Kick off Camp 2014- Camp Wood Haven- Day 1

Kick Off Camp is something that the lower part of our community organizes and puts together. This was our second year of putting this camp together. We had originally wanted to have our camp at our home camp, Camp Louise, but our council is in the process of phasing that camp out. They say that they aren't, but they fired the ranger this year and have not hired a new one. With councils all over the country closing down camps, we see the writing on the wall.

All summer our community lead was told Louise would be open in time, but about 3 weeks before camp she got the call that it would need to be moved. Closest available camp was over 2 hours away, which was not what we were looking for.

I suggested that we look at GS of Eastern Pa's camps because there is one that is close to us, Camp Wood Haven. We were unable to get the whole camp but 3 sites was all that we needed. We stayed at Robins Den, Pioneer 1 and Shady Wood. (I tell you all of this in case you are local and would like to stay at this camp)

At our day camp, we had a contest between the girls to see who can come up with a tshirt design and we were going to sell that. In hopes that everyone who came to camp would order a shirt. I had the screen printer and would take care of that part.

We only had about half of the girls order tshirts and it took me about a week to get them done. I think that the girls liked them. I thought that they looked cute. The design was voted on by them and the winning design was done by a Junior.

Thankfully the camp was not on the tshirt design!

Pretty cute, right?!

Originally the lead and I were going to take our kids out of school early and get to the camp for the earliest possible time, which would have been 3 o'clock. With the change of venue, she was unable to be there for 3, but I would still be able to get there. I like to be at camp early, get everything set up and then enjoy the rest of the night. Honestly, we pay way to much to rent camps to be there only a little bit of the time.

I took the three girls in my troop that were going out of school at 1 pm. We got some gas and stopped for smoothies, but ended up in camp about 3:15.

I was so surprised. It was so nice! My daughter had been to this camp in mid August and we were staying in the same spot she was at. She even picked the same tent. There was 10 platform tents, all actually up. I have had problems with GSHPA camps where the internet says you should have 10 tents and you come to find they only have 5 put up.

Anyway, 10 tents, 2 fire rings and a very big pavillion that had a fire place in side, but also a little kitchen. So we had sinks, a stove and a fridge. At least in our unit. This was a really nice looking spot.

I called our lead and told her she was going to like this place. I asked her if she wanted two fires going by the time she came, and she said that would be great.

My girls had all of their stuff unpacked and had helped me get the stuff I needed to start the fire. I told them them they could wander around, as long as they stayed together.

The site director rolled up a few minutes later, in her golf cart with her yellow lab. S/he was adorable. Very happy and good with kids. She told me she sent the girls back to their site. Apparently I should not have left they explore on their own. She also told us that I could not let them have their cots next to each other, they had to stay the way they were originally. No problem. Every camp is different on how they want things. We have always moved their beds, but they were fine with them once they were moved back.

I told the site director that the community lead would be there shortly. I though that she was very friendly. We talk a bit about the camp and others. She recommended a camp to us for winter use. Then I met the ranger as well. They seemed very helpful.

Once everyone got there, they started the food prep. We had decided to serve walking tacos. And since my family is vegetarian, we brought along our own "meat". We (my kids and their moms) pretty much packed our own food. I know from last years camp that food serving, times and amounts can be an issue, and I did not want my kids to be hungry. I am so glad that we did.

I think that there are several ways that people camp. Me, I am all about pre-prep and relaxing once I am there. I pack clothes and label them for each day. Every day the clothes that we are done with goes into the laundry bag back into the car. Activities are packed the same way. Each one in their own container. We also do food that way. Each day, different container. And for us, we precook our food. I would much rather a child who is hungry have cold/ luke warm ground beef than wait an hour for possibly pink meat. Our community lead is a cook on site kind of camper.

It was close till 8pm before the kids got to eat. And they really skimped on their meals. I felt kind of bad having so much when others weren't getting enough. I offered to share mine with my co-leader and her daughter. But they went through the line. I don't think they wanted to take our food. My co-leader thought that the texture of the "meat" was very much like the real thing. Woot!!

