Frosty Morning

We've had some frosty days recently, and this is what the camp waterfront looks like with a little ice and a beautiful sunrise. It was 17 degrees the morning of this photo! Polars bears, anyone?

Rainy Day

It's been raining a lot recently. This squirrel is taking cover with its tail ...
And this buck seemed unfazed by the rain, walking through main camp and snacking on the tasty plants.

Sunrise on Crabapple Lake

We were treated to a beautiful sunrise this morning. The outdoor education campers were bringing their luggage down to the lodge, so we stopped to watch the orange glow on the lake. This photo doesn't even match how vibrant the color was, but you get the idea. A good start to the day!

Thanks, Fluke! (Goodbye, old Trading Post!)

During the September 18 United Way Day of Caring, employees from Fluke Corp. "deconstructed" the Trading Post - usually stocked with camp T-shirts and other Camp K goodies. Don't worry, though! It was taken down to make room for a NEW Trading Post next spring. The new building will look much like the original, but be a little more modern.

As always, the Fluke crew did a great job with their projects around camp. This year, they also split wood and restocked wood boxes, washed windows, painted the floating dock, cleared out underbrush in the horse pasture and took apart the Tyee unit. Tyee is being rebuilt as part of the council's Capital Campaign, so the tent platforms were cut into smaller pieces and moved to the 100 Acres to be set up at the overnight sites in the spring. Lots of good changes at camp!

Here's the end of the Trading Post ...

Come visit camp next year to see the new Trading Post and Tyee unit!!

But do his feet reach the pedals?

We may have discovered a new driver for the camp bus, Cecil the Diesel. Cassie's dog, Wyatt, looks ready to work for kibble!

Summer Days Are Happy Days

Summer camp was a blast! There were lots of warm days, and even some really hot days, but through it all we had great adventures.

Session 1 kicked off day camp and also resident camp with Camp Willie, a grief camp program. Now in operation for 10 years, Camp Willie was featured on the front page of the Everett Herald that week. Check out the article here!
Day camp and resident camp ran throughout the season. During their training week, the Day Camp Assistants made this new unit sign, which was hung on the trail to the pavilion.
We enjoyed all kinds of camp activities, including swimming, boating, crafts, archery, cook outs over the fire and camp outs, biking, games and of course songs. We're sure every parent is now familiar with at least a few songs their kids came home singing!
We had one really hot week - remember that? - but stayed cool with lots of swimming, time in the sprinklers, Otter Pops, and some meals eaten out in the meadow to keep the temps down.

Specialty camps included a culinary week - here they are working on a delicious brunch the morning of sleep-in breakfast.

Other specialties included Venture Crew (with an emphasis on outdoor skills and activities), Dance Camp (swing dance), Archery Camp (with daily time at the range) Iron-Teen (physical actvities), Babysitting Basics and Horse Camp. Wadikima, the teen trips unit, went rafting on the Wenatchee and biking in the San Juans.
And of course there were also weekly themes. From Western to Superheroes to Adventures In Flight and many more, they inspired some creative activities and costumes. Even the visiting therapy dogs got in on the costumes! (They're pirates.)We hope that every camper went home with new skills, new confidence and lots of happy memories from their time at camp.

And a big "Thank you!" to the summer 2009 Camp Killoqua staff! They're the ones who make camp so special for our campers, and we wish them well in their new adventures this fall.

See you next summer at camp!

Thank you for a fabulous spring!

Above: The Spring 2009 Outdoor Education Staff model the new Camp K t-shirts.

From left to right: Teezy, Moo, Frog, Bonzai, Ptarmigan, Verde and Grizz.

The summer is quickly sneaking up on us here at camp, and the spring Outdoor Education season ends this Friday. We wanted to take the time to thank our wonderful spring staff for a terrific season! They spent the past 14 weeks this spring working with over 1200 students in the 3rd through 6th grade. Here's to Teezy, Moo, Bonzai, Ptarmigan, Verde and Grizz! Thank you all very much for the thousands of silly songs you sang, the games of camouflage, the many canoe trips across the lake. Thank you for belaying your 100th child up the climbing wall, for finally perfecting king and queen and of course the banana bandanna skit. Thank you for always knowing that there are cool things to be found in the pond, for knowing where to find the best trees, for your love of all things tie-dye, and for never ever showing how tired you were really feeling. This spring has been a lot of fun, we will miss you all!

