GIRL SCOUTS HAS BEEN KEEPING ME BUSY

I've been staying busy this summer.  My girl scout troop has requested to continue our fun outings over the summer, even though most troops take a break over the summer. 

I agreed it sounded like fun so, we have been going to several places already and we have several more trips planned before school starts back in Sept.

We went to the Discovery Center a few days ago.   The Discovery Center is a hands on Science Museum.

It was so much fun that we stayed there until the place was closing down and we were told me had to leave.

Then there was the day the girls got to go horseback riding.  Talk about a dream come true for these girls.  They LOVED the horses and learning how to take care of them and ride them.

One of the girl's mom works with the lady who owes 6 horses.  She also trains horses and gives riding lessons. 

She invited us to her place and we got to spend hours and hours with the horses.   No one wanted to go home that day either.

One day we got up early and went to Black Star Canyon.  Yes, I have talked about going there on ghost hunting trips and also hiking during the day before.

This day, we met up with my friend and her husband (who is a Boy Scout leader).  They taught us all how to do Geo caching. 

For those of you who do not know what Geo caching is, it's like a modern day scavenger hunt.  You use a hand held GPS system to track where you are going.  The location of the little "treasures" are listed on the computer.

When you are at the location given, you hunt around for a small container.  Inside there will be a log journal that you write your name down and also there are little "gifts" inside.  If you want to take one, you must leave something of equal or greater value in it's place.

Then you put the container back in same place you found it for the next people to find.

It's a lot of fun and can become very addicting. 

Black Star Canyon has several hidden treasures there and was why we picked that location.

Yes that is a giant snake the girls are holding.  Yes it is real and yes it is alive.

We went out to Perris CA to the Animazonia Wildlife Foundation.  They rescue large cats.  Not house cats.  Cats like Tigers and Lions.

They also had rescued reptiles and dogs.  The girls thought it was fun being able to hold this snake.  It wasn't even the biggest one they had.  The biggest one was to heavy for the girls to hold alone.

I even held it.  Funny, I'm not scared of big snakes at all.  But, show me a small, slithering one and I will run for my life.

The Foundation is also set up for over night camp outs.  They have a large trampoline, crafts to do and archery that we got to enjoy.

We also had a picnic lunch there.  This was a very memorable day for all of us.

I think the most fun the girls have had so far this summer was our first camp out. 

The girls got to learn how to cook outdoors, start a fire, first aid, knife safety, how to use a compass, how to tie and use different knots plus a whole host of other things having to do with the outdoors.

They put on a skit, had S'Mores, did crafts and sang campfire songs.

We spent two nights and now they keep asking to go again.  I did tell them I would plan another camp out for us soon.

Next week is Day Camp every day.  I should be very tired by next Friday.

SEVERAL WAYS TO COOK OUTDOORS

Being a Girl Scout Leader means of course, taking the troop camping.  Even though I've already taken my troop camping I still was required to take a few classes so I could be sure I was doing things "The Girl Scout Way."

So, last night I went to my class.  It was basically to learn different ways to cook outdoors. 

Since the first thing a cook should do is, wash her hands, they had an outdoor "sink" set up.

Just fill up a large water container with water, put a bar of soap in a clean old sock or nylon and use a pan to catch the water.  After all, you don't want water running through out your camp area.

We all made our own watering can, like the one in the photo.  All it really is is a coffee can with wholes punched in the bottom and attached to a coat hanger.

Keep this near you in a bucket of water while you have a camp fire going and should anything catch on fire you will be ready to put it out.  Plus, when you are finished with your fire, just sprinkle the water over fire or hot coals and it quickly goes out.

Normally, when one builds a fire they would pile the wood to look like a tee pee.  That will allow plenty of air to get to the fire and it will be build a nice high fire.

If you are building your fire to cook over, it's best to stack your wood in a square or "log cabin" style.  This will allow the fire to burn more low and spread out.  Therefore, making it easy to put a grill over the fire.

Once you do this, you can then use your fire like a stove.  Just put your pots and pans on top of and cook away.

Keep your coffee pot full of hot water so you can enjoy coffee, hot chocolate or tea through out the day.

Or just use it to heat up your water to wash your dishes later.

A tip to keep your pots and pan nicer is to rub dish washing soap on the outside before you place them over the fire.

By doing so, it will be easy to wash off the soot that builds up on them from the fire.

Bring charcoal with you when you go camping.  If you do, you will open yourself up to a whole new way to cook outdoors.

Just heat your coals up.  Use one of these charcoal chimneys to get them ready much faster.

