Best. Camp. Ever.

I own two tents.  One is about 15 years old. The floor is square, and it's a dome tent, with two poles that cross to hold up the roof. It doesn't need to be pegged (although you probably should peg it, if there's any chance of wind).  I can put it up by myself in 10 minutes.

The other tent is 2 or 3 years old.  It must be pegged, and is long, rather than square.  It's harder to put up if you don't know what you're doing.

At one of our first Pathfinder meetings, we handed the girls the older tent and watched them try to figure it out.  There were 4 of them, and it took them 45 minutes to get it (almost) right. 

Needless to say, one of the things we've worked on this year was camp skills, because while the girls were interested and enthusiastic, they didn't have much camping experience.

We did a camp in October. A couple of the girls didn't pack properly and were cold, it took a long time to get the tents up, and, naturally, it rained.

Our second camp of the year was this weekend.

Friday night, the girls took 10 minutes to put up the second (harder) tent, then helped with the dining tent.

They did the meal prep and cooking and clean up.

They built clotheslines and a slingshot and a basin stand.

We spent 3 or 4 hours canoeing on Saturday, and they still had time to spend hours decorating t-shirts and hanging out in the woods.

It was cold, yet most of the girls were fine, because they'd brought everything they'd been told to bring. (One needed an extra blanket, which she borrowed from another girl who had an extra.)

I'm so proud of these girls.

And next year they get to do the whole thing - preparation, planning, and grocery buying - themselves.

I'll have to bring a book.