EARTH DAY AT THE KELP FEST 2012

For Earth Day weekend, Troop 746 headed down to Laguna Beach to celebrate in the fun at Kelp Fest 2012.

We went in two cars and while the girls in my car were waiting to meet up with the girls from the other car, we ran into a lady who had a snake. 

I was really surprised the girls were all willing to pet the snake.  No fear in these girl scouts!

They asked a lot of questions about the snake and snakes in general.  I love how these girls are always learning every time we get together.

There were several booths set up and games to play.

The thing the girls really wanted to do was go to the Tide Pools. 

There were tours going on and before we got to head on over there, we had to listen to a little presentation on what a Tide Pool was, how it was formed, what they may see and how to treat Tide Pools.

Once the "business stuff" was done, it was time to head on over to the real fun.

Each girl had a little brochure that showed the different sea life they may find.

Here Skylar is showing us she found one.

One of the guides points out other things to see.

Safa really enjoyed trying to stay out of the way of the waves. 

Going in the water at the beach is so tempting to kids.  So, I did promise we could have a fun day at the beach this summer. 

That information seemed to satisfy the girls so they didn't mind not being able to go in right then.

Verenice and Cailyn both had a blast at the Tide Pools.

We didn't want to leave the area but we had to because other people were coming to check out the Tide Pools. 

On the way back, we made a quick stop at the Lifeguard Tower.  The Laguna Beach Lifeguard Dept has been around for 83 years!

We came across a beautiful mermaid.  Her tail was so pretty as it sparkled with it's many colors.

Some of the girls wanted their picture taken alone with her.  So, I clicked away as they took their turns sitting with her.

Here is Nikki.

Diana also wanted her picture with the mermaid.  I can't blame her.  After all, how many times do you really get this chance?

Skylar was happy to have to have her picture taken with her. 

The other girls were happy with the group photo and decided they didn't want to be in a picture alone with the mermaid.

We moved over to the face painting station.

The girls always seem to enjoy getting their faces painted.

There were starfish, whales, mermaids and more painted on the girls.

Everyone worked up a hardy appetite so we went across the street to have lunch at Johnny Rockets. 

It was a lot of fun.  Not only did everyone enjoy their meal but the staff came out and danced for us.

When it was time to go, everyone seemed to be tired.  Fresh air and exercise does that to you.

We all agreed that we had a blast and Earth Day Rocks!!!

EASTER FESTIVAL 2012

It was time to celebrate Easter and go visit with the Easter Bunny!  OK, maybe I had to beg a few girls to have their picture taken with the Bunny but so what.  I'm sure they really wanted to sit on his or I guess I should say her lap.  Look at those big smiles.

I always thought the Easter Bunny was a boy.  After all, the song says it's Peter Cottontail that hopped down the bunny trail.  Not Sally Cottontail.  Oh well.

We had fun going to the Orange County Fair Grounds for their Easter Celebration.

The girls had fun picking out what they wanted painted on their face. 

Diana went with a full face butterfly.  Doesn't she look beautiful?

Most of the girls went with only one side of their face being painted.



Here the girls are showing off their lovely painted faces. 

Each girl also had a basket to collect the candy, stuffed animals and of course the Easter Eggs that they opened up quickly to see if a "Golden Ticket" was inside the egg.

Sadly, no such ticket was found by our girls.  But, they did get a lot of candy, small toys and a stuffed animal.

Right before my eyes, some of the girls turned into pretty Spring flowers!

Some were trying out their hands at being the new Easter Bunny.

There were lines at every station we had to wait in to for the chance at winning that coveted "Golden Ticket" that would have brought with it a Super Big Easter Basket. 

Yet, the longest line we had to wait in was for lunch.  We got an extra large fresh baked pizza that we all shared.  YUM!

There were all sorts of magical moments.  We even came across some extra tall butterfly ladies. 

After we hit up all the spaces, got tons of treats and everyone had a nice full tummy, it was time to leave. 

The girls were not ready to go home yet.  So, we made a stop back at Perry School so the 5th grade girls could help paint the wall behind the school.  It's a way they got to leave their mark behind once they move on to 6th grade.