While your coals are getting hot, line a dutch oven with foil (to make clean up a breeze).

Mix up your ingredients for whatever you want to make.  We made Apple Crisp.

Then set your filled dutch over over some hot coals and place some more hot coals on top.

There are charts you can find either in your booklet that came with your dutch oven or on line that will tell you how many coals to use on the top and how many on the bottom.  It will depend on how hot you wish to cook your dish as to how many you should use.

The one way of cooking that excited me the most was using a box to make an oven.

Just get a cardboard box and line it with a few layers of foil.  Tape the foil to the outside to keep it attached.  That's it!  You now have an oven to bake whatever you want.

Place a cookie sheet or even a pie tin down first.  You don't really have to do this but it will help to keep your oven clean and you can use it over and over again for many trips.

Put your hot coals down on the pan (or directly on the foil if you like).  Use one coal for every 40 degrees you want to bake your item at.  This means, if you are baking at 400 degrees then use 10 coals.

Then put four empty cans down.  Place a rack (can use a baking cooling rack) on top of the cans.  Place your cake, pie, bread or whatever you are baking down on the rack. 

We made corn muffins.  So we put our cupcake pan down directly on top of the cans.  We didn't need to use the rack as it fit just fine without one.

Put the top of your box on.  Be sure you lined it with foil also.

Then bake your item for as long as the recipe says.

It most likely will take the longer time to cook.   Our muffin mix said to cook 15 to 20 mins.  We had to cook it longer as it was not completely cooked at 15 mins.

Sometimes you may wish to cook hot dogs on a stick or roast marshmallows.  Just make a regular fire and cook away.

In order to build your fire and keep it going you may wish to use a fire starter.  Sure you can buy them at the stores.  But why?  You can make your own for free.

Just use an empty egg carton.  Make sure it's the paper kind and not the Styrofoam ones.

Fill the cups up with lint from your dryer.  Finally a use for all that lint!!!

Melt some old candles, crayons or even purchase some new wax if you like.   Be careful though because it will be very hot!

Then pour the melted wax over the lint.  Fill up each cup with the wax and let dry.

Break or cut the cups apart and light these on fire.  They will burn great and get your fire off to a great start. 

Easy and free.  Now who doesn't like that?

Another quick and easy way to cook a meal is to cut up your veggies and/or meat.   Let everyone pick out what they enjoy and put it on top of a piece of foil.

Add a little butter to keep things from sticking.  Season it with whatever spices you like.  You can even top it with cheese.

Wrap up your meal in your foil.  Be sure everyone writes their name on their own packet so they know who gets which packet.

Be sure your foil is sealed so you don't lose all the yummy juices inside.   Then place your foil packet on top of the hot coals and let it cook.

Once everything is cooked through, pull off the heat, unwrap and enjoy.

This works great on a BBQ as well.

You can cook your marshmallows over a wood burning fire or over hot coals.  I actually prefer to use the hot coals.  I don't like mine burnt like some people do.

Using the coals allows them cook slower.  Then will lightly brown outside but still be all melted inside.

Either way you like your marshmallows, they are yummy on their own.  However, get a graham cracker, some chocolate and place your cooked marshmallow on top then add another graham cracker and you have a wonderful S'More. 

What a great way to end your meal.

I hope you had fun seeing all the different ways you can cook outside.  Now you can eat anything you like while camping.  You are not limited to just a big fire any more.

THEY LEARNED IT REALLY IS BETTER TO GIVE THEN RECEIVE

Sometimes it's hard for children to understand the old saying that "it is better to give then receive". So, I wanted to find a way to show my Girl Scout Troop, rather then just try to explain what that saying means.

I heard about a restaurant, The White House in Anaheim, that donated a hot pasta meal every night to the Boys and Girls Club that is open to kids who live in Motels and/or have parents that have little or no money.

Sometimes this pasta meal is the only meal these kids get all day.

I contacted the Boys and Girls Club and it up to bring my Girl Scout Troop there. They were going to play with the kids, serve the dinner and hand out stuffed animals and books they collected.

At first the girls were shy. They did not know what to do or how to act. But, quickly they noticed these kids are just like any other kids. They introduced themselves and started to play with the.

A lot of the kids were really interested in the girls sashes that are full of the patches they have earned.

The girls explained what the Girl Scouts was all about and how they earned the patches.

I have to admit it was sad to hear these kids never even heard of Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, let alone got to join a Troop.

After playing about 1/2 of hour, we were shown to the kitchen to serve up dinner.

Each child was given one cup of pasta and a bread roll. It broke my heart to see how little these kids got knowing that I often throw away more of my dinner then what they get to eat.

