Camp Winacka

Ever had her first Girl Scout camping trip Friday, April 27 to Sunday, April 29.  Her troop went to the Girl Scouts' Camp Winacka in Julian.  It's a lovely spot. I took Leela and Ever. (Anna came up on Saturday.) We arrived late on Friday but were the first people to arrive after the leaders and their girls.

Leela is incredibly picky, so Anna sent some food with her. The girls went to town on her edamame. (Marin Vaughn and Sara Fletcher are the troop leaders. Marin's daughter, Andie, is in front; Sara's granddaughter, Sophia, is in the pink jacket next to Ever.)

More girls trickled in late that night and Saturday morning. We got to sleep late on Friday, and it was FREEZING. I thought the canvas-sided tents might add some heat, but they did not. Ever and I have relatively fancy sleeping bags that are supposed to keep us warm in really low temps, but I was so cold. I worried about Leela, who just had a cheap kid sleeping bag and a blanket. I was relieved that she survived the night unscathed.

Sara and Marin had brought tons of food and supplies for projects, etc. (The amount of work these volunteers put in! Makes me ashamed of my lazy self.) After breakfast, they set up buckets of soapy water, bleach water, and clean water and taught the girls how to wash dishes while camping.

The girls used pipe cleaners and beads to put their names on new water bottles.

We went on a short hike up to some treehouse-type structures that were really fun and had a lovely view.

Moms/leaders photo back at camp:

All the moms were really nice, and I enjoyed chatting with them. I'd been a little worried about spending a weekend with ladies I didn't know.

Ever and Leela wandered off and just sat together on a stump and chatted for a while.

The girls painted flower pots and planted milkweed seeds in egg cartons. They planned to transfer the milkweed to the flower pots at the next Girl Scout meeting. Apparently Ever was the only one who successfully grew a plant from the seeds. The other girls had to start over.

I texted Jim the above picture, and he responded, "Why don't we paint flower pots when we go camping?"

The girls also made butterfly wings to wear on their arms, but I didn't get any pictures of that project.

We played with whatever this big colorful thing is by bouncing/rolling balls on top of it, taking turns running under it, and sitting under it when it was inflated.

Anna and I took pictures of each other.

Saturday night we took a walk down around the lake and then ate dinner at the mess hall.

After dinner, we had a campfire and enjoyed lots of s'mores. One mom (who is SUPER into Girl Scouts) told the girls about some woodland fairies who watch the girls play during the day and then leave candies in their shoes at night. Everyone was supposed to leave her shoes by the door when she went to sleep. The girls (and I) were delighted to find a Hershey's Kiss in each shoe Sunday morning.

Sunday morning Ever and I had to pack up, grab some food, and hit the road to get back for church. She'd done very well on little sleep until then. When the other girls were playing and I asked her to get ready to leave, she threw a fit. Other than that, it was a really nice weekend.

Back at home, Jim took Wren and Tiny up to Irvine on Saturday afternoon to meet Sam, Tess, and Rue Hawkins at a super-fun park.