ParentSpace Blog

The tables are covered in waxed paper and bowls of fresh-made cookie dough sit on the table. Each camper gets a ball of dough which they roll out using a rolling pin. There are different types of dough: chocolate chip, chocolate, and sugar cookie. With cookie cutters, they make different shaped cookies, like hearts and stars. They can decorate the cookies with colored edible glitter, making them sparkly and tasty! Everyone is having fun making cookies and can’t wait to eat them!

Lee began her acrobatic career when she was just six years old, and has been doing acrobatics since. She blew us away with her dances, spins, splits, and jumps. Lee, from China, first taught us some phrases in Chinese. “Hi, how are you?” in Chinese is pronounced “ni hau ma.” “Im fine” is wahaum hau.” Lee showed us the Chinese Red Ribbon dance. She called up a few volunteers and taught it to them and they performed beautifully! Lee did cool tricks on the Chinese yo-yo, spinning it, throwing it up and down, but always catching it on the string smoothly. For her final act, Lee showed us how she rides a bike, and it’s not like most people… She biked without hands and then she rode backwards. She did a handstand on the bike, and rode around the room while standing on the bike! Lee’s amazing acrobatics kept us all “on our toes.”

Simcha stars are taking over. There is much hidden (and open) talent in Camp Simcha Special but it all became apparent during today’s talent show. There are singers, dancers, actors, gymnasts, and more in camp. Singing acts are very popular. Leah sang Waving Flags with the Hebrew lyrics. Two sisters, Esther and Shterna, sang a duet. Frannie, Rebecca, Gabi, Simi, and Sarah sang their favorite song together. Sol and Channah sang and danced the newest CSS song, Spinning Around. Among our dancers were Leah, Chedvah, and Chaya, who did a cool wheelchair dance, and they were eve asked for an encore! Abby and Rachel did gymnastics, as did Rivka Bracha and Zlatie. Shira, Ilana, Nechama, Rebecca, and Henny did an improv skit, like the ones we saw a few nights ago! These are just a few examples of the many talented campers here in camp. Everyone enjoyed being in the spotlight and they all deserved the huge applause they received!

Today’s Cops and Robbers patrol officer announced breaking news that there’s been a jail break in Camp Simcha! Twenty-eight criminals are running wild on campus. The campers’ job is to find as many of them as possible. Every camper got a sheet with the mugshots of these wanted individuals and they had to race around camp looking for them. Each criminal who was uncovered handed the camper a “found” sticker. Campers earned prizes for their great police-work.

The Chumee Checkers had an exciting activity this morning baking pizza with chef Reuven. Reuven gave each camper a ball of dough which they had to roll out. Once it was a flat circle, they were given sauce and cheese which they carefully spread on the dough. There were even other topping like mushrooms and onions if they wanted. Everyone enjoyed making the food they love so much. Rivka Bracha and Leah’s favorite part of pizza-making was getting all full of flour!

Bang, bang, bang is the sound of the hammers from the leather workshop. Inside, campers are making headbands, bracelets, bookmarks, and journals. First, the campers wet the leather with a sponge. Then, they use a mallet to engrave various designs or letters on their pieces of leather. After they paint the leather, they can adorn it with sparkly gems! Abby’s favorite part of the leather workshop is making the headbands and engraving her name. Heads of the leather workshop, the two Shira’s, said that they love working in the leather room even though it’s noisy because they know the girls are having a great time.”

What’s that flying so low over Camp Simcha? It looks like a helicopter, it sounds like a helicopter, it is a helicopter! This morning, campers are being treated to special helicopter rides. They’re able to see the entire Glen Spey from an aerial view. The pilot points out all the landmarks in and around camp; there is a lot of greenery, and they can even see the Delaware River. Campers look great in their new Camp Simcha helicopter t-shirts. Everyone has been waiting anxiously for this activity! Malka Bracha says it was the most fun thing she ever did. Blimie was so excited and she loved every minute of it!

The Bungee Jumpers are a group of girls who jump rope professionally; these girls are anywhere from 3rd grade to 10th grade and some have been jumping rope for 5 years. There are sixteen girls on the team, and six of them joined us for tonight, with two assistants. They started with a basic routine and then went on to really cool things. They did partner tricks like jumping together in the same rope. After came the super-advanced jumps: they jumped with the rope between their legs while they crossed in the back. They jumped with one hand on the rope in the front and one in the back of them. They jumped rope while hopping on a pogo stick without hands. They really jumped rope in any way you can imagine! They showed us jump rope double-dutch, which is jumping through two ropes, and the girls even did some tricks in the double-dutch. The Bungee Jumpers ended with all six girls jumping through the same rope! Everyone was really entertained by the show!

Today we celebrated the wedding of Sora Katenellabogenstein and Schmendrick Cohen! After hours of preparation, we were finally ready. Everyone gathered in the Camp Simcha Grand Vestibule to meet the bride and groom. Then we went to the Social Hall for the wedding ceremony. The parents of the bride and groom walked down the aisle. The Chumee Checker flowergirls also walked down in their pretty gowns, tossing flowers elegantly. Finally, we were waiting for the bride to walk down the aisle to meet her groom. We waited a while, and realized that something was wrong: the bride was missing! Oh no, where was she? Luckily Inspector Specty was around and began investigating the scene! She interrogated all of the wedding guests to find out who was the culprit. Was it the bride’s single best friend? Her mother-in-law? Maybe it was one of the little cousins? After extensive research and detective work, the truth came out. The kidnapper was John Ferrera (aka Malka)! We were able to get back the bride and continue the wedding as normal. Mazal Tov to everyone!

We’re getting ready for the Camp Simcha Mock Wedding which is taking place soon! All the campers were given invitations and were told who they would be at the wedding. There are the family members, friends, photographers, celebrities, a rabbi, and more! The Chumee Checkers are being the flower-girls. The dining room has been transformed into the the dressing room, and there are costumes for everyone. Between dresses and suits, hats and accessories, everyone is going to look great!