Be a sister to every Girl Scout: Australian edition

We had the good fortune to host a traveling, homeschooling, scouting family from Australia at our Girl Scout meeting last week. The girls are Junior and Brownie age, and their dad is a troop leader. Though perhaps he is a "pack" leader as their scouting experience is co-ed...but never mind, the important thing is that we got together for what we called a "Sharing Sisterhood" meeting.

17 Girl Scouts, 2 Australian Scouts, 3 leaders, a few moms, and baby siblings attended "Sharing Sisterhood."

The general idea was to share songs, games, and snacks from our different scouting traditions. My troop's choices seemed to follow a theme: bananas! Or, as the Aussies say, bah-nah-nahs. The girls had chosen two action songs, "There's no bananas in the sky" and "Peel banana." They had voted also to build a campfire instead of go on a hike, and to make banana boats instead of s'mores.

The visiting girls shared an Australian classic, "Kookaburra," which is popular in the US. One verse was new to us, and made us all laugh:

Kookaburra sits on the electric wire,

Jumping up and down with his tail on fire.

Ouch, kookaburra, ouch, kookaburra,

Hot your tail must be.

They taught us to sing it as a round, which we had not done before. 

I asked for clarification about the pronunciation of the bird's name: that first syllable is more like "cook" (rhyming with book, look, and took) than "kook" as in going bananas. Speaking of which, that crazy bird has a fabulous, hooting guffaw, which the Aussie dad demonstrated for us.

The Australian scouts also shared a game they learned from Italian scouts in Venice which, oddly enough, is a traditional English one. The song is "Do you know the muffin man?" played as a circle game. Most of my girls knew the words and tune, but the game was new to us, and was appropriately kooky and fun.

Next up was the Yes/No game, the source of which I can't remember. It's a good icebreaker and get-to-know-you game that gets kids moving. We mark one spot as "Yes" and another spot as "No" and place the "caller" in between. The caller shouts a question, and girls run to the appropriate spots to indicate their answers. For example, "Do you have a brother?" followed by "Have you traveled out of the country?" followed by "Do you have a pet?" gets the girls running back and forth. The girls often take turns in the role of caller, and sometimes even the quietest girl gets in on it when she asks someone else to shout out her question.

After these activities, we assembled our banana boats and put them in the coals of the campfire that Taryn and her new Aussie friend had built before the meeting. While the snack cooked, one of my co-leaders played guitar and led the group in a couple of songs.

Some music to pass the time

It was important to remember where you put your banana boat!

Messy banana boats!

After cleaning up, the Australian family shared pictures of their backyard wildlife: koalas, kangaroos, and goannas. In their picture, the goanna had found its way into their bathtub, and was not outside where he belonged!

To officially end the meeting, we got in a circle and did the "Weave," which has replaced a friendship squeeze as my troop's favorite closing activity. We gave each of the visiting girls a card that the troop had signed, a patch, and a bookmark with the Girl Scout Law and Promise. The Australians gave our girls patches, too!

Our council's new patch is so pretty!

There was some free form play, of course, given the setting. It was the warmest day of the season (up to that point!) and we were in a clearing in the forest beside a creek near a teepee. Some girls may have gone home with wet feet and mud on their clothes. We all smelled of campfire, I'm sure. To me, those are signs of a good meeting.

Taryn and her new friend

My favorite part of the day was making these new friendships. The connection is definitely not a one time deal! My girls found kindred spirits in the Australian girls, and they have exchanged emails and photos since our Sharing Sisterhood meeting. Beyond that, my family met up with them again to enjoy the cherry blossoms downtown -- but that is another blog post.

This event was one of my favorite moments in our troop's year! It gave the girls an opportunity to reflect on their favorite parts of scouting, and they were happy and enthusiastic to share them. All in all, I'm so happy that our troop embraced the opportunity to live out that last, but not least, line of the Girl Scout Law:

Be a sister to every Girl Scout.

Planning a Court of Awards: "Ask the girls!"

If you are a Girl Scout, have been a Girl Scout, or have a daughter who is a Girl Scout, you will recognize that the Court of Awards is an important event. Even if you have no affiliation with the Girl Scouts, the name makes that clear. Our girls planned out their most recent Court of Awards, and it was the most charming, sweet, and unique party. No perfection required.

From decorations to food to opening ceremony, the girls decided how they wanted to celebrate their accomplishments, and gave themselves the assignments for how to contribute to the party. For the first time, all my co-leader and I had to do to prepare for the event was get the awards ready. The girls did the rest.

