Camp Thanksgiving!

 

Why would Kathryn Taylor be dressed up like a pilgrim?  Why would Stephanie Smalling dress up as a Native American?  Why because of the Camp Balcones Springs Thanksgiving Dinner.  Actually, they came from a YoungLife function, but that is beside the point. 

Thanksgiving always brings to mind the idea that we all have so much to be thankful for.  I personally am thankful for good health, great family and friends, and that I get to work at such an amazing place.  One of the things we all share in common and can be thankful for is how much of a wonderful impact camp has been in our lives.  On Tuesday, November 15, camp and several University of Texas students got together to have dinner, reconnect and enjoy each other’s company.  It truly was a group effort bringing this wonderful event together.  We had our gracious hosts (Christine Baskin and Mac Baskin), our head chefs (Martin Ramirez and Teddy James), and the sous chefs (Adrienne, Kelli, Joe and Todd) all come together to put on this tasty dinner.  The dinner included your more traditional Thanksgiving fare, Turkey, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy as well as some not so traditional (Teddy made a watermelon and tomato salad of some sort….hahaha). 

We all know that what truly makes camp the great experience it is, goes beyond the beautiful surroundings, fun activities, pranks, and Todd Darby (j/k people)!  It truly is one of the greatest experiences b/c of the people who come into our lives.  I know all of my fondest memories of camp have all been associated with my various camp buddies.  That night as we were all enjoying good food and great conversation, will be added to my favorite memories of camp.

It made me wonder about all of you out there that we didn’t have the pleasure of seeing that night.  What are the things that you are most thankful for?  Do you guys have any Thanksgiving traditions?  And one of the most crucial questions of all….Will you be returning for Summer 2012 to add to your camp memories?

#CampLove - Todd

To keep the #CampLove coming your way, Follow us on Twitter, and Like us on Facebook

Hiney Writes and Counselor Reapplications

This was a great weekend for camp. We had so many fun things all rolled up into a short period of time, we almost forgot this is our job!

Congratulations to Lauren Rocco, one of our former campers, who got married here this weekend. It was a blast for the four old campers who came back out to camp for the weekend wedding. Check out a picture of the Gridiron during her reception. Beautiful hill country wedding today! on Twitpic, Courtesy of Caroline Fontenot

Sunday we had a camper reunion party at Mangia's Pizza in Austin, and it was so fun to see Marrietta, Drew Korba, David Williams, Jackson & Carter, Cory Kittleman, Mary Russell Keane, and a handful of others that made for an awesome afternoon.

Then today the quarterly Hiney Write went out to all of the counselors from this last summer, along with the Re-App for Summer 2012. Download both and remember all of the great memories and #camplove from this summer and find out what has been going on this fall.

And we are in the process of updating our website with some phun new projects and changes for next summer. Stay on the look out!

Adrienne and Martin will be in Dallas this weekend, so catch up with them while they are in town! Email them at agrissom@campbalconessprings.com and mramirez@campbalconessprings.com to meet up with them.

Miss you all lots, and can't wait to see you soon!

Happy Halloween! The Best of CBS Costumes

@meagan_talley: What type of shoes do ghost from Texas wear? BOOts! #muahahaMonday #HappyHalloween @rgleitman thanks @nance871

I have loved getting to read all of these bad jokes before Tuesday! It just makes Halloween that much better. 

Enjoy a slideshow of some of the best costumes we've seen in the last 5 years or so...some are a blast from the past! Thanks to all of you who posted these on facebook for our viewing pleasure!

Be safe Trick-Or-Treating tonight, and be on the lookout for new costume ideas for next year's theme nights!

For more camp news and updates, Follow us on Twitter and "Like" us on Facebook 

#CampLove

Sometimes I get writer’s block. I sat in front of the computer last week and artfully spent a couple hours to write the title and first sentence of several blog posts-to-be (keep checking back though, since I still want to write about them!). But, as I was stumbling around the @BalconesSprings Twitter this morning, there were several—significantly more than normal—tweets and conversations between camp folks sharing memories of Camp, joking around, and just saying how much they miss and love each other:

From @Jillyanne: @beccabeccag @ladykrell @Annabellegwine can we just time travel back? #Chickeninabiscuit

From @sydneymaeh: @annabellegwine Oh heavens you are precious! A week ago, I mayyy have been telling people it was Meow Monday…love you!

From @Jocelynamg: RT @annalynncarroll She knows in her quiet center where God dwells that he finds her beautiful, has deemed her worthy, and in him, she is enough.- Stasi Elridge. Love that and love you!!

And those are just a handful from this morning!

But it was Robyn Hammond’s tweet this morning that inspired me out of writer’s block. It was encouraging Aggies on campus today to come check out being a camp counselor at CBS while Todd, Martin, and Adrienne were set up at Koldus, but she ended it with the Hashtag that summed up my feelings from this morning:

#CampLove

I’ve tried to resist using twitter-speak to describe real life, but it just fits so perfectly. #CampLove is different from #NormalLove because it encompasses so much more. It conjures up feelings of sitting on the B-Compound (or D-Compound) porch, talking and laughing with your best friends. It reminds you of how you feel on the first day when your crazy counselor, who you didn’t even know then, tackles you when you get off of the bus with a huge smile and welcomes you to camp. It prompts your memory of when you split a whole flowerpot of “dirt” with one other person at Women’s dinner. That is #CampLove!

