Tuesday night we loaded the un-refrigerated food into boxes labeled by meals and then had all the girls take their gear to the assistant camp director's house so it could be loaded up. Bryan was great because he took the kids swimming that night so they would be out of the way.
Wednesday morning all the girls met at the Church at 9:00 and then waiting for another 30 minutes while the leaders helped pack up the coolers and the Scout trailer with all the food we needed. We didn't get this done as quickly as we thought we would, so we got a bit of a slow start. Oops!
We drove to Bryce Canyon National Park as a 5-car caravan. I was AMAZED and SHOCKED at how much the girls in my car ate! They started eating right outside of St. George and didn't stop until we got to Bryce. I couldn't believe it. Anyway, we checked into the tepees at the Ruby's Inn Campground, set up camp and then got going on our activities. We had three groups: one decorated our secret sister pillowcases, another made necklaces for their knot tying certification and another group made journals. We had figured it would take about 30 minutes per activity and it actually took about 45-60 minutes for the knot tying and journals. So we were a bit behind schedule. It was about this time that I realized that a schedule at camp is just a rough guideline of what we should do. Once I figured that out, I was a lot less stressed!
Then we had dinner on a stick (kabobs) so the girls would pass off a certification to cook a meal. The 2nd years started the fires and then we grilled the kabobs. They were really good! We then played games (which was hilarious!), made up our tepee cheers, had our night devotional and went to bed. I was so grimy from the day that I showered before bed and it felt SOOOO nice! The leaders didn't sleep too well that night.
Thursday morning I was up early. It was our hiking day and I was a bit nervous. There was a forest fire in the park and it was pretty smoky. I talked to the fee specialist for Bryce National Park and she suggested that we hike early in the morning so the smoke wouldn't be too overwhelming. So instead of 4 groups, we hiked in 2 groups. We did 3 certifications along the way and it was a fun hike. The girls didn't complain too badly about it although the end of the hike was pretty steep.
We went back to camp and it was free time. The girls all agreed that they wanted to go swimming, so we headed over to the pool. It was a fun time. I got out, dressed and went back to camp to just relax in the shade. It was a bit warmer than we would have liked so I sat in the shade of a tree and chatted with some of the girls and leaders. It was a great afternoon.
We then had a camp meeting, gave out the skit boxes, started dinner (tin foil dinners they had to cook in the fires made by the 2nd years), ate dinner then had time to get ideas ready for the skits. Our theme was "Be Loyal to the Royal Within" so the girls were given a box and a princess character. They had to use the props to "mormonize" the story of the princess (Snow White, Belle, Cinderella, etc.). Then we had our skit time. We had 2 leaders that were pretty sick (a bug going around) so we got together in a tepee and got ours planned. They all turned out really cute and it was fun to see what the girls came up with. We then sang songs, played some more games, had our night devotional and then the 5th years took everyone on a snipe hunt. They had a great time and the younger girls loved it!! Then it was bedtime. Everyone slept great because we were so tired from the hike!
Friday was our relax and love it day! After breakfast, I ran down and reserved a tent spot just down the hill from the tepee sites. It was pretty loud next to the road and then we had a lot of people stopping to take pictures of the tepees. We wanted a quieter place for our spiritual night and for our activities, so I paid for another spot and was so glad I did! While the girls read their scriptures, the leaders helped us get the "Spa Day" stuff ready. We had made some spa kits with pedicure sets, nail polish, lotions, face masks, etc. in them. We bought some throw up tubs from a hospital to use as a foot soak tub and packaged all the kits nicely in those. Then we put down some tarps so the girls wouldn't have a semi-clean surface to use. We had all the girls bring down their camp chairs and we set them around with their foot tubs on the tarp. Then we had our "spa day." For each thing we did (face mask, pedicure, etc.) I had scriptures and quotes from prophets about how our inner beauty is reflected on our outer beauty and that we have to be pure inside to truly be beautiful. It was a great day. I had anticipated it taking only about 1 1/2 hours but it ended up taking 2 1/2 because the girls would get to talking and relaxing and we didn't want to rush them. It was so much fun and we got some great pictures. It ended with the girls, eyes covered with cucumber slices, just relaxing and listening to nature. Many of them said it was the best part of camp.
After lunch, they had to finish up any certifications they hadn't finished earlier and then it was free time. The Beehives french braided each other's hair, the Mia Maids napped and the Laurels went swimming. Although everyone did something different. We had girls nap, swim, shower and then play games. I took up a bunch of card games like Uno, Rook, etc. and they played those. So many girls have complained in the past that it was all "go-go-go" when they were at camp, so we gave them a bunch of time to just be together and have fun. I think it went well.
The Bishopric came up and we had dutch oven dinner (beef stroganoff). Then we played games for a bit, ate dutch oven dessert (I couldn't BELIEVE how much the girls ate) then we had our spiritual night program. It was really neat and we ended with testimonies. We ended pretty late but the Bishop still had time to growl at some of the tepees and scare the girls. They loved that!!
The next morning everyone was ready to go home. I think the smoke from the forest fires was starting to get to us all. We broke camp, ate breakfast (which the Bishop brought up for us!), had our awards and devotional and then headed home. I was told that the girls would nap on the way home, but the 1st and 2nd years in my car didn't!! Oh well. We came home to 112 degree heat in St. George and were happy to be home.
The girls all loved it and it was fun to be with the girls and other leaders and just laugh! That's what impressed me the most was how much we laughed. I think camp is for the girls but the leaders benefit greatly from it too!
Here are just a few photos:
3 comments:
Girls Camp in Teepees- sounds like fun! A Spa Day is a great idea, I remember Camp being go-go-go too. I'll have to pass that idea along. We had a fairy tale theme at our Girls Camp too.
Great Job, Michelle!
What fun! It looks like you had a great time.
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