Closing out the year

On Monday we talked a little bit about our experiences over the weekend.  Then we did some planning for the rest of the year.  Here is the proposed schedule for the rest of this school year:

5/18:  The girls wanted time to just play, so, on this day we are going to make cookies (with left over oatmeal from camping), and then free play.   We hope to be able to pass out the cookie rewards at this time, too.

5/25:  This is Memorial Day, and thus No School, and thus No Girl Scouts.

6/1:  The girls have decided to have an art show.  This will allow them to finish the Painting badge.  Each girl should bring in some art work to show.  They voted that it can be personal work, or pictures from favorite paintings done by professional artists.  Any pictures are allowable, but, not artwork such as sculptures.
We will put together the show, talk about what is inspiring in the artwork, and serve cookies.  ;)

6/8:  This day is the spring concert for 2nd graders currently taking music.  We will mostly take the day for free-play.  We will also bring the girls back to school for the concert, and parents can meet us at the school.  We will propose a final schedule for this when we see what the final schedule for the concert is.

6/14:  I believe Laural has sent you all email to save the date for a pony related end-of-year party.

6/15:  This is the last Monday of school.  The girls want to have an invention day, so they can finish out the inventors badge.    In order to do this day, we'll spend the next few weeks collecting paper-towel and toilet-paper tubes, cardboard, string... anything that can be used to craft an invention.

I can't believe how close we are to the end of the year.  On the last day of this year we should be able to give each girl a painting badge, a snack badge, and an inventor's badge.   I feel like it has been a productive year, and hopefully we have met our goal of giving the girls more big projects and more fun in Girl Scouting.

Looking forward - I am incredibly grateful that you are willing to share your girls with me.  I think each of these girls is really special, and I'm happy to have them in the troop.  Martha and I have been thinking about how we will proceed next year, and I will be writing that up soon.  We do hope to continue the troop, and we hope that all of our girls will choose to stay.  We will be splitting the two schools into two different troops, and we will welcome any Lincoln girls who wish to join the Lincoln patrol.

Encamporee

Yay!  Camping.  It happened, our girls did it.  Many boxes of cookies, a lot of taking, and one or two friendly hugs for girls who were unsure, but they thrived and had what I hope was a wonderful weekend.

Obviously, our first night involved S'Mores.  Because.  What a beautiful night to be out in the woods around a campfire.

 

Miss Martha read the girls stories every night before bed.  The girls really dug their big rooms, with bunk beds, and lots of friends.  The did sleep, at least a little.

The girls woke up fairly early on Saturday, and we were the first troop to breakfast.  This did mean we had some time to spare.  Here are the girls saying 'Good morning, Mom and Dad!' (except I couldn't find my email list to send it).

 The weather was really nice, which makes camping life easy.  We waited for opening cermonies in the sun, and all the girls got to enjoy Saturday activity in the sun.

 

Not pictured on this day, our girls helped a Daisy troop bridge to Brownies, by talking to them about Brownies, teaching a couple of songs, and doing a craft with them.  Pretty much everyone agreed that this was a high-light of the weekend, and I think it is a great example of what a great community scouting can be.

We were also lucky that, on Saturday night, our 'big sister' troop (well, a troop with some of our girls' big sisters in it, who helped us bridge to Brownies last year) came by for our fire in the evening.  They were really great leading songs and eating marshmallow treats and 'being a sister' to all of our Girl Scouts.  Thanks, Guys!!

Of course, we couldn't have done it without these awesome girls.  I, personally, am grateful that our girls have their leadership team.  (Some of whom were inside shushing whispers instead of getting photographed.)

I'd love to hear more feedback from your girls, and a pictures if you have them...

The girls have already agreed that we're going back next year!

Sit-upon crafts!

Lynne has offered to help the girls make a Girl Scout sit-upon—a waterproof cushion to sit on outside—on Monday. The sit-upon will be used at Encamporee when the girls sit outside. Before we pay for supplies out of our dwindling dues, we would like you to dig into your closets and see if you have any of these items to donate toward the project:

  - picnic cloths (vinyl with a cotton or flannel backing; we'll cut 14" squares, so if they have damaged spots, we can cut around them)

  - old towels (for filling; we'll cut 12" squares to fill the cushions)

  - duct tape. The more colors we have, the more choices the girls can use to personalize their sit-upon. We can return any unused tape if you would like the rolls back.

If you have any of these supplies, please email with a note on what you can donate. Any savvy Goodwill or bargain shoppers, please be on the look out for these items as well.

Lynne would like to have the squares cut before the 4pm meeting on Monday so the girls can focus on assembling their cushions. Anything that can be sent with your girls on Friday to school, on Saturday if your scout is attending the Brownie Bite camp, or Monday at drop off can go to Lynne or Addison in Mr. Hamby's room. (And if you are handy with the scissors or pinking shears, we welcome your precut 14" picnic cloth squares or 12" towel squares!)

Thanks!

Recent activity...

Although the updates on this blog have been sparse, we have been continuing to do fun things in our meetings.  The girls are closing in on finishing another couple of badges before the end of the year, and, we are spending time discussing the upcoming encamporee.  

