Nine Years Ago....

 

Gracious, how time flies! xo

Camping At Old Sturbridge Village

Yesterday we dug out the tent and sleeping bags and drove to Old Sturbridge Village to attend The Great Scout Camp Out. It was the first time they were putting on this event and it seemed like the perfect way to re-enter the camping world after several summers of not camping. 

 After dinner, and before it was time to set up the tent, it was game time.

The girls were pretty good at this. We might have to get a couple of sets. 

 The girls vs. David in a game of French and English (tug of war's original name). 

 Setting up. 

 At 8:00pm we gathered for our first class. Grace chose to do hearth cooking. The instructor was absolutely fabulous! She gave each kid an ingredient to find and measure out. Here, Grace measures out the sugar for the cookies they made (which were super yummy, by the way)! 

 Emma chose to go to woodworking class. She was thrilled to get to use the tools to make a spaddle! It's like a wooden spoon/spatula. The kids in the hearth cooking class even used one to mix the batter they made! 

She did such a great job! We are so excited to have a spaddle to use when we bake! 

 6:00am. 

 A final picture in the tent before we pack it up. 

Nature: Cheaper than therapy. A fitting shirt for this adventure! 

 On our way to breakfast. 

 What a treat to see the Village before it opens. 

 A quick game of checkers while they finish preparing for breakfast. 

We had such a wonderful time! And while it might have been a bit chillier than we would have liked last night, it was indeed the perfect re-entry into the camping world. We were all sad that it went by so quickly and there is already much discussion about making more spaddles should that be a project offered at homeschool day soon. Thank you, Old Sturbridge Village, for another wonderful event. We hope that The Great Scout Camp Out becomes an annual event! xo

Pinewood Derby Planning

Hard at work this morning on their Pinewood Derby car designs! xo

Scout Sunday Acolytes

Happy Scout Sunday, friends! xo

{This Moment} The Cookies Are Here!

{This Moment} A weekend ritual. A single photo -no  some words-  capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you are inspired to do the same leave a link to you moment in the comments section below. Wishing you all a lovely first weekend of February! xo

This picture will appear on the thank-you note that will be included in each bag of cookies that's delivered. 

Thank you to those who ordered! xo

Sybil Ludington

Last Friday Grace dressed up as Sybil Ludington for her "power of one" project presentation for the Girl Scout meeting. The Juniors in the troop were given the task of choosing and researching a well known (or not-so-well known) woman who has contributed something to the world and doing a presentation on her. They were given a list of possible presentation ideas, but were not limited to those presentation ideas only. And so after pulling out all the books we own about women who've made a difference Grace proudly chose Sybil Ludington. She loved that she was only sixteen and that she volunteered to help when it was clearly very needed. 

Noticing the cape in the pictures of Sybil, she asked if she could dress up like her. And, as luck would have it, hanging in my closet was the colonial girl costume that my Grandma Ruth had made when I was about Grace's age. The costume came together perfectly! She decided that she'd like to draw a picture in her main lesson book and include the briefest of summaries underneath it. She filled out another sheet on her, as well. When it came time for her to present she did a great job (as did the other Juniors as well)! It was such a fun meeting and we all came away learning more about three incredible women that we did before! xo

Derby Prep And Race Night!

Last night was the 4th annual Powderpuff Pinewood Derby! The girls spent the last week preparing their cars (a glittery shooting star car for Grace and an heirloom carrot car complete with glitter dirt for Emma). In all there were 120 racers in this years derby. The girls all raced really well and everyone had a great time! At the end of the night three of the girls from our troop even ended up on stage- Skyler for being in the top three, Maya for "most realistic car" and Emma for being in the top ten and being awarded "most unusual car"! Well done, girls! We are so proud of all of you!

Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make the Powderpuff Pinewood Derby possible! It was an incredible night and we are looking forward to next year already! xo