Friday, October 28, 2011

CAMP SCHERMAN ~ A DAY OF FUN!

It was a beautiful morning.  The weather was lovely, the girls all in pink and everyone was excited to finally be at Camp Scherman!

The girls had fun finding little treasures left by Mother Nature.  Things like Pine Cones, rocks and flowers.

We got signed in and was put in a group.  Our groups name was The Pumpkins.  Each group would rotate to do different fun things and then move to the next fun activity waiting for us.

The girls were thrilled our first activity for the day was the canoes. 

Everyone was given a life jacket and showed how to row the canoe as well as turn around.  Everyone was going to take turns rowing.

The girls loved being able to go in their own canoe without the adults.

They were like pros out there.  Even the leaders said they did a super job and had no problems at all.

It was fun watching them getting the hang of rowing and working together to make the canoe work properly.

They all had so much fun.  They had big smiles on their faces and you could hear them giggling as they would go by.

It was almost like something out of a movie watching the girls having a great time out on the water as the sun sparkled off the water. 
It was very relaxing out there too.  Unless you were the one who was in charge of rowing.  Then it was serious business.


The time flew by.  All to soon, it was time to paddle back to shore and get ready for our next area of fun.

The girls turned around and headed in.

They all agreed they loved being in the canoe and wanted to go again some day.
After putting the canoes and life vest away, we gathered to meet up with the other girls in our Pumpkin Group.

While waiting for everyone to gather together they had the girls get in a circle to play a funny game.

The game was to say Pterodactyl without showing your teeth.  Then the next girl would say it.  If you showed your teeth (which many did when they laughed) then you got out.

I wonder how many of the girls even knew what a Pterodactyl was.  Which by the way, did you know it was spelled with a P?  I didn't.  Guess we learn something new every day.

We found out our next thing would be going on a hike.

It took awhile to get all the girls ready though.  Everyone had to fill up their water bottles and many made a pit stop in the BIFFY (which stands for bathroom in the forest for you).

Finally we were on our way.

Did your girls tell you about smelling the tree?  This is not any tree.  This is a yummy smelling tree.

The bark smells like butterscotch.  Funny thing is that whey you pull the bark off, it doesn't smell any more. 

Our leader guided us up the mountain.  We had to walk single file because sometimes the trail was pretty small and had trees that could scratch us or even cactus was on the side of the trail.

Our troop lead the way for all the girls.  It was fun seeing their bright pink shirts going up higher and higher.

Once up at the top, there was a nice view of the pond we were just in with the canoes.

The girls enjoyed rock climbing.  No it wasn't as dangerous or scary as it looks in the photos.

The leader/guide showed them the way so it was safe.

Just taking in the view of all of Camp Scherman down below.

You can see in this picture that it really wasn't that scary up there.  It was safe.  Girl Scouts wouldn't do things that are not safe.

Our girls helped one of the other girls in our group climb down as she was a bit scared.  How nice to know our troop really lives the Girl Scout Law and helps others.

Also, no girl is ever forced to do something they really don't want to do. 

After playing around on the rocks for awhile it was time to head back down.  The girls had worked up an appetite and our next thing to do was have lunch.

We ate our lunch by the lake.  It was nice to be able to rest a little bit. 

When lunch was over, the girls went through the museum and then it was time to head out for our next location.  A quick stop to fill up the water bottles.  This time there was lemon aid or water to pick from.

A few quick pictures were taken while we waited for everyone.

I'm so happy to see how the three new girls all fit in perfectly with our troop.  They seem like they have been part of our troop from the start.

Everyone getting a lesson in how to do archery.

For some of the girls it was their 3rd time doing archery.  For some it was the 2nd time and for some it was the first. 
They all did really good.  Some of the ones who had never done archery before even hit the target!  Way to go girls!

I think they all had fun.  It didn't really matter who hit the target and who didn't. 

We then moved on to the Veggie and Pumpkin field.  Everyone got to take home a pumpkin she picked herself.

It was pretty much the end of the veggie season.  But, there was still lots to be found. 

They even grilled some wonderful vegetables for us to enjoy.  Then there was a craft to do and finally off on the hey ride around Camp Scherman.

They showed the girls the cabins and dining hall.  Also, they did a tour of the whole camp. 



A tired from having fun all day.  From getting lots of exercise and from running around with friends. 

We then hit the road for our long drive home.   We hated to leave Camp Scherman but we know that one day we will be back!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

TROOP GARAGE SALE

Welcome to our first ever, Troop Garage Sale!  Look at how bright eyed and bushy tailed these girls are!

I have to admit, I wasn't sure how well the girls were going to do at a Garage Sale because they had to get up so early.  But, they did great!!! 

They helped set up, straighten up, help customers, put up signs and all around did a wonderful job.
It was nice to see the girls all getting along and bonding too.

Skylar had fun playing with the Littlest Pet shop figures.

Jesse had a blast dressing up in some of the clothes that were for sale.

Elizabeth and Diana had fun sorting through all the toys.

We had  full stream of customers but the morning was super busy! 

Trinity showed up a little later as she was out the night before until 1:00am and needed to sleep in a little bit later.  She is the only one who has made it to every meeting, every field trip and every community service for the whole year, so everyone agreed it was fine for her come a bit later.

I didn't notice until I got home that I didn't capture one photo of the whole troop together.  One girl was always missing for some reason. 

We did have our Troop sign up so everyone knew we were a Girl Scout Troop and the money they spent was going towards a good cause. 

We even had a few people, let us keep the change or they said they would pay more for what they bought "Because it was going to Girl Scouts".   How nice.

Diana had fun spending time with the girls and she did a super job of helping the customers.  The girls also had fun wearing the sparkly hats.

There were a lot of smiles and laughing that went on too.

When we had some slower times, the girls got to play with the stuff that was for sale.  In the end, some of the stuff for sale, ended up going home with girls.

The girls all took turns holding up the signs so traffic would stop and come shop.  It worked too!

These girls LOVE stuffed animals.  Even though they donated some of their own to be sold, they all found new ones to love. 

I loved seeing new friendship being made as the day went on.

More play time.

By far, this was every one's favorite customer of the day.  The girls had a blast finding doll clothes that fit this little girl. 

They got to hold her and all had a great laugh watching her go home with a few new outfits to wear.

Everyone worked up a hearty appetite and Sara (Nikki's mom) was so kind, she went and bought pizza and drinks for everyone.  Thanks Sara!

After lunch, everyone was tired.  We sold everything for 25 cents.  We had a goal in mind of making $300.  Everyone agreed that as soon as we hit that, we would pack up.

Thanks to Maureen (Trinity's grandma) who just gave us the last $6.00, we were able to pack everything up and close up early.

We ended up making $300.50.  Not bad for one weekend morning!  Again, I was proud of the girls.  They did a great job.

Thanks to all the parents and grandparents that donated and helpped out too.  Without you guys, we couldn't have done this.  Thank you!