journey in a day

so while the bean's cheer squad was getting ready for competition out in bakersfield, she and i were with our girl scout troop in pretty much the complete opposite direction - redondo beach.  we'd signed the troop up for a workshop during which they'd complete a series of activities and finish something called a "journey."  those are usually accomplished after several meetings, but troops have figured out how to get it all done as a group and create a fundraiser out of it.  and it's one of the requirements that have to be completed in order to start working on their bronze award.

the workshop was being held at an elementary school, and my co-leader and i decided to carpool, taking one of the other girls with us as well.  it was a lively group as we drove down to the beach, and we even had time to stop for a quick breakfast when we arrived.  check-in was pretty easy to find, with these signs posted everywhere:

a few of the girls had arrived before us and managed to secure a table right in front.

since we had the option of dropping them off and coming back when the workshop was over, we took the opportunity to hang out and spend some quality time together.  some of the parents decided to head out towards the pier for some fresh air and seafood, and everyone was excited to have some free time to play while the girls put in some work.

my co-leader and i had already decided to grab some breakfast at a nearby place i'd found on yelp - the great room.  luckily, it wasn't crowded at all and we got to relax and enjoy our meal while chatting about everything under the sun.

after breakfast, we headed over to del amo fashion plaza for some retail therapy.  it wasn't hard to kill time while browsing through the shops, and before we knew it it was time to go back to the school and see what the girls had been up to for the last several hours.  we'd timed it pretty well, as our troop was up on stage taking their turn to add to the presentation.

they earned these badges to be placed on their vests:

and took a quick group shot since we had the entire troop there all at once.

and now we can start looking at the rest of the requirements to get started on that bronze award.  i'm still a little unclear on the whole process, but it looks like it's something that the girls can work on together as a group.  it'll be fun to watch them talk it all out and figure out something that they can work on together to better the community, and i always love listening to their ideas and their viewpoints when it comes to things like this.

kids, man.  they can change the world.