Where's the Flowers?

I thought April showers were supposed to bring May flowers! Well, May is here, and I've seen a few flowers, but no decrease in the showers!

This first May weekend was ABC Day for our Brownie Troops - All Brownie Camp Day, that is. It had been raining for several days, and the whole state seemed to be a mudpit. I have to admit that I would not have been particularly sad if I had gotten a call saying this event was cancelled, but, having been a scout councilor during many rainy days, I knew the chance was slim. Saturday arrived, gray and rainy, and we packed our stuff and headed up to the school parking lot to caravan to camp. When it came time to go, my van wouldn't start. Jerry came up to the school and jumped it, and we proceeded to camp, with me hoping that it wasn't an omen of things to come!

Maggie's troop (of which I am the illustrious leader) had four girls that went along with me, Maggie, Sarah, Kennedy and Jennifer, my fearless co-leader Shelly, and David - the father of one of my girls. He's usually the only guy within miles of Girl Scout events, but he's a good sport and doesn't seem to mind.

Gracie went with her troop - Her leader, Gail, and her second adult, Kelli, brought their girls, Olivia and Cora. They had the cabin next to us, and were in our "group" for games and activities, so we were all together for the fun.

Once we slipped and slid into the mud parking lot and hauled our gear through the misty weather to our cabin we went to the lodge for the opening of camp and a quick sing-along with the Program Aides (PA's). Then it was back to the campsites for the ultimate camp treat, S'mores.

After a s'more and some more camp songs, we had a few minutes to go to our cabins and get settled in. Once we were settled in we went on a "cat-eye" hike. We got our ponchos and flashlights, and the PA's led us to a starting point. From there we shone our lights at the trees around us, looking for glowing cat-eyes. We followed the trail from eye to eye, and eventually made it back to our campsite. We brushed our teeth and went back to our cabin and tried to sleep. The girls didn't have much of a problem, but my body is not used to sleeping on a sheet of plywood with a three-inch foam mattress. When the alarm went off in the morning, the adults all agreed that it had been a very long night.

We headed up to the lodge for our morning flag ceremony. It was a very gray and overcast day, but it was not raining, so we were very happy.

After the flag ceremony we went on a hike to find our breakfast, the rare wild granola bars, muffins and juice. Once we had eaten we went on a hike to see the rest of the camp. It is pretty small, but it has everything you need. There is a "Brownie Bridge" there that goes over a small stream, and we hiked to and over the bridge - here are our girls at Brownie Bridge:
After the hike we had three sessions where the girls played games and did activities for try-its.

The first session we played games - here's Maggie running a relay where they had to dress up and then do an obstacle course. The next session the girls were given several objects and then they had to work together to construct a shelter for themselves that would protect them from wind and rain. They all had to get in it to prove it was big enough for all of them. It was a tight squeeze, but they did it.

At the last station they talked about senses and camouflage of animals. Of course, a big part of any Girl Scout event is singing songs - and they did that too! Here they are singing about a moose named Fred who likes to drink his juice in bed.

Lastly, we did our kapers - cleaning up our cabin and campsite. We walked around to see what else there was, and the girls decided they want us to stay in the "treehouse" unit next time - the cabins are on stilts, probably 10 feet up in the air. I guess this means one of us is going to have to take camp troop training!

All in all, we had a great time, despite the grayness of the days, and the girls are looking forward to going camping again.

Here's my parting shot - Gracie had so much fun climbing tress and playing in the mud - she's definitely into the outdoors!