Girls Camp 2008

So I went to Girls Camp as a leader for the second year in a row. This wouldn't be a big thing, but when I was asked to go last year, it was one of the last things I wanted to do, honestly. It always seemed like such a daunting calling, and I never really pictured myself as a Girls Camp kind of girl. Possibly due to my last experience at Girls Camp as a youth, where it rained so hard that EVERYTHING got soaked and we had to walk down the mountain in the mud and guck in garbage bags since the trucks couldn't get up the mountain due to the mud and guck. I'm not a mud and guck kind of girl, either, so that last experience at Girls Camp was not one of my fonder memories. The next year our stake started going to....uhmmmm....the Boy Scout Camp! So, I've been quite happy the past few years to go to Girls Camp on Bishops' Night with John and have dinner, eat the yummy desserts that the Bishops always bring, and be part of the awesome testimony meetings with the girls in our ward. And then to drive home the same night and sleep in my own comfy, warm bed.

Last year I had so much fun that I volunteered to go again, and thought I wasn't going to get to go after being released from YW the first of June. But, lucky for me, the new leaders couldn't go, so I got to!

This year our ward was "The Righteous Sisters". We had really cute t-shirts and very cool sun glasses. This is our ward on Bishops' Night:

Kam took part in the YCL's mock disaster. She was supposed to have ingested poisonous plants. Doesn't her oatmeal concoction look real? And she had very realistic sound effects to go with it. When the YW in the stake came to her and were supposed to help her, they just got grossed out and wouldn't even touch her. Thank heavens it was not real!
I went on the 3rd year hike to the "Tiny Cave". There was even this sign to prove it:
And it was a very, very, very tiny cave:
Since Kam was one of the 3rd year YCLs, we got to go on the hike together:
Some other things from Girls Camp:

I got to do archery with the girls again. I really love archery. Last year I hit some bulls-eyes and came really close this year. I've hinted to John that I'd like my own bow and target in the backyard.....

One afternoon our girls started having an arm wrestling competition. I said I wanted to have a turn, and I ended up being the over-all winner! They were quite impressed with my arm wrestling skills because I am, after all, OLD! :o) I was just lucky that Lani, the winner from last year, had to go out of town and couldn't come to Girls Camp this year. We sure did miss her and her sister, Line, though.

The last night we were woken up by one of our YW who had a bloody nose. While I was helping her I looked out the window at the cabin above us and a HUGE skunk was crawling onto their porch! It scavenged around and every once in awhile it'd put it's tail up and all of us leaders would cringe and hold our breaths. But it never did what skunks are famous for doing, thankfully. While it was still scavenging on the porch another leader, Laurie, and I had to go to the bathroom, and as we were leaving we saw it jump off the porch and head our way. We were quite nervous that we would meet up with it, and what do you do when you are face-to-face with a skunk? It was quite a tense few moments, but we made it to and from the restroom without having to find out what you do when you find yourself face-to-face with a skunk!

On the way home as I went around a curve in the road I saw this burro crossing the highway. We pulled over to get a picture, and it saw us and posed just like this:

As soon as it saw us roll up the window and start to drive away, it trotted off into the desert. It was pretty cool!

Next year will be Kailen's first year at Girls Camp, so I'm hoping to find a way to go again. We'll have to see what happens!