Then we spent some time a park where the girls had fun running around, playing hide and seek and using up what little energy they had.

Another fun outing was over. 

GENERATIONS LONG AGO

We have been spending the last few weeks working on our Generation Badge.  The girls have been learning about their family trees and how to go about being an investigator to find out more info on who their family was, several generations back.

Each girl found out some interesting information about their family that they didn't know before. 

Some were able to see names that were passed down from generation, to generation.  Some learned where their blue eyes could have come from. 

Some saw a history of health problems that could have been passed down to even their generation. 

Many found out when their family first came to America.

The girls were able to see how getting birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates, military records, old school records, family bibles and many other documentations, could give them valuable information for their family trees.

A few of the girls found out that other family members have been working on their family tree.  This of course was great for them as it already provided them with a lot of information to work off of.

One other thing we did was a craft to help remind the girls of these new "family members" they just learned about.

We took old photos and made copies.  Then they cute out the picture, glued it to the back of a clear stone and then added a magnet to the back. 

This way, they are able to put these on their refrigerators and think of them often.

Some girls forgot to bring their pictures with them.  They had the option to either take the supplies home to make them at home or they could draw a picture, write a name or saying to use as their magnets.

They all came out great and the girls enjoyed making these. 

I also showed them how they could make larger paper weights the same way, only using a larger piece of glass.

They have all been really interested in learning about past generations and how times have changed so much.

It's always nice to know where we came from. 

GIRL SCOUTS 100th YEAR CELEBRATION

One hundred years ago, Girl Scouts was first started by Juliette Gordon Low.  She sold her strand of pearls to get the money to start this wonderful girls group.

We went as a troop to the Nixon Library to celebrate the 100th Anniversary along with hundreds of other girl scouts. 

There were several stations that the girls could do an activity and also earn a "badge", which was really a sticker.  These "badges" were actual badges that girls could earn from years ago.  We had to find 9 locations and do what they planned for us and then we would get a sticker/badge.
The first one we stopped at was the Millinery (hat making)  badge.  The girls made a birthday hat. 

This badge was very popular back in the days that girls and women wore hats. 

We stopped for a photo with the 100th Birthday cake they made just for this event.

The girls all wanted to stop and send a card to the men and women that are in the Military to thank them for their service and for keeping us safe.

We then headed over to the house that President Nixon actually lived in a child. 

We got to go through the little house and see some of the actual furniture, kitchen items, piano, photos and other items from when he lived there. 

We then made a mad dash over the actual helicopter that President Nixon used while he was in office.  We were very lucky because there were no lines and we got to go right in without waiting.

The girls thought it was very interesting to see how a President used to get to locations by helicopter.

We decided we would eat before the crowds got super bad.  We lucked out and were able to get tables to sit down at. 

Everyone got to pick between hot dogs, chicken tacos or pizza.  Each item also came with a snack and drink.

After everyone had full tummies, it was back to finding the locations of the other "badges".  The girls liked making the rose pens.  The rose was Pat Nixon's favorite flower and since it was also her birthday celebration, the rose was used and made very cute pens.

 The girls also made little clothes pin dolls. 

We got to see several of Pat Nixon's old dresses from when she lived in the White House.  We all picked out the ones we liked the most.

We were all pretty tired from walking around for hours.  So, we took advantage of going inside and listening to a lady sing some fun girl scout songs.

They also had some drawings going on where the girls could enter to win a free gutiar, bike or other items.

We got stopped by someone taking photos for council and they asked if the girls would pose in front of the water.  We actually got stopped by several people because they said our troop looked so nice and were very well mannered.  How nice.

After we got all the badges/stickers, the girls still had some energy left.  They wanted to go to where the DJ was and dance.  So dance they did! 

They had so much fun there.  They said it was the best part of the day.  They also laughed a lot.

No one wanted to stay for cake.  WHAT!  Kids didn't want to eat cake? 

Well, truth be told, we all stopped and the girls were able to get drinks and a treat earlier. 

Since we did everything and the girls finally got tired of dancing, we decided it was time to go.  Everyone was tired and ready to go. 

We all said our good byes and headed home. 

HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY GIRL SCOUTS!