Camp Winnecomac

Last Saturday I chaperoned Troop 4109 to the "Taste of Camp" at Camp Winnecomac in Kaukauna. It is a good way to get to know what the Girl Scout camps offer not only for me but for Savannah. We all met at the high school where the bus would shuttle us to the camp. I am thinking it would be a long ride up winding roads etc, and I found I was totally wrong. Hello? We are no longer in Utah. No need to go to the mountains to get to the woods. We were there in less than 5 minutes and still on flat ground. That was weird to me but once we were in the woods it felt no different really.

We started by eating lunch, "Taco in a bag" - Frito's corn chips, taco meat, tomatoes, sour cream, cheese, and anything else you like in a taco but all thrown together in the Frito's bag! I never heard of this before, so it was fun and a lot less messy!

We next went to the cabin for crafts - the girls made wind chimes out of plastic cups, pipe cleaners, string, beads, and jingle bells. They were a lot of fun and turned out super cute! We also peeked in at the yurts and they were so nice inside it really made us want to stay overnight!
The nature walk was a little disappointing in that we didn't really do a lot of walking and the footprints of the animals were obviously planted there by the staff. I think this was just to get the girls thinking of nature. I get that. But hopefully if it were a real camp they would have a real nature walk. Savannah did manage to find an acorn that was still in one piece and not foraged by animals however.

The girls played a bunch of field games such as sack racing, tug o' war, and parachute games. It reminded me of being little again and having what was called Spring Fling at the end of school year where the kids would put on a show for the parents with outdoor games or dancing. I am not sure if they do this anymore or not, Savannah hasn't had one yet but my boys did. Maybe that is a Utah thing?
Next we headed to the campfire and made S'mores. I like that they had a real camp fire as there is comparable to the real thing. Fires and/or S'mores that is. Archery was next, the line was long as this is obviously a skill that needs to be practiced. Savannah did really well once she got the hang of how to hold it. While we were waiting a beautiful moth the size of a large Monarch butterfly landed on one of the girls heads and then wouldn't you know it but I lifted my hand up jokingly as if it would land there too, and it did! After that the girls were no longer bored waiting their turn and tried to coax the moth to their hands too.

We ended the afternoon with a presentation of what summer camp is about and the girls asked really good questions, including if the camp has a tornado shelter (yes, that was my daughter who thinks all sirens and storms are as a result of tornadoes). Savannah did ask if she could go to summer camp so that is cool. Going obviously alleviated all the fears she had as I am sure it did the other girls'. I am really glad I went with, it was a lot of fun! This is the last activity until next fall and I am planning on chaperoning all that I can.

 Savannah at the bridging ceremony.

Troop 4109 at Camp Winnecomac