OUR FIRST REAL CAMPING TRIP

After all the weeks and weeks of planning, making lists, practicing putting up tents, rolling up sleeping bags, cooking and learning safety lessons, it was finally time for our Camping Trip!

We all met at the camp ground with several other troops.  We only had 1 1/2 hours to get all the tents set up, everything put away and find our way to the nightly gathering spot with all the other girls.

Most of the girls were pretty good at getting the tents set up. 

Everyone pitched in.  I would say we did a great job of getting all set up quickly and properly.

Michelle bought a BIG tent and it was decided that all girls would sleep together in there rather then two in each tent.  That way, the girls would feel like they were really camping as a troop and not just with a friend.

Of course, all of our tents were different and all went up in their own way.  Thank goodness for Michelle though, she made sure we got them all up properly.

The girls then went to the "Welcome" meeting.  There they sang songs and learned about what they would be doing the next day.

They were so excited and happy to be there.  Any fears or concerns they had were quickly gone and pure happiness took over.

Even though everyone was told to eat dinner before coming, some girls didn't get a chance to eat so we had pizza (another troop gave us tons of pizza they had left over), cheese and crackers, cookies and milk.

Lights out was 9:30pm but all the girls were to excited to go to sleep so they talked and talked until about 10:30pm. 

The next morning they woke up at 5:45am and I was woke up by the sounds of them giggling and laughing.   Even though I had not gotten to sleep until about 4:30am (I'm a night owl and wasn't comfortable) I found it hard to be upset with them.  They were having fun.

Other troop leaders did tell them to be quiet as most other troops were still sleeping.  Because of that, I had to play meanie and tell them to be more respectful of others and whisper if they wake up that early again.

We all got up and dressed and it was time for breakfast.  The girls all took turns cooking our meals.  For breakfast we had scrambled eggs (thanks to Nikki) and toasted bagels with cream cheese, milk and OJ.

The girls seemed to really enjoy being able to help themselves and eat what they wanted to.  They ate really well too.

We all loved our little camping toaster!  It worked great.  Not bad for a $4.00 item.

After we ate and cleaned up the girls took off to their different stations.  They learned 9 different camping skills.

They learned how to tie knots, first aid, how to put up a tent, how to use a compass, how to build a fire, how to use knifes, how to pack for camping, lashing and one other thing...I can't remember what it was though.

They did four stations and then it was time for lunch.  We had bean and cheese burritos, chips and salsa and pink lemonade. 

After eating lunch, they all went on a scavenger hunt throughout the other camps to find different things in each camp that  had been marked. 

Then it was back for the rest of the lessons and then back to camp for dinner.  We had hot dogs, baked beans, potato chips and of course S'Mores for dessert.

The girls had to have their tied back whenever they were around fire.   Safety is very important.

During down time, the girls had time to play at the playground, read, blow bubbles, play games, play football or just rest.

One of the things the girls really enjoyed doing was......are you ready for this?  They LOVED doing the dishes!

Though they were quick to say they didn't like to do dishes at home.  Go figure.

The girls all made 6 SWAPS to exchange with the girls in our troop.  So they had fun switching with each other and seeing what they came up with. 

I was very impressed at the different ideas they each came up with.

We had been making some SWAPS to exchange with other troops during our meetings.  However, I think the ones the girls came up with were even better then those.

They were also proud to show what they made and explain how they came up with the ideas.

Each one was so different from the others. 

Very clever ideas and I was thrilled to see they all actually did make them too.

In the morning the girls would all meet together to walk over to the flag ceremony.  In order to get there they had to cross under the "Bridge of Silence". 

Once through there they could not speak at all and had to remain silent until told they could talk.

Hearing all the girls talking and being loud, I thought there would be lots of talking girls being told to be quiet.

However, once they walked under the "bridge" I didn't hear anyone talk.

Not even whispering.  I was shocked.  There were over 100 girls being perfectly quiet.  WOW!

