Monday, October 20, 2014

Stepped out of my comfort zone....

The past weekend, I stepped way out of my comfort zone!

If you know me, you would soon learn that I am NOT an outdoor person. I don't like sweating. I don't like outdoor stuff---camping, hiking, bugs, etc. Growing up, we never went camping or anything like that as my parents were not outdoorsmen and we lived in Columbus, Ohio, right in the middle of the city, so there wasn't a lot of opportunities to escape to nature.

Well.....

This weekend, Rebecca had an American Heritage Girls camp out! And since I am the Troop Shepherd and the leader for Rebecca's group, the Tenderhearts, then that kind of meant that I HAD to attend. (I also had to attend as all the Kindergarten through 3rd grade parents had to be there with their daughters per rules.) I will admit I was NOT looking forward to it! Not only am I not an outdoors person, but the weather called for showers off and on and COLD weather!

Saturday, bright and early we were off. It was being held at the house of the Troop President as she has 5 acres of land and most of it is wooded, etc. It was perfect for a first camp out. Many of the girls who attended had never been on a camp out before.

Rebecca had never been on one before, but I will tell you, she was so excited! She had to help set up our tent. We had to set up our sleeping bags. It was camping!



Rebecca learned a lot about camping safety, camp fires and about leaving no trace but footprints when you are out in nature.

They tie-dyed shirts with red and blue dye.


They had to make hobo meals to cook on the fire for dinner. They made smores.



They went on a night trust hike where they used their senses and there were no flashlights except for the leader and the person in the very back of the line. They sang campfire songs.

Soon it was time for bed. I wasn't sure how Rebecca was going to handle sleeping in a tent, but she was more than ready. I was concerned because it was forecast to be 30 degrees or below that night. So we had multiple layers on and I grabbed our quilt from our bed to add to the warmth of the sleeping bags.


Rebecca fell right asleep. I dozed off and on here and there, but every little noise woke me up.  I finally got up around 4:30 am to find 3 other mom's sitting around the campfire so I joined them. 


At 7am, the troop president, blasted the song "Let It Go" from an outdoor radio to wake the girls up. Then we started breakfast preparations. Someone made hot chocolate on the fire. Another troop leader made monkey bread on the campfire and we had fruit.


Then we had time for another craft, before it was time to disassemble tents and head home!


Like I said, Rebecca had a blast. I will admit that I did too. It was a lot of fun and simple. Maybe I am an outdoorsy person after all. I stepped out of my comfort zone to attend this and although it was very cold, I would do it again in a heartbeat!

2 comments:

  1. You had fun because you saw your daughter having fun. Looks like a great time and bet the girls learned alot. Have fun on your next camping trip. Cheryl

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    Replies
    1. Hi Cheryl! I think you are right. Rebecca did have a blast and she learned a lot. Thanks for reading. :)

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