Camp ~ Day 3

Here was our schedule for the last day of camp. I have to laugh at the 6:00 am optional exercise. I’m pretty sure none of my girls went to that, b/c we all wanted to sleep instead.

Today the other 2 tents that didn’t cook & clean yesterday got their chance to earn their bacon charms. We had pancakes, bacon, strawberries, and orange juice. We told the girls they couldn’t eat breakfast unless their 5 gallon bucket was packed and loaded on the trailer first.

We ate breakfast, had our morning devotional, and then had the girls start taking down their tents. Then it was time to go do the Stake activity. They split the girls up by their year of camp and they went around to 8 different stations that represented the 8 different Young Women values (faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice & accountability, good works, integrity, and virtue). Sis. S amazes me and took charge of the first year group. She’s so awesome!

At the individual worth station, the girls learned about the power of their influence and how to handle people with care. For the activity part they paired up and got a water balloon. They stood across from each other and had to give their partner a compliment before they tossed them the water balloon. Then they had to take a step bask so eventually they got further and further apart. The winning pair was the one that popped their balloon last.

This was the finish line. As each group finished the 8 stations they ran under this banner and through a tunnel of the girls that had already finished. It was so touching to see everyone cheer like crazy for the first year girls, who were the last ones to finish.

While everyone was walking around doing their value stations, I got to sit and guard these 300 packets of colored powder. The Stake wanted to keep it a secret from the girls, but at the end of their value walk they got to have a colored powder war!

All the girls got to grab 3 packets and then they went down by the lake and we counted down from 10 to start the powder war. This doesn’t look like very many girls, but that’s b/c most of them are already hidden by the cloud of powder.

I had planned on not participating so I could take pictures and not ruin my camera. But, the wind was blowing in my direction and this is the cloud of powder that engulfed me.

As you can see, my plans to not get dirty did not work. I hurried and put my camera in my pocket, grabbed some packets of powder and started throwing them at the other leaders. Someone got me good w/ a packet of blue powder all over the side of my face and down the front of my shirt. It was SO.MUCH.FUN!!! I have always wanted to do something like this and it meet every expectation. I love each of these ladies so much and am so blessed to rub shoulders w/ such fabulous & faithful women.

This picture is blurry b/c I took it off the Facebook page of one of the Dad’s that came to help us pack up. He had a nice camera and took some awesome shots!

After all the crazy fun of the powder war they had everyone huddle up for the closing remarks. It was a great way to end a fabulous camp! I’m incredibly thankful for the Stake leaders who put in so much time and work and effort behind the scenes to pull this all off!

The only downside to having the powder war at the end of camp is that we had to go back to camp, get showered off, and go home wet and dirty. But, it was worth it. We finished packing up our things, loaded the trailer, and headed for home. I stopped at Sonic on the way home w/ the girls in my car b/c we were all super thirsty and it was half price during happy hour.

We met parents in the same parking lot where they had dropped their girls off early Tuesday morning. So crazy to think that was just 2 days ago. The trailer didn’t get there for about 40 minutes, but once it finally did everyone grabbed their stuff and went home to shower, sit by a fan, and take a nap. I took my stuff and went over to Nate & Riannon’s to put away the tent, camping chairs, and garden hose I had borrowed. This is how lovely I looked when I got home. I was so hot and gross and stinky. I enjoyed my cold shower so much!!!

I basically did nothing the rest of the day b/c I was so tired. I laid on the couch w/ my feet up and relaxed, edited pictures, had some dinner, and watched TV. Overall, it was a WONDERFUL experience and the only down side was the heat and lack of a breeze. But there was no drama, we bonded and got closer as a group, and everyone survived. I’d call that a HUGE win & a success.

It was so good to talk to Autumn & hear about all the fun she had while I was gone. She had such a great time playing w/ her cousins and helping Aunt Lexie. I can’t wait to see her tomorrow!!!