The Sari Diaries- Saturday 7/4/15

Dear Chippies, Parents, Family and Friends,
Below is a diary entry that has been written from the camper’s perspective on our day at #TheRanch2015. Enjoy!
Happy Camping and Love,
Sari

Dear Diary,

This was my favorite 4th of July ever! All of the other campers were right when they told me that today would be the best. We got woken up this morning by Lakeview who is the oldest cabin. They were banging on pots and pans and screaming, “Happy 4th of July!” Normally, I don’t like being woken up, but I was so excited that I jumped right out of bed, put on my red, white and blue, and ran down to the waterfront. When I first got down there, music was playing and everyone was dancing. We danced and sang to “Party in The USA” while we waited for all the other campers and counselors to arrive. It was really cool to see my counselor dancing with her age group…some of them are still at camp and others are visiting.

Lakeview then quieted everyone down to read a poem and give us a little preview of the day. As the poem ended, the Lakeview girls who are on the ski team (called Chippybats) performed a mini ski show. Two of them were on slalom skis and the other was on a knee-board. I am so happy that I got up on two skis last week and I am really hoping that when I am in Lakeview, I will be able to be in the 4th of July ski show! We all cheered for the skiers and then headed to the lodge for breakfast.

I had no idea what to expect when I walked into the lodge, but I never could have imagined how great it actually was. Every year, Lakeview chooses a theme and decorates the messhall to match the theme. When I walked into the lodge, I immediately saw an incredible mural which said, “One Fish, Two Fish, Red, White & Blue Fish.” Their theme was all centered around Dr. Seuss but was transformed to incorporate Chippewa and America’s birthday. The decorations were so neat and I could hardly recognize the messhall. To top it off, breakfast included all of my favorite foods.

For the morning program, we played Circle Game which they have been playing at Chippewa on the 4th forever (I think…). Half of the camp was in the South Field and half was in the North Field. We formed a huge circle and one member of Lakeview stood in the middle. They asked trivia questions and if we knew the answer, we ran up to get points for our team. I ran up for three different questions, and got there first for one of them!

This afternoon, Lakeview put on a carnival in the South Field. We danced A LOT and there were tons of different activities to do. My favorite was the slip ’n slide- it was huge and I went so fast! We also got to tie dye which I loved because now I have a shirt that will always remind me of my first 4th of July at CRC. In addition to all of the activities, there were tons of good snacks and a huge waterfight!

From the carnival, we had a delicious BBQ dinner which included some spectacular desserts. I heard that Lakeview got to help to bake some of today’s goodies. The final part of the day was fireworks. We went to Three Lakes…a town near camp, and we all sat with our cabins in the field and played games until the fireworks began. It was the perfect way to end a splendid day.

I really loved today and am so happy to be spending my first summer at Chippewa. Today made me realize that camp is only going to get better and better as my years as a camper go on. It seems pretty far away but my cabin and I are already thinking of themes for our 4th of July. It will be awesome when we get to plan this day for all of the younger campers…yeah Lakeview 2021!

Now I am laying in bed and exhausted from our big celebration. Tomorrow we get to sign up for activities again and I definitely want to take waterskiing, sailing and cooking. We will see what else I choose to do! Tomorrow I am also going to write Lakeview a thank-you note. I know that they put so much hard work into making this day such a success and I really appreciate it. I want them to know that everyone loved the day and that they are the reason that 4th of July 2015 was the best one ever. Goodnight diary!

Love,

A Happy Camper