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July 3 - First Trip to Camp Brosius

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Sunday, July 3  This was our first weeklong extended family trip - us, kids and grandkids.   Maggie had done all of the legwork to find a week when everyone was available (getting harder and harder to do) and reserve cabins for us.  We had originally planned to go in 2020, but COVID got in the way (the camp was closed for the two summers).  But they were back in business this year.   The parents (Maggie, Will, Timra and Ian) were really looking forward to the camp activities where they kept the kids busy all day, so the adults could do what they whatever they desired.  That, along  with provided meals, made a pretty ideal vacation for parents with kids - much less work.... Camp Brosius is on Elkhart Lake in east central Wisconsin.  It is not too bad of a drive up - about 6 hours, but you have to decide how close to Chicago you want to go.  Luckily, the camp opened on Sunday, so driving through Chicago on Sunday morning was not too bad.  There was still a lot of construction (especially
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July 4 - Camp Brosius

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 Monday The kids had activities in the afternoon, so, after breakfast Susie and I planned to do the adult activity - a hike to the town of Elkhart Lake.  The book said it left at 9, but the bulletin board said 9:30, so when we got there at 9:30 everyone was gone.  I had heard there was a path around the lake, but it went through people's property (the lake was lined with very nice houses and boat houses) and there were some people who were not happy with people walking through their yards.  So, the trail was kind of hard to follow when it went around some properties, up on the roads.   We tried going what looked like the short way to town, but the road was not fun to walk on, and we didn't make it far. The kids  entertained themselves in the morning.  The playground seemed to be very popular, as were the two swings on the lake.  And turtle catching is always popular... The physical layout of the camp was not what I expected when I was looking at the map.  There are two distinct
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July 5 - Camp Brosius

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 Tuesday The kids had activities in the morning, so Timra and Susie and went for some sailing lessons.  There were a number of watercraft that everyone could use, including sail boats, one fishing boat, a pontoon for lake tours, lots of paddle boards and even a couple of pedal boards (hydrobikes??), a couple of pedalboats, and an assortment kayaks and canoes.  And everything was on the honor system.  The only rule was that you had to have a life vest when out in the lake (outside of the swimming area). After lunch, I was wandering about the lakeside when I saw 3 joggers running through the camp, past the kitchen/Dining room and the picnic tables are next to it.  Next to that is the boat house that has all of the oars, sails and life jackets for all of the boats, paddle boards, and stuff.  Next to that is the swimming area.  There is a path connecting all of them, and the path continues on to a neighbor's yard. The runners disappeared that way.  I then assumed that was the path arou
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July 6 - Camp Brosius

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 Wednesday Kids had activities in the afternoon.  They played mostly in the water... Ian and I signed up for the Euchre tournament and had our first match (we got the good cards) and advanced to the next round.  In the morning, we organized a hike to town.  The path was very pretty, along the lake for a while between people's lake houses and their boat houses.  There were signs supporting the trail in some spots.  But we got to a point, where there was a fence across the trail and we had to hike up to the road.  We lost all of the grandkids at this point, but Maggie, Susie and I continued on into town. The trail continued along the road up above the lake (there were actual trail markers) for maybe a mile, and then dropped back down to the lake for a bit before it went away from the lake as we entered the town.  There are a couple of very large resorts on the lake as well as a golf course, and now, of course, some condominium developments.   But the town itself is pretty small (popu
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July 7 - Camp Brosius

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 Thursday Kids had activities in the morning.   Ian and I had our second Euchre match and won the closest game you can manage.  Our opponents (a doctor from the IU Med Center and an Engineer from Rolls Royce) had the advantage 9 to 8 when they dealt the hand. (They were "in the barn miking the cows(??))  If they won the hand, they won the match.  They ordered Ian up but he had the cards to Euchre them, so we ended up winning 10-9.  On to the final round. Maggie, Will and Ollie drove into town for some ice cream and we drove in to try out the Tiki Bar.  (It was OK, but didn't remind me of the Caribbean or anything). The big event for tonight was the talent show.  Needless to say the talent was quite variable (mostly kids - some as young as 4).  To our surprise, Cedric got up and told some bad jokes (or Dad jokes as they are called now) after reciting some math facts(??).  Desmond and Ollie also wanted to get up there, but they hadn't prepared anything - maybe next time....
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July 8 - Camp Brosius

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 Friday The kids had activities in the morning and then the Water Carnival in the afternoon.  They went to the water carnival and participated a little, but most of it was for the older kids and the counselors. As far as our Euchre tournament went, the other "finalists" had to leave early (sick kid), so I guess we won by default.... Maggie, Will, Ollie and Susie went to "Bookworm Garden" in Sheboygan.  It was very interesting. After that, we had the closing ceremony - Camp Brosius through the ages.  It turns out that the inn and the dining room were built in the 20's as a summer resort, and then the Normal school of Gymnastics bought it as a year round camp for their students (mostly fall and spring) and started using it as a summer camp.  It turned into a Children's Summer Camp in the 50's and then Normal College merged with IUPUI in the 50's and IU took over the administration.  It became a family summer camp in the 70's linked with the IU Alum
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