no mermaids here

as we approach the end of our first girl scout year, the meetings and events and outings seem like they're coming hard and fast.  this weekend we attended the annual daisy camporee, put on by a troop of local junior girl scouts.  the theme was this:

even though there were maybe only 4 or 5 troops there, it seemed like the room was overflowing with wiggly 5-7 year old daisies.  it was a little chaotic trying to get them started.

the troops were all split up into different color-coded groups.  the bean and a couple of her fellow troopmates were placed in this one:

there were several activity stations throughout the room, into the kitchen, and outside in the back of the church.  the pink jellyfish got to do a craft first - mini tote bags that they used acrylic paint and plastic forks to add a puffer fish decoration.

next was a bingo game, and while they did that i went outside to check on the rest of our troop.  they were having a blast with "captain carl" and his touch tanks.  he goes diving regularly to pick up various sea creatures that are small enough to transport to events such as this and safe for the kids to touch and pick up and examine.  kind of reminded me of the diver from "finding nemo."  he was super friendly and really good with kids.

meanwhile, the bean had switched stations again and this time was working on decorating a camp t-shirt with colorful fabric markers.

when they were done, they put the shirt on (most of them did, anyway) and then posed in front of the backdrop created by the camp hostesses.

i mean, you know...we had to.

having the girls wear that shirt was a great idea, especially for the next activity:

here they each grabbed a twinkie and then received a little cup of frosting and then got to choose a color of food dye to mix in.

the frosting got slathered onto the twinkie and then m&ms and a straw were pushed in to make a "submarine."

they then received a package of two cookies, a set of eyes, a "pearl" and more frosting to make this:

finally, it was the pink jellyfish's turn to go outside and meet captain carl.

"what do you mean, a SHARK?!??"

with all of the stations completed, it was time for lunch.  the bean had made us pb&j sandwiches, which i was happy to devour.  it was the first thing i'd eaten all day, and it went perfectly with the coffee that my co-leader picked up for us.

after lunch was over, it was time for SWAPS - "special whatchamacallits affectionately pinned somewhere."  it's a silly little tradition that serves as an icebreaker for the girls to meet new friends from other troops and involves trading little doohickeys that they make ahead of time.  the girls had never participated in this before, and it was fun to watch it happen.

to wind up the day, the juniors had the girls make a big circle and then they taught them some new songs.  girl scouts are all about singing silly songs, and while most of the daisies were rather hesitant, they ended up having a good time.

the very last thing was the traditional friendship circle and squeeze.

and that was it.  while the others were gathering up belongs and waiting for parents to pick them up, the bean seized the opportunity for another photo.

as did i:

while we waited for the last of our parents to arrive, the girls passed the time with more games.

it was a long, exhausting morning.  the bean and i were happy to go home and just flop onto the couch and relax a bit, and it was even more wonderful when it started raining.

while having lunch, my co-leaders and i happened to be sitting next to the current service unit registrar, who's transitioning into the service unit manager position for next year.  it was good to get some face time with her and chat a little, and i may have talked myself into volunteering to replace her as the registrar next year.  it always helps to have an "in" with the powers that be, amirite?

we'll see.