I had just put the sour cream, cheese and lettuce on top of my tin foiled meat and then I was just carrying a frito bag. My daughter was still hungry, so I made her a second out of what I had, and then one of my little girls was just sitting by the fire looking so hungry. I gave her some of mine as well. It had to taste similar, because she scarfed that right down!

After dinner, I handed out snack cakes to all the girls, because it was my birthday. We tucked our girls into bed and gave them a time limit for lights out. I did not want a repeat of our summer troop camp of them being up till 3:30am! And then my co-leader and the volunteer mom from my troop went to our own tent.

I love to camp and I know how hard it is to pull off a camp with one or two troops, that I could not even imagine what it takes to do a community or service unit camp. I am grateful that my lead does this and puts it together. First of all, she only charges 20$ for adults and 15$ for the kids. Where else can you GS camp for 2 nights, have food provided and activities for such a low price. Second, it is a total thank less job, with lots of people complaining with out doing. I hate that.

That being said, there are a few things I would do somethings differently. It needs more planning time coming into it. And it needs more committed adults with defined roles. You are in charge of this, she is in charge of that and you both know what the other one is doing. No troop should come without being able to contribute to the days activities.

I think either food needs to be precooked and preped OR each troop needs to be in charge of their own food. Last year food was an issue, this year it was less of an issue, but I think that next year it needs to not be an issue at all.

I will continue to describe our camp in the next post. Day 2!

Hiker Badge

We had so much fun! We went to Rickets Glenn State Park in North Eastern Pennsylvania. It was quite a drive for us. I did not realize how far it actually was. We set out for the hike in a caravan. However every little town that we went through seemed to be having their fall festivals or fireman's boot drives. So not only was it a long drive, but now it was long with traffic. I do not think kids at any age a patient in traffic.

We headed to the visitors center and picked up trail maps. Then parked the cars and regrouped at the picnic area. We then proceed to make trail mix. The girls each brought an ingredient. Ours consisted of pretzels, goldfish crackers, honey roasted peanuts, raisins, and honey nut Cheerios. They all got to pour in their ingredients and then shake the bag.

We then looked at the trail map and came up with a game plan. We also laid out some ground rules with the girls. No running was a big one. Get girls in the fresh air and they almost always want to run.

We got to the first part of the trail and they had a big rule sign and trail map. This was a perfect chance to go over the park rules (not just our troop rules) and for them all to see on a big scale where we were going and what we were going to see. We also went over trail markings and what we should do if we got lost in the woods.

We walked for about a mile and all of a sudden the terrain changes. These trails are marked as mostly difficult and they were. The park starts off at a high elevation and you walk down hill to the falls.

The girls were dying to get into their trail mix and we agreed that they could break into it at the first fall. The girls walked great and then spotted a mini-fall and enjoyed their snack. This is the first time that most off these girls were seeing waterfalls in person. This one was about 5 feet tall.

After our snack we continued on. They found lots of wild life and bugs including this white caterpillar. The girls said that he was poisonous, but I am not sure on that.

At this point, I am thinking wow these trails really are tough. I am not in shape at all. We turn a bend, the sound of water gets louder and then another steep incline followed by stairs.

And the reason why I now refer to the first fall as a mini.

We continued walking along the path and saw three more huge falls. My co-leader got to the next set of steep stairs and we agreed, it was time to head back up.

We originally wanted to walk only about an hour and it turns out we walked about 3 and a half hours. The girls were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Not one complaint from them. Me, I was beat and at the point of whining, but these third grade girl had no issues. They just kept walking. At one point, they even broke out into song.

At the end of the day 3 girls earned their hiker badge and all 5 had a great time. (2 already had the badge.)

My daughter and her friend were asleep in the car before we were 20 minutes into the drive home!

Community Camping weekend

I am not sure I like the new buzz word of community instead of service unit. Especially when our community is very big and not at all friendly with each other. Our service unit was combined with another service unit last summer. The first meeting that was held with the large group, we were referred to as "the other group" and were not given a voice. Our representatives left feeling like we were the red headed step children.

