Thursday, June 30, 2011

New life in our garden




Here at camp we have a very special garden that the girls are able to utilize for learning about how plants grow, what they eat, and other gardening information as well. For some girls they have never even been told about gardening and others have their own. It allows the girls to create something sustainable that can be utilized by other girls after they are gone.

Well, our garden seemed kind of empty and we thought that our plants needed some new friends so we replanted for the year. We added tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, herbs, and several other plants. The campers were a great help to us and our councilors dug in too. Eco, our naturalist, is so excited for the garden to be more whole again and can't wait to share it with the rest of our campers this summer. Next on the list, composting!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

The Seven Dwarfs


Our Trailblazers turned a normal flag ceremony into a production. They decided to go with the theme snow white and the seven dwarfs. They even convinced Kitty to act as the evil queen for them. The girls had a great time chasing her down and the rest of the camp enjoyed the show.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Around the World and Back


Our Girls took a trip around the world last night to learn about different countries and their cultures. We are very fortunate to have 3 international staff members with us to share with the girls and 2 staff members with traveling backgrounds, for a total of 5 countries to learn about. For South Africa the girls made bracelets with the colors of the flag, which signified unity. To learn about Egypt the girls were able to create their own hieroglyph card. For Columbia the girls had a salsa dance lesson. In Germany they were able to enjoy pretzels and mustard. And finally, for New Zealand they learned the national anthem and enjoyed biscuits. Thank you to all of our staff members who made this trip around the world possible!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Be Prepared




It's not just for Boy Scouts. Each week we try to make sure that we have a fire drill to ensure that our campers know what to do if we ever did have a fire at the camp. We hope that we never need to have more than a drill but now the girls know what to do if it ever happens.

Wacky Week






Our picture day turned a little wacky this week when the girls decided we should do funny pictures during unit pictures. Aren't the girls lovely, even with a finger up their nose?

Monday, June 20, 2011

Dutch Auction






One of our favorite all camp activities is a Dutch Auction and with Around the World week we just couldn't resist having one! The girls were able to load up their pillowcases with anything they thought our judges might ask for. Then our judges, two of our CITs who lead to activity, called out items that they wanted the girls to bring them, like anything polka dot or the longest shoelace. Extra points were given for creativity so we even had a pink bandana (bandana is one of our councilors). In the end a trophy was given to the unit with the most points, and whatties was very excited to not only help her unit to win, but also to have her country's flag displayed on the trophy.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Week 2 at Camp Maripai




This week was had a wide variety of activities for our campers. Our fun in the air group made lotion and learned about essential oils in plants, Saddle up had a great time making clay pots in arts and crafts, and Outdoor Explorers assisted us in preparing to restart our composting program (just to name a few things). We had such a wonderful time interacting with the girls, seeing them grow through their experiences at camp, and we hope to see them all again next year!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Who Stole the Cookies????



Tonight was out Pirate themed banquet and unfortunately some of our leaders we overly excited about the cookies and tried to steal all of the cookies for themselves. Gladly they were stopped by Dizzy and Dragon and there were cookies for all (even the ones who tried to steal them).

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

ooey gooey s'mores


What a yummy mess!!!! Our s'mores n more girls had fun enjoying the fruits of their labor by chowing down on the s'mores heated in their solar ovens. They were definitely messy and I had to fend off the squirrels from stealing them but in the end it was well worth it!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Pirate Bash

What a night! As part of our Pirate Week theme we try to have themed all camp activities for every camper to participate in. Last night was our booty hunt where the girls worked together to collect treasure around the camp and try to avoid pirates who wanted to steal their treasure. It was so much fun!

Tonight was the pirate bash, which is a pirate themed dance for the girls to have fun, dance, and dress up as pirates if they wanted to. The campers and staff had such an amazing time singing and dancing to the music together.