Monday, October 7, 2013

Wilson's Apple Orchard Trip


Hopefully the girls had a great time this afternoon. We arrived at Wilson's in time to have a snack (thanks Val!) of homemade apple muffins and apple cider before setting off on a tractor ride and doing some apple tasting. The girls asked some great questions and got to meet Bauer the Dog along the way. 


 Left (back): Madelyn, Lily M, Amy
Left (middle): Sydnee, Sarah, Kjirstin
Left (front): Sophia, Lexi, Lily S





 Getting some rules from Paul, our tour guide before getting on the tractor.


 Paul


 Sydnee and Kjirstin


 Amy and Lily S


 Bessie the Tractor got stuck. You cannot believe the amount of noise 9 girls can make while yelling, "Go Bessie, Go!"


 Watching Bauer the Dog play in the creek. 



 And then he wanted to jump in next to Sydnee. Looks like she's not having it! 


 Our mascot who came along the whole way.








 More apple lessons in the store from Paul.


 Then we headed over to taste three kinds of apples. 


 The girls waited patiently!



 Lexi gave her vote for her favorite!



Sunday, October 6, 2013

Regina Girl Scout Tea Party

Regina Girl Scout Tea Party




Thanks to Katherine Weiner and her GS troop, our girls had a chance to work on their manners at the all-Regina GS Tea Party. 



 The girls started the event with the Friendship Circle and Girl Scout promise. 



 From Left: Sarah, Sydnee, Lily M, Sophia, Madelyn, Lily S




The first of several crazy faces during the day.





 Learning to drink like "ladies" with their pinkies in the air. This was harder than they thought. 




 Listening to instructions from the older girls. They gave them social scenarios and asked them how they'd handle themselves. They did really well.  



 Working together to problem solve. 




 At the next station, they were given markers to color pages with correct and incorrect behavior. They had fun acting some of them out. This is where the girls got a little crazy coming up with ways to blow their noses if there was not Kleenex around. It's amazing what they come up with. :) 










 Finally, the older girls talked them through telephone etiquette. 



 Sydnee and Sarah acting out their phone calls. 


 All all Regina GS photo



And of course we had to end with crazy faces. 

Monday, September 16, 2013

First Troop Meeting Recap


The girls were pretty jazzed up today for our first meeting. Hopefully they came home excited and energized for the upcoming year. He's a concise (believe it or not!) recap:

We learned about Kaper charts where each girl has a chore to do for the meeting. They were fantastic helpers! 

We also introduced our (very ugly...sorry Great Grandma) quilt that will serve as our meeting place for Friendship circles, the business part of our meeting, and singing songs. 

The girls who went to camp quickly caught everyone else up on camp songs. I will apologize in advance if your daughter comes home singing about mullets, scrubbing toilets, and trying to squeeze you like an orange! 

Finally, the girls laid the foundation for our upcoming year. They had several votes and discussions about what they hope to do. Here are the results:

  1. They preferred to work on badges as a group and individually rather than follow one of the Girl Scout workbooks
  2. They agreed we should celebrate every earned badge with a short ceremony. The scout who earns the badge will give us a short presentation explaining how they earned it before we shower her with songs and hugs. (The Mullet song continues to be the popular choice!) Sarah agreed to give us an overview of her Philanthropist Badge today and did a great job!  
  3. We talked about how to manage their money in the upcoming year. Surprisingly enough, they are quite frugal. They wanted to save the bulk of their money to do bigger outings in the months ahead. 
  4. They brainstormed for service project ideas and voted on them. The top two were:
    • Baking cookies in December and distributing them to nursing home patients.
    • Helping to stuff gift bags for an upcoming fund raiser organized by Lily S's parents (more on that very soon!). 
    • We talked about adopting a park/planting trees and making blankets for children at the Children's Hospital. They agreed we might be able to work this into our troop meetings rather than plan extra time for them. 
    5. We discussed possible upcoming troop outings. They agreed the Badge O Rama sounded like the best         option. They have the option of earning up to four badges in one day at the Science Center in Cedar             Rapids. Information can be found below or at http://girlscoutstoday.org/event/brownie-badge-o-rama.           This event is $27 per girl which would significantly cut into their troop money. Heather and I are going           to explore options. 

