Save the Best for Last

I am not someone who likes to save the best for last. I know that is the popular thing to do, but to me…we should strive for the BEST every day. Don’t save it, give it. Don’t keep it, share it. Don’t dream about it, experience it…every single day. This session I have felt like each day was better than the one before, and that we have been living our BEST life every day of Session A at Camp Highlander. But today…today I changed my mind. Today I became a believer in saving the best for last.

The last day of activities dawned with the most beautiful weather we have seen all session — crisp mountain air, bright sunshine, the kind of day that makes you stop walking just to look up, close your eyes and breathe it in. It was as if the mountain itself decided to show up and show out for our last day of five-period fun. And from the moment we woke up, the day just kept getting better.

It was Camper’s Choice day, which means every single camper spent the day doing exactly what they love most, with exactly who they love most. There is a sweetness to that — knowing that on the last day of activity fun, nobody had to be anywhere they didn’t want to be. Just best friends, favorite activities, and all the fun a camper could hope for. I watched campers squeezing every last drop out of every last period. From making slime at Arts & Crafts to learning to roll a kayak in the pool, there was a determination and a passion driving our fun today in an effort to leave camp with no regrets.

And then, just when we thought the day couldn’t get any better — it did.

Dinner tonight was our Fiesta theme dinner, and it was absolutely spectacular. The dining hall was transformed into a full celebration — bright flags overhead, colorful table runners, tissue flowers on every table, and the handmade piñatas campers had been making all day hanging prouder than the finest art in the Louvre. A live mariachi duo moved through the dining hall, filling every corner with music, joy,laughter and happiness that you wish you could bottle. The food was incredible. The energy was indescribable. I kept looking around the room thinking — this is what camp is all about.

And the BEST day still wasn’t over. Then came Rock at the Top.

Our lip sync battle on Tenny Top is always a highlight, but tonight it was something I will carry with me for a long time. Cabin after cabin took that stage and gave it absolutely everything they had — performing to Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Michael Jackson, The Lorax and everything in between. I stood watching with so much pride and love. The campers I watched own that stage tonight are not the same campers who arrived on Opening Day. The confidence, the joy, the total willingness to be seen — it has been building all session, and tonight it poured out of them under the lights while their friends screamed their names and stomped their feet and cheered like their lives depended on it.

It was the best evening program of the session. On the best night. Of the best day. The BEST day we didn’t want to end.

That’s the thing about saving the best for last. When it arrives, you feel it in your bones — the fullness of it, the gratitude for it, and the bittersweetness of knowing it has to end.

Tomorrow we take our panoramic photo, pack up our trunks, celebrate at awards, share one last pizza dinner in the cabins, and close this session around a campfire — the same way we started. Full circle.

This is my last blog of Session A 2026. Tomorrow I want to be completely present, soaking up every last moment with your children — no distractions, just us.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for sharing them with us. For trusting us with your most precious people and allowing us to love them this summer. Bryan and I are so grateful for every single family that makes Camp Highlander what it is.

See you Friday!

Favorite Details of The Day

• Reflect at the Rock: This morning at Reflect, Spencer talked about friendship. We all agree that Camp Friends are the BEST friends!
• Weather: Absolute perfection! We woke up to cool breezes and lower temperatures that had us all sporting our favorite CH sweatshirt at breakfast (mine was COURAGE). The sun was shining all day but the breeze never left. It was an amazing day of weather on Old Forge.
• Meals: For breakfast we had WAFFLE WEDNESDAY, scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, oatmeal and a fresh fruit bar. For lunch we had meatball subs, homemade potato chips, a salad bar and a sandwich bar. Fiesta dinner was chicken fajitas, cilantro rice, black beans, veggies, homemade guacamole, queso, chips, a salad bar and a sandwich bar. For dessert, we loved the cinnamon and sugar churros - my favorite!
• EP: Rock at the Top!