Girl Scouts: Daisy & Brownie

Piper and Addisyn were both in Girl Scouts this year.  Piper is a 1st year Daisy in a troop of 11 girls--Troop 5034.  Addisyn's troop 5337 started the year by finishing their Daisy petals and bridging to Brownies.  The moms in Piper's troop took turns leading meetings. For Addisyn's troop, Natalie and I continue to work as a good team co-leading, even with us both working part-time.

Addisyn's Brownie Troop showing off their new green troop t-shirts and playing a team building game:

Piper's Daisy Troop learning how to twist out of the friendship circle:

Addisyn and Piper are one of four pairs of girls with a sibling in the other troop, so I deemed them "sister troops" and we did a few things together.  We went caroling together at Christmas.  Another was a field trip to Feeding America to learn about how they help families who don't have as many resources.  We also had our end of year celebration together.

Both girls sold Girl Scout cookies this year.  We had to work a little harder for each girl to hit her sales goals because there were two of them selling now.  I would have been happy if each of them sold just 60 boxes (troop minimums), but they wanted to do more.  We made a point of taking the wagon out to different areas after school and on weekends.  It was an effort to get out there since we had to drive to other neighborhoods and frequently could only sell for an hour at a time (due to homework, baby napping, sunset/darkness, swim practice...).  We found our old neighborhood (Cressy Ct.) didn't have any other scouts so we lucked out there--it took two or three trips there to do just 4 streets.  It took a few days just to do our own street.  We tried some new places this year too and did booth sales in front of the grocery stores.  Hard on mommy, but I am proud that the girls stayed motivated and worked towards their sales goals.  Addisyn and Piper teamed up to get the cool prizes--they sold 140 boxes each to get the first 4 prizes on their own, then Piper helped Addisyn reach a higher goal of 300 boxes overall to earn the duffle bag prize (after much negotiating over what other prizes Addisyn would give Piper for helping).  Thank you also to Grandma Joyce and Papa Dave for promoting OTM (Operation Thin Mint) in your circle of friends--that really helped! And thanks to Grammy Susan who helped the girls make a cute little thank you note they signed, which we made copies of then handed/mailed/emailed to their customers for each purchase.

Picture we took for marketing (email sales):

Celebrating the 40th birthday of the Samoas cookie this year--we got to give out a few free boxes. (I made the girls share and take turns wearing this shirt.)

I think my big accomplishment as a leader this year was getting the Brownie girls camping.  It was a push to get myself "camp trained", practice sleepovers scheduled, and even getting moms mentally ready, but I am so glad I did because GS camp was memorable.

We hosted the first Brownie sleepover in our living room with 9 girls and 2 moms--huge thanks to Chris for operating the fire pit for S'mores and steering clear of the living room that night.  This was good practice for girls in group sleep atmosphere, but also for me as a practice to know what to expect as a leader when we go to the cabins.  I organized the girls with Kapers for prepping dinner, cleaning up, and breakfast; I comforted tears, calmed anxious feelings, helped the sleepless sleep, but couldn't stop the snoring.  Addisyn also got to attend the second sleepover hosted at another home which I did not attend so that she could experience the event like the other girls without her mom.

S'mores in our backyard:

Sleepover in our living room: (I had to explain to Addisyn that she couldn't sleep in her own bed)

Spring Encampment was at GS property Camp Whispering Oaks in Julian.  I and another mom supervised 7 girls there.  We shared a cabin with another Brownie troop.  Thankfully the rain cooperated by stopping while we loaded cars Friday afternoon.  At the camp, we went hiking--observing nature and getting muddy shoes at "Chocolate Lake".  There was a nice playground they enjoyed, but they had as much fun playing in the cabin on the bunk beds.  They liked the change of scenery.  Girls earned a Healthy Living badge, and a R.A.N.T (Rage Against Negative Talk--basically countering bullying behavior and being a good friend).  I enjoyed watching the girls help each other, eat together, clean together, make new friends, use the buddy system, discover the "Fairy Garden", and sing at the bonfire.  They learned more GS traditions like bonfire skits, s'mores, and SWAPS.

Girls posing with our new troop banner.  The unicorn is on their troop crest, and represents beauty and courage.  

The girls thought Julian was a beautiful place to hike.  They loved being out in nature.

I feel good knowing that the other parents trust me to watch over their daughter. It makes me proud.