Finally, they brainstormed for other troop specific ideas throughout the school year. They were enthusiastic about all of them but realize we will eventually have to decide on just a couple. Here is their list: 

  1. Secret Sister - each scout gets a "secret sister" for the school year. She can leave her girl scout sister little notes, small treasures, or other fun things to let her know someone is thinking about her. They'd find out who their secret sister is at the end of the year.
  2. Pizza Night - The Fellers have offered to host!
  3. Movie Night - at the Greve's house
  4. Sleep over - we could combine with a movie or pizza night
  5. Flag Ceremony - through the VFW as part of a troop meeting
  6. CPR/First Aid class - could be done as part of a troop meeting
  7. Backyard camping
  8. An outing to the Putman Museum in the Quad Cities - they frequently have GS outings
  9. Saturday morning movie in the winter at Coral Ridge
  10. Possible a bigger GS trip (they have several amazing things planned in Chicago like an overnight at the Field Museum where you can sleep by the dinosaurs.

October Meeting Information


Our next meeting will be at Wilson's. As of now, we have enough adults for the trip but we are happy to have anyone else who'd like to join us. The girls can bring a change of clothes if they'd like. We will leave Regina as close to 3:20 as possible and are scheduled to arrive at Wilson's at 3:45. 

Our trip will include apple education, a tractor ride, and apple tasting. If your daughter would like to bring money from home to buy an apple tart, slushie, or doughnut, she may bring up to $5 to spend.  The tour is expected to last one hour and we will likely leave Wilson's around 5pm. We will be back to Regina around 5:15-5:30 and will meet in the FRONT parking lot. I am happy to wait a little longer for parents who normally have their kids in the PM program until 5:30. 

Finally, Heather and I tried (honestly!) to get some good photos today. Our subjects moved FAR too fast for our cameras. :) 




No idea what this was about. We were attempting a group photo. 



Teaching those ever-popular camp songs. Clearly it didn't take long for everyone to get up to full speed!







Finally, snacks! We'll try for healthy ones in the coming months. For this meeting, eating brownies seemed like a good idea. The girls thought it was hilarious when our plastic knife broke. :) 




Sunday, September 8, 2013

Information Sent Home


Information to Parents:

Parents,

This is the start-up packet for your daughter’s year in Brownies.
Please fill out the permission slip and “Families Make it Happen!” form and get them back to me before our October meeting. We will need both before we can take the girls to Wilson’s Apple Orchard. If I can manage to figure it out, I’ll put the sheets on our blog too. (If you’re like me, it’ll go into an “important stack” of papers only to be found after the trip!)

Also, I have enclosed a copy of your daughter’s Brownie Badge Log. The badges under the blue heading have five requirements each. All can be found in their Brownie binder. I have circled the ones that your daughter has earned so far. If she has completed any that are not circled, please let me know asap! I keep an identical copy to help when it comes time to order badges. The girls will choose to do several as a group but if your daughter completes one on her own, that’s great too! Just let me know so she gets credit. In an effort to foster confidence, we are hoping the girls can give the group a brief talk about how they fulfilled each step. We will then have a little ceremony to award her the badge.

The second page contains badges under a pink heading. These are badges that are part of a defined Girl Scout program called “Journeys” and they are meant to be done over the course of the year. Several leaders have suggested these are too much like school work for the girls. However, some of the badges can be done independently of the Journey’s program. If any, or all, of the girls find them to be interesting, we could always order the packets that contain the steps for the badges. I have listed them on the second page of the log.

Finally, look for a sign up genius for meeting snacks in the days ahead. If your daughter helps, she could earn a step toward the Snacks Badge as well. J

As always, let me know if you have questions. Our blog has been updated since the pancake breakfast and includes photos of our swim party. I hope to have another update after our first meeting letting you know what they’ve accomplished.


