A Final Girl Scout Outing!

Well, it is hard to believe that Lia's EIGHT year journey with Girl Scouts came to a close today.  At the same time, I am also amazed that it lasted this long.  The main reason why this entire Girl Scout experience lasted so many years was due to the fact that she was always blessed to be in one troop or another with some of her core group of friends--dating all the way back to her PreK year at Celebration Preschool.  In addition, her Girl Scout troop was going to dismantle for good last June when the girls all made the transition from elementary school to junior high.  However, due to the pandemic and all of the girls being forced to stay home and complete online school this fall, the two troop leaders decided to break the Covid rules established by GSWW (stating that in-person meetings were still not allowed) and graciously offered to continue for one more year so that these girls could have a social outlet twice a month.  Needless to say, all of the moms jumped on this opportunity except for one who works in health care and needed to be really careful about exposing her children to unnecessary germs.  

Fast forward several months and a text was sent out from one of the troop leaders in April announcing the remaining dates for the last few meetings of the school year.  The last meeting was scheduled for May and there was no mention of any big, end-of-the-year activity in June using up the hundreds of dollars of unused cookie reward money that the girls never had the chance to apply towards a fun activity last year due the pandemic.  This immediately raised a red flag for me and I quickly texted back this troop leader and inquired about my concern.  She responded back by telling me that she and the other troop leader were just too burned out to plan any large activity that used up the rest of the cookie reward money and, as a result, they were just planning on donating it to a "good cause."  Since the girls (and their moms) worked so hard during cookie sales winter of 2020, I knew right away that this was wrong!  These girls had earned this money and they deserved to be able to use it for something fun!  As a result, I wrote back and told her that I would plan a large activity myself and take care of everything if she gave me her blessing which she happily did.  So, after doing some research, making some calls, and taking a poll from the moms on an available date, I planned a picnic lunch on Commencement Bay followed by a pottery painting activity at a studio in Tacoma for eight Girl Scouts and three siblings who wanted to come (including Logan and Ella).  

After several rainy days in a row this week, we woke up to sunshine today which was such a blessing as I was going to have to host the lunch for all 13 people in my house which I did not want to do.  All of the girls were dropped off at my house at 11:15 and we piled into two cars and drove into Tacoma.  We then spent the most pleasant four hours eating lunch down on the water front and then painting in a studio.  The girls all had a great time and really enjoyed being with each other one last time.  I was so grateful that I was given the opportunity to make this last activity possible and to allow the girls to close this chapter of their lives on such a positive note.  

The eight Girl Scouts, plus Logan, Ella, and Gabbie enjoying lunch on the lawn.

A close-up of Lia and Mollie who have been friends since they were four years old.

Logan and Ella eating their lunch on the blankets.

A group picture of the entire gang out on the pier.

All eight Girl Scouts lined up in a row.  Everyone was able to come from the troop except for Mila who sadly was out of town with her family.

From left to right:

Sienna, Ella, Leila, Eva, Mollie, Ellie, and Lia

One group (including Lia in the front and Logan in the back) sitting around a table working hard on painting the ceramic figurine of their choice.

The second group (including Ella in the front) painting at the neighboring table.

A close-up of Ella painting her little elephant.

Logan working hard on painting his very intricate pirate.  Since he always is so careful whenever he paints and colors, he was the last one in the group to finish and it showed in how great the finished product turned out!

Lia painting her little fish.

The darling picture I took of Leila, Lia, Elle, and Sienna as they walked back to the car at the end of the day.