Altria Retreat: A Surprising Taste of Camp

The Retreat side of CBS recently had the pleasure of hosting the Altria Distribution Group's Company Retreat, which, although it may not sound like it, was some of the most fun we've seen since summer camp!

During the first day of their stay, Altria guests had many meetings, speakers, and workshops, but at night, things started to look a lot like Rodeo Round-up! Nighttime activities featured a "Cowboy Dance," complete with a mechanical bull, armadillo races, a longhorn photo-op, line dancing (with guest instructors), and a bonfire at our pond with the traditional s'mores and funnel cakes.

The next day, our guests headed into another round of meetings and workshops, but free time in the afternoon came in the form of enjoying our traditional CBS activities--the zip-line, archery, rock-climbing, the Screamer, hiking, fishing, canoeing, paddle-boating, frisbee-golf, basketball, tennis, volleyball, soccer, and football. That night, a fun, yet more low-key, evening ensued, featuring another firepit and s'mores, a movie under the stars, and the "human" version of games like Jenga, foosball, checkers (coming this summer for camp).

We had a great time with Altria, and we can't wait to have an even greater time all summer! Be sure to visit Camp Balcones Springs today and secure your spot!

PS: We're thinking about adding armadillos to the Rodeo Round-up line-up--any thoughts?

Father/Daughter Retreat 2015

A few weeks ago, the Retreat at Balcones Springs held one of its favorite events of the season -- our annual Father/Daughter Retreat!

Each fall and spring, the Retreat holds Mother/Son and Father/Daughter retreats to give families a chance to bond in the beautiful Texas Hill Country while also getting a taste of what CBS has to offer. With camp just around the corner, it was so fun for us to offer a taste of camp to these guests while we anxiously await summer's arrival!

Visiting dads and daughters arrived Friday night and immediately began the fun with a fishing contest. After dinner, we all enjoyed a traditional camp bonfire (with s'mores of course!) and a viewing of one of the greatest camp movies of all time -- The Parent Trap!

The next morning, daughters enjoyed cartoons and cereal while our visiting dads had their comparable "newspapers and coffee" (though perhaps some of those cartoons as well). After breakfast, the day looked a lot like a typical day at CBS. Dads and daughters climbed the rock wall, took a ride on the Screamer, and played classic camp games like 3Ball and Nuke 'Em (no team affiliations involved, sadly; who do you think would have won? Texas Rangers/Lone Stars or Rough Riders/ Silver Spurs?) before building their own pizza rolls for lunch.

After lunch, Charlotte's Web, the zipline, and the archery ranges were all open for our guests to enjoy. We also had craft-making and cupcake-decorating, horseback riding in the arena, and face-painting.

After dinner was the weekend's highlight--the Glow with the Flow dance! If you were at camp last summer, you should remember this tremendously fun night! Dads and daughters danced the night away at one of the most famous camp dances, complete with light-lasers, disco balls, and of course, lots of glow sticks.

Finally, to close the weekend, after breakfast the next morning, dads and daughters harvested organic vegetables in the camp garden to put into take-home lasagna kits for mom.

If these activities sound like fun to you, or maybe have you thinking about how much fun you had last summer at CBS, make sure you head over to Camp Balcones Springs and sign up for Summer 2015!

Bring this to summer camp...and you might survive! Part 2/?

Number 2: An Electric Razor

     Near the end of every term at Camp Balcones Springs we celebrate the Texas tradition of two-stepping, root beer, and country music at Rodeo Round-Up. What happens when, at the end of a night filled with country dancing, you walk up to that special dance partner and lean in for a...nice conversation, and he/she is repulsed by the fact you have a three-week-long unshaved mustache?!


Is the idea really so shocking?! Not until it happens to you! Hence we here at Camp Balcones Springs highly recommend the use of an electric razor to ensure friendly interactions among all of those around you. In addition to improving your hygienic standards, it can also help you keep cooler in the vicious summer heat by removing that sweaty, unwanted insulation on your upper lip. Stay cool camp friends!

Additionally, if you are lucky enough to be signed up for the brand new Llama Styling major class, you can use your own razor to achieve greater accuracy and finer cuts of llama fur! Not only will your llama be the envy of all of your classmates, but your llama will feel better knowing it has been treated with the utmost care and respect. Please be sure to clean the razor after each llama fur design session and before using it again yourself!

Check back again soon for the next installment of "Bring this to summer camp...and you might survive!"

Check out our website in the mean time at www.campiscool.com
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Bring this to summer camp...and you might survive! Part 1/?

Hey boys and girls, here is the first part of a series describing what you need to survive this summer at Camp Balcones Springs! We'll explore the many uses for various sundries (not "sundresses," you don't need those here!) that you should throw in your trunk to have the best time ever!

Here we go with number 1!

1. Neoprene Wetsuit- perfect for Sunday swimming, The Ted 2,000, and sailing class

     Firstly, lets break this down into its base components, neoprene and wetsuit. "Neo-Prene", is a word formed from the latin "no" and "prune," hence, when you wear it, your skin won't get pruney. An added side-effect is that you likely won't have to spend too much time in the restroom! "We-Tsu-It" is derived from an ancient eastern Chinese phrase that roughly translates to "let us take action on this matter," probably referring to the practice of swimming with dolphins as was common in that area at that time.

     

     When you put the terms together, you can understand why you would need a Neoprene Wetsuit at Camp: "we will swim (with or without dolphins) and not get pruney!"

    

     Now, you ask yourself "Self, why would I need this at camp?" Why on Earth not?! With all of the phun you can have swimming in Lake Ted for hours upon precious hours during phunanza...and then you won't get pruney!? What a deal! You might even get rich if you can convince the river dolphins to swim to the bottom of the lake and pick up all of the watches, sunglasses, and camp rings Lake Ted has swallowed up over the years (yeah, I'm talking about y'all, Anna Drinkwitz and Dodge Carter, I know the stinging pain of loss!)

     Whether for deep-water treasure-hunting, light surface play on our aquatic landscape, or making up for lost time in the restroom, a Neoprene wetsuit is a must for this summer for camp boys and camp girls alike!

Dolphins + Treasure?

Stay tuned for No. 2 survival coming later this week!

Photos Courtesy of amazon.com and fashionmasters.co.cc

The Llamas are Published!

So camp friends, it appears our llamas are using their new laptop to write books under the false alias of "Anna Dewdney!" I was doing some light after-Christmas window shopping and saw this book:

Quite clearly there is a resemblance to the llamas who, it seems, are just trying to lay low, thinking we have no idea what they're up to!

I called the book's publisher, and found out they've been working on a whole series of these llama books...what sneaky little llamas! We'll keep you updated on their publishing career as we try to get some more information out the llamas...they've been unusually quiet lately...