It's the sum, sum, summertime. And living is definitely easy in the 21^st century...certainly if you go by 18^th and 19^th century standards. Now, nine- to eleven-year-old history buffs can spend some 21^st century days unplugged and outdoors courtesy of Historic Hudson Valley's Summerweek Day Camp.

This is a terrific program for those young'ns who like the past, who like learnin' and havin' fun, or who just plain like being outside on a nice summer day.

Don't believe me, well then let me turn this blog entry over to our summer camp administrator, Danielle Fontaine. Sure, she may be a touch biased, but I can vouch that her enthusiasm is real. She loves this program! Truly, truly! Stay tuned for more from her later this week...

***As the weather warms and school days draw to an end, I'm getting psyched up for the start of Historic Hudson Valley's Summerweek and Riverweek day camps!

Have you ever been on a school field trip you wished wouldn't end? Ever fantasized about being a kid in the time before America was a country, or what a day with Washington Irving's nieces would be like, or what it's like to apprentice with a blacksmith?

How about traveling back in time this summer? Put down the Wii and jump into history - Summerweek camps are the perfect way to see what it was like to be a kid in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

Prepare to teleport to the year 1750... you arrive in a market port on the Pocantico River - the Upper Mills belonging to the Philipse family (they own almost all of Westchester County!). The Upper Mills are bustling with tenant farmers bringing their wheat to the mill to pay their rent; oxen pull carts loaded with goods that arrived from ships pulling into port; barrels are being prepared for voyage across the Atlantic, and you help make it all happen! Philipsburg Manor's camp is so good, we have to run it twice. The first week is July 7 through July 11 and the second is July 28 through August 1.

Campers become history detectives working to find out how we know so much about the past. Plus, you get to work on our farm, assist the miller with grinding corn, play games, and go fishing in the river just like kids did when George Washington was a mere stripling!

A field trip to the Old Dutch Church (the Philipse family is buried under the church... spooky!) and a tour of the burying grounds (where you'll see the names of the real people who became the characters in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow inscribed on the gravestones) make this a really cool way to spend a warm week. Want to know more about The Legend of Sleepy Hollow? Set your teleport to the year 1848...and...check back on the blog Thursday...***

Ready to sign up or at least get sign up info? Click here.

Got a question for Danielle? E-mail her.