We have finished all but one of the painting activities, using puffy pain to 'paint our emotion'.  The puffy paint (made with shaving cream and food coloring) was a pretty big hit, and the girls got creative making peaks and shapes.

 One day we had snack straight from Pike Place market - two kids of apples, a pear, some star fruit to try, and a kumquat.  About half of the girls really like their kumquats, the other half didn't care from them.  I was surprised the the pear was the least popular fruit.

We have spent two days working on the insect badge.  One day we went to the playground, and found bugs.  The following we we learned something about the bugs we had found, and also made a bug craft out of paper plates.  There were some creative insects, including ones with multi-part bodies or moving designs.

Monday play-day

We took advantage of the beautiful weather to give the girls a plain-old playdate.  We spent the afternoon at the playground, for some free interaction.

I think the girls have been working hard on cookie sales, and our recent badge completions, and I think this day really benefited them.  How did your girl feel about it?

In the mean time, I was proud of my snack idea:

We made 'bugs on a raft' -- sort of the old 'ants on a log' recipe, but we invited the girls to put peanut butter and dried cherries on Trefoil cookies.  I was pleased with how well it worked, and how many of the girls enjoyed all three components of the snack (or at least tolerated their less favorite when they got to add the extras).  

Encamporee!!!

I have been talking about the encamporee for a while, and it is time to settle down and get some real information out there.  So, read on:

What is this thing?  Well, the encamporee is a weekend that our service unit (our group of Girl Scouts representing North Seattle) rents out an entire girl scout camp, and any troops within the service unit are welcome to attend.

Why is that cool?  I don't know how many of you were Girl Scouts, but most Girl Scouts remember camping as one of the highlights of their time.  Participating in the encamporee gives our troop a first experience with camping with a relatively easy environment.  It also offers the opportunity to experience singing songs in the dining hall, and doing projects and games with older scouts.

When is it?  This event is from Friday evening, May 8 through Sunday after breakfast, May 10.  It should be possible for girls to stay for only one of the two nights, if that is necessary.

Where are we staying?  The encamporee is at Camp River Ranch (https://www.girlscoutsww.org/Things-To-Do/go-to-camp/explore-our-camp-properties/Pages/Girl-Scout-Camp-River-Ranch.aspx), which is one of the amazing properties of GSWW.  Our troop has been assigned Troop House 1.  This is an indoor, winterized unit:  (The troop houses have electric lights and heat.  There is also a wood burning stove.  The unit has a kitchen with range and refrigerator, unit cooking equipment and place settings.  One single bathroom with toilet, sink and shower and one bathroom with 2 toilet stalls, sink and shower.  Microwave and coffee makers are provided.)

We requested this type of unit not only because it can accommodate our size, but also because it should offer an easy first experience for our relatively young girls.  We will not need to worry about requiring the proper equipment for outdoor temperatures, or introducing out-door privies, but we will be able to offer the girls a camp fire, and outdoor daytime experiences.

How much will it cost? The cost for encamporee is $10 per participant, plus the rental fee for the troop house ($250 = ~$10/participant), plus extra food we have.  So, a total of about $20 on the weekend, plus some meals.  We will have a better estimate of how much the meals cost after we have been able to do our meal planning with the girls.  As of right now we know that there are two meals in the lodge, included in the $10 fee, and we are responsible for the others.  Some troops have their girls eat before arrival on Friday night, so we anticipate needing to plan 3-4 meals, snacks, and, of course, S'Mores.

What does my girl need? Our girls will need normal sleep-over type supplies, but appropriate clothes and gear for a couple of days of out door activities.  Your girl will also need a sleeping bag, and a mess kit.  (Or mess-kit replacement such as a plastic plate and silverware set.)  We can discuss an exact supply list in more depth, but, for now, here is a sample:

• ONE carryall, duffel, gym bag or backpack
• ONE bedroll or sleeping bag 
• extra blanket 
• small pillow 
• (optional) air mattress or (optional) foam pad 1
• sit upon 
• Rain gear 
• Boots or extra shoes 
• Warm Sweater 
• jacket 
• slacks or jeans (extra pair) 
• Socks (extra pair) 
• Shoes (sturdy & comfortable) 
• Toilet articles 
• Small towel, 
• washcloth, 
• soap 
• Pajamas (warm sweatsuit with hood) 
• Hat (knit cap) 
• Flashlight, extra batteries 
• Dunk bag (stuffed with…) - drinking cup - plate, bowl - knife, fork, spoon 

How can I help prepare my girl?  We will do our best to make sure the girls know what to expect.  one thing you can do is to make sure your girl has had the opportunity to spend the night away from home, perhaps at one of her fellow girl scouts' houses.

How can I help the troop get ready?  We will be giving you more information as soon as we can.  We will need help with the planning and getting our equipment prepared, as well as getting our meals planned and prepped.

In the mean time, you can go take this survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PP9X8TX

C is for Cookie (again!)

Thanks to Miranda for the picture!

Our girls are so awesome; they make me proud.  Good job selling today, in some chilly wind.

(We also worked on homework, and then worked on a badge activity.  The badge activity is for the financial awareness badge, and we used our supermarket location to price and discuss the finances for some potential meals that we can take camping.  In this way, we got some experience with finances, and some experience with meal planning.)