Summer Camp!

This is the sight that greeted us when we picked Hannah up from camp.  Gotta love it, pajama bottoms, shirt  and keens.  The girl's got style!

In April, when we first asked Hannah if she wanted to go to camp, she was totally stoked.  I told her it would be for four nights to which she quickly replied "Don't they have anything longer?"   I told her there was a six-day option and she jumped at it. So six days it was. 

To help ensure that her first sleep away camp was a success, we took the camp tour in June and she loved everything about it.  When the counselors showed us the cabins where she would be sleeping, she climbed the stairs, looked around and stated that it looked pretty good and had enough room for her.  The look on her face when we told her she would be sharing it with five other girls was priceless. :)

Fast forward a couple of months.  Our normally bubbly little girl was pretty subdued.  When we arrived she put on a brave show, but her little face showed she was scared.  We checked in and went through the foot fungus and head lice checks.  Clear on both!

Next it was off to her cabin area to meet her counselors and cabin mates.  The counselors were great and having the girls write their names in face paint on their foreheads.  Sure beats name tags. The other girls had come together and knew each other already which made this mama's heart ache, worrying that her little girl might feel left out during the week. 

I needn't have worried.  The counselor said she was a little homesick the first two days but that she jumped in with her usual gusto after that. She made a new friend and Becca and Hannah were inseperable after that.  When we picked her up she was smily, tired, dirty and glad to see us.  She loved camp, especially kyaking all by herself and we were sure glad to see her!

Girl Scout camp was a success and she is looking forward to going back next year.  Maybe next year some of the girls in her troop can join her. That would be fun!



Arriving at camp

Foot fungus and head lice check

Not so sure about this

Mustering a smile

What a difference a week makes

Future Architect?

Hannah has a standing play date with her best friend Nora on Thursdays. The girls have done lots of fun things this summer from making mud pies to cooking Ethiopian food.

Nora's mother, Margie, set up a great outing to an architect's office to show the girls what architects do.  They got to draw their own blue prints and make a house out of clay.  Pretty awesome adventure.
Thanks Margie for giving our girls the opportunity to see new possibilities for their futures. 

Sit Upons

For our first meeting as Brownie Girl Scouts, we went to the park and made sit upons. Being July, we had hoped for sunnier weather. But at least it didn't rain.

 

 

Sit upons are a girl scout tradition.  They are pads the girls make, usually out of old plastic tablecloths that are stuffed with newspaper. The girls use them to sit on wheen they are doing activities outdoors. 

 

I wasn't sure how the girls would do with the sewing part but they all did fantastic (Thanks moms for helping). They sure are growing up fast. There was a lot of concentration going on, but as you can see we had fun too.  Can't wait to try them out at our troop campout later this month!



The girls busy sewing their sit upons

Annie getting creative.

Happy 4th of July!

This year the fourth was a low key event for us. Most of the neighbors were off at other celebrations so it was really quiet.  We did have a little picnic out back complete with corn on the cob (Hannie's favorite) and then waited for it to get dark. 

We made it until about 9:00 PM before Hannah started begging to light fire works. So we started with the sparklers and then worked our way up to the cones.  Hannah's friend Edith and her mom joined us for the finale.  All in all, a fun day and some good summer weather which is reason to celebrate all by itself in Seattle!

Lighting fireworks with Dad




Running!

Sparklers

Getting braver



Now she's got it

Hannah and Mom

The finale!