Country Music Festival and More - Session 1

Dear Skyline Parents,

I hope you’re having a lovely week so far! We are continuing to have the best time at camp, and I’m so excited to give you a few more updates on what we have been up to.

Today started like any other with Morning Watch and Flag Raising, and then we enjoyed another delicious breakfast of fluffy biscuits, bacon, and grapes. After breakfast, we jumped straight into club meetings and activities.

I spent the morning over at the barn watching the girls on Horseback. Today, they were practicing trotting and I was very impressed with how far they’ve come since their first few days at the barn. I could tell that the girls were getting better at communicating with their horses and are beginning to understand the specific traits of the horses, too. This is very important for them to work well together as a team. They also listened politely to feedback from counselors and barn staff, and I was able to see improvements being made on their very next turn to trot. Some of the girls were even trotting all on their own! Tomorrow they begin preparation for the Grand Championship, and I can’t wait to see each of the girls showcase their skills and progress.

Next, I stopped by Arts and Crafts and Pottery. I love getting to see the girls’ creativity shine in these activities, and I definitely got to witness that today. In arts and crafts, they created flowers out of tissue paper, and in pottery, they had begun painting and putting finishing touches on their clay creations. It’s always a treat to see how the personalities of each camper materialize in their art, from the different details they include to the colors they carefully choose.

Our cooking classes have been having a blast in the kitchen all week, and today Cooking 1 made ham and cheese sliders while Cooking 2 prepared Mexican rice bowls from ingredients they meal prepped yesterday. I got there just in time to observe as they enjoyed their meals, and it smelled delicious! I always like stopping by the kitchen because after the cooking and clean-up is over, the girls have a chance to chat and enjoy each other’s company. Many groups talk about camp, play games like mafia, or take a more creative route (like today for example where some girls from Cooking 2 made up rap songs and created new Trooper chants while snacking.)

Today, many of our activities got to experience the “out-of-the-ordinary.” The river was too choppy to go canoeing today, so the Canoeing class enjoyed in a dip in the lake in their life jackets in lieu of their usual excursion. It was freezing, but I could hear the girls splashing around and laughing all the way on the other side of the river.

Speaking of the river, Larry’s CSR (Caving, Survival, Rappelling) class crossed the river in the afternoon, but in an unexpected way! The girls had a chance to employ the rappelling knowledge that they’ve been accumulating the past couple of days. They tested out their skills on a tensioned highline by pulling themselves though the trees from one side of the bank to the other. It was super cool to watch, but I’m sure it was even cooler to experience.

Fun Swim also had a lively afternoon by using a Go-Pro to capture epic cannonball and underwater shots for our media team. They also took to the diving board to have a “smallest-splash,biggest-splash, and best trick competition,” club against club. I enjoyed basking in the sunny weather while watching the girls strategize to perform the best dives possible. Some of the older girls from Canoeing also joined in on the fun by creating synchronized swimming routines. It might have been an afternoon of unplanned activities, but the girls were able to enjoy the cold water and summer sun all the same.

Now it’s time for the moment you’ve all been waiting for… highlights from tonight’s nighttime activity! The theme was Country Music Festival, and all week long the girls have been rehearsing a special dance to a clean country music song with their cabinmates to perform in front of the whole camp. We decked out the gym in a Western theme with balloons and a “Howdy, Howdy Howdy” banner. There was a backdrop on the stage picturing barn doors, hay bales and a guitar, which really brought our festival theme to life! We even gave each camper a special neon wristband to admit her entry into the festival.

Then it was showtime! Campers brought their best dance moves, as well as their best Country gear including bandanas, cowboy hats, vests, and boots. Each cabin performed wonderfully choreographed dances to classic hits like “9 to 5” (featuring a camper in a Dolly Parton wig,) and “Picture to Burn” by Taylor Swift (you already know that a Taylor song was going to make an appearance!) One special moment of the night was the Riversiders’ dance to “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” Their performance was dynamic and had the entire crowd in awe! After everyone had finished rocking the stage and dancing to the “Cotton-Eyed Joe,” it was time to call it a night. What another amazing day here at Skyline!

We are prepared to keep the fun non-stop as we embark on our last two days at camp, and we can’t believe Session 1 is almost over! Though the end of the first session is bittersweet, we are just as excited as always to share with you the special moments from our activities such as Show Time (activity final performances) and the Grand Championhsip for horseback. We’ll catch up soon, but for now, enjoy today’s video!

With love,

Sydney