A selection of awards, badges, and patches the girls earned

At the planning meeting, the decorations patrol came up with the idea of making garlands from materials they already had at home. The results were really cute, from paper chains, to green and white tassels, to G-I-R-L-S-C-O-U-T-S spelled out on "badges," to chains of paper dolls.

Decorations over the fireplace

High fiving for a job well done

The ceremony patrol planned a traditional opening with a surprise twist. After the seriousness of saluting the flag and reciting the Girl Scout promise, they would break into song and throw confetti. Their "homework" for the party was to make a bag of confetti (using materials from home, natch), and to cut out paper bananas to throw, because, as the song goes, "There's No Bananas in the Sky."

Banana on the floor, not in the sky

The food committee was kind of funny -- if there was a theme, it was "bring something you like." Their table had fruit, veggies and dip, oatmeal cookies, potato chips, and Doritos, so it turned out well. One thing we will work on next time is being more allergy-friendly. When the grown-ups do the planning, it is a lot easier to make sure all the food is safe for all the girls. For this celebration, we made sure to send the girls with allergies through the line first to avoid cross-contamination of safe with unsafe foods.

Good selection of party food

The day of the Court of Awards was cold, and a fresh blanket of snow covered the camp. Our car was the first to drive in, and we followed animal tracks up the road, leaving our tire tracks behind. The girls and I built a fire in the lodge, turned up the thermostat, and did not have long to wait before friends showed up.

As the meeting started, the patrols cycled through stations: getting ready for the party, working on the World Thinking Day poster about Pakistan, and making posters for their cookie booths.

The ceremony went smoothly, the party was fun, and everyone helped to clean up! I'm so proud of the girls and their all their accomplishments.

That was fun!

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Bonus feature:  I wrote this up to help the troop parents and others in our Service Unit.

Where do all those awards, badges, and patches go?

Quick answer:  Awards on the front of the uniform, patches on the back.

When in doubt, consult The Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting, or visit this website: http://www.girlscouts.org/program/basics/for_volunteers/where_to_place/

Long answer (with lots of important details):

Journey awards receive prominent display on the uniform. On a vest, they go on the left front (same side as the membership pin), near the bottom edge. On a sash, they go on the front underneath the other insignia.

Badges also go on the front of the uniform. On a vest, they go on the right front (same side as the troop insignia) applied from the bottom edge up. On a sash, they go below any Journey awards.

• Girls should be able to talk about some of the things they did to earn any badge on their uniform.
• Girls who regularly attend troop meetings and events will earn badges along the way.
• Some girls enjoy working on badges on their own, and will have lots of badges on their uniforms.
• If your daughter needs guidance about how to earn a badge, please talk to a troop leader. She will be happy to help you out!

Patches always go on the back of the uniform. Generally these are given to recognize a girl’s participation in events, because sometimes just showing up is hard! Encouraging girls to honor commitments is why our troop gives participation patches. Visit http://www.girlscoutsnyc.org/blog?p=223 to read about why one Ambassador Girl Scout is proud of her participation patches.

The Honor Troop patch is an exception, as it is an earned award that goes on the back of the uniform. The Council recognizes troops that go out into the world and do what Girl Scouts do, like community service, going on fun trips, doing outdoor activities, and selling cookies. For the application, see: http://www.gscnc.org/files/pdf/leader/c310.pdf

• Place this patch in a prominent place on the back of the uniform.
• Leave room for the “rocker patches” that indicate the year of the award.
• This patch will move from uniform to uniform as the girls grow through the program. Girls who “fly up” from Brownies to Juniors, for example, will remove the patch from the one uniform to place on the other.

The Early Bird patch is another award the troop earns. Before the end of the school year, we start making plans for the next one. When we commit to each other (and to the Council) that our troop will be active and ready to have fun in September, we earn this award.

• At least half of the current troop needs to register early.
• Girls who register early earn the award and a rocker patch for the year.
• Follow the guidelines as for Honor Troop when you place your Early Bird patch.

Camping trip traditions

Our local homeschool group has been around for long enough now that we have well established traditions. In September, we enjoy a "Not Back to School" picnic for families. We party at the opposite end of the year with a combination field day and picnic. In between, we have Park Days every Friday for kids. (An unofficial, alternate name for these gatherings is Homeschooling Parent Support Group.) In warm enough weather, we meet at a playground. In cooler months, we get creative and go bowling, visit a bounce house, attend nature classes, and go on field trips.

