Girls Camp 2012

From July 31-August 3 Elizabeth and Anastaya went to Stake Girls Camp.  It was held at Ensign Ranch near Cle Elum.  Leading up to the camp, they asked for people to drive the girls over.  I told them that I wouldn't be able to do it but they were welcome to use my 12 passenger van and cargo trailer to take the girls there.  It ended up being a good thing they took the trailer.  All the girls stuff filled the trailer from front to back to the roof.

Ensign Ranch from the air.

Long house cabin where the girls stayed.

It was Elizabeth's first year at camp and Anstaya's 2nd year (although she goes with the 3rd year girls since she missed her first year at camp due to our Nauvoo trip.)

They had a lot of activities for the girls to do including: rock climbing, river rafting, giant slip and slide, horseback riding, archery, rifle shooting, crafts.  Elizabeth's favorite thing was the rock climbing, 

followed by whittling with a pocket knife

and archery.  Anastaya's favorite thing was archery and getting to spend lots of time with friends.   She wasn't happy with the meals.  The portion sizes were really small and they got main dish salads at almost every lunch and dinner.  She got home and wanted REAL meals!

The girls each had "secret sisters" assigned to them.  They learned what their sister's interests were and bought them several small gifts.  Anastaya and Elizabeth put a lot of thought into their gifts.  Elizabeth made her secret sister a bracelet in her favorite colors, made her a giraffe bank, got her lip gloss and made her a pounded metal bowl filled with her favorite candy.  I also sent gifts from home they could open each day, day one: beach towels, day two: scented body wash (A: coconut, E: vanilla), day three: their favorite candy (Almond Joy for Anastaya and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for Elizabeth) and socks (Elizabeth) or hair accessories (Anastaya) for the last day.  They also asked the parents to write a letter to their girls telling them about their good qualities.  The letters were handed to them at a special time during camp.  Since Dode isn't much of a writer, that task fell to me.  Both girls loved their letters and told me they made them cry in a good way.

The secret sister gifts were placed in this shoe holder for the recipient to find.

Each of the girls received a sweat shirt to wear to camp with a nick name on the back.

Anastaya's reads "Shortie" and Elizabeth's says "Lizzy Lue".

On Friday, the girls got to take a hike through the Hyak Tunnel at Snoqualmie Pass.  They enjoyed walking through the cool darkness of the 2.3 mile tunnel.  Then, it was time for the drive home.

The girls want me to go along as a leader someday.  They see me helping out at cub camp and think they need a turn.  I've tried to explain that it would be really tough for me to leave William to babysitters for that long.  He's a child who NEEDS consistency.  If he had different babysitters for that long, he would have a lot of behavior problems when I got back.  Maybe as he matures it will become easier but I told them not to count on it.