Girls camp...in the rain!

Flashback to when I was a teenager. I thought girls camp in the rain in a field with no toilets, running water, showers etc. was the norm. Little did I know that there were other places, ones with toilets and running water and that you didn't have to go five days without a shower. Don't get me wrong I actually have pretty fond memories of Girls camp but I can't remember one where we didn't get rained on atleast a little. Now fast forward to the present. As a YW leader for the last how many ever years I never got real excited about the prospect of going to girls camp. Granted I still went when needed but I wasn't jumping up raising my hand....that's why it is so funny to me that last year the stake approached Joe about taking our family up the weekend before girls camp and basically babysit the camp with all of the equipment (they set up camp Saturday but don't come in until Monday) so that everything is kept safe. When Joe told me that they had asked our family to do that my reply was that they must not know me very well. When I heard that they had showers I began to think that it was somewhat doable and that I would be willing to go. To say the least we had a great time. The kids loved it and I thought well, if I have to go camping I think I can do this once a year. We were thrilled when they asked us to go again this year. We raced home from vacationing in Montana to turn around 24 hours later and leave to go camping. When we got there Saturday it started to drizzle. Joe and I decided that we should put our tent under the covered pavillion since no one would be there using it. That was the best decision we ever made because a few hours later the heavens opened and we saw a lot of rain, lightning, hail, wind, and heard a lot of thunder. For the next two days in between storms we dug trenches to divert the water that was running through the middle of tents, made a fire (which was almost a miracle) to cook smores and dinner, and tried to play with the kids some. We had a lot of fun reading to the kids inside the tent and hanging out. I was beginning to believe the last few years that rain wasn't the norm but now I have been reminded that it just wouldn't be girls camp without some rain.

I can't stop thinking about the girls that are up at girls camp right now. As we turned over the camp on Monday there were one tent that had poles that snapped in half, one easy up shade canopy snapped in half, and a lot of very wet eqipment and bedding. I can't wait to hear the tales of this years girls camp...and I hope they ask us again next year!

One of the kids favorite things to do last year was to cross the rope bridge. They were quite sad when we walked down to find that it was all closed off. Maybe next year. To make up for it we hiked up to their favorite climbing tree.