This past Monday, Sarah and Brittany got up EARLY and took off to girls camp, and so far, are having a BLAST!   Yesterday, I drove down to Camp Cary down in Lafayette, IN to join them for Bishop’s night and testimony meeting.  Bishop and I got down there at about the same time and ate dinner with the girls, had a great time together, and enjoyed listening to them bear their testimonies of what they knew to be true.  We have some incredible young women in our ward! 

It was hot and humid and so I decided not to set up my tent.  I ended up sleeping in the car which was very comfortable and I didn’t have to worry about a sopping wet tent to dry out this morning!  🙂

Today, I got up early and helped in the kitchen with breakfast.  I helped make pancakes (which tasted great) for 105 girls and 31 leaders, after which I helped do the dishes for all of them!  😐  I’m dished out!  By the time we got done with everything, it was time for the canoe trip (which was the real reason I was down there to help out).  Too bad I don’t have any pictures as we had a great time on the river! 

We put the canoes in on a slow-flowing river that was actually pretty shallow in many places.  I was there along with another leader there to help out.  We ended up canoeing about 9 miles, although since most of the girls had never canoed before, some of them probably paddled close to 15 miles due to going back and forth across the river, rather than straight down it.  We had a couple of snags where one canoe capsized and got stuck in the current under a log by bank.  It was all we could do to get it out and we were exhausted by the time we finished!  We had only one other such incident that actually ended up bending the bottom of the canoe a little bit.  I showed the girls how to empty a capsized canoe and get back in it when they swamped, and helped many girls out of too shallow water where their canoe got stuck.  When we finally came to the bridge where we finished the trip, there were shouts fo joy from the girls!  🙂  Although I was completely worn out and sore from the trip (I know I’ll be aching in the morning) due to lifting capsized canoes, pulling them out from log messes, and having a canoe all to myself (much more energy drain than having 2 people), I had a great time! 

After we got all the canoes back to camp, I changed clothes and left so I could get home before  dark.  I hit a storm on the way home that was so bad, I couldn’t even see more than about 15-20 feet in front of the car.  The lightning was so close and so bad that the hairs on my arms and head started to stand on end.  I’ve only had that happen one other time and it’s really creepy!  It didn’t last too long, and by the time I got home, everything was sunny and dry. 

While I was at camp with Sarah and Brittany today, Angela, the rest of the kids, and Ana went downtown to the field museum and had a blast!  : – )

 

There’s always new things to see whenever we go there.  Ana had a blast!  She said that her favorite excursions have been those where they have gone into downtown Chicago.  She comes from a small town and loves the big city feel.