Our first day of camp was fun and exciting with new connections, sharing of mottos and nature knowledge, constant giggling and, we can't forget, a frenzy of ferocious bees! Needless to say, we learned quickly whose rightful home we were intruding upon during a friendly game of Hide! The chorus of Kelly Clarkson's, "Stronger", became the theme song to our day as a result of the bee incident. Enjoy listening to this (very inspiring) song as you read on if you so choose :)
Some highlights of Day 1:
- Meeting new friends and reconnecting with old during our opening circle.
- Playing a game of Who Am I? while we gathered, attempting to guess the native PNW plant or animal written on tape on our backs
- The girls used there Collaborate and Compromise skills for the first of many times during the week to decide which trail to take to the beach
- Scrambling over rocks and logs as we made our way down to a clearing in the Chuckanut forest. Here we had snack, explored the stream, and attempted a game of Hide before the bees found us :(
- When everyone had settled down after the bee incident, we made our way out of the forest with encouraging and supportive words from those in the group who hadn't been stung, and extreme bravery from those who had. Although this experience was scary in the moment, upon reflection at the end of the day, it was a very educational moment, as well as a time of deep group connection.
- Exploring the beach and discovering crabs, sand dollars, and sea anemones!
- Hiking back to our gathering spot with a chorus of girls singing "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, stand a little taller..."
Highlights of the day:
- Gathering with a game of "piny the pine cone" at the Upper Fragrance Lake Trailhead
- Choosing buddies with someone we didn't know well and creating jobs for the day. The girls came up with: The Motivators/Spirit Girls, The Potty Patrol, The Navigator, The Leaders (we swapped among buddy pairs), and The Buddy Patrol. The girls created a great count-off system and used it throughout the day to make sure the group was all together!
- Playing trail games like Inky Pinky as we hiked down to the lake
- Nature peeing and learning about Fox Walking to limit our impact on plants.
- Swimming in the chilly lake or encouraging our friends from the sidelines.
- Using our Owl Eyes to search for "worms" hidden in the forest
- Sharing the lessons we've learned from bees and how to react when they are present
- Enjoying a long peaceful place by the lake, followed by a great sharing circle complete with poems, art, short stories, and nature observations.
- Playuing trail games such as The Talbots game (a nature guessing game and observation practice) as we made our way down the trail.
- Playing Poison Dart frog at the end of the trail before our Closing Circle.
Day 3: Bakerview Beach
Highlights of the day:
- Playing an energetic game of Rabbit Hole (a tag variation) while we gathered in the Campbell's yard.
- Setting up camp at the drift wood fort down on the beach.
- Running through the shallow tidepools and building sand villages and hot tubs far out on the beach.
- Singing Happy Birthday around a beautifully made and decorated mud cake for Bronwyns 8th Birthday!
- Becoming Wild Whatcom Mud Monsters as we covered ourselves with HQM (High Quality Mud)- yes, hair included!
- Sharing an attitude of Gratitude for the beautiful beach, the water, the sunshine, the mud, new friends, and laughter. The depth and thoughtfulness of this group of young gals was truly inspiring and shone through during every closing circle.
Day 4/5: Larrabee State Park Campout
Highlights of the overnight:
- Meeting and loading up cars with an enthusiastic and very efficient fire line to kick off our day
- Enjoying snack, rock scrambling, and exploring the tide pools and shoreline down at the beach.
- Parading ourselves to our very large campsite (with two fire pits!) where the girls snapped right into action setting up what would be our home for the next day and a half.
- Setting up our shelters with some very collaborative problem solving in regards to tent assembly and most efficient use of space inside each tent. The girls squeezed in like sardines with giggles and not one complaint!
- Carrying out camp chores such as water fetching, dinner preparation, campsite organization, and encouragement from all throughout the evening.
- Watching a short dinner skit (the dinner blessing) from our kitchen crew.
- Sharing our thanks and highlights from the week during a very yummy dinner of burrrritos!
- Sharing stories and songs around the campfire...and roasting marshmallows!
- Walking down to the waterfront for a beautiful sunset on the rocks.
- Ending our day with a silent, solo walk back to the campsite.
- Sharing acknowledgements at breakfast, recognizing each other for great collaboration, new friendships, and bravery for spending a night out in the woods away from home!
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