They all stood in a horseshoe shape around the flag pole.

One the flag was raised by the Color Guards, they all said the Pledge of Allegiance, listened to their announcements and then they got to go to their stations.

The older girls in Girl Scouts were the ones who taught the lessons.  Since there were way more Junior Girl Scouts there then older girls, there were often wait times for the lesson. 

So the girls, quietly played while waiting in line.

They did super!  They all were very well behaved, did great learning what was taught and found their way around without any problems.

When they learned about knifes, they were shown the proper way to handle knifes and then they were shown how to wittle soap.

At each station, they each got a little something to take with them to remember their lesson by.

The leaders were not allowed to help the girls and other then getting to snap a few photos, we were told to wait back at our tents.

Here Nikki and Tuppence are learning how to start a fire.

Oh no, more tents to put up!  By now the girls were pros.

Jesse came to camp late on Friday so she didn't get a chance to put the tents with us.  But she got her chance here. 

First aid taught them how to take care of each other should they get hurt and what to do if there wasn't an adult around.

I think learning to use a compass was the hardest thing for the girls to learn.

This was our Home Sweet Home for the weekend. 

The girls all slept in this tent.

Jesse, loved carving the soap and found an extra bar in her mom's items in her tent.

Some of the time, the girls just wanted to take it easy and would go into the tent to chat or read.

They all did some craft things too.

These girls just adore crafting!  They could craft every day.

The 2nd night we were there was time for all the girls to do skits.  The girls had practiced theirs several times.  They came up with the whole idea and everything they were going to say.

Here they are watching the other troops do their skits.

They all got a bit nervous but were very excited to have our troop called up.

One last quick chat about what was going to be done and then they were on.  Jesse did not want to do the skit because she said she had stage fright.  So just the five of them did it. 

The story was about girl scouts camping.  Trinity was the scared camper that was worried about getting eaten by a bear or squirrel.  Nikki was the girl scout that tried to act brave even when she was a bit scared.  Tuppence was the girl scout who didn't have a care in the world and would fall asleep at the drop of a hat.

Brittnee was the leader.  Elizabeth was the bear.

The three girl scouts are talking about how fun camping is and making SWAPS.  Then the leader comes in and tells the girls it time to go to bed. 

Trinity becomes a wreck, talking fast about how she just knows a bear or big squirrel will come eat them while they sleep.  Tuppence is sleeping as fast as she is told lights out.  The leader tries to calm the girls down and they go to sleep.

One by one the girls get woke up by a bear coming into their camp ground.  They scream, wake the others up (though Tuppence never wakes up) and the leader calms them all down.  That is, until the leader is woke up and sees the bear for herself!

She quickly wakes the girls up (Tuppence won't wake up) and gets everyone out of the tent to safety.

Tuppence is left alone in the tent sleeping.  The bear returns.  She wakes up and stays calm, gives the bear some Girl Scout cookies (which is all the bear really wanted) and goes back to sleep. 

She then wakes up in the morning and says she had the strangest dream about a bear coming scaring everyone and all the bear wanted was to eat some Girl Scout cookies.

The skit is then over.

How cute!  I was so proud of the girls!  They did a super job.

 

Our final night we all sat around the campfire with our neighbors and roasted marshmallows and ate S'Mores. 

We made it to bed much earlier as everyone was super tired.

In the morning we got up, got dressed, took our tents down and packed up everything, had breakfast and the girls went to the Flag ceremony and exchanged their SWAPS with the other troops.

It was then time to go home. 

WOW!  It was over so fast.  Everyone said they wanted to go camping again. 

I have to admit, that morning and even until the next day I thought I would never go camping again.  But, after I rested up, I started checking out camp grounds and dates for our next outing. 

This time it will be just our troop going.  No other troops.  We will be able to be on our time schedule and can stay up as late as we want, do what we want during the day and eat when we want.  We can also do more camping things like hiking, cooking like the girl scouts are known to cook and play games.