BRONZE AWARD CELEBRATION!!!

The girls worked very hard for a year on their Bronze Award.  The earned two badges, the Wild Life Badge and Pet Care badge.  They each earned the Sign of the Star patch and the Junior Leadership pin.

They did hours and hours of community service projects, helping out animals and then finally they did their big project of holding a Dog Adoption.

Several families and dogs have been matched and are now living happily together because of these girls.

The day was finally here for them to actually receive their Bronze Award and each one of them was very excited.

The beautiful Wyndham Hotel was kind enough to provide us, free of charge, one of their lovely meeting rooms so we could have our ceremony there.

Thanks goes out to Trinity's Grandma, Maureen, for setting this up for us.

The girls had practiced what they would be doing and the table was set waiting for them.

This was also the first time our troop did a proper flag ceremony outside of the two times we were at camp.

Elizabeth is this months troop assistant leader so she was the one in charge of carrying the flag.

The girls led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance.

After I spoke to everyone who came and explained about the Bronze Award and how the girls earned it, each girl got up and told everyone what the Bronze Award meant to them.

They had each written out what they wanted to say.  No one told them what to write. 

The words they spoke were typed up by me but were words they wrote from their heart.

I was pleased to hear what each girl felt was important to them about how they earned the Bronze Award.

They all gave their speech perfectly! 

I was beaming with pride as I'm sure each parent was too.

Then Michelle spoke to the group.  Afterwards, the girls each came up to the table.

One by one, they took their candle and lit it from the flame of a candle that could be traced back to the first flame lit by the founder of the Girl Scouts in 1912.

After the candle was lit they each recited two lines of the Girl Scout Law.

I will do my best to be, Honest and Fair.  Friendly and helpful.

Considerate and caring.  Courageous and Strong.

And, responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others.

Respect authority.  Use resources wisely.

Make the World a better place and be a sister to every Girl Scout.

The girls then came up and got their Bronze Award pin and certificate.

Nikki's mom, Sara, gave all the girls a pretty sunflower.

It was then time to take photos with their parents.

They were all so proud of their daughters.

The girls were all so happy to have their parents there too.

Everyone was very happy and there were smiles everywhere I looked.

I think everyone had a very good time.

It was wonderful that so many people came out to help the girls celebrate.  I'm sure it meant the world to the girls to have everyone there.

Since the girls got their Bronze Award and will be Bridging during the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouts, I thought it would be fun to give them all a pink shirt that says Juniors 1912 which is the year Girl Scouts first started.

They loved them and all wanted to wear them over to the Rainforest Cafe while we had lunch.

We all headed over to South Coast Plaza and had a celebration meal together at the Rainforest Cafe.

A man who made balloon animals made the girls cute little guys to take home.    Nikki and Trinity both got dogs.  They looked alike but were different colors.  They were so cute!

Elizabeth got a little dog on a big leash.  So sweet!

Brittnee got a twin to Nikki's dog.  Darling!

No dog for Jesse though.  She wanted a sword.  It even came with a holder that went around her waist.  Very clever.

While we waited for our meals to be served, we had some fun on the bar stools.  I loved them and so did the girls.

But wait a minute!  Where is the other 1/2 of the animals??  Jesse, did that sword have anything do with this??

After eating, Trinity's grandma ordered a dessert for the girls called a Volcano.  Wow!  That thing is big!!!  It even comes with fireworks.

They dug into that thing like there was no tomorrow!  It was like a swarm of ants attacking a piece of candy.

This was all that was left. 

After everyone had finished eating it was time to go home. 

It was a special day that I know I won't forget and I have a feeling the girls won't either. 

These are five super girls that I love with all my heart and I'm very thankful that they allow me to be their leader. 

Great job girls!  You all ROCK!

BEACH CLEAN UP DAY

We went to Huntington Beach to help out with the National Coastal Cleanup Day.  We were all set to get down and dirty and clean up our local beach!

There were lots of other volunteers there too.  We went to check in, get our gloves and then attack all the trash.

We thought it would be best to head down by the water where most people lay out and families play.  We figured there would be lots of trash there.

The girls were ready to make a difference and they were excited to get to work.

We were surprised to find there wasn't much trash on the beach. 

There was more washed up seaweed then anything.

This was the biggest piece of trash anyone found.  It was a napkin.  I made Trinity pose for this picture so we could at least have one shot of trash.

The girls ended up finding only about 1/3 of a trash bag full of trash all morning.  They mostly found small pieces of trash from bags being opened, people smoking on the beach, plastic water bottle tops. 

We were all very happy to see our city kept their beach clean and nice. 

Since we couldn't find much trash to pick up, the girls started to search for sand crabs and shells. 

The girls left their mark in the sand.

Once we were finished with the trash pick up, we headed up to the Go Green area that was set up on the boardwalk.  There were lots of fun vendors and each one gave out free stuff. 

They also talked to the girls about keeping our world a clean and better place.

They even got a free plant to take home and take care of. 

After we hit up all the vendors, we went down the street to the park.  They were having a Pet Adoption, which of course the girls wanted to go to.

Then we had a picnic lunch and the girls spent some time playing on the playground.  We all had a lot of fun and had a great day.

ANOTHER BIRTHDAY BASH

Our last meeting was pretty much like the one before only this time, it was Jesse's birthday.

We first practiced working on our Bronze Award ceremony and as soon as the girls felt they got it all down we turned our attention to the party that was waiting.

We sang happy birthday and enjoyed some yummy chocolate cupcakes that Elizabeth brought.

Now I know it looks like we were working on a getting a Clown badge but we weren't.  Jesse became the canvass for the troops icing finger paints.

Soon, some of the other girls started to paint themselves up too.  They were having so much fun, but were made to clean up quickly so the icing didn't stain their skin.

Then one by one, the girls gave Jesse her gifts.

Each gift brought oohs and ahhs as they were open.

Once again, each girl brought something that was suited to Jesse's likes. 

It's so fun to see the thought that each girl puts into the gift for their fellow Girl Scout sisters.

The girls had a sugar high from eating the cupcakes. 

We cleaned up and put things away and I sent them all home to be with their families. 

Once again, we had another fun night.