As I have shared with you before, I have a troop of Girl Scouts from Daisy to Cadette. What I may not have shared is that though I LOVE being outside, camping terrifies me. I think what terrifies me is the food preparation. My girls and I have figured out how to put up a tent and I actually enjoy waking up in the morning to the sounds of nature. Also, thanks to the Earth Native Wilderness Camp my daughters attend monthly and then for a week in the summer, they are champs at building fires, using knives, and other fun skills.
During the Bronze award planning process, the girls choose the Outdoor Journey as their journey requirement. Happily my service unit had already scheduled a Tent or Treat at a local park, so we decided to jump on that train. My co-leader and I felt the Agent of Change journey was most appropriate for preparing for the Bronze Award (see previous posts) so that is what we did to fulfill that requirement.
Anyhoo, so we ended up after 7 girls and 2 dads (registered and CBC approved) and myself attend the camping trip.
We arrived on Friday and set up our tents and immediately started the fire so we could cook up our S'mores, because, its camping and you HAVE to have smores. Side note - if you have ThanksAlots Girl Scout cookies available to you, they make the BEST smores! So instead of graham crackers and hershey bars and marshmallow, its just two Thankslots and the marshmallow! They are amazing!! Plus, you are supporting the Girl Scouts so double awesome!
For breakfast Saturday, one of the dad's cook up bacon and scrambled eggs using his cool camping stove. We also baked? grilled? made? biscuits and cinnamon rolls using sticks which was a test in patience but oh so good. Afterwards, we explored the park. For lunch, the awesome dad cooked up ground beef for frito pie and walking tacos. After a bit of a break, we explored the park some more.
There are many, many amazing outdoor skills and camping patches for Girl Scouts. The one I used and will continue to use is from the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri. This document is AWESOME!! I love that it has clearly defined skill sets for the different levels of Girl Scouts (page 5). I am most excited about exploring the different progression skills regarding cooking methods (page 9). The recipes are fun and unique. I cannot wait to try out the recipe that includes a Pringles can!! Who would have thought? The suggestions for nature crafts, songs, and games are wonderful! It's all just so creative and inspiring and happily, makes me want to schedule another campout in the Spring!
We stayed at Jim Hogg Park on Lake Georgetown which was great! The covered patio was HUGE! The electrical outlet and water spigot was a pleasant surprise. The bathrooms were readily available and clean and included showers. My only complaint is that they were not clearly defined hiking trails to explore. Humph.
Me and Caroline with my SUPER cool WOLF hat!
Caroline collecting tender for the fire!
Grace and girls working on building the fire!
Heating up cinnamon rolls with the stick.
My girls!
Jon and Caroline working on the campfire!
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