And Then There was Girls Camp

After our family vacation to Saint George, Daisy and I headed straight to our Young Women (church) camp. As in… we literally got dropped off on the way home. Everyone else got there Tuesday, but we came a day late. We had dropped off an extra car at the campground on our way to Saint George. We didn’t really need our own car there, but I kept feeling like I should have one available just in case. Then we ended up having a family emergency, and it was a huge blessing to have my car AND to be at a campground in Nephi, which is an hour closer to my parents’ house… where I was able to head straight from the campground (that is a story for another day, but I would just like to throw out there that the Lord gives us tender mercies in our time of need). 

Sunrise at camp

Let me tell you something… Girls Camp is a lot like childbirth. You remember some things and you forget others. Then when you’re going through it again, you recall all of the things that slipped your memory from the last time, and you’re like, “Holy crap! I forgot about this part!” It’s rewarding and beautiful one moment and emotional chaos the next. You feel such love for the girls, but they also drive you nuts. Then you hand them back to their mothers at the end of the week, and you’re so glad it’s over, and you’re like “Please! Take them back!” but then you can’t stop thinking about them, and you kind of miss them and look forward to seeing them again on Sunday. 

I hiked with a few of the girls to watch the sunset

This year I helped a lot with planning camp, and I realized I absolutely love planning Girls Camp! Executing camp… a whole other story. That part is exhausting! The part where I’m actually there and trying to make things happen? That is some hard stuff! But the planning and organizing part? Right up my alley! I will make grocery lists, sew 22 pillowcases and 25 mess kit bags, type up informative letters, organize supplies, accidentally bake 80 gluten free cookies, meticulously keep notes regarding every detail to help with future camps, and laminate and label anything you want!

Mess kits (mine is the classy Walmart bag, but I sewed drawstring bags for the girls with some fabric a ward member donated)

But getting girls to pack up their junk and put a tent away so we can go home and then listening to them fight over which car they get to ride home in nearly does me in! Herding them to the volleyball pit? Getting them to wear a helmet for the challenge course? Making them clean up after themselves? Keeping track of where they are at every moment of the day? For the love of Pete! I need to spend a week alone in a cave to recover from that stuff.

Looking down on the camp from the "Hill Cumorah"

But camp was good overall. At least I think it was. I find that things tend to appear positive, fine, and dandy for a few days after we come home, and then stuff starts to surface. We find out about conversations we didn’t hear and feelings that were hurt and behind-the-scenes drama. It’s impossible to please everyone, so there is always going to be some type of flack, but I know we did our best as leaders. 

The camp we went to was a new one for us, but we really liked it. They had a lot of fun activities - archery, axe throwing, a water slide, nine-square, a challenge course, and more. We also had a really nice spot with plenty of shade and trees to hang hammocks from. I really liked having camp in June and getting it done early in the summer. Last year we had stake girls camp in July, and it was so stinkin’ hot. This year, it was a little on the chilly side for the water activities, but I think it’s good for the girls' souls to freeze a little now and then. 

The water slide (we toured the camp about a month ago, and the slide was still being built)

The challenge course

On a personal level, camp was a bit brutal. Coming straight from vacation with no time in between is not ideal. I was already exhausted, and then I got to experience the added fatigue of camp. I think I got about six hours of sleep total while I was there. My air mattress gave up the ghost, so I slept laid on the ground for two nights. I arrived at camp with a headache that I still have, and my hips are bruised from my attempts at sleeping. There's a slight chance I have a double ear infection - I might have to look into that in the next day or so - as I have some pain in my ear/jaw area on both sides. I was also dealing with the emotions of my family's emergency and trying to keep it together. I spent a lot of time pacing and looking for phone service. But none of that is really related to the girls themselves - it was just my own circumstances. Now that I'm home, I'm wiped out in a different way than I have ever been wiped out from Girls Camp in the past. I need a really long sleep. 

On the way home, after going from vacation to camp to my parents' house, I broke and drank a Dr. Pepper. So I've done it, folks. I've abandoned my six month long streak of no soda. I don't know where I go from here, but I have to say... the sauce is good. My stomach instantly inflated by eight inches, but it was the most wonderful thing I've tasted. I was a little worried about driving home for two hours with as tired as I was, so I opted for caffeine. And after not really having any for six months, it worked mighty fine. I was awake and alert the whole drive home and stayed buzzed until 10:26 pm when I suddenly hit a wall and fell asleep instantly. 

As I continue to progress into the summer months, I'm happy to have Girls Camp checked off the list. Next year, believe it or not, Zoe gets to go to camp! That will bring a whole new adventure!