Goodbye to Stoneybrook

As summer approaches, so does camp season.  And I'm pretty sad that I won't be joining my favorite Girl Scouts in all their summer camps this year.  I have had an amazing time camping with these girls the last two summers.

Luckily, we had a spring camp-out scheduled. So I joined the girls in a final outing to Stoneybrook.

The girls chose to start our first dinner with "hobo's".  That would be bringing a can of food that can be heated in the fire and eaten straight out of the can.  Of course that means canned mac n cheese for Mouse. If you haven't tasted this canned delight....skip it.  It's gross.  I don't know how she eats it.

This is one meal where the adults spend most of the time cooking. Hot cans and little fingers don't do so well. But the girls were responsible for gathering the wood and getting the fire started. Our girls usually do the cooking on their camp-outs.

The next day our first activity after a pancake breakfast (that the girls made) we went on a hike. Uphill most of the way of course.  I burned a few calories for sure.

Of course the hike included the "Swinging Bridge".  I have a problem with heights, but these girls are a good influence and I managed to cross with a group that wanted to jump.  And we jumped all the way across.  Well, at first I jumped and then I skipped because there is not real rhythm to the way the bridge reacted and it was jarring.

 At the end of the hike we stopped at the creek pool. One of the younger girls on the bridge above dropped her water bottle.  And Mrs. M went to the rescue.....and ended up sliding into the very cold pool. It took two other adults to pull her out.  the whole area was covered with a slick mud coating just under the surface. It became the story of the weekend and there was even a skit made about it.

Later in the afternoon several of us went creeking. This is a favorite activity of our girls.  Not even freezing water stops them.  And I promise, it was cold.  The girls found the clay banks along the creek and covered themselves with the green clay.  I didn't take pictures during the creeking as I left my phone back in a dry place to be safe.  This is after some clean-up. Not kidding.

After lunch several of the girls had doughboys. I'm more of a s'mores girl myself.

At the end of the evening we had another troop come visit us in our campsite.  The girls put on skits for them - split up by age group.

Even Mouse participated in a skit. Amazing.

And another great camping trip comes to a close.

How I will miss the Girl Scout camps in this state. They really know what they are doing.  Gonna miss it!