Just Dance

We had another magical day at Camp Highlander! I’ve said it before, but the JOY of the campers this session is contagious! They love EVERYTHING at camp! From the food, to the staff, to the EPs and everything in between, these campers are having the time of their lives, and I couldn’t be happier!

Square dance is probably my favorite EP, or for sure in the top three! Tonight when I walked into the back of the gym at square dance, I got the biggest smile on my face as hundreds of hands flew in the air in the shape of a Y for the YMCA. Typically at square dance there is a big group of kids who refuse to dance, but tonight when I walked in…everyone was dancing, laughing and singing along. Just as the second dance was ending, Riley started to play a song by Christina Aguilera that is one of my zumba routines. Suddenly, everyone who was outside of the gym getting water in between dances ran in to join the routine. Within one minute, the entire camp was dancing in sync to my zumba routine and singing along with the music.

It was at this moment that I realized that sometimes you have to embrace the moment and JUST DANCE. With the biggest smile on my face, I led these campers in a dance and was reminded that camp gives kids the gift of living in the moment without the pressure of appearances. With no technology or pressure of instagram likes and tik tok views, these campers are free to dance like nobody’s watching and live their best life. This is a gift that they don’t even realize they wanted or needed. But our simple square dancing nights at camp are exactly what we need, and to be honest they are better than we could have imagined!

Favorite Details of the Day

• Reflect at the Rock: This morning at Reflect Mac talked about the power of a cabin unit. He compared a cabin group to a bundle of sticks. One stick alone is easily broken when put under stress or pressure, but a bundle (or 10) sticks cannot easily be broken because together they are stronger and can withstand the challenge. Our cabin groups provide the support that each person needs to face any challenge of the day. All for one, one for all!
• Weather: We woke up this morning to chilly temperatures in the low 60’s. There were lots of sweatshirts at breakfast this morning, but the sun was out and it quickly warmed up into the mid 80’s. We had sunshine all day until 5th period when we had a brief rain shower that lasted until dinner. The rain cooled down our day, and made our evening absolutely perfect!
• Meals: Breakfast this morning was biscuits, gravy, sausage patties, scrambled eggs and our fresh fruit and yogurt bar. Lunch was the yummiest chicken quesadillas with homemade guacamole and salsa with tortilla chips and a salad bar. For dinner we had spaghetti and meat sauce with roasted broccoli, garlic bread and a salad bar. After dinner, the dining hall started the Gus’s chant in hopes Bryan would agree to candy and soda after camper’s choice sign ups…and YES we had Gus’s tonight!
• EP: Tonight we had our first square dance of the session, and it was so much fun! We do-si-doed our partners, did the chicken dance, swung our corner lady and finished the night with our tradition of Footloose!