Girls Camp 2008

So I have been a slacker. Either that or really busy (please don't hate me). So I am playing catchup and sharing some of the things that have been going on with us lately. The second week in July I had the great pleasure of going to our girl's camp with our church youth group. There is nothing like being up in the woods, smelling the fresh air, sleeping in wide open spaces while camping. This is where I get that far off look as if I am reminiscing and not thinking of honey buckets, wild rabid chipmunks and freezing cold glacier water presented in lake form for the enjoyment of swimming.
Here are some of the great things that happened while we were there...

There were a bunch of chipmunks of at girls camp this year. Some may say they are cute, but I say they are just a glorified rodent. It became our mission to capture one of these vermin. You say why? I say why not. So we emptied a plastic container and put a stick under it to hold it up. We tied a piece of string to the stick, which was to be pulled out when the chipmunk went under the plastic container to retrieve a cookie that we placed there. Our final piece in the trap was to put a sign that says "free cookie" and an arrow pointing to said cookie. Go ahead and laugh and make a mockery of our attempt to commune with wildlife. After several close calls, a chipmunk was captured. It ran around inside the plastic container which one of the girls was now sitting on to hold it down. Then to everyone's disgust, that chipmunk flattened itself out and squeezed out between the container edge and the dirt. I have heard that a mouse can fit through a hole the size of a dime. Which once again proves that chipmunks are rodents too.

Another fun thing we did, or should I say the girls did, was the ropes course. There were several obstacles that were set up which the girls had to figure out and work together to solve. This picture depicts "The Wall". They had to get everyone in their group over the wall. They were given 30 seconds to make a plan and then were told to proceed, but to be aware that there would be unexpected problems. After the girls got started, one of the leaders would go up and tell one girl that she had a broken arm and couldn't use it anymore. Another girl ended up with a broken leg and yet another was told she was blind. The girls learned how to depend on and help each other. Girls who were strong now found that they were the ones who needed the most help. Our girls loved this and all said it was one of the favorite experiences at camp. And Yes all the girls made it over!

Girls hanging out at camp. We had a smaller group than we normally have had in the past, 12 girls, but our camp director Beth had us set up in style. We also ate very well. She is a master at dutch oven and camping cooking.

This was our skit that we presented Wednesday night. It was based on Joseph of Egypt because that was our theme and green was our color. We just had fun making up songs that went with our theme and our color. Who knew that green could be so fun!

When our bishopric came up, they brought us hawaiian shaved ice with ice cream in the bottom. It was really yummy and they were huge! They then presented a few messages to go with our theme this year. It is always great to see our clean, happy bishopric after we have been camping for a few days.

These are two girls that I had the opportunity to talk to while at camp. They were a lot of fun, very nice and enthusiastic about their jobs as YCSL. If, or should I say when, we bring back arranged marriages, these two are very high, if not at the top, of my list for potential wives for my sons. Just thought I would share :)

This it the trailer "loaded", and I do mean "loaded", with all camping stuff headed down the road into the wild blue yonder as we seek that solace called home. Eileen was in the lead, Beth followed driving this hog and I was following faithfully behind in my car. And no, I definitely didn't snap this shot while I was driving, that is just your active imagination running wild again.