Check Out Girl Scout Properties

Our troop wanted to go to a different campground.  In northeast Illinois we are lucky to have a  lot of girl scout properties.  When we signed up for the Journey in a weekend, it didn't specify where we were going to stay.  We had a address and that was about it.  Well, this is the building we stayed at.  The girls had the whole second floor.  The windows on top pushed out and there were cubbies that the girls could sit in.  The property was amazing and it was only forty five minutes from our homes.  There were trails, cabins and outdoor areas to pitch tents. The girls wanted to come back and go to one of the cabins.  I think we just might do this in the fall.
 
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Frame Your Bronze Awards

With all the hard work it takes to complete a bronze award, the girls should have something to show off their achievement.  We printed out the awards and had them framed so the girls could either hang them up or put them on their dressers.  Way to go girls!!!

Working On Our Scrapbook Badge

 This felt like one of our quickest meeting.  We provided the girls with new scrapbooks, stickers and papers.  The girls brought there own pictures.  Then the creativity started, I was amazed by how cute some of the pages were.  I think we could  have scrapbooked all night!!

Hire A Photo Booth For Your Event

At our mother daughter dance we had a professional photo booth.  At first we weren't sure if this was a good idea but it ended up being a lot of fun.  There were a lot of troops attending and we didn't want to have a free for all, so we gave year troop a time slot.  The slots were a half hour, which was plenty of time.  There were glasses, masks, headbands and many other props.  The photo strips were free and they were also downloaded to shutterfly so we could order more.  The mom's even had fun and all piled into the booth.
This is a great idea for any event!!

Mother Daughter Luau

     Every year our association has a mother daughter dance.  Its usually held around Mothers Day.  This year is was held a little earlier.  Everyone looks forward to this yearly event.  The theme this year was a Hawaiian luau. All troops from seniors to daisies attend and are so excited to be there.  When you enter there is a table with name tags and your table number.  All troops are seated together, if the mothers have girls in multiple troops then they are seated with the troop of their choice. Some years the girls are given a raffle ticket for something special that will be raffled off during the evening.
     The mother daughter dance is held a the same venue every year.  A professional photographer is there and photos are available for purchase.  Pricing is very reasonable $12.00 for a 5x7 in a acrylic frame and two wallets sizes.  The backgrounds and props are coordinated with the theme of the dance. Every troop must donate at least one raffle basket with the theme or their choice.  Money is raised to keep the costs of the dance low.  Every year the food options are different.  This year family style entrees were served.  Some of them were not too kid friendly but the mothers enjoyed it.  
     The evening starts out with dinner and desert. During dinner volunteer awards are given. Troops that have accomplished the bronze, silver or gold awards are acknowledged.   Afterwards, the music gets everyone dancing.  Our DJ knows the most up to date music. There is always the Hokey Pokey, Casper Slide, Chicken Dance and Cotton Eyed Joe.  Everyone knows  the dance is not complete without the limbo, hula hoop contest and my favorite the mother daughter slow dance.  This year we were all lucky enough to be serenaded  by the girls with their favorite song " Let it go".  The dance is my favorite part of the year.  We are all blessed to have these beautiful daughters and spend some special time with them.
   
     

Scavenger Hunt To Complete The Amaze Journey

     After we went to our journey weekend, we needed to complete a service project.  The girls came up with a service project for our local crisis center.   They decided they wanted to do a scavenger hunt.  A week before our hunt we picked three long blocks in our neighborhood that we wanted to go to.  One girl scout lived on each block.  Paper bags with notes attached to them were distributed to all of the houses letting them know we would be arriving during our regular meeting time. The note stated that a girl scouts lives on their block and we would be doing a scavenger hunt next week during the times on 4:30 to 6:00.  We requested items such as toothpaste, tooth brushes, deodorant, soap, lotion, shampoo, conditioner and other personal items.  If they didn't have anything we would also accept can or boxed food.  Participants had to leave their items on the front porch and if nothing was there the girls would be ringing the doorbell.                  The day of our scavenger hunt the girls split into three groups.   A lot of the neighbors left the bags on the doorstep. Everyone was excited to go and do the hunt. Our neighborhood was very generous and the girls had a great time.  Points were given for items, food was one point and personal items two points.  We didn't give out prizes, we just counted our items and tallied the points.  After all the hard work we celebrated with pizzas and chocolate chip cookies.  The scavenger hunt turned out to be a success for us and the crisis center!

Surprise, We Are Going Bowling!!

This year we wanted to do something different, so we planned a surprise party for the girls.  When all the girls arrived they were all ready for our regular meeting.  The leader told them to gather all their things because we were leaving.  The girls looked totally confused, she told them we were going bowling. "What? We are going bowling now?" one of the girls asked.  She told them "Yes, right now!"  Then they all started jumping up and down.  We got a great deal on the bowling from Double Take Offers.  It included 3 games of bowling, pizza, pop and shoes for four girls for $18.00.  The girls bowled only two games because we stopped to have pizza and awards.  The bowling alley was nice enough to give us coupons for one game that we can use next year.  All the girls got bowling pins that were painted green with a gold bow.  We brought sharpies so they could all exchange autographs. This was a great way to end the year!