Growing up I was taught about the starving kids. As an adult I heard these kids could be found right in our own backyards. However, this was the first time I saw it first hand.

All these little faces coming up to the counter to get their dinner, yet, they all waited without pushing or trying to be first.

Each one smiled as they were given their dinner and each one said thank you.

It was about this time that I think it really started to hit home to my Troop about just how poor these kids were. Yet, they were not crying and complaining. They were grateful for the little they got.

We had made Candy Cane Reindeers at one of our meetings and had plans to go take them to the seniors. Yet, we just didn't have enough time to do it before Christmas.

So, we handed them out to the kids. Boy, they were so excited over them. Much more so then any adult would be.

The whole time the girls were serving dinner they kept saying how happy they were that they came and how they wanted to go back every week. I was really proud of my girls. They actually were enjoying helping others.

There are around 130 to 150 kids that go to this Boys and Girls Club every day. They are from 4 years old to 18 years old.

The girls had gone through their own collections of stuffed animals and books. They pulled out the ones that were new or new looking and we brought them to hand out after dinner.

I only had 3 girls with me and we had 158 stuffed animals to hand out. Plus, we had several books.

The children were so happy to get these stuffed animals and I think it was at this time the girls really understood the meaning of "It's better to give then receive".

The girls were so touched to see how much joy these kids got out of something they had laying around their house.

It made the girls realize just how much they do have. While they all love stuffed animals and they all collect them, none of them had a hard time giving up so many of their own animals to make other kids happy.

Even the older teenage kids were excited to get them. Some said they were going to wrap them up and give them to someone they know for a Christmas gift. Some said they were going to give them to their little brothers and sisters. A few said they were going to sale theirs just to get a few dollars and some said, they were keeping theirs because they had never had a stuffed animal before.

All to soon, it was time to go home. My Troop didn't want to leave.

On the way home they all said they had so much more stuff at home that they could bring the next time we go.

I asked what it was they liked best about the evening and while they all enjoyed serving the food and handing out the candy canes and stuffed animals, they said they enjoyed meeting new friends and making them happy.

So let's all remember, as we rush around the next few days trying to get everything ready for Christmas that it really is better to give then receive. For in giving we often are the ones who receive the most.

WE WERE IN THE CHRISTMAS PARADE

This year I signed my Girl Scout Troop up to walk in the Huntington Beach Christmas parade.

The theme was snowflakes.

Doesn't Trinity look cute here as she waits for the parade to start.



I had found these cute little snowflake headbands for the girls to wear in the parade.

The Christmas parade is a time that all the boys and girls in different groups such as, Scouts, school, boys and girls clubs, dance groups and so on, can sign up to walk in the parade.

It's a pretty short parade. Only about 3-4 blocks and it ends at the Pier. Basically the parade leads everyone to the Pier to where the main activities take place.

It was a rainy night but we were very lucky that the rain stopped long enough for the parade. Just as we started to walk in the parade, the rain stopped and as we finished the rain started up again.

Down at the Pier there was music, hot chocolate and cookies, Santa and then the whole Pier was lit up with big Snowflakes going down the whole Pier.

It made me feel like I lived in a small town. The crowds clapped, yelled out good cheers and made us all feel very important.

We all had a great time and it really put me in the Christmas Spirit.

GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN

Being a Girl Scout Troop Leader can be a lot of work. But, it sure can be a lot of fun too!

I've only been a Troop Leader for about 4 months and we have done so many things.

We have done three community service projects. We handed out water at 9-11 Run for the Hero's 5K, made happy socks for the cats at a rescue place and collected cans of food for the poor.

We made rootbeer floats, caramel apples and apple crisp..

We went to a Science Festival, Camp Scherman, Boo at the Zoo, Wild Animal Park and walked in a parade at the Angle Game.

We made several crafts that include cards, journals and Thanksgiving decorations.

In the next few weeks we will be helping to decorate floats for the Rose Parade that is on New Years Day, going to donate over 100 lbs of pasta, cases of sauce and lots of bread for a restaurant that makes dinner every night for over 100 Motel Kids.

We are going to go serve the dinner to the Motel Kids and hand out stuffed animals and books to all of them.

We are going to go Christmas caroling at the Senior Retirement Home and hand out reindeer that are made out of candy canes to the residents.

Then we will be going to see the Nutcracker Ballet and making Christmas gifts for the parents, having a Christmas party and a movie night without any parents.

My only wish is that the girls are having as much fun as I am and that they will one day look back on these days with fond memories. I know I will.