The Sari Diaries- Sunday 7/28/24

Dear Chippies, Parents, Family and Friends,

Sheeeeeesh! As we enter week seven at #TheRanch2024, I don’t have much to say other than that…how in the world did we get here?! Let me tell you all about our day at #TheRanch2024.

Meals:
-Breakfast- Sunday Morning Breakfast!
-Lunch- Mac & Cheese and Corn Dogs
-Dinner- Pizza

Chippy Birthdays:
-Liv K’s 14th birthday!

Details of the Day:
After a delicious Sunday Morning Breakfast, we had ourselves some fun! While second two week sign-ups were happening in the lodge, Lakeview put on an amazing program…Real Life Roblox! It was a very intricate program that Leah C & Hayden R have been plotting since last summer. They got major help from Annie S who is a Roblox guru. There were stations, characters and costumes. And while I have basically zero knowledge of Roblox, the whole thing was quite cute and amusing. My favorite station was “Work at a Restaurant Tycoon.” Campers were tasked with decorating a cupcake to look like another type of food. It took great creativity, and some of the cupcakes looked unreal! As campers moved from station to station, they earned Robux, which eventually led to raffles and prizes. This nearly all-day program was outstanding…a huge thank you to LV ’24- once again, you all rocked it!

Then late this afternoon, we made a tough call…it was supposed to be Realm Selections this evening, but after looking at the weather, we decided to push back a day. Nothing horrible is coming our way but there is a chance of a rainy afternoon that would really put a damper on the Realm festivities tomorrow. So in our typical flexible manner, we moved some things around…Lip Sync this evening, regular activities tomorrow and Realm Selections tomorrow evening to kick-off the following two days of Realm excitement!

While there was some minor disappointment about the postponement of Realm, Lip Sync tonight did not lack any enthusiasm, spirit or energy…it was ridiculously fun and entertaining! Rafter through Lakeview campers danced their hearts out on stage. From my perspective, the overall second session performances blew the first session performances out of the water. Don’t get me wrong, first session was excellent…but second session Lip Sync provided some more uniqueness…costumes, song choices and dance moves were all a little more eclectic…in the best way possible! They were so good that we couldn’t just pick one winner from each village. In the end, Circle C was the Colt Village victor and A-Frame & Trailriders tied for Wrangler. All three cabins will be heading to Cathy’s tomorrow to celebrate!

Tonight as I watched the Rafter^X campers, I got the chills…most of these girls have known Chippewa for all of two weeks…but the smiles on their faces and the looks of genuine love that I saw in their glances at one another were special…just so authentic. And then, the final lip sync (or should I say lip syncs due to the double encore) from Lakeview really did me in. Just like Rafter, their faces lit up while they were on that stage- sure they are fifteen years old, and they are high school students, and in “real life” they feel the pressures of school, and the social complexities of being a teenager…and yes, they have phones and social media, and all that. But tonight, none of that mattered- they lived in the moment, and they were having the time of their lives. It was a happy scene to watch, and at the same time, I felt quite emotional. These thirty four campers have lived a camper career to be proud of but it is hard to believe that their camper lives are nearing their final days.

To many, Lip Sync is just another camp program where campers dress in their craziest costumes and dance around on stage, but here at CRC, it is so much more than that. It is legit about Sisterhood. Of course, there is the teamwork aspect- cabins work together for days or sometimes weeks towards a common goal. And then there’s a song that unifies them…a song that they will hear twenty years from now and still think of one another- call & text each other to reminisce about the summer of 2024. There’s also a piece of pushing one another outside of their comfort zones that helps bond them together…some campers are super comfortable on stage, and others less so…some have great stage presence & experience, and others have never stepped foot on a stage before…but they help one another, support one another and encourage one another to get on Sophie’s Center Stage and leave it all out there. They are literally dancing like no one is watching despite the fact that there is an audience of over 300 people. And so, from Tatum’s G’s ginormous smile as she donned her goatee for her costume to Annabel L’s amazing cowboy intro, and from Lilah K’s extraordinary acting skills on stage to Noa C’s all-out dance moves, tonight was more than just an evening program- it was a fusing of humans, cabins, age groups and a camp…it was a magical evening at 8258 County O!

Alright, that’s all I’ve got for now…thanks for reading. Goodnight, Chippies!

Happy Camping and Love,
Sari