It may be October, it's finally raining here at camp(!), and school has started for many of you, but take a study break this week to look at pictures from camp, or call a CBS friend, or go on the Camp BalconesSprings facebook, or yell a “Five Bullets” everytime the Rangers score a Home Run—but be sure to tell someone that you #CampLove them!

As part of CBS’s fall recruiting and traveling schedule, Adrienne, Todd, and Martin have been visiting campers in Houston and counselors at Texas A&M the past few days with plans to see more of you all in the coming weeks! Checkout our website for more updates on when we will be near you!

Video of Todd as a Child!

Alright folks, cheers to the weekend! If you find yourself with a few minutes of downtime between sleeping in and not doing homework, take a peek at what Todd looked like eating baby food when he as a child:
 (You might have to rotate your head to the side to see it better!)

Oh wait...that was at the Baby Shower for Karime in the kitchen earlier this week!

Have a great weekend!

Be sure to check us out on Facebook and to follow us on Twitter for more CAMP updates!

CBS @ ACL

Overheard from CBS-ers this weekend...

@kminz Kristin Minzenmayer

#ACL success. @LindsayAldrich2 @ajgrissom @TeddyHJames @ellenminz

@schatzlemnatzle Emily Schatzle

Since I was 14, I've dreamt of seeing @coldplay in concert. Tonight, 8 years later, that dream came true at #ACL. Such an amazing show!!!

@ellspears Ellie Spears

ACL 2011!!!!! #tenyears

The 10^th Austin City Limits Music Festival was the place to see your new favorite bands…and your old camp friends?!

Zilker Park became an impromptu Camp Balcones Springs reunion for so many of us who were lucky enough to have tickets to the weekend music festival. Despite the record-breaking crowds that flooded the park this year, Katy Harvey and Jaime Buchsbaum managed to tackle me within minutes of my entering the gates! Everywhere we went, we saw more camp people: Mac Baskin, Alex Timmerman, Catherine Walters, Ellie Spears, Gigi Simmons, Jessy Davis, Owen Miller, Phil Jackson, and tons of others who had all seen more CBS-ers we hadn’t seen yet!

Although the bands were incredible this year (especially Young The Giant, my new fav!) the best part about this weekend was getting to see so many of our out of town camp folks many of whom flew or drove in just to see their camp friends. We got to meet up with a huge group of Baylor and A&M counselors including Wes Jones, Becca Guindi, and Megan Talley who just came to Austin to hang out with camp people…how cool is that?!

So, next year in late September/early October, make plans now to hang out with us for the 11^th year of ACL and mini-camp reunion—hopefully we wont have to make any decisions between Kanye and Coldplay again!

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and to Like us on Facebook for more updates from CBS!

And Check out the CBS website, www.CampIsCool.com

And here is a cool slideshow of pictures we borrowed from your Facebooks!

Closing Time

Despite the fact we still have people coming through our gates for Retreat Season, it still seems quiet around here. The blob isn’t quite as busy, the Rio is a little calmer, and there are fewer people at our evening dance parties. In short, WE MISS YOU!

There is nothing like summer camp, and especially nothing like CBS. Where else can you stand up on your table at dinner and yell “Five Bullets Baby!” or wear head-to-toe purple clothing and no one thinks twice about it? How about you try yelling “pick it up!” in the cafeteria at school and see how people respond…actually, probably don’t try that. Where is it acceptable to pie someone in the face? Where can you see your best friends year after year after year? That’s what I thought, nowhere else but CBS!

Even though camp is over, it does not mean the phun times are forgotten or the friendships are on hold until next summer. Your camp friends are just a text message, phone call, facebook chat, or tweet away! Make the effort to keep up with each other, meet up and chat over a corn dog and a cold glass of Squincher, and create more phun for yourselves. Throw up a casual "Tatonka" when y'all are together and get a pick-up game of O-Ball going!

Campers: We couldn’t do camp without you—literally! Your passion to continue coming back, dancing wildly, and playing hard for your teams makes this place what it is. Never lose touch with the friends you made here, they are going to be your friends  for years to come!

Counselors: Thank you for making this one of the best summers of Camp yet! Your commitment to bettering the lives of our campers is admirable and unmatched in camping. You poured out love on these kids when you were fresh 1^st term and when you were exhausted 4^th term, and you still continue to do it by keeping in touch with them. You make camp great. 

Be sure to Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter to find out when we’ll be stopping by near you!

Look for news and tell your friends to check us out on our website at CampIsCool.com

This is never goodbye, this is only See You Next Summer!

Thank You Allison Rushing for letting us use your pictures!