Girls Camp 2010!

The first day of camp was mainly setting up our camp. We were in tents so a lot of the girls had to be taught how to set up a tent properly. After tents were up, those who wanted to went down to the field for games. We started out with the human knot, then played missionary tag, then a water balloon fight broke out thanks to the priesthood. The girls had lots of fun.

After breakfast the next day, we were off to the confidence course. There were 4 things to do so we broke up into 4 groups. Three of the things were almost ridiculously easy, but the climbing wall was not. I think that it was the hardest thing that anyone did. It was a flat 12 foot wall with a knotted rope to climb up. With Steve at the top and Mike at the bottom, each person that tried made it up the wall with the rest of the group cheering them on. It was very intimidating, but very satisfying when you could stand at the top. It really started the bonding process. Our theme was "Be strong and have courage, for you are not alone". With all the help and cheering going on you knew that you were not alone and it definitely took courage to attempt this. I loved that the leaders did it too. We all did what we were asking the girls to do and I think that made a difference to them.

This little monkey went up this wall 4 times. I thought once was enough. I still can't believe that my daughter is old enough to go to camp.

This young lady is afraid of heights. She made it to the top. Here she is just hanging upside down to have her picture taken. It was fun to get to know her.

This is one of our girls getting off the zip line. We did this after lunch. The girls loved it. So did I. You slide down a line that is about 30 feet over the parking lot going about 100 miles per hour. All of our girls that could go on it did. I don't think that some of them would have had the courage to do it if they hadn't done the wall first. The leaders ran the zip line and it was fun to see the girls faces as they came down to the end of the line.

My daughter on the zip line. We tried to get her to flip upside down, but she couldn't quite figure out how to flip over. She went 4 times and loved it. I went 6 and have the bruises from the harness because it has to be very tight. I took a running jump off the platform and I did hang upside down every time. I loved it! We finished the evening with the bishopric bringing up Panda Express. It was so tasty. We had a testimony meeting afterwards around the camp fire. Then there were camp songs. This was my favorite day because the girls let down their walls and I got to know them better. I really started to feel connected to them.

The third day we went canoeing and hiking. I forgot how much I like to be out on the water in the canoe. There was a game of dead fish boat tag started by one of the leaders that the girls loved. Someone hit Steve in the face with it. It left fish guts on his face and when he got back to shore, one of the leaders asked him why his face was bleeding. As he was washing it off, one of the girls splashed him in the face with a huge oar full of water. He promptly grabbed her life jacket and tossed her in the water thinking that she would only land in ankle deep water. She did, but she tripped while trying to get her balance and went all in. She thought that it was pretty funny. We ate lunch and then went back to camp to get dry clothes so that we could go on our hike. Our hike was supposed to be an easy 5 mile hike. It was moderate and we found out later that it is supposed to be a day hike. We went up the mountain in 2 hours and 10 minutes and came down in 1 hour and 5 minutes. It was a beautiful hike that I would love to do again without kids. When we got back to camp, dinner was ready. I was so tired that I could hardly eat. We had crafts that night and I sat around the camp fire with my new friends until after midnight. It was a very nice evening. Every time I would think about going to bed, one of the girls would start talking to me so I stayed a little bit longer.

Now that camp is over, I feel connected to the girls and want to spend more time with them. One of the girls asked me on the way home if I still got to come to young women's with them. I told her I wasn't sure. She told me she hoped so because she liked having me around. It made me feel good and like camp was a success. There were a couple of girls who I wasn't sure if camp made any dent in their tough armor, but according to their mothers, they had a lot of fun. They have already posted pictures on facebook too. It was fun to go to Y.W. yesterday. The atmosphere was very different than it has been before when I have been in there. There was no segregation of classes, everyone was mixed together and didn't seem to want to leave each other when it was time to go to their separate classes. It felt good to see the love that they were expressing for each other. I guess that means that camp was a success.