I survived Girls Camp 2007. Girls Camp was this past week, from Tuesday through Friday at Camp Cedar Falls. It was extremely well organized and the girls had a ton of fun. Sister Snow, from our ward, was in charge of camp this year and she did an excellent job. She is absolutely hilarious!!! She came up with all kinds of clever things for the girls to do and ways in which to play up the theme. It was great. The theme was Candy Land--Sweet is the work. Each cabin was named after a candy of some sort.
There was a certain amount of confusion regarding which cabin I would be in, but things turned out OK. Prior to Girls Camp, I was told I would be in the same cabin as one of my Mia Maids, Kendall. I was particularly excited about being in her cabin. However, I got a phone call just days before we left and learned that I would have to be in a different cabin--one in which I didn't know ANY of the girls. I reluctantly acquiesced. Upon arriving at camp and finding my cabin, the "Nerds" cabin, I was soon informed that one of the leaders wanted to switch cabins with me and I was off to the "Life Saver" cabin. I settled into my new cabin which had several members of our wardin it. As a side note, the husbands of the two other adult advisers of the cabin I was in had served missions in Taiwan. So that was cool.
Each cabin was in charge of creating their own cheer. The stake leaders, "The Peeps" went all out and even had creative costumes. It was great. The picture below is of the Life Savers doing their cheer.
The first night was a lot of fun. The girls were all very excited to be at camp and stayed up pretty late. Thank heaven for ear plugs. I got a decent amount of sleep that night. They played games for a couple hours (including a round of Truth or Dare in which most of the dares revolved around licking things--the floor, the bottom of a shoe, the bunk bed ladder and a toe). At least I was entertained--knowing that leaders are not expected to participate in such games.
All of the activities were very well planned. The seminars were all very good. My personal favorite was one by President Monson (not Thomas S.) in which he talked about appropriate dating habits. He started out by informing the girls that Girls are desperate and boys are retarded...meaning that girls tend to be very hard on themselves and feel that they are never good enough for any boy and so they must change who they are or break the rules in order to fit in. Boys are retarded because they don't mature as quickly as girls do. Anyway, he is a VERY entertaining speaker and I found myself agreeing with everything he said and I just hope that the girls listened to every word he said. It was excellent!!
On the second day, there were a couple of groups of girls who were supposed to go on hikes. I volunteered to go on the 5-mile hike. I wanted to get some exercise (given the theme, there was a ton of candy at camp) and I generally enjoy hiking. The hike was good.
We passed a stream where some of the girls took off their shoes and enjoyed the cool water. It was a good hike, but it was very dry and dusty. We haven't 
gotten much rain in California this year, so all the dust (or something) gave me a sinus headache. By the end of the hike, I had quite the 'dust tan'. My legs, from where my shorts ended to where my socks started were covered in dust!! It certainly felt good to take a shower.
When I got back to camp, I was informed that I would need to switch cabins again!! Apparently, one of the two adult leaders in the "Runts" cabin left after the first night because she had to go to work the next day. Our Life Saver cabin was the only cabin that had three adult leaders, so I was asked to move in with the "Runts". The Runts are, of course, the first years.
Each cabin was in charge of creating their own cheer. The stake leaders, "The Peeps" went all out and even had creative costumes. It was great. The picture below is of the Life Savers doing their cheer.
The first night was a lot of fun. The girls were all very excited to be at camp and stayed up pretty late. Thank heaven for ear plugs. I got a decent amount of sleep that night. They played games for a couple hours (including a round of Truth or Dare in which most of the dares revolved around licking things--the floor, the bottom of a shoe, the bunk bed ladder and a toe). At least I was entertained--knowing that leaders are not expected to participate in such games.All of the activities were very well planned. The seminars were all very good. My personal favorite was one by President Monson (not Thomas S.) in which he talked about appropriate dating habits. He started out by informing the girls that Girls are desperate and boys are retarded...meaning that girls tend to be very hard on themselves and feel that they are never good enough for any boy and so they must change who they are or break the rules in order to fit in. Boys are retarded because they don't mature as quickly as girls do. Anyway, he is a VERY entertaining speaker and I found myself agreeing with everything he said and I just hope that the girls listened to every word he said. It was excellent!!
On the second day, there were a couple of groups of girls who were supposed to go on hikes. I volunteered to go on the 5-mile hike. I wanted to get some exercise (given the theme, there was a ton of candy at camp) and I generally enjoy hiking. The hike was good.
We passed a stream where some of the girls took off their shoes and enjoyed the cool water. It was a good hike, but it was very dry and dusty. We haven't 
gotten much rain in California this year, so all the dust (or something) gave me a sinus headache. By the end of the hike, I had quite the 'dust tan'. My legs, from where my shorts ended to where my socks started were covered in dust!! It certainly felt good to take a shower.
When I got back to camp, I was informed that I would need to switch cabins again!! Apparently, one of the two adult leaders in the "Runts" cabin left after the first night because she had to go to work the next day. Our Life Saver cabin was the only cabin that had three adult leaders, so I was asked to move in with the "Runts". The Runts are, of course, the first years.
They are adorable. They were very obedient and went to bed at a reasonable hour. They were too afraid to sneak out of the cabin at night to attempt pulling any pranks (not that that was a problem this year--but it has been in previous years). The Runts are sooo cute. I was especially impressed that of a cabin with 11 Runts in it, three were non-members!!! So that was great. Unfortunately, one of them fell and twisted her ankle. So that was sad, but she was a trooper and stuck it out.One of the highlights of the week was the testimony meeting on Thursday night. The way I see it, so many of these girls go to school every day in an environment where their peers swear and dress immodestly etc. So coming to camp was a stark change from what they were used to. Therefore, most of the testimonies revolved around how nice and friendly everyone was and how there were so many good examples around them. It was a great contrast for them. We then had hot chocolate with Peeps in them and Krispy Kreme donuts. Mmmmm.
Of course each girl and leader got an award--a candy lei. My award was the "Super Trooper" award. I got it for being willing to go on the hike and to switch cabins...several times.
I was very proud of my Mia Maid girls. Those who were leaders did an excellent job in organizing their cabin devotionals each night and they truly loved their girls. Those who went on the overnight hike were also troopers. They hiked in 4 miles, spent the night out under the stars and then hiked out 4 miles the next morning and did an excellent job. One funny thing about the camp was that it was run by 7th Day Adventists. Therefore, there was no meat served at mealtime. This didn't sit well with a lot of the girls and by the time we were heading home on Friday, everyone had plans to go to In-n-Out or to have a big juicy steak as soon as they got home. Every billboard or restaurant we passed was met with longing and wistful groans. Andy and I went to Black Angus on Saturday to pacify my hunger for meat.
For as much fun as it was to go to camp and to take a few days off work, it was nice to get home and to take a shower and a nap. I also got a pedicure on Friday afternoon and enjoyed it thoroughly.
For as much fun as it was to go to camp and to take a few days off work, it was nice to get home and to take a shower and a nap. I also got a pedicure on Friday afternoon and enjoyed it thoroughly.
Emma likes jumping around in the bounce house at Jungle Rapids. Emma is a lot of fun but can be very dramatic. She briefly fell in the bounce house screaming in pain and stating she hurt her ankle. I was worried and gave her lots of attention, love, and ice. Luckily the ankle was better in no time (three minutes). Once she had the attention her ankle was fine and she went back to playing. I am always amazed of the healing power of bandaids, ice, and love.
