Girl Scout Encamporee

A few months ago, Lia's Girl Scout leader informed us that their troop was invited to attend an overnight Encamporee at a camp a little over an hour away.  As excited as I was for Lia, I was a little surprised that her leaders were okay with taking a group of 7-year old girls away from home for two nights.  Although her leaders didn't seem bothered by this, I decided that Lia would only go up for the day on Saturday unless I could go with her as I just didn't feel right about sending her away with people who weren't family for that much time.  Luckily, we learned in July that moms could come up for one of the two nights.  This was actually fine with me as the thought of sleeping in the same room with ten, little girls didn't sound that fun to me. :-)   So, instead of going up for Friday evening, Lia and I got up early Saturday morning and joined her troop at 9 a.m. right after breakfast and right as the first craft activity of the day began.  We stayed with her troop until they checked out on Sunday morning.  Although we had the first rain in literally weeks, we managed to have a really good time.  The encamporee was held at a Girl Scout Camp called St. Albans located on Lake Devereaux near Hood Canal in the town of Allyn.  It is a typical summer camp like the ones you see in the movies with the large lodge right on the lake surrounded by quaint and rustic cabins.  I really got a kick out of staying at this type of camp as every campground I stayed at as a child and a teenager was much more basic and rustic.  Besides the cold and wet weather, Lia and I really had a good time together.  I helped her troop craft most of Saturday and go on a hike around the large camp.  We also enjoyed eating our meals in the large lodge and participating in the evening's festivities.  I really enjoyed some quality mommy-daughter bonding time and am grateful that Lia is part of such a wonderful troop of girls.

Lia working on one of the crafts Saturday morning--beading a bracelet that went around one of her fingers and her wrist.

Lia and Caroline working hard with their troop leader, Nancy, helping out.

Lunch on Saturday was not provided by the camp in the large lodge--so we went back to our cabin instead to eat lunch provided by the troop.  Here is Lia eating her lunch with Ruby and Sienna at her side.

Due to the bad weather, both of the troop's water activities were cancelled on Saturday afternoon.  As a result, the girls worked on earning a hiking badge instead.  They had a brief meeting after lunch in our cabin before heading out in the rain for some good old Northwest hiking!

The girls leaving the cabin to start their hike with their fearless leader at the helm!

Part of the hike took us down to the water by the boathouse where they store the Viking Boats (that they would have gone out on had it not been so rainy and windy).  Here is the troop posing with Lake Devereaux in the background.

Troop 44340 posing in one of the Viking Boats.  It really would have been fun to swim and boat in this lake on a hot, gorgeous, sunny day, but we made the most of it anyways.

Lia and her good friend, Sienna, who she has now known for three years.  

Lia and her windy hair finishing up the hike.

The girls returned to the lodge after the hike for more crafting in the afternoon.  They first made visors out of decorative duct tape.  Here is Lia posing with her cute friend, Bella, after finishing their visors.

They then went to another table where they made "frushi" (sushi made out of fruit).  Here they are mashing up their bananas before mixing it with the rice.

Lia and her troop mixing away.

Lia layering the fruit on the rice before rolling it up.

The last, crafty activity of the day was making an "explosion" outside the lodge with hydrogen peroxide.  Here is Lia stirring the yeast.

Lia adding the yeast to the dish soap, hydrogen peroxide, and food coloring.

And away it goes!

The girls playing in the explosion foam after it was all done.

We took the girls out to a field to burn off some energy before dinner.  Nancy put her older daughter, Bella, in charge of the games.  

Lia and the girls getting ready to play tag.

And, they're off!

Lia running away from Ruby!

Lia and I posing in front of our cabin before heading off to dinner at the lodge.

Cheese!

After dinner, Lia participated in her favorite activity of the weekend--trading "swaps" with other Girl Scouts.  We made 20 of our own so that she could trade with 20 other girls at the encamporee.  She ended up with quite a fun collection to hang on her necklace when she was done.  Here she is trading with Ruby.

Sienna, Bella, and Lia showing off their awesome swap necklaces after the trading was done.

Before skits and Bingo, the girls had fun posing in the cut-out boards that were scattered around the lodge.  Here are Lia and Sienna in the yellow submarine.  

And, of course, Lia had to pose in the mermaid one!

Lia's troop did a skit about mermaids and eels (go figure) before playing many rounds of Bingo!  Here are the girls acting out their skit.

After a decent night's sleep, we woke up Sunday morning, packed up our cabin, and went back down to the lodge for breakfast.  Here is Lia with Sienna, Stella, and two of the troop leaders.  

Mommy and daughter enjoying breakfast before doing K.P. duty and heading home!  Thanks, Lia, for a fun mommy-daughter adventure.  I sure love you!