The Sari Diaries- Thursday 7/4/19

Dear Diary,

I am so excited to finally sit down to tell you all about the 4th of July. It was the BEST day of camp so far and I have so much I need to fill you in on. The day started with Lakeview waking up the whole camp by coming into our cabins banging on pots and pans. It’s not my ideal way to wake up but I have to admit that I was so happy it was the 4th that I didn’t even care. We all got dressed in our red, white and blue and headed down to the waterfront. Campers and counselors were in crazy clothes that they have clearly been saving for this special occasion. I wore a tutu along with a headband, tank top and socks that were all red, white and blue. Lakeview read us a poem to get us pumped for the day and then three Lakeview girls, Eden S, Anna S and Alexis F, put on a ski show for us. They were amazing and I hope that when I am in Lakeview, I am part of the ski show on 4th of July!

Then it was time for breakfast and we lined up outside the lodge, eager to enter and find out what the 2019 4th theme was. As we walked in, Lakeview cheered and the music was blaring. As I looked around, I saw incredible murals, lights hanging from the rafters and right in front of me, a huge painting that said “Land of the Freezing and Home of the Brrrrrave.” It was a winter themed 4th of July!! As I looked around the lodge, I was amazed. The creativity that went into all of the murals, and the artistic talent that the Lakeview campers have is unbelievable. Once I got through my shock and awe at the mess hall decorations, I had time to focus on the food. And let me tell you, the food today has been something to talk about! For breakfast, we had pancakes with whipped cream, smoothies, cinnamon rolls, avocado toast, hash browns, and berries. I filled my plate and enjoyed every last bite!

After a short cabin clean-up (I hope they didn’t grade today because our cabin was a mess!), half the camp went to the North Field and half to the South Field to play Circle Game. I went to the North Field and got to sit with a bunch of my friends. The way Circle Game works is that a Lakeview camper yells out a question and anybody who knows the answer runs to the center where there is another Lakeview camper with her arms out. The first person to touch the Lakeview camper’s hand in the middle gets the point for her team…and a piece of candy :). I ran up for three different questions: 1) “Run up if you’re a new camper.” 2) “Run up if you can name the Seven Dwarfs.” 3) “Run up if you are a second generation Chippy.” I got to the center first on number three which I was very proud of!

Lunch was just as delicious as breakfast- the highlight for me was grilled cheese stuffed with mac & cheese…it was out of this world! This afternoon is the part of the day that everybody told me was the best; it was the 4th of July Carnival! As I walked into the field once we were called there, I was in awe of it all. There was a CRC dunk tank, a bounce house waterslide, cookie decorating, a pie in the face station, sno-cones, cotton candy, a donut wall that looked like a snowman, a giant slip n slide and a foam machine! I think my favorite part was the slip n slide with the tubes. It almost felt like a water park. We danced to lots of music, ended up having a huge water/paint/whipped cream fight and even went swimming in the lake with our age group. The carnival lived up to all the hype, and quite honestly, I am already looking forward to the 2020 4th of July Carnival!

After a delicious BBQ dinner, we loaded the buses and headed to Three Lakes for fireworks. I was told that the Three Lakes fireworks show is the best in the world outside of Disney World. I honestly think it might be true! When we first got there, my cabin went to get some snacks. We then went back to sit on the grass with all the other Chippies. We played a couple games and practiced our lip sync as we waited for it to get dark enough for fireworks. I also got to see my cousin who goes to Camp Horseshoe because they were at the fireworks too! And then, after lots of fun on the field with my camp friends, the fireworks began. They were awesome and came just in time because as they were ending, the rain started and we had to pack up, and head to the buses. We got so lucky that we were able to enjoy the entire day without the weather getting in the way. The sun shined brightly at CRC and while there was a little bit of rain at the fireworks, we saw pretty much the whole show. I would say it was a stupendous day!

So that’s about it- my first 4th of July at Chippewa. I loved every second of it, and am so happy that I finally got to experience everything that I have heard about from my older Chippewa friends. As much as I love 4th of July at home, and as nervous as I was to miss out on all of the traditions I have with my family, I must say that today exceeded my expectations and I LOVED being at #TheRanch2019 for 4th of July. My age group is already talking about what we want our theme to be when we are in Lakeview and I think we have some pretty good ideas! On the note of Lakeview, LV 2019 did such an outstanding job planning toady and making it so happy for the whole camp. My big sister is in Lakeview, and at the fireworks, my whole cabin went up to her and her friends to say, “thank you!” I’m not sure if they really know just how much we appreciate all that they did but hopefully there are lots of campers and counselors expressing their gratitude as well.

And now it is almost 10:45pm and I am tired! I will write more soon, but as always, thanks for giving me the chance to share all of my camp experiences with you. Happy 4th of July!

Love,
Your Happy Camper