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The troop at Iniabi with their counelors
I went to camp and all I got was this muddy gaggle of girls.Okay, I had a good time too. Last weekend, my co-leader, Julie-The-Amazing and twelve girls from our troop went to camp, four hours north on the border of Minnesota and Iowa. It was hotter than hell - 103 and severely humid. It rained the first night and all night until morning. We were in tents that consisted of a canvas frame over a wood platform. And I was with middle school girls. 12 middle school girls.
That probably doesn't sound good. In fact, I myself am wondering if I'm just an outright liar.
But we did have fun. The camp was gorgeous - surrounded by huge bluffs and pine trees with a noisy creek running through it. The views were stunning and the food was good. Granted I've never sweated so much in my entire life, and when it rained the trails turned to steep, muddy death trails, but oh well.
We cooked over an open fire, battled it out with jello, did the world's longest slip and slide, played in a mud pit, tubed on the creek and its charming little rapids, climbed the rock wall and zip lined to the bottom! And that was just the first 24 hours.
We also sweated (I don't think I've ever sweated so much in my entire life), got dirty, got bug bites, hiked up hill both ways, and drove four hours each way. And it still was fun.
I think it might have to do with 13 year old girls. They are old enough to crack me up, yet young enough to not mind getting dirty. They didn't care that they couldn't wear makeup - even though they wouldn't be caught dead without it at home. They aren't self-conscious about wearing swimsuits yet, and they still think farts are funny.
As we were driving back, the girls made me laugh so hard I was crying.
So what if I came out to the car the next morning to go to work and smelled baked on pickles rotting in the backseat? So what if, two days later I'm STILL wringing mud out of my new, Lands End swimsuit? So what if we are kinda broke because I bought the girls McDonalds on the way home?
It was worth it. And definitely more fun than the marketing meeting I just got out of...
The Assassin
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6 comments:
That sounds so fun, Leslie! I used to be a Girl Scout leader, too, and it was such a blast! Like getting to be a young girl again. And isn't it cool to think that you will forever be in those girls' memories of their awesome, muddy camping trip?
My first reaction is "You need to have your head examined." Second is "That sounds horrible."
Third is "Assassin is the coolect mom ever." Only took me three thoughts to get past the rest. That's pretty good.
Love the pics!
I hadn't thought of that Diane! Awww!
Terri - yes, I need to have my head examined. I also made a deal with my kid that if she made it to the top of the climbing wall, I'd dye a strip of my hair any color she wanted. She made it to the top.
We're going to need pictures of this. I hope she chooses purple. You'd look cool in purple.
She was talking about light blue earlier, but that may have changed since. My hair's pretty dark so it'd have to be light or bright, I think.
Leslie, you make me long for my old Girl Scout days! My senior troop was the best and worst of our council. We hosted father/daughter campouts, decided to hold a lock-in at our local mall (which is still going on 20 years later!), and we were the first troop in our area to all get the Gold & Silver Awards in less than a year. But we also were loud, mouthy, inclined to insubordination, usually planning something dangerous and possibly illegal, and always questioning the powers that be, "why can't we do that?" And, we did most of our plotting at our local camp, usually at night in our tents. You were really in the lap of luxury - platforms tents! Wow! We would have thought we were in hog heaven if we had those! Glad you had fun and thanks for the memories!
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