Girls Camp

I was in charge of girls camp this year. I don't really like to be the one in charge. I actually prefer someone who knows what they're doing to be in charge and they tell me what to do. It's so much easier that way. Plus, usually, you don't get to have as much fun since you're the one making sure everything is running smoothly.
However... Girls camp was everything a girl could ask for- great leaders ;), great food, great location and even great shopping! I really can't take the credit for it either. We just had the right combination of everything. The leaders, the youth leaders, the cooks, the girls- by the end of camp everyone just gelled. It was GRR-R-R E A T! (That's a Tony the Tiger GREAT!) Jessa, Alix, and Jordan had a mud fight.

The place we went to was beautiful! It was 1 hour and 10 min northwest of Weiser. There was a cabin where we cooked and had meals. We also slept there the last night of camp. In the cabin was a big loft. They had a ping pong and bumper pool table to play on. There was a even a hammock to kick back in.
A short, but steep, walk below the cabin were two meadows. We camped in the meadow that had a pond with a paddleboat and canoe. Some of the girls loved catching the tadpoles, frogs, and even snakes that hung out in the pond. The river whooshed behind our tents. The owners dammed up a portion of the river so the girls could play/bathe in it. We had lots of free time in the afternoon so everyone could keep cool in the heat of the day. It got very hot and the skies were cloudless the whole time we were up there. The river was very loud. That first night that we went to bed it was hard to fall asleep because it was so loud. This meadow also had a homemade waterslide cut into the side of the hill. It was covered with a tarp and you would ride down it in an intertube. Some people went down on their rear end. Not me, that looked a little uncomfortable. The ground was not smooth and I'm sure some people slid over some rocks. There was a pool at the bottom of the slide where the water collected. When you hit the bottom you were pretty much taking a beetle bath. Thankfully, one of the girls scooped up the beetles and tossed them out. They were big, black, crunchy looking things. Nasty! (Me and Alix taking a ride down the slide).
As with a buch of girls, there was a little drama that went on, but nothing that couldn't be handled by our drama queen specialist, Amber. I figured since she has three girls she could help us in the drama area and she did a great job. Amber also put together our store, The Beanery. We had a positive reward system for the girls. Anytime the girls did anything that was positive they earned a bean. So by the end of the day they should have earned a bunch of beans. Then for an hour a day they had a chance to spend their beans at the store where they could buy anything from snacks to flip flops to battery operated fans. We had a huge selection of items at the store. The Beanery was a great success and they were super helpful- and not just because they could earn a bean either! (Brooklyn scored with some cute flip flops.)
My spiritual night was awful- it was so bad it was funny. Anything that could go wrong, did. I planned a short, but simple fireside. It was just not to be. It all started when I realized I had left my cd at home (which was half the program). No reason to panic there because we happened to have another cd up there so I decided to use that one instead. I was running around like a mad woman trying to get everything prepared. I couldn't get the cd player to work so I had to run back to the other meadow and get another cd player that we had. When it was finally time to start the bishop and one of his counselors both gave a great 5 min. talk. They were short, sweet, and full of the spirit. Then we started playing the music and it kept skipping...and skipping...and skipping. Ugh. It souned awful. So we tried the next song. It skipped and skippied and sounded awful! I burst into a giggle fit. It was either that or tears by this point. Well, I luaghed so hard I cried so I guess I got both. So I stood up and said, "That's it I can't take it anymore." I mean, seriously, how long can you sit there and listen to a cd skip? So we passed over the parts where we played the music. The music was the majority of the fireside so the rest went by very quickly, which was a good thing.
One of the best part of camp for me was the leaders tent. I think the earliest we went to bed was 1:30 am. I think we even had two 3 Am-ers. We stayed up and laughed and wrestled and talked and rolled of our mattresses often. There were atleast a few roll offs each night. I even rolled backwards off my mattress and out the door.
I was the top wrestler even though Julie thinks we need a rematch. Bring it on, Julie! (Susan, you turkey, you were hiding from my camera.)
Well, I'm trying to figure out how to include pictures with my blog. I tried uploading one while I typed this and it wouldn't ever come up. So Matt will probably end up figuring it out for me. I am not computer savvy. Computer skills would definitely come in handy, probably not as much as num chuck skills though. I'm sure I'll think of more girls camp news to share. This one sounds a little too cut and dry for me, but please keep in mind it is almost 3 am.

Good- bye, until Girls Camp '09!