Girls Camp

In addition to having cub scout camp last week, we also had girls camp.  This would not be an issue for our family, but I got the call to be the girls camp director in February, so I got to go spend Wednesday through Saturday at camp.  It was a lot of fun, surprisingly.  We went to a boy scout camp that was about an hour away, in hill country.  They had a pool with slides, an air conditioned mess hall where they fed us all our food, and a pond for canoing.  It was still really, really hot.

 We have in our ward some great girls.  I had heard that a lot before I went to camp, but I didn't really know the girls other than occasionally having them babysit, and so I couldn't say for sure if it was true.  I really got to know them at camp and I can say that they are great girls.  If I asked them to do something, I didn't get any attitude, and they would jump up and do it.  I was worried about a couple of girls that didn't naturally fit in with the other girls, and I mentioned it to one girl and she went out of her way to make sure that they were included.  The girls didn't complain (much) about the heat and the miserable conditions. 

The other nice thing about camp in our stake is that the stake planned everything.  We just had to show up with our camping supplies and participate.  There were a few times when we as leaders had to fill in free time, but I had great leaders who helped me to fill the time.  The girls seemed to enjoy the games that we played in the extra time.  In the next three pictures you can see we are trying the human knot game.

Somehow we messed it up, and we ran out of time so we just posed at the end as if we had done it.

 We had flag ceremony every day.

 The girls got to ride in canoes, shoot sling shots, archery and bbguns.  We also had swimming time during the hottest part of the day everyday.  That really helped to beat the heat.

 A couple of the nights we had firesides down near the pond.  One night we got to star gaze and a brother brought his telescope.  While we were waiting to look in it, we were given glow bracelets and we had fun making interesting pictures with them.

Here are the three leaders we had the whole time.  I was so lucky to have such great leaders there with us.

 Another night at the fireside, there was a beautiful sunset.

Luckily, my mom came down to stay with my kids, so I could spend the whole time there without worrying about what was happening back at home.  It was really hot, so we all had to not think about it, and just get used to being sweaty. It was also really nice to not have to worry about eating.  The food was pretty good, all things considered, and we could just walk into the mess hall at the designated time and get served food.  We got fed so well that I never ate the snacks I brought with me to camp because I never was hungry for them. Beyond that, though there were several spiritual classes that were nice and it was nice to get away from the kids for a few days.  It helped me to remember what it was like when I was younger and to see how important it is to make the gospel part of our lives. A couple of girls asked if I was coming again next year, but unless I have the calling again, I won't be.  We'll have to see what the next year brings.