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The Kenn-Ducky Derby!

For the second time this year Kennolyn held the Kenn-Ducky Derby, this time during Session Five's Friday Funday!

The track was all laid out...

...and the ducks were ready to race!

The ducks were open to intense scrutiny, as the campers tried to select the speediest ones.

This duck looks fast!

Choose wisely, the ducks may look the same, but they can't all win.

Once all the ducks had been chosen, they were placed together in a bucket of water...

... and waited patiently for the start of the race.

Ready, Set...

...GO!

The ducks flowed fast down the watery track! It was anyone's race...

...as the waves washed over and some ducks got sidetracked from the competition and took up surfing!

There were a few traffic jams, giving the leaders a big stretch as they moved into the lead!

After a few elimination rounds the field was narrowed, and only the fastest of the fast survived to challenge one another in the final race. And the winner is...

... lucky #178!

And just to show how good a sport #178 is, she posed for a picture with her best friend duck (and duck owners) after the race.

Stop Motion Kennolyn

Kennolyn's Cartooning class includes a discussion about animation along with a couple of relevant drawing activities. In Session five we took the concept a little further and discussed stop-motion animation. Stop-motion animation is a series of still photographs played together to create the illusion of movement.

Objects are moved a little bit between each photograph, and when the photos are played together the objects appear to move on their own. Examples of stop-motion animation include Gumby, Wallace and Gromit, and Nightmare Before Christmas.

The students of Session 5 Cartooning became the "objects" to be animated, and we first had them slide back and forth on their benches, taking a new picture after each small movement:

The students then executed a series of jumps in a large circle, pausing between each jump for a new picture to be taken. Played all together, it looks like they are flying!

During our class, a group of campers were playing with stacking cups. They built a large pyramid, and we asked if they would let us click a picture after each level was taken down. Here's what it looks like when the pictures are played together:

That's all, folks!

Hang Ten!

The totally tubular dudes and dudettes at Kennolyn know how to have a good time, that's why they offer surfing as a KC Select activity.

Cast your peepers on these bodacious beach bombers from Session 4.

  

The waves are really boss at the local beaches...

...and so are Kennolyn's surfer girls...

 

...and surfer boys.

Whoa! That's radical!

Cowabunga!!!!

Catch a wave and you're sittin' on top of the world.

Another round ready for takeoff.

Shred it, Big Kahuna!

Don't wipe out!

Sometimes the dolphins come out to play too. (You can see two of them in the background.)

Excellent surfin', dude.

To learn more about Kennolyn's KC Select activities, click HERE...dude.

Boardwalk!

Yesterday the Santa Cruz Boardwalk was again invaded by the "green monkeys."

 

Trips to the Boardwalk are a Kennolyn tradition and one of the most anticipated activities of each session!

There is so much to do at the Boardwalk. There are plenty of rides...

(...look out girls, that guy in front of you isn't looking so good!)

Some of which are more exciting than others.

There are plenty of games of skill and chance, like the milk bottle toss.

We have a winner!!!

There are plenty of healthy and nutritious snacks available too.

These campers are waiting in line for the Haunted House.

You can almost taste the fear!

So much fun, so little time; but even the most die-hard Boardwalkers need a break now and then!

A Great Day for a Swim

Arguably one of the best loved destinations at Kennolyn is the swimming pool!

Summertime and swimming are an inseparable pair when it comes to growing up!

Kennolyn offers plenty of opportunities to get in the pool.

We offer skin diving, board diving, water polo and many other swimming activities...

...not to mention plenty of free swim opportunities throughout each camp session.

It also helps that the weather is almost always "swimming weather" here at Kennolyn.

It's currently 72 degrees at 3pm in the afternoon, and while the younger campers are away at Outpost the older campers are enjoying Water Carnival in the pool right now.

Who wouldn't want to spend their afternoon in such beautiful blue water!

This camper is practicing his water polo spike...

...while his fellow camper practices his block!

Of course the pool is also a nice place to just float and chat.

On a hot day, it's tough to wait through all your other activities until you can make that first jump into the refreshing water!

But once you are there, the wait and the heat are forgotten and time seems to stand still.

At least that is until the bell rings and it's time to get out!

But that time isn't now! Now is the time for one more dive!!!