The Sari Diaries- Tuesday 7/11/17

Dear Chippies, Parents, Family and Friends,

Another amazing day has come and gone at #TheRanch2017. A couple of scheduling changes led us to some good excitement throughout the day! Here is the scoop…

Our Tan & White Neutrals have been diligently checking tomorrow’s weather because typically, the final Wednesday of first session is Egg Marathon. The forecast though is showing scattered rain throughout the day so we pushed up the all-camp Tan & White relay to today! After breakfast and cabin clean-up, teams met to sign-up for their Egg Marathon events. Some campers volunteered to run from one event to another while others decided they would be a part of the ping pong blow relay. Still others signed-up to do the commissary relay and for everything from tennis to archery to word jumble. There are over 25 events in this Egg Marathon, and each and every Tan & White team member has an important role!

After sign-ups, there was a short practice just to be sure everyone knew exactly what to do and where to go. Then we had lunch…the lunch before Egg Marathon is always crazy…the cheering for Tan & White goes on and on, and then after the event is announced, the volume of the lodge while “Taaaaannnnnnns” and “Whiiiiiiiiiiiites” is being yelled is outrageous. It is one of those things that I know I cannot do justice through my writing. But trust me, it is insanely loud! Needless to say, campers and staff were looking forward to this awesome event!

Skylar S began the relay for the Tans and Rebecca V began the relay for the Whites. Both were wearing a Chippewa draw-string back-pack filled with a tennis ball canister that had an egg inside. The idea is that each runner and each team member wears the back-pack while they are actively participating. The backpack gets passed from the first runners all the way to the sachems before they build the fire. Throughout the race, there are “egg-checks,” in which the Neutrals check the egg to make sure it isn’t broken. If it is, the Egg Heads have to run the back-pack back to the Main House to get a new egg. They then bring the new egg in the back-pack to resume the race. Dani G and Hannah S were the Egg Heads for the Tans, and Halle S and Sarah D were the White Egg Heads. I must tell you that something crazy happened…the eggs never broke…for either team!

For much of the race, the Tans & Whites were neck and neck. Somewhere around tennis, the Whites pulled ahead. Everyone wondered what would happen…would the Whites keep the lead or would the Tans over-take them? At the end of the race, the entire camp surrounded the cement behind Blackfoot and Silverspurs as the Grand & Chief Sachems from each team built a fire to get their egg to drop. Emily C and Dylan S (Tan Sachems) built an incredibly strong fire impressively quickly and ended up burning their rope first! It was a very exciting game…a true team effort by everyone.

After a busy, spirited, competitive and fun day, we had a very chill Evening Program…Screen on the Green! Everyone gathered in the South Field with chairs and blankets to watch “The Princess Diaries.” It is always such a cute scene to see…cabins gathering together on the field cuddled together. There was canteen, popcorn and drinks available so that campers could get the full movie experience. It was a nice night and the perfect way to wind down after an eventful day!

So that’s it from me for tonight…it was a good one…that’s for sure. I appreciate you reading this evening and hope that you all had a nice day as well!

Happy Camping and Love,
Sari