Girl Scout camp

On Friday, April 1st, Elizabeth’s Girl Scout troop went to a local school talent show, where some of the girls in her troop were performing, then had a sleepover at the troop leader’s house. They camped in a tent on her living room floor (smart – no bugs, warm, and the bathroom REALLY close by!).

Initially, parents were told to show up at 7:30am to pick up the girls and take them over to the main girl scout camp – Camp Wahi – where they would spend the day. I probably don’t need to say this, but I was NOT looking forward to this! First, 7:30 on a Saturday morning – ‘nuff said. Then, and this has been my main problem with the girls scouts this year, it takes up an entire Saturday. Elizabeth has REALLY loved her scout troop this year, but all the extra activities are on Saturdays, which is a real bummer. For us, that means Chris has to keep the other 4, not a problem in and of itself, but he can’t go sailing, and it’s much harder to plow into his ongoing weekend projects he’s always working on. Basically, we love our Saturdays, and girl scout activities do not fit in well with this. Anyway, thank goodness the Campbells (Nikki and Maddie) were going too and rode with us, which made the day fun for me!

We arrived at Camp Wahi just in time for the flag ceremony, then troops headed off to various stations for activities. First, they headed over to the tire swing and tightrope area for some team-building. They were supposed to cross over an area without touching the ground, just swinging from tire to tire. Then, they had to negotiate some tightropes by holding on to overhead ropes. Easy-peasy for Elizabeth. They ended that station with a relay race made difficult by balancing a book on their heads. Finally, Elizabeth found something physical that she just couldn’t master! I think 2 steps was about her record before it fell each time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, they moved to the “dance” station, which was pretty lame, but since Elizabeth’s troop mostly ignored the cadet instructors and just wiggled around giggling, it was a great success. And there was popcorn to munch on.

Then came the coolest of all the day’s activities – Archery! The only not-wonderful part of this station was that they didn’t get to shoot all that much. Elizabeth finally hit the target by the end of her turn, and if she could’ve shot more she would’ve been able to refine her shooting. This station was everyone’s favorite! They would’ve happily spent the rest of the day standing there shooting arrows.

 

 

 

 

 

Finally – lunch! Thickly-breaded fried chicken strips, reconstituted mashed potatoes and canned gravy, and mushy broccoli (freezer taste) with cheese sauce-like stuff on top. And don’t forget the white-bread roll. On the one hand, it was my cheat day, so I could eat junk like that without guilt. On the other hand, it was my cheat day, and I was stuck eating junk like that without a choice. Definitely NOT the cheat meal I would’ve picked. After eating, our troop had a rest period, then went on a scavenger hunt for nature items. Fun. By this time it was almost 3pm, so Nikki and I decided we’d had enough and “decamped.” The girls had a blast and I’d definitely do this again if we have the chance.

After dropping off the Campbells, we met Chris and the other kids at Renaissance and walked through the fine arts festival happening there.

Considering this Saturday was April 2nd, and Rachel’s birthday is April 4th, I was starting to panic about her birthday party. Fortunately, she wanted an outside park party, which is pretty easy, but when to have it? I talked myself out of having it any day of the week, and we’d be out of town on the weekend, so I’d almost decided she’d have to wait til the next week to have a party. Finally, a little late, I changed my mind and decided (with Nikki’s “go ahead!” (Thanks, Nikki!), to barely give people any time to plan and hold it Wednesday, 2 days after her birthday. I sent out facebook invitations that night. (I know – I’m the laziest mommy in the world! FACEBOOK invitations! Seriously. I should be ashamed of myself, but I was just relieved to have a plan!)