One last tradition is our October camping trip. It started in 2008, when six of our group's families spent a weekend at Cunningham Falls State Park. 

These girls don't remember a time they didn't go camping together.

My younger daughter had just turned 3, and she doesn't remember a thing about that camp out. I do: the first night was rainy, we slept in hats, and little Kathy and I snuggled in my sleeping bag. (I've also got some great pictures to jog my memory.)

An outcrop of rocks in the middle of our group's sites became a playground. The kids clambered up and around them all weekend. It was only when I reserved those same campsites the next year I learned that they feature "a severe drop off of the back of the camping pad" and are "not suitable for children." This perceived liability had become our group's favorite spot!

Kids still play on the rocks in 2013

On Sunday we returned from our sixth camping trip to the same park, the same sites. The group has grown: this year we had twelve families (with fifteen girls, five boys, and two dogs).

This isn't even the entire group of campers

We tried something new this year, and reserved one site where we could gather as a community. That was a successful experiment! During the day, the kids played on the camping pad, and at night, the grownups brought their chairs to enjoy a big fire.

Community campsite at night

The weather cooperated by not raining on us -- a tradition that has held since our second year, and one that I cannot claim any responsibility for. We went on a group hike, ate countless s'mores, played flashlight tag, burned hot dogs, and enjoyed being unplugged for the weekend. I talked two of my friends into going on a sunrise trail run to the falls and back. 

Spectacular colors

New for me this camping season is my Dutch oven. I'm totally in love with it for camp cooking. Instead of burning our hobo packets in the coals of a fire (or worse, undercooking them), we arranged them in the pot and let the radiant heat of charcoal briquettes do the work. I have used it to bake mac'n'3 cheese, "dump cake," biscuits and bacon, and banana boats, successful every time.

Dutch oven plus campfire

I also invested in a happy, apple green percolator. I loved drinking hot coffee in the great outdoors while watching my girls and their friends running around before the sun appeared over the mountain.

My breakfast starts with coffee

We have a lot of camping equipment, and I'm pretty sure there isn't room for much more gear, even though we probably need a second tent. This is true car camping! I'm not sure how getting ready for two nights in the woods takes up this much space. At least we did not forget our sleeping bags this year.

Everything and the camp kitchen sink

What a great time! I love how the kids create play in nature. I love the fresh air. I love the relaxed time with my husband. I love how the leaves fall in a gentle breeze. I love spending time with my friends. I can't wait for next year's adventure!

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Recipe for Mac'n'3 Cheese, transcribed from a GS leader training packet:

Old Fashioned Macaroni and Cheese

(One pot OR Dutch or Box oven)

1 12-15 oz. box pasta

1 stick of butter

8 oz sour cream

2 cups small curd cottage cheese

Onion powder

Salt and pepper

12 oz sharp cheddar cheese

Cook pasta. Melt butter into pasta. Mix with other ingredients and place in greased pan.

Cook over low heat until cheese has melted and mixture is thick and creamy; stirring frequently

OR

 Cook in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Poached in Salsa

You know how routine can be both a security blanket and a crutch? How a day, week, or month all planned out can be both satisfying and stultifying? How traditions provide comfort, yet sometimes you need a break?

This blog is about comfort, routine ... and shaking things up. The name is inspired by radio interview and a jar of salsa.

In brief:

I like to fry an egg in butter, flip it with a flick of the pan before the top of the white has set, count to ten, and slide it onto the plate. A pinch of salt, a grind of black pepper, and I am satisfied, comforted, and full.

On the radio one morning, a Mexican chef described her simply perfect egg: she poaches it in salsa. I'd never thought of doing that, but now I wanted to try it.

Soon after, I picked up a jar of tomatillo salsa at Trader Joe's. For breakfast the next morning, I heated up the spicy, green sauce in my omelet pan, broke the egg on top, and let it poach until the white was set but the yolk still ran.

I won't call it a revelation, but, wow, that egg was good!

It's just a little thing, an egg poached in salsa, but it made me happy and reminded me to try something new. This tweak in routine -- cooking my egg in salsa instead of frying it in butter -- inspired me. Not only to try this cooking method with traditional tomato sauce and olive tapenade, but to start a blog. This is pushing me out of my comfort zone and routine, for sure.

What have you done that's new to you? How did it work out for you? I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks for reading!

Louisa