Girls Camp - Day 2

The second day of camp started out great. How can you go wrong with pancakes for breakfast. Seriously! They have got to be one of my favorite foods. After breakfast and clean up, we had quiet time to read our scriptures and write in our journals. I did my scriptures and study time in the back of a handcart. Where it is a  church-owned camp, we had two of those at our camp site.

After quiet time, we worked on certification for the girls. I had the awesome opportunity to help our Fourth Year girl go through her certification. We went off to a quiet little area to discuss some of the items she needed to do and plan a nature walk. The Youth Camp Leader came with us to help out. We not only accomplished a lot, but found some really pretty places along the trail.

That is when the idea developed to use the nature walk as a unity building activity. We had so much fun, that it probably took us longer than the other girls to work on certification that day, but it was well worth it. When we got back to camp, those two cute girls had me get it the handcart and gave me a ride. It was a blast. 

After getting back, we started doing the traditional girls camp hair and prepping for lunch of taco salads. 

After lunch, we did a craft where we made lanterns out of mason jars. They were able to stick clear butcher paper stars on the jars and then spray it with a frost covering. Once the frost dried, they took off the stars and had a design. We ended up using them later on it the week and they turned out great!

Then, the adventure started. The weather started getting chilly, and then cloudy, and the down-right cold. What started as just a few sprinkles turned into a huge, full-out storm. It thwarted the idea of doing tinfoil dinners that (which ended up being made in dutch oven instead). The girls were miserable. We probably looked pretty pathetic as we sat there wrapped in blankets wearing out jackets, sweatshirts and ponchos. That is about the time our Bishop pulled up. He had gathered coats from many of the girls's homes and brought them up, along with extra coats and blankets. We were so grateful for an inspired Bishop who took time out of his crazy schedule to take care of the young women, even on the night when he is usually doing interviews. 

After he left, a camp host from a different area came to check on us and could tell we were struggling. We asked her if there was any way we could use the kitchen on the other side of the pavilion for our devotional that night. As she was opening it, she showed me the camp host room and said that we could use that room as well. It turned out really great. There was no electricity, so we decorated the room with lanterns and flashlights and made it feel as homey as possible. 

By the time of the devotional the rain (and possibly a little snow) had stopped, but it was still cold. The devotional turned out to be great and we enjoyed the campfire and brownies afterwords, with more smores and hot chocolate. This would be a great way to end the day, but in keeping with the adventure theme of the day, there was more.

As we sent the girls off to bed, they came out of there tents shortly after saying that their stuff was wet. Yup. That's right. The tent that they were sleeping in was leaking and some of their stuff was soaked. Lucky for us, the camp host had told us we could use those rooms so we packed the girls into the kitchen area (one had to sleep on the counter) and two of the leaders slept in the camp host room. The other leaders, myself included, slept in the tent. This happened late in the evening, especially for the girls who would be getting up bright and early the next day for a hike.