Camping Adventure

Zoe and I returned home around 1:oo this afternoon from our Girl Scout camping adventure.  What a good time we had.

I cannot say enough about how much I love Girl Scouts.  It has brought so many wonderful people into all our lives.

We arrived at the camp around 1:00 yesterday, and the girls were busy the whole time they were there.  Ms. Jill and Ms. Ann Marie planned a fantastic 24 hours for the girls.  Seventeen girls total, and 8 adults made for lots of laughter, lots of action, and not a lot of sleep.

Three young ladies and one Mommy make for a very full, very fun van ride.

There was a lovely opening ceremony that Ms. Jill planned.

Ms. Ann Marie, one of Zoe’s Brownie Girl Scout leaders, is in the orange headband and green jacket, facing the camera.  You can just spy Zoe’s copper-head in front of her.

There was a lovely, Fall hike as one of the beginning activities.  Though it was overcast, the weather was great both days.

As you can see, some of the girls are dressed like we are attempting to Summit Everest, while Monkey consented to wearing a long-sleeved shirt with her skort.

There was a lovely boardwalk built out over the lake, and the suprise waiting for the girls here was the color of their headbands they had been assigned, which became their “patrol” team for the weekend.  Monkey was tickled to be assigned the same team as Best Buddy Alex.  And there were two wonderful Juniors on their team as well, who were both so patient with the younger Brownies.

Monkey works diligently on the “swap” her patrol was assigned.  Ms. Erin eventually had to put Monkey’s swaps right next to the fire for fear they wouldn’t dry by the time they needed to hand them out.  She put a llllooootttt of glue on them.  😉

As you might be able to tell.  She is creating s’mores out of foam pieces and a cotton ball.  They were really cute.

During the Skit and Talent Show portion of the evening, Zoe sang a solo–a song about friendship that I suspect she created as she stood up in front of the group.  She did a lovely job, and of the moms told me later that evening that that was her favorite part of the campout up to that point.  What a lovely compliment.

And we returned home with the same people we went with–which marks the adventure as a success in my book.  Interestingly, both the little girls that rode with us each lost a tooth within 10 minutes of each other on the drive home.  For one of them, it was her first tooth, so we were all excited to share that excitement with her.

I’ve had a nap now, so I believe my memories of the weekend will continue to grow rosier and rosier.