Girls Camp

A few weeks ago one of the Young Women's leaders in our ward called me to ask if I would be willing to help with Girls Camp this year.  (yikes!)  Regrettably, camping isn't high on the list of things I love to do.  I like to be inside.  I like air conditioning.  I like showers.  I like sleeping in a bed.  I like bathrooms close by.  So I have to admit, when she asked, I wasn't exactly excited about the opportunity.  My initial thought was to hang up the phone and not answer it again until July 2 when Girls Camp was over and we were safely on our way to Utah.  But that's not what I did.

Fortunately, she gave me a few options to choose from:

1. Drive a few girls either up to Camp or back home from Camp.
2. Be a designated Treat Mom.  (It's well over 100 degrees for the majority of the day, so they wanted moms to come up every afternoon with some frozen yummy thing for the girls.)
3. Stay and camp for one night with the girls.

I happily volunteered for #1 AND #2 and opted out of #3. 

So, after two straight days of packing, we met at the church this morning, bright and early at 6:00am to set off on our adventure.  

 

 

This is TCD's 4th year of Camp, so she feels like she's pretty good at the whole "camping thing."  (I don't think she realizes yet that there is a HUGE difference between Girls' Camp in Utah and Girls' Camp in Texas!)  

Spell Girl, on the other hand, has been cautiously excited about the trip all week.

The YW leaders had prepared "To Go breakfasts" for all of us, including special sausage-free versions for TCD and me!  Hooray!  I LOVE the women in this ward.

An hour and a half later, our caravan arrived at the park.  

 

The YM came up last night and set up all the tents for the girls with their cots put up in the designated places.  Isn't that so nice??  (I'm pretty sure no one set up the tents ahead of time for Scout Camp and High Adventure.)

 The Scout Master's contribution to Girls Camp.

All the girls had to do when they arrived was find their names on their tent, drop off their stuff, and change into their shirts...color coded by year of Camp experience.

 1st and 2nd Years

 3rd and 4th Years

YCLs

After they put all their stuff in order, we met the rest of the girls from the Stake for a devotional and a group picture.

I lingered until around noon to help with a few last minute things at camp and then snuck out before the girls finished with their morning classes.  TCD was already getting a little irritated that I was hovering.  

I have two confessions to make...

1. Today was my first EVER Girls Camp experience.  Since 1993, I have served a combined total of 9 years in YW in nearly every calling, but each time Girls Camp came around, I was either very pregnant, had a newborn, or was in the middle of some major transition (like moving across the country.)  So until today, I had never participated in any way in Girls Camp.  With all three of my girls going to Camp next year, it's probably inevitable that my days of flying under the Camp Radar are over.  I can feel Girls Camp in my future.  Next year, I'll probably have to stay longer than 6 hours.   But...
2. I kind of loved it today.  And I kind of didn't stink at it.  I was a pretty good helper.  I wasn't afraid of the bugs.  I found my way in and out of the park twice without having to call for help.   And after a short briefing on the phone from the Scout Master, I helped the other two leaders set up the camp stoves!  (That might sound less than remarkable to some of you seasoned campers, but it's HUGE for an indoor, high maintenance girl like me.)  Next year, you might see MORE pictures from Girls Camp because I might volunteer to go up and STAY overnight!  

I love it when things turn out better than I expect!