The Sari Diaries- Thursday 7/4/24

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 Fourth of July 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 four Lakeview girls, Sophie B, Leah C, Zoe G and Cate M, 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 2024 Fourth Of July theme was. As we walked in, Lakeview cheered and the music was blaring. As I looked around, I saw incredible murals, decorations hanging from the rafters and right in front of me, a huge painting that said “Once Upon a Fourth Up North.” It was a fairy tale 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 Oreo pancakes & chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream, smoothies, French toast, frosted donuts (red, white & blue frosting, of course), blueberry muffin tops, bacon, sausage, avocado toast, hash browns, and rainbow fruit skewers. 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!), the entire camp went to the South Field to play Circle Game. This was a unique Circle Game because typically the camp splits between the North & South Fields but today we all went to the South Field…it was super-fun to be all together! 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. 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! We also had pizza bagels, chicken finger & waffle sandwiches, quesadillas, mozzarella sticks and pigs in a blanket. Can you believe that meal?!

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 ginormous slip n slide, cotton candy, a bunch of other delicious treats 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/mud 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 2025 Fourth 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! While we waited for the fireworks, we sat on the grass with all the other Chippies playing games, practicing our lip sync, and eating some snacks. 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. The show was so fun to watch and it was the perfect end to my very first Chippy Fourth of July.

So that was my day at CRC. 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 Fourth 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 #TheRanch2024 for Fourth 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 2024 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 Fourth of July!

Love,

Your Happy Camper