Girls Camp

I went to Girls Camp with the girls I work with from church on Tuesday, June 21 - Thursday, June 23. It was a terrible time for me to leave town, seeing as I was in charge of the Children's Festival for 300 people that Saturday (June 25th) but I wanted to be with my girls and I had such a great time.

Camp Batel is up near Laramie, WY, and it was such a green, lush time of year. It was probably the prettiest that part of Wyoming could possibly look. All of the hills were spring green and everything was so new and fresh. The mosquito population was out of control, though, but despite having to put on bug spray every hour, everything was perfect.

I drove up to Camp Batel on Tuesday, the first day of camp, to help the stake leaders train the youth camp leaders (YCLs). The YCLs are 16-18 and have been to camp for 4 years or more. They train the younger girls in all kinds of things - first aid, knot tying, etc. Meghin Burns and Dani Wilkin, two of my Laurels (16-18 year olds), drove up to camp with me. As we came into camp, we hit a small mud puddle that completely covered Holler (our old Honda Accord). It was amazing that this little mud puddle produced such a thorough splash.

I had a great time hanging out and talking with Dani and Meghin. I tried to expose them to some good music but I don't think my taste in music fit rubbed off on them. I am getting old and am far from cool, now...

I wasn't really needed for a good portion of the day once we got up to camp so I was able to slink off and put my chair in the trees and read "Gone With the Wind" for 3 hours straight! That is my idea of a wonderful vacation! Uninterrupted reading time in the woods! Amazing!

Tuesday afternoon, we practiced skits and at night, we sang silly camp songs around the fire 'til late. It was so much fun. I loved being in the great outdoors with these girls.

Wednesday morning, we prepared for all the wards to come up to camp. My ward showed up mid-morning and we started having a great time right away.

Madison trying to make the perfect tongue tattoo with her fruit roll up...

Maddie french braided my hair. 

Our theme for girls' camp was "Your Happily Ever After" (one of Elder Uchtdorff's talks) and our ward were the 12 dancing princesses (each ward had a different fairy tale for a theme and did a related skit at camp). This was our awesome flag. Each of the pairs of shoes has a girl's name on it.

We did some crafts, worked on certifications, ate, and played...

We canoed in the lake and had splashing wars with our paddles. The girls in my canoe and I decided to jump in the lake and try to swamp Gail Bench (our camp director) and Emily McMurtrey (asst. camp director). So, we jumped out of our canoe and swam over and rocked and rocked Gail and Emily with no success. Emily looked at me and winked and I knew she'd defected to the dark side. She then leaned to one side and we dumped she and Gail into the water. I knew I'd been acting immature earlier in the day when one of the girls from another ward turned to me and asked if I'd just graduated from high school. She sincerely thought I had. The ring leading with the canoe tipping just sealed the deal of ridiculous immaturity. I had so much fun being crazy with my girls.

Alex, Me, and Sadie, having a blast in our canoe.

Splashing wars...

Trying with all our might to knock Gail and Em into the lake...

Success!

Recovering after the freezing swim in the lake. It took me ages to warm up. I feel cold just thinking about it.

After our canoe in the lake, we did archery and threw tomohawks. I loved the tomohawks and practiced and practiced 'til I got pretty good at it. Maybe I have some Native American blood in me somewhere. I've always wished I had.

I did get a seriously nasty bruise on my arm from the bowstring at the archery station but it was such a good time, I didn't mind. I was wearing an arm guard but had it in the wrong place. Clever me.

We had an Iron Chef competition where we had to make a meal with a certain number of ingredients on a list. Our ward won last year so we felt the pressure to perform. Also, Gail is incredibly competitive and a skilled cook, so she came up with a grand plan for domination. We made quesadillas over the fire in a cast iron pan and then made s'more pie with a graham cracker crust, marshmallows, chocolate, and carmel sauce. Yum! It was fun to prep the food with the girls. We ended up getting third but we knew our dish was by far the best. The judges (stake leaders) just couldn't let us win two years in a row. 

Chopping, chopping!

Aubrey, Dani, and Madison prepping the pie tins...

Em M. skillfully cooked the chicken over the fire...

Here I am with my adorable girls! - Bottom row - L to R - Shaylynne, Rachel, Me, Dani. Top Row - L to R - Maddie, Sonnet Hope, Meghin, Alex, and Aubrey.

We added Em M., Madison, and Gail to this picture. I think Megan Anderson was taking the picture. Man, I love these girls!

Wednesday night, the stake put on a really neat fireside about the tree of life and had a tree lit up with lights across the lake. The "fruit" of the tree were little bags with small battery lit candles and a temple handkerchief to save for the dedication of the Fort Collins temple. The idea was to help the girls have a goal to stay worthy to attend that sacred service. It was a really neat fireside and I felt the spirit so strongly. Being out in nature makes me feel the Savior's love and the spirit so strongly. 

Here is the tree with the little "fruit" bags. It looked so beautiful across the lake.

Wednesday night, I slept in the tent with Em M, Gail, and Megan Anderson. All the girls quieted down by 11 pm but our tent (full of leaders) talked and laughed 'til well past 1 am. Gail is so much fun! Alex, one of our girls, had to come by and tell us to be quiet. We were keeping them up... It was like having a sleep over with girl friends all over again. It was so fun but I was so tired the next day!

Here we are in our tent - Em, Gail, and Megan. Such great ladies!

I was sad to have to leave Thursday but I had a tennis match with my wonderful old ladies that evening and needed to finish up the final details for the Children's Festival on Saturday.

The Children's Festival went off without a hitch. The blow up obstacle course/slide was a huge hit and it was by far the least stressful of the three summer events for me. We had about 270 people show up. As soon as it was over, though, I immediately had to start planning my next big event, the Family Housing Camp Out, so I didn't have much of a feeling of completion or release, but I was happy it was over, nonetheless.

Here is the Resident Manager team - Bottom row - L to R - Laurie-Anne, Jessica, Clancy, Me, Chiyo. Top row - L to R - Marisa, Deanna, Maggie, Sarah, Gretchen, Marion, and Em (not pictured - Jackie). 

Sam loved the treasure hunt best. He dug in the pool filled of sand to find the painted rock (which was redeemable for a rubber ducky) over and over. We also had face painting, a photo booth, the obstacle course/slide, and other fun activities.