~Frog, Zebra, Daisy and Drizzle

Signs that summer is almost here

As we say goodbye to a very fun and successful spring season, we look not too far ahead to summer! Here are some ways you can tell that summer camp is coming soon ...

The unit signs are all out!


The hay has arrived, and the horses will be here on June 17th.

The Zoo has transformed back into a library, complete with a turtle and other animals.

The witch's castle has a fresh coat of paint. It looks like Harry Potter is visiting ... maybe he thinks it's Hogwarts?

The fairies have returned to Fairyland, and are again leaving stars ... look closely!

We're definitely looking forward to all the new adventures to come. See you at camp!

Updates around camp

Spring projects have led to some great changes around the site. Capital campaign funds renovated the bathrooms in A-Frame (shown here), CIT, Staff House and Pioneer. More buildings got new roofs, such as CIT. And Boeing volunteers at the spring work party chopped wood, filled firewood boxes (like the new one at Salishan), put up the summer tent units, made a new fire ring for the horse area (concrete ring coming soon!), chipped wood and more. Thanks for taking the time to help - you make a big difference at Killoqua!

Spring Events

Spring was busy and lots of fun. Here are some pics from some spring events ...



The Earth Day celebration had activities going around camp, including decorating seed planters. Participants also visited the star dome, checked out what lives in the pond and explored the forest.


The annual Dad/Youth weekend featured a fishing derby - what a great morning on the lake!







The following weekend, the Mom/Youth event also got participants out on the lake, and included a camp fire, games and songs.

A sanding we will go...

Things at camp are starting to get a little busier, as we have lots of projects going on. For the past few weeks Laurie, Pearl, Cassie and Chuck have been working in the kitchen. They have been sanding off layers of paint from the dishroom cupboards so that they can be stained. This is going to help preserve the cupboards and they will look like new! We will upload a photo when the project is complete.

Laurie is using an electric sander to help speed up the paint removal process!

Pearl has gone for a more old fashioned hand and arm-powered sanding method!

The work so far!

Keep checking back for more updates on the winter project around camp! We have new roofs going on many buildings and lots of bathroom remodels too!

Weekend Visitors

Camp had enthusiastic visitors this weekend, when we were joined by last summer's CIT1s and Horizon Teens In Action. Sure, it was a little cold out, but some of the CITs went up on the high ropes course.

Joanna and Pearl helped out.

We warmed up inside by making sugar cookies. Yum! They were tasty and very colorful after being decorated.

Later that day, we got going on the Teens In Action quilting overnight. TIA is a service group, and participants do all kinds of projects. Once a year, they stay up late making quilts to donate to Project Linus and other causes. This year, they switched it up and made quilted pillowcases for ConkerrCancer, to send to kids fighting cancer. The pillowcases turned out great - and we made 70!

Dava the super-friendly cat also stopped by ... watch out, Cassie - that's Dava's tail you're about to sew!

Here's most of the group the next morning, showing off the quilts and trying to stay awake.

Capital Campaign Updates

The council's capital campaign has passed the $2 million mark and is headed toward a final goal of $2.7 million. The latest improvements at camp are updates to the bathrooms in Pioneer, CIT, A-Frame, Staff House, and a touch-up to the lower lodge boys' room. Here are a couple of shots from CIT underway. Check back for new photos when the interiors are done in the next month or so!

Time to go boating!

Boating is always a popular activity at Camp Killoqua, but there's a new twist on it this week. Due to the recent snow and rain, Crabapple Lake is especially high right now. In fact, it's flowed all the way down the meadow and covered the swim docks, the base of the poplar tree and the "Outpost" cookout site. No firebuilding there for a while! It's especially easy to launch canoes, however, since the water is just a couple of feet from their racks. Luckily, camp buildings are out of reach and the water doesn't harm the meadow. Cassie, Pearl, Joanna and Juneau the puppy took the boats out to explore our expanded lakefront property!