WE ADDED ANOTHER NEW GIRL TO OUR TROOP

As always we started out with the Pledge of Allegiance and then the Girl Scout Promise.

This was going to be Trinity's last day to be my assistant. She picked Brittnee to be next month's assistant leader.

Tuppence joined our troop. It was her first get together with us. She is Nikki's cousin and will be with us until the end of the school year.

Sadly, she doesn't live here. She lives in Washington state. She is going to finish up the school year at Perry and while she is here, we are pleased to have her as our newest member.

Welcome Tuppence!

Tuppence gave her first Girl Scout Promise.

The other girls already knew her from school so she fit right in.

We handed out the badges and patches to those that earned them. Talked about upcoming outings.

Then we started to work on scrapbooks. This is a project that is not only fun and can be kept forever, but, it's also a requirement to earn our Star badge.

Originally I was going to make the girls all a scrapbook for their end of the year gift. However, when I found out they needed to do one for their project under the Star Sign, I thought perhaps we could do it as a joint effort.

I was going to have them put the papers in the book, I was going to add the photos and then give the books back for them to embellish.

But, they voted to do the whole thing themselves. So, I'll be printing out some photos and bringing them in for the girls to do at another meeting.

Trinity was the first girl in our Troop to earn her Junior Leadership Award! This is a requirement for earning the Bronze Award.

Way to go Trinity! You were a fantastic assistant leader. You were a great help and never once complained about all the extra work you had to do. Thank you so much!

Each girl will be taking her turn at being my assistant for a month in order for her to earn her Leadership Award also.

Tuppence said she had a good time at her first Girl Scout meeting and was very happy to be part of our troop.

The girls all told her about some of the things we have already done in Girl Scouts and then we talked about the fun things we have coming up.

Like always we shared in some laughs at our meetings. The girls really love doing crafts of any kind so scrap-booking was right up their alley.

The girls were all excited about getting to go to the beach later in the week to learn how to build a fire, cook over an open flame and make knots.

They are all looking forward to going camping. As for me...well, I'm praying my old body will hold up for the weekend.

FROSTINGS CUPCAKES

We were so lucky to have been invited to visit Frostings in Lake Forest today.

I love this place! They have the best cupcakes around.

The staff was so friendly and showed the girls around. The kitchen was fun to see.

They showed us their big ovens. The racks inside turn around so they keep the cupcakes cooking evenly.

We saw the big mixing bowls and where they do all the magic to make the cupcakes the best tasting cupcakes by far.

Everything there has been made just for them. They even had special pans made so they will have a dome top to them.

Their boxes have special made inserts so they fit the custom size cupcakes perfectly.

Even their wallpaper was made just for them. It has the design of their flower toppers. Very cute.

Henry was nice enough to answer all of our questions. He also showed us how the cupcakes look when they come out of the oven and then how they look after they have been frosted.

All the bakers are highly trained and have come from culinary schools.

We even got to see the darling Easter pops being made!

The girls learned what gum paste was.

They use it to make the sweet flowers that top all the cupcakes. They make all of the flowers by hands.

Wow! That is a lot of work.

They even made cute little ones special for Easter. My photo is really bad but they are so cute!

All the flowers are then put away and stored until needed.

The girls all said they really liked seeing and learning what goes on behind the scenes at a cupcake store. They were really impressed to see how they make 500-600 cupcakes a day.

Not only do they sell the best cupcakes, they also make wonderful cake pops. Delicious moist cake on a stick and then dipped in chocolate and decorated to look great.

A cupcake birthday kit. What a clever and great idea! Who wouldn't love this on their birthday.

I think this is a super idea for a different kind of kid party too. I have hosted a lot of kids parties and I know they all love to play with food and when they make something themselves they end up loving it twice as much as normally.

Look at all those yummy cupcakes. So many great flavors. How can you only pick one favorite?

They have 8 flavors that they have daily and then add 3-4 other ones as the flavors of the day. So, you could come every day and get a different flavor.

The girls were finishing up working on their Let's Get Cooking badge so they each had to interview the staff.

Each girl had four questions and what we found out was the best way to have a great shop is to produce the best quality you can.

To do that, you need to hire staff that really knows what they are doing and enjoy their jobs. Use the best quality ingredients, pick a good location and find a way to make your product stand out.

They really liked being told that the training at Frostings is on going and they are always learning new things no matter how long they have worked there.

They all agreed that Frostings had done each of those things and that is why they have a great cupcake shop.

We all thought the shirts, hats and other items being sold was a clever and super idea.

We all got to try a few of the cupcakes. Boy were they wonderful!

So much so, that each girl had to have more. They each purchased a cupcake to enjoy while we sat outside.

Jesse picked out the Birthday Cupcake.

Look at these! YUM!!! Brittnee and Elizabeth purchased these.

Elizabeth got the Cookies and Cream.

Brittnee also got the Birthday Cake one.

