Girl Scout Camp

I think I told you earlier in the week that Crafty was gone to Girl Scout Camp. I told her I was going to make her write this post, but the day got away from us and she is in bed. (Maybe it's because I took my Girl Scout troop swimming today, but it's probably because we made 52 quarts of strawberry freezer jam...)

So I'm writing the post.

My sweetie took her to Camp Cloud Rim on Monday morning. I wasn't able to go because she had to be dropped off right in the middle of Princess's first dance class (which is going very well, btw). He told me the traffic and road construction were horrible on Monday, but when we went up today, it was smooth sailing.

We left at 7:30 and after stopping for gas, we headed for Park City. Cloud Rim is above the city and all the ski slopes, right on the top of the mountain. We were supposed to be there at 9:00 and we got there about ten minutes before the hour.  We only waited for a minute of two for them to open the gate and then we were able to drive up to the lodge. We got in line for her check-out packet and then we went looking for her.

All of the girls were waiting for their parents in the mess hall. Some were mostly sleeping with their heads on the tables, and others were singing and dancing. Crafty was just watching. I think she was tired. When she saw us, she smiled and gave me a hug. It had been a long week. For both of us.

My sweetie loaned her his camera for a couple of minutes so she could snap some pictures of her new scout friends, then we hiked up the hill and climbed in the Suzy Q (I know, silly, but my sweetie likes to name the vehicles). Crafty talked the whole time.

She got to do some awesomely fun things! They had a polar bear dip in the lake (that was NOT her favorite) even though it wasn't that cold. They played tag in the kayaks and they made s'mores for their cookout. They had one rainy day so it was filled with crafts.

All in all it was a great week. My favorite part was that she was able to pay for her camp with cookie credits so it only cost me $30.

OK, it cost me a little more than that...she lost one of my Tupperware water bottles, that's about $5. And she insisted on wearing her new denim shorts I bought for back-to-school and then she spilled paint on them. That's another $15.

Still, that's not too bad for a week-long camp.

Pancakes to Go

I’ve just been dying to tell you this story since last summer! So remember our camping trip to Community (or Lake Hill) if you aren’t a local? I want to give you a few more details. The Dog Walker is always responsible for packing up everything for us when we go camping since he loves to camp and me…not so much. I make a long detailed list and then he heads out in the garage, gathers up everything and stows it in the van.

This particular trip was no different. After he was finished and nearly everything was crossed off the list, I quizzed him on the particulars. Did he pack the charcoal… lighters…hot dog sticks? How about the Volcano…the huge frypan…and the griddle for the pancakes? Check, check, and doublecheck…he had it all. Perfect, nothing for me to worry about but the clothing and coolers.

Fast forward to our campsite and unloading the van…the Dog Walker was setting up our tent and my sweetie and I were unloading the food and necessaries for the camp fire. That’s when I came across the “griddle” that he had packed. It was still in the box which would have been OK, except that this was an electric griddle I had purchased for the Gym Rat for Christmas rather than the little camping griddle that fits over the burners of the camp stove.


I called the Dog Walker over and asked him how he was planning to scare up a little electricity…was he going to plug it into a tree? He sheepishly shrugged his shoulders and went back to blowing up air mattresses. My sweetie and I giggled a little longer as we attempted to rearrange the menu now that pancakes were not possible.

Living life with an autistic is fun because you never really can figure out exactly how their brain works. After a few minutes it dawned on me that Teach was driving up by herself early in the morning and we could have her grab the griddle as well as the half dozen other things I had forgotten. I sent her a quick text (thank goodness we were low enough in the canyon to still have service). She responded with a “no problem” so we settled down and went back to enjoying our campfire.

Pioneers?

It was fairly early when we heard Teach’s tires crunching on the gravel road leading up to the campsite. We were excited to see her and grateful that she was safe. After a quick hug, we walked to the trunk of her brand new car (well, new to her anyway) to unload. She popped the trunk with her fancy new key and the first thing I saw was the griddle. I nearly fell down laughing…she had grabbed the griddle that I bought for the Drama Queen for Christmas…it looked just like the one for the Gym Rat. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “I thought you wanted the griddle.” She still didn’t get it.

No, she’s not autistic, she’s just blond.