Sylvia's Summer of Camps!

   Sylvia came home this weekend, after being gone 3 of the last four weeks.   Most recently she was as scout camp, held 4 hours north of us, by Rice Lake Wisconsin.   The week before that she was 2 hours west of us a church girls camp along the Mississippi River.

Here are some picture from her summer adventures. I'll let her type a bit explaining what she thought of the different camps. (Sylvia's voice is in italics.)

 Scout Bike camp from June:

     In the morning, it was very cold, but in the afternoons, it was really hot! 
     When we weren't biking, we worked on rank advancements (like chopping logs and starting fires). The bike ride itself was 25 miles up to Lake Michigan, and you could choose if you wanted to do another 25 miles back, or just ride in a car back. I chose to ride in a car because I didn't feel too good after 25 miles in about 85 degree weather. 
     It was very fun, though and Julia and I were in the front of the group for most of the first 25 miles.

Chopping wood for rank advancements.

More rank advancement stuff! Yay...

This is what
the campsite looked like.

Lining up for the big bike ride.

At the 25 mile finish line! FINALLY!

The nap on the grass after the long ride.

The view at the end of the ride. It was worth it. Not only for the view,
but also for the lunch of sandwiches, chips, and cookies.

Then Swamp Base in Louisiana at the start of July:

This was my first high adventure, when I'm only thirteen and only have been in the troop less than half a year! We canoed about 75 miles across the Atchafalaya swamp in Louisiana. 
     Our troop saw 71 alligators in total! This was my favorite trip out of all the scout camp outs I've been on. 
     I really got to know a few of the boys in the troop since I had mostly just socialized with the girls. It was really fun and rewarding when I got to the end.

Selfie with me and Mrs. Bailey before we got all sunburn and blistered.
Oh, the good 'ol days...

When we finished the five days of endless paddling.
We were all very exited to get on the bus with the AC!

This was taken at the island outpost. Gage, our tour guide, is
on the far left. After Swamp Base, I don't think I can stand to see another Cyprus tree
in my life! (that's a bald Cyprus behind us)

Then LDS girls camp, at Wyalusing State Park:

     This was WAY different than the scout camps. We got cabins, the food was cooked for us, the attitudes were also way different. In swamp base, we knew we were going to be miserable from the beginning, but for girl's camp, I guess that people thought it would be perfect weather and have AC in the cabins, but it was 80 plus degrees, and people were like "I'm dying! it's sooo hot!" and "No! I got a grass stain on my pants! The universe is gonna end! I've gotta go change!" I'm not even joking. 
     But I did make a lot of new friends (that weren't super complainy all the time), and had lots of fun. Plus, most of the time I was freezing because I had just come back from Swamp Base which was 110 degrees, so I really wasn't too hot. so many people thought I was weird for wearing a sweater. Now I know how Asher felt when he came back from Florida.

Then week long Scout Camp at Camp Phillips near Rice Lake WI:

     I had a lot of fun at summer camp. I took various merit badge classes. They were pretty fun. 
     Every morning we did a 'polar bear plunge' in the lake, which was supposed to be really cold, but really wasn't too bad. It sort of freaked me out that I couldn't see the bottom of the lake or anywhere near the bottom. I'm glad I didn't take the swimming or snorkeling merit badge class! I went to mostly classes that were required for becoming an eagle scout (Environmental Science, First Aid, Emergency Preparedness, Camping, and Cooking.)
     I rolled my ankle, though, but on the plus side, on the night that we had to do a bunch of sports (Gaga ball, kick ball, etc), I had an excuse to sit out with a friend who unfortunately "rolled her ankle, too". I had to have a bandage on it all week though, so that was one of the negative parts of summer camp, but the rest was really fun.

The Summer camp crew getting ready to go.

Around the campfire (which we really didn't do that much, cause we
were so busy all the time)

Along with these camping adventures,she has been busy attending her weekly scout meetings, and doing community service, like helping with the flag ceremony for Relay for Life.

The boys think that the girls in the troop are so weird for doing trust circles like this!

Learning to do thatching! How exiting!

Mr. Miller trying our ladder out after we were done with it.
It held up pretty well. I'm proud.

Relay for Life, we basically walked around a room with flags.
I can't believe I'm taller than most people in this picture!

I'm glad she has had a summer filled with amazing new experiences. I'm also glad to have her company again at home. She is fun buddy to have around.