A Day in the Life of…the InterGirls

I’m Jessica, a newbie to Camp Robin Hood. This summer I will be shadowing units, cabins, staff, and various activities, and giving you an inside look at what it’s like to spend summers at CRH. I hope you have as much fun as I’m having!

Age Group: Completed Grades 2&3
Section Head: Sarah L.
Cabin: IG5 (10 girls)
Counsellors: Jaime, Kaitlyn and Sarah D.

I arrived at the InterGirls unit to a much more relaxed and mellow atmosphere then that of the Munchies or Junior Boys. It’s amazing how big a difference a couple of years makes when it comes to a kid’s morning energy levels. Regardless, once all of the girls had arrived, they snapped out of their sleepy daze and began to practice their cheer for the morning’s Senior Flagpole. I’d heard lots about Sr. Flagpole, so I was excited to be there on a Wednesday where I could experience the excitement. Sarah L. had written a pretty awesome cheer to Katy Perry’s “Roar,” which the girls had already learned, but during this last minute practice some of the counsellors added in a few moves as well.

We then headed to the Arrowdome with the InterBoys and Seniors for morning Flagpole where they would show off their talents in order to gain points for the Cup-O-Love. When we arrived, the IGs were tied for first with the Senior Boys, so we were ready to keep up our lead.

First was a counsellor competition where they borrowed an idea from the Inters Special Day and had one counsellor wrapping the other one as quickly as possible in a full roll of toilet paper. Naturally, the InterGirls won and we were in the lead!

Next was the talent show portion where we listened to some jokes from the InterBoys, singing from the Senior Girls and watched break dance moves from the Senior Boys. Excuse me as we interrupt for our weekly CRH Frozen break. That’s right, a group of IGs got up and sang “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” and of course prompted an annoyed sigh from a group of boys that are obviously completely over this never-ending obsession. The IGs did a great job, but unfortunately the boys with the jokes charmed the crowd and took the next point.

The InterGirls were still in the lead going into the last round: the cheer-off round. We got up first and in my opinion did an awesome job. I filmed the whole thing so take a look at your enthusiastic daughters.

Next were the IBs, and no offence, but I’ve already forgotten your cheer, which means you really need to step it up next Wednesday! Maybe try enunciating a little more? But then came the Senior Girls, who did a mash-up of a Spice Girls and Beyonce inspired cheer (and let’s get real, they won as soon as they sung “You just walked in…”). To end the cheer-off, the Senior Boys sang a Led Zepplin/Beyonce mash up. I had already heard that the boys would be doing this, and I had really high expectations for it, but unfortunately the boys were just a little too young to remember the melody of the “Immigration Song.”

We stirred in our seats in anticipation for the cheer-off winner: the SGs won the cheer-off. It was obviously disappointing, but the IGs left the Arrowdome knowing they were still tied for first with the SGs, and already started planning their talent show act for next week.

We went right to swim where I had a hard time getting pictures of the girls because they were totally into their lessons. There is something very rewarding for them that keeps them completely engaged with their instructor…probably the idea of free swims, but still I saw a bunch of girls who were happy to be in swim lessons.

Next we headed back to the unit to change, snack and go on a Buffalo Hunt. You’re probably asking yourself right now “I knew there were some cool animals at camp, but buffalos?” I was just as confused so I asked Sarah L. what she was talking about. She explained to me that these are the code words for picking up wrappers and garbage that the girls leave around the unit (I will admit, on behalf of the female population, that boys get a bad rap when it comes to cleanliness. Girls are the worst, just ask my roommates from university). Anyway, the InterGirls do a great job of keeping their unit clean, which is obviously why they won “Grounds” in the Senior Division that week.

We were then off to Dance, where half of us went into the portable to learn a routine with chairs, and the other half stayed outside to learn a routine with ribbons. These girls are all about the performance and showed off their sassy moves for each other at the end of the period. Take a look at the cast for Season 35 of So You Think You Can Dance below.

After Dance came Arts & Crafts where we made rainbow-coloured cobra bracelets, which the girls were very excited about. I realized while at A&C that I’m seriously lacking in “camp arm candy” (For those of you who don’t keep up with the latest issues of Elle Canada, “arm candy” basically means the display of bracelets you wear on your wrists.) Right now I’m simply sporting an emergency hair elastic and my cool UV bracelet. What I’m missing is a variety of boondoggle, cobra bracelets and deep end bracelets. I tried to bribe one of the girls to let me have the one she was making, but I IMMEDIATELY got shut down. I later found out that the secret to getting campers to make you boondoggle and bracelets of any kind is to have a fanny pack that they can decorate with their colourful creations. I unfortunately do not have that privilege.

Then it was time for lunch, where the girls chatted, practiced their talent show routines for next week, and once again, compared what their parents had packed them to eat. Oh right, and they also talked Jaime into braiding her hair.

We headed back to the pool, and luckily I was able to interrupt a few girls for a photo-op. But then they were quickly back to practicing their diving, floating and front-crawl skills.

Unfortunately I was with the IGs on an early dismissal day, but fortunately, I got to hang out with them as they prepared for the Colour Wars breakout. That means I got to help all the campers get their face paint on so they could cheer for their team during the first event. It was hilarious to see all of the green, yellow, red and blue (and not so hilarious for all of you parents when they got home with face paint smudged everywhere), so I got a bunch of the girls to pose for a super enthusiastic picture in all of those colours.

Before we headed to the “big top”, I got a first-hand lesson in the friendships made at camp. It’s obvious to see that the campers are making, or have already made, life-long friends here. And I’ve even heard about these friendships from my own friends that went to camp as kids. But what I didn’t think about was the friendships the counsellors make. A lot of them have grown up together as campers and are now working together, and some of them have just met and are in the early stages of those relationships, but no matter when they met, there is a bond being made here that I’ve never experienced before, and frankly I wish I had when I was their age. I’ve been so impressed and excited throughout this past month seeing the impact that CRH has on people, myself included.

Anyway, We headed to the Arrowdome, aka The Circus, where the campers were sectioned off into their colours for the remainder of the afternoon. They watched quite the performance from real-life circus acts, as well as from the staff, which certainly geared them up for the next day of full-on Colour Wars. I could go on forever on how amazingly cool Colour Wars was, but the short version is simply that I got a #kangarooselfie.

Thanks InterGirls for showing me a great day and joining me in my first Colour Wars experience here at CRH.