Camping with Rachael

Each spring we take Rachael's girl scout troop camping. Since this was our 4th year doing it I was a little more relaxed as it approached. We have 2 Rubber maid tubs full of camping gear that get used and then repacked, so it was just a matter of checking to make sure we had batteries and toilet paper and our personal items. Rachael got her things ready to go. She searched but she could not find her favorite bandanna anywhere. She also couldn't find her sweatshirt but Jim volunteered to run back to school with her to retrieve her sweatshirt from her locker. I was afraid the missing bandanna would make leaving harder but Rachael gathered what she had and we set off happily. It has become a tradition to stop at Giant for a dinner in the car, so we grabbed sandwiches and drove to our meeting spot.
 
We arrived at our campsite around 7:00 and had plenty of sunlight to get our bearings and let the girls take a look around. We were happy to discover that there were flush toilets near our cabin and we could skip the latrines. The cabin was huge and we all got a few mattresses to use for our beds. The girls all lined themselves up in  row with mattresses touching. Rachael was thrilled to be in the woods and kept heading in whatever direction called her. I am glad they are old enough to tramp around without a lot of supervision and that they did abide to the boundaries we gave them. Rachael and one of her friends made Hunger Games references all weekend. The trees were calling to her.

Saturday we called home after I got a message from Jim that Megs had a stomach flu. The poor thing sounded miserable. Rachael was very tender with her and we sent our love. She also planted the idea that she was bringing home a creature from the woods.

Saturday they called for thunderstorms and most of the state was wet but the storms, we were watching on our phones, kept splitting and going around us. I think it hit 80 degrees. The camp was on the Magothy River and was swimming approved so Saturday afternoon we let the girl get wet. They played in the sun for a few hours. Rachael was energized and found objects and balanced on rocks and created games with a large floating piece of wood. It was a great afternoon. We cooked all of our meals on the fire, which the girls started, and I was glad to be background help as the food smells still make me nauseous. We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores on our fire. It was a blast and they were all ready for bed that night. That night Rachael mattress pile slide out from under her and she woke up giggling, wedged in between stacks of mattresses.  Everyone slept in, we had an easy breakfast, and packed up.

We were glad to get home and were greeted by many happy faces. Megan was on the mend but still not herself. Rachael was bursting with stories and got a huge kick out of the questions about what animal she brought home and had fun showing them the plastic snake one of the moms had left in her bed. We look forward to camping again.