health-themed week.

The Middle School campers visited Good Samaritan on Wednesday and participated in many off-site bike trips to canoeing and nearby parks for sports activities like speedball.  Lucky for the rest of us, they also cooked extra banana coffee cake for many of us to enjoy in the garage!

As mentioned above, the Kindergarteners participated in many health-related activities this week and searched for germs all over camp!  They participated in a scavenger hunt for "good" and "bad" foods, handed out "glitter germs" and then finished off the week getting cleaned off in human bubbles.

We sent off the campers with a camp-wide line dance to Bruce Springsteen's "American Land" on the tennis court and are excited to see what next week has in store!

Have a safe Fourth of July and we'll see you next week!

 Want to see all of the fun? Check out our Facebook page photo albums!

Week Two 2013

Wow! What a week! Week Two was so much fun and may have been our busiest week yet! We had so many exciting things going on I wouldn't be surprised if our campers slept the entire weekend to catch up! Especially our Middle Schoolers and LITs who came back from a two day overnight at William O'Brien State Park. They worked hard, played hard and made a lot of memories. 

The theme of this week in Faith building was Kindness. Campers had the chance to say mean words and hit a cardboard person with paint. We all apologized and wiped some of the paint away and learned that saying sorry is excellent, but using kind words instead of mean ones is always better. 

We also had a Wild West themed Friday full of line dancing, steer roping, cow milking and lots of cowboys and cowgirls! We loved seeing everyone's costumes!

Our Kindergarteners enjoyed a transportation themed week, building cars, going to "car washes" and "drive-in movies", and learning about many different kinds of vehicles. Look at those smiles!

 Our 3rd annual HPR Hunger Games was also on Friday. Campers had the opportunity to volunteer as tributes and compete against more than 100 other campers and counselors for the title of Hunger Games Champion. It was an adventure with lots of drama and excitement! We ran, we hid, we conquered! It was a huge success!

If that wasn't enough, we had a counselor talent show to showcase all the great talent our staff of counselors have. Campers had a fantastic time seeing their role models get up in front of everyone, some were funny, some were amazing, but all were inspiring!

It was a huge week, but if you still want more, check out all of the memories on our Facebook page!