Daisy Camp Out Trial Run

A few of the girls in Cat's Daisy Girl Scout troop were scheduled to go to sleep-away camp in July, so the troop leader, Joy, and I put together a little camp out in her back yard so that the girls would have an experience away from home before they went to camp.

The girls came on a Friday evening and we started out with a hike in Pleasant Grove. 

We thought the girls might enjoy their hike a little more with a project:
collecting items for a fairy house.  They took this task very seriously.

Unfortunately, this made them even slower than a child's normal hiking pace.
(This is Joy's 5 year old son, who joined us on the hike.)

It took some coaxing to get them to move forward.

I tried to convince Cat not to collect rocks for the fairy house, but she was apparently determined
to use this hike as a weightlifting, as well as a cardio, workout.

All the girls, halfway up.

Keep going!  Almost there!

At last, we arrived at the top of the hike, and were rewarded with a beautiful double waterfall.

The kids immediately wanted to cross the stream...

and climb the slope on the other side.

Then they found a tree that crossed the water downstream.

As we hiked back to the car we had a perfect view of the mountains
across Utah Lake, where the first of the summer wildfires had just started.
I couldn't believe all the smoke, and it barely even shows up in the picture.

When we got back to Joy's house, the girls changed into their pajamas
and got to work decorating their fairy house.

They also played in the back yard and hung out with Rufus Mefus.

Campfire-cooked hot dogs are a must during a camp out.

Joy found instructions for a fun camping dessert - orange peel cupcakes.
Cut off the top of an orange, scoop out the fruit, and fill it halfway with cake batter,
and replace the top.  Wrap it in tin foil and let it cook in the coals for 20 minutes or so.

Unfortunately, only 2 of the cupcakes were cooked through, but we all shared them
and they were delicious!  Yellow cake with a lovely orange flavor.
Joy decided to leave the other cupcakes on the coals for the rest of the night.
Of course we were very surprised when we found them all completely burned the next morning.
So... if you try this and decide that 20 minutes isn't enough time to cook your cupcakes, be sure to check them again before the 10 hour mark.

When the festivities were over, the girls were finally able to go to sleep.
They actually settled down pretty quickly - we must have done a good job of tiring them out!

I slept here, on a mattress Joy keeps in her back yard.
It was definitely the best overnight outdoor sleep I've ever had.
Forget the air mattress - I'm bringing a real mattress next time I go camping.

I didn't consider the implications of sleeping under a bunch of beautiful blooming flowers...
until I woke up to the sound of buzzing in my ears - tons of bees getting their breakfast.
"In the leafy treetops, the BEES sing good morning..."

Good morning!

"Fairies came to their house last night!"
"How do you know?"
"Because they left glitter of course."

We were so happy to have NO problems with the girls.
No behavior issues, no homesickness, no trouble sleeping, nothing.
Looks like these girls are ready for sleep-away camp.