Mary



Girl Scout Badge Log Worksheet:


Girl Scout Brownie Badge Log

Girl Scout Name:

Legacy Badges (can be found in their Brownie book with all steps defined for them)

Painting                                                1 2 3 4 5
Fair Play                                              1 2 3 4 5
Celebrating Community                        1 2 3 4 5
Snacks                                                 1 2 3 4 5
Brownie First Aid                                 1 2 3 4 5
Brownie Girl Scout Way                       1 2 3 4 5

Financial Literacy – Cookie Business Badges (can be found in their Brownie book with all steps defined for them)

Money Manager                              1 2 3 4 5
Philanthropist                                   1 2 3 4 5
Meet My Customers                        1 2 3 4 5
Give Back                                        1 2 3 4 5


Make Your Own (information in their Brownie book with suggested steps)

Create a Name                                  1 2 3 4 5



Skill Building Badges are part of a separate packet/program the girls may choose to order for their troop. They can also be ordered for an individual scout.

It’s Your World
Computer Expert             1 2 3 4 5
My Best Self                    1 2 3 4 5
Dancer                             1 2 3 4 5
Home Scientist                 1 2 3 4 5
My Family Story              1 2 3 4 5

It’s Your Planet Love it!
Potter                                   1 2 3 4 5
Household Elf                       1 2 3 4 5
Senses                                  1 2 3 4 5
Hiker                                    1 2 3 4 5
My Great Day                      1 2 3 4 5

It’s Your Story – Tell It!
Letterbox                            1 2 3 4 5
Pets                                    1 2 3 4 5
Making Games                    1 2 3 4 5
Inventor                              1 2 3 4 5
Making Friends                   1 2 3 4 5


 Permission slip needed before Wilson's Apple Orchard Trip:

Parent/Guardian Permission Form

Return this page to group leader

My daughter,


has permission to participate in


She can participate with reasonable accommodations.

Yes

No

Please describe:




During the activity, I (we) can be reached at:

Address:

Telephone number:


If I (we) cannot be reached in the event of an emergency, the following person is authorized to act in my (our) behalf:

Name:


Address:

Telephone number:


Relationship to participant:


Physician's name:

Telephone number:

Additional remarks:





Parent or guardian's signature

Date:

(must be signed)







GSUSA Rev. 2004

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Girl Scout Council Swim Party! 


Seven of our troops attended tonight's swim party at the UI Campus Rec and Wellness Center. They joined 125 other area girl scouts and their leaders for a night of swim safety, fun, and service to the Shelter House. 

These are truly a great group of girls! They came up against a situation with a few girls from another troop over the ownership of a pool dive ring. They and handled it with kindness, persistence, fairness, and confidence. They could have understandably gotten frustrated and angry, but they didn't. They asked for help when they needed it and, most impressively, as a group they supported and helped one another. 

So on to the pictures! They are fuzzy and awful because a combination of a steamy room and a phone camera doesn't lend itself to good photos. (Incredibly fast moving targets don't help either!) :) 



Getting ready! 

Top Left: Madelyn, Lily M, Sophia, Lily S
Bottom Left: Sydnee, Sarah, Kjirstin





The lifeguards gave a short talk about pool safety. This was followed by a talk from the member of the Shelter House. She explained how homelessness affects families and children and why their work is so important.






Sophia



Imagine 125 girls attacking the pool all at once! They all ran to the swirly pool in the middle.





Lily S




Lily M




Lily M and Kjirstin





"Sydnee, show me a silly face!" This is what we got. :) 





Sophia conquering the climbing wall.





Sarah (who always moved too fast in the water to get a good photo!)





Madelyn trying to make it past the ledge. 





Team climbing!



Kjirstin 




Sophia and Sarah



Pool basketball at its best!



Madelyn




A bit of silliness and some rabbit ears.




Sydnee



I'm not sure who decided to use the color yellow for a water structure that looks like a toilet bowl. :) They had an awful lot of fun in it though.

Thanks to all of the parents, friends, and grandparents who brought the kids by tonight.