The birthday cake one is a yellow cake with sprinkles in it and then topped with butter cream and has sprinkles around the outside.

Jesse said her cupcake was scrumptious.

Trinity went with the Cake Pops. She got the orange flavor.

It was such a pretty day that sitting outside to enjoy the treats was a must.

Trinity loved the cake pop. She let me have one and I have to tell you it was like biting into sunshine. Such a perfect way to end our outing.

All the girls said they wanted to come back for sure. They also said that whenever it's their birthday they wanted to get their cupcakes from Frostings.

I have to say, I agree with them!

A BIG thank you goes out to Frostings and the wonderful staff for a great day today.

The girls will be getting their Let's Get Cooking Badge at our meeting on Tues.

THE LONG BEACH AQUARIUM

It was another fun outing when we went to the Long Beach Aquarium on Monday. The weather was great. A bit overcast but not cold at all. Yet, not hot either.

The Aquarium was not overly crowded and so we didn't have to wait to see anything.

We did miss having our Girl Scout sisters, Nikki (who was off having fun with her family on vacation) and Elizabeth (who sadly was sick).



I think the girls had all been to the Aquarium before but it was still fun to look at the large tanks of fish.



We saw so many different things. Like the Seahorses. They are very cute.

I enjoyed watching the girls faces as they spotted different fish. Their eyes would light up and smiles came across their faces.

The colors of the tanks were so pretty too. It made us see that under the Sea is a whole big world full of every color of the rainbow.

As we would go to the different areas, they had pictures of what we were looking at. The girls would each pick one and then hunt for it.

They not only had fun hunting for "their" fish but, they also got to learn about the different fish and what their names were.

Of course, it's not all learning when we go on outings. There is always a lot of fun and laughter going on.

In fact, I told the girls that no matter where we go they are learning something. They put me through a little quiz to see if they really did. Each place they named I told them what they learned without even knowing they were learning.

They just smiled and was a bit surprised that learning can be fun and done without them even knowing they are learning.

They loved being able to touch some of the sea life.

How many people can really say they touched a shark or a stingray? Well, these girls can!

The stingray is pretty slimy. It feels strange.



The girls made their "scared" faces as they stood by the shark sign. They really couldn't wait to run over to see the sharks though.

We saw many different types of sharks. They sure would be frightening to see while out in the water. But, here safe in the tanks they were a joy to watch.

Here, the girls are pointing the shark they like the most. Yes, they are learning right here and don't even know it.



Even though we were at the Aquarium, I think the bird area was the biggest hit of the day. We spent a lot of time in here.

The girls loved having the birds land on them (or get placed on them) and were so full of laughter and happiness.

Most of the birds would only land on you long enough to see if you had any food then, quickly fly away.

So, we ended up buying some nectar for them to eat.

At first, Jesse was a bit leery of the birds and didn't want them to land on her. But, then she saw that they were fine and she enjoyed feeding them too.

I love to see the girls getting over their fears and being willing to try something they think they wouldn't enjoy.

I think Trinity would have been happy if every bird landed on her at the same time.



I wish this blog had sound effects because you would hear three laughing, giggling girls.

I love this picture! You can see the excitement in Brittnee's face. She was laughing so hard! She was having the time of her life.

Look at Jesse! Not a drop of fear in her any more either.

Again, another great chance for the girls to learn something while having fun. They all learned how these birds don't eat seeds. They live on nectar and a little fresh fruit.

They also learned these pretty birds came from Australia.

Oh no! I just turned my back for a second and they all ended up in the mouth of a big shark!

Oh wait. Thankfully it's just a big shark mouth that blows out air so everyone can dry off from getting wet at the playground area.

Some of the sea life seem to come from another world. I really enjoyed watching the Jelly Fish. They are so peaceful looking as they slowly move through the water.

One thing I never tired of was, watching the girls run up the next exhibit so they could get up close and see what was next.

They liked the touching pools. Here they got to touch starfish, the soft sticky sea anemones and other things we may get to see when we go to the Tide Pool down by the beach.

They also got to see a Starfish that had lost one of it's legs and how it was growing back.

Some of the fish appeared to be fake. Their colors were so bright and pretty. Yet, everything was real and as they appear in Nature. No fake color lights were needed for these beauties.

After all the walking around, seeing so many strange and wonderful things, we were all treated to an ice cream by Trinity's grandma.

Thanks Maureen! It was just what we needed.

After our little break, we went to finish up the day. We stopped and watched the Sea Otters. They are so cute!

Checked out several more tanks.

Saw some more, but different, seahorses with some lovely colorful coral.

Then it was time for the all important shopping! These girls LOVE to shop!

It was so hard to decide what they were going to bring home to remember the day by.

In the end they all got a stuffed animal and Trinity got a key chain.

It was time to head home. Everyone tired but full of visions we will remember for a long, long time.

I hope the girls had as much fun as I did.