This weekend, I went to a mother-daughter camp out with my friends from TSSKC. It was really fun! The cabin was bright and sunny, with a red-orange theme color and log-style beds we had to make ourselves. (We didn't have to *build* the beds, we just had to put on the sheets and stuff.) The first thing I did when we got there was select my bunk. I got there a little late, so I really didn't expect to get a top bunk, but somehow I managed. YAY! The ladder made me a little nervous, though. I felt like I could fall off at any moment as I climbed up carrying my bedding. It was quite a task making the bed, because I had to sit on the bunk while trying to make it. Not the easiest thing, but I prevailed. After my bed was made, the other girls and I shared riddles for a few minutes while waiting for everyone to finish up. (The best one I heard was "What room has no doors and no windows? A mushroom!" I'd already heard it before, but it's still funny! I also liked "What gets wetter as it dries?"......A towel! )
Once everyone was settled into the cabin, we headed outside for a lesson from a police officer about self defense. We learned a little bit about what red flags to look out for in certain situations and some tips for defending ourselves if we get in trouble. We practiced some of the maneuvers and took turns being the bad guy. After self-defense, we went back to the cabins for a bit to change into our new tshirts from REbeL, until we were called back outside for dinner and a talk with some girls from the organization. We talked about self-esteem and self-confidence. They had us do different activities. For instance, they had one girl try to juggle bags representing media influences, make-up company influenes, etc. with activities and school. It made a pretty good point. Next, we each had to write a list of things that made us beautiful and then we shared a few things from our lists with each other. I enjoyed the talk, but was glad when it was time to move on to s'mores!
In order to earn the components of our s'mores, we had to do some team building games, like a bubble gum relay race and name-that-jelly-bean-flavor. The blue raspberry jelly beans were good, but I was not terribly fond of the pineapple. Thank goodness I didn't have to blow a bubble, 'cause I still can't figure out how! After we completed the games, we roasted marshmallows. It was hard to get the marshmallows close to the fire pit to roast it properly with so many other girls trying to do the same thing. Lots of girls ended up with charred marshmallows, but seemed to like them that way. The s'mores were so good--sweet from the chocolate, crunchy from the graham crackers, and sticky from the marshmallows. Some girls made theirs with Reese's peanut butter cups or with chocolate chip cookies instead of graham crackers. I tried a Reese's peanut butter cup and it was delicious.
When we'd had enough marshmallows for awhile, we went for a short walk around the campgrounds carrying butterfly glow sticks. The symbol for TS is a butterfly and next year there will hopefully be an official Butterfly Walk in Kansas City, so this was the unofficial first walk. The teen girls are going to take part in working this event in the future. Following the walk, we gathered back around the campfire, ate a few more s'mores, and then...we drank the Kool-Aid. I'd never heard this before, but Mrs. Kelly explained it meant we were embracing being part of TS sisterhood. We all had to go around the circle and make pledges to keep in touch and support each other. Then Mrs. Kelly introduced the group's new mascot, the travelling butterfly that we later named Choko. (I picked that out, it means "Butterfly child" in Japanese.) Each time we get together, Choko will leave the event with a different member of the group. Kind of like Flat Stanley, that girl will take pictures of things she did with Choko and share them with the group.
Next we all headed back to the cabins, changed into our pajamas, and spent the rest of the night chatting and writing and acting silly. Then it was lights out. I couldn't sleep though, so I stayed up listening to music until 12:30 and THEN I got to sleep. It was an early morning the next morning, because we had to find our breakfast (hidden in trees and rocks and stuff!) and get ready for the official unoffical first walk with some of our family and friends and other local families. When the walk was finished, we all went our separate ways. Until the next time.
I'm so glad we got to do this! I don't get a lot of opportunities to hang out with the other girls and they are a lot of fun!
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