Cloud Rim

 I LOVE Girl Scouts!  There is no other place where they hand a 9 year old a paddle to a kayak and within 3 minutes sends them out on the lake.  I love that my girls learn how to do hard things.  How to try new things and deal with situations that aren't comfortable.  I am so lucky to have such a great group of girls and moms and leaders who help me out along the way.

 Our first activity was waterfront.  It was hailing as we walked down to the water but by the time we got there, the sun was out and stayed that way for many hours.  We really appreciated that.  Annabelle went out on a paddle boat first, with too many other girls and so it was a tough experience.  I went out on a kayak with Tomie and we loved how peaceful it was.  I wish we could do this more often.  Next Annie went in a canoe with Madi.  That was even harder to control and brought her to tears.  I tried to get her to come out with me on a kayak, assuring her that it was a lot easier, but she was done.  There was only 10 or so minutes left so I jumped in a Kayak on my own and raced around the lake for a bit.

 

 At the big campfire that night our girls (Annie) came up with a fabulous skit.  We did Cloud Rim Idol.  We had 2 girls sing "Shake it Off" and the judges said no.  Then 2 girls did "Let it Go" and we said no again.  Then we had 2 girls sing "Make New Friends" and we all cheered.  Then we all got to search for a roasting stick and make s'mores.  We were luckily the first troop and were able to head back up to our campsite quickly. 

 

I started a story with the girls, sang songs, and we said prayers together.  Then the thunder and lightening and rain started.  It made for a long and cold night.  The girls were scared in their cabin (not Annie and some others, but half of them) and we were wind blown and cold in our platform tent.  Our kind of tent works great for hot summer nights, but the wind was blowing through all night and it was not fun.  I slept off and on all night.  The girls swear they were up until 3am.  Wish surprised me since when I went into their cabin the next morning they were happily cleaning up.

Amazingly the sun woke us all up in the morning and the girls excitedly got ready for the Polar Bear Plunge.  I was so proud that 6 of 7 of my girls were brave enough to do it.  Of course I didn't want to be left out on the fun.  I may have been the only leader to jump in the frigid lake, but it felt awesome and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 Annabelle got a little scared trying to swim while chilled, but she did it!  After we warmed up with hot chocolate and a warm breakfast we went back out into the sunshine.  No one showed up to do the flag but we were there and willing so our girls got to hoist the flag.  Another troop gave us Morty the Moose since we were so kind as to step in and do the flag. The girls were SO happy to welcome him on our hike.

 

 We talked to a few counselors and they explained the hike around the lake.  I thought it seemed fairly simple, but somehow we missed a turn and ventured up the trail, instead of around the lake.  The girls were good sports and we enjoyed 2 more lakes.  I was starting to get a little nervous, but when we rounded a bend and saw the camp at the bottom of the hill we were so thankful.  What should have been a 30 minute hike turned into a 70 minute hike, but what Annabelle said at the end was worth it all: "I have done some really hard things at this camp but at the end I love it and I am so glad I did it!"

 

 After lunch, where we were the "hoppers" we had pottery.  The girls all enjoyed using the pottery wheels and us leaders used this time to relax, read, and go to the trading post.

 

 That evening it started to get rainy again.  We were supposed to have a cook-out for dinner.  Luckily the rain didn't hinder us too much.  We made spaghetti with a propane stove and then garlic bread over a mini propane stove.  The girls all cut veggies for a salad.  Then we headed up to our campfire and had banana boats over the fire.  We sang lots of songs together and got the fire going, despite the sprinkling of rain we were getting.  When the boats were not quite done it started raining more so we headed inside to eat them. 

Thursday night the girls had lots of games with all the other girls while the leaders met and discussed how girl scouts can be outdoors more.  We had chocolate covered strawberries that tasted fabulous!  Our girls were SO tired that night.  Us leaders happily moved into a tent and welcomed the warmth and lack of wind.  After I told the continuation of the story I had already started the counselors came and sang to the girls.  Cute little McKell said, "You should hear Miss Emily sing that song all by herself!"  How sweet!!  As expected, everyone slept much better and i had to actually wake them all up the next morning.  We had breakfast and packed up and then had a fire-buidling lesson.  I love, again, how they allow the girl scouts to try new things.  They taught them how to build a fire and then gave them matches to make their own.  Unfortunately the wood was SO wet from all the rain that it just didn't happen.  Luckily they had the big campfire going and we were able to make cinnamon-sugar tortillas for a snack.

 

 

  

 I love these pictures!  I love Girl Scouts!  I love that we got the Best Hiker Award.  I will always cherish these moments I have had with my Annabelle.  Until next year!