Since then we have functioned as two units under one name. Cookies and fall products are split, we hold our own meetings. We don't go down there or participate in their activities and they do not come up here.

Yay! Communities!

Anyway... where was I?

Camping. lol  We held our first community camping weekend. It was supposed to be a re- dedication camp. My daughter Lex and I love to camp together. A weekend without boys, doing things that they don't believe we would ever do.

We were the first ones at camp. I took her and her friend out of school early so that they got the most out of the weekend. We found our cabin and wiped down the beds and swept out the cabin. For sites that are supposed to be cleaned out every time someone stays in them, they sure are gross. We found a towel and a pair of socks. Some where someone is NOT doing their job.

The girls and I then walked around the camp. They were so happy to be there. We found beaver evidence and tracks. Pretty flowers and plants.

We started the fire and waited for everyone else to get there. They giggled around the camp fire, ate hot dogs and then we hiked back to our cabin. We were actually a bit away from the group fire ring and it was getting dark. You don't want to be walking in the woods, in the dark, with two young girls.

We had 4 bunks in our cabin, with only 4 people. I thought for sure that the girls would love to sleep on the top. For some reason they could not figure out how to get out of the beds. It was actually something that was hysterical to watch. I am a firm believer in allowing them to try to figure it out with out rushing to help. But after about 5 minutes of them acting like turtles on their backs, we rescued them and they decided to sleep on the bottom beds. 

The next morning was a bit rough, but what morning at camp isn't. Our camp leader tried. I will give her that. Something just went wrong between plan and execution. Breakfast took twice as long as it was supposed to. What was disappointing was leaders who were making sure that their own kids were fed and even giving them seconds, before other girls had even eaten. I walked away with out eating and went to the archery range to set up with another leader for the day. We had both been certified two weekends before.

We had a steady stream of girls all day. They love archery. That is not something that I thought girls would. Every girl tried, and some did not want to leave.

We had a bagged lunch and after 5 groups of girls, we headed back to the group ring and started on dinner.

And then I saw the most appalling thing ever at a girl scout function.  A woman who is a leader of a troop, lost in on her child. I want to preface this with, I can not tell you how to raise your children. If you think spanking is ok, then go ahead. I do not spank my children.

Back to this woman. She grabbed her child by the back of her jacket, dragged her to a log and slammed her down on it. Then proceeded to scream at this girl.

As soon as it happened, my daughter and her friend had this look of terror on their faces. I had a rough child hood with physical violence and I can not handle seeing the same thing happen to other children.

We packed up our chairs and mess kits and left the group ring. My co-leader went over to talk to the camp host. I do not know what the outcome was personally from hearing it myself, as I was walking the girls back and explaining why we were leaving to them. From what I gather, the host asked in my co-leader thought something should be said.

YES!!! This is a woman who is in charge of other children. Of course something needs to be said. Regardless of how you discipline your children, you do not do that in front of others. If you need to use physical punishment on your child, walk away from the group. Do not scare a group of children by putting your hands on someone. Blah!

The girls though, understood and were happy to be going back to the cabins and to have a fire of their own. I was a little upset that they would not be part of the ceremony, but since my whole troop was not at camp, we would have to do one anyway. So they will still get their rededication.

We got a great fire going. Let me tell you, a year ago I went to Outdoor Skills Training and I could not get a fire started. I ended up using so many matches that when the fire finally did start, it was the matches that caught fire.  I learned that a long cabin fire produces super hot coals, perfect for smores! And that is what we did. The girls gathered wood. They are so different, but hard working. My daughter brought over a downed tree and her friend brought tiny pieces. One was good from starting the fire and the other was good to keep it going.

We were sitting for an hour when the others from our camp site came up. Turns out, that the host has decided to not do the ceremony, but sent mountain pie makers and ingredients up with them. Now the party can start. They sang songs and made mountain pies. It was a good end to the day.

In the morning we cleaned up and left early.

We had a great weekend and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Next time, I would like more of my troop to go!