Helpful Information on the Try-it Changes

I thought this link might be helpful to anyone who is confused about the changes going on with the try-its and other badges.  This site seems to have very helpful Q & A.  The thing I was happy about was that unlike what I thought, it appears the council's own try-its will still be able to be available, they are just issuing new guidelines so that might tweak or eliminate some, but should still allow for them as our scouts grow.

I am thinking about ordering one or two of the "reg" try-its that are discontinued, but then I think about the 100 or so council own's we still have and it makes me think twice.  LOL!

Triple C Camp..7 try-its down!

This weekend was a blast!  We got to work on 5 try-its on Saturday and finished on Sunday with 2 more.  Here are some pictures and the try-it's Seasan earned:

This is the patch from Triple C.  Cool thing is that it interlocks with the other lizzard patches so you can "build" it as you go back.

Watershed's and Me 

  The girls got to go down to the creek for this one..and get wet!  They had a blast.

Water Everywhere

This one is a normal try-it from the book, but they still enjoyed earning it.  The camp workers were very excited to teach the kids and you could really see it in the way they ran the program.

Climate Change

One of my favs for the cute bear. (My boyfriend hates this one as he thinks climate change is mostly propaganda from the government.)  He would have objected to this one had he known she was going to be earning it...so it was our secret :)



Forestree

 LOL!  I was going to work on this one at home with her.  Glad I didn't get around to it as I forgot it was on this weekends itinerary.  She had a great time doing the leave prints.  The mobile they made was unique to say the least :)

Fun with Flight

   -  Sorry, left it at home so will upload pic later.  Here is a picture of them doing their paper airplane!

Wild Flowers 

 They got to go hiking for these on Sunday.  The pictures they drew were beautiful.

Flower Frenzy

 They planted some clover in pots to take home with them.

After the weekend I took her to the orchard on the nearby mountain.  Here are some pictures from this one:

And here is the "buddy" we saw on the way out.  Yuck!  (Pic was taken from my car..right next to the snake.  I stayed in the car.)



Places of Interest

For those of you in Virginia, I highly recommend doing some searching on programs available for try-its.  This last weekend we went to the Triple C camp and had a blast (I will do this recap next).  Here are some interesting places with programs to check out:

Virginia House

Lake Ridge Park  - I do not see anything coming up, but they just had a try-it weekend so keep your eyes out.

Carlyle House

Triple C Camp

Random DC/VA/MD locations:

Fun in the Forest

Tonight we are going to work on this try-it. 


Yes, we are finally going full steam ahead!  I am going to have to pace us at about 3 try-its a week to make up for last years laziness.  LOL!

1. Tree encounter.  I am going to use this site to help with this one and print it out to go over it. 

2.  What's in the forest.  We are going to take a hike in the woods.  This may have to wait for this weekend as it is raining outside.  We will make a list of the things we find and talk about the textures and scents in a forest.

3. (4)  Leaf investigation.  Seasan can pick 4 leaves from our neighborhood and we will identify them.  This leaf site will help you on this one.

4. (6) Indoor scavenger hunt.  This one will be good with the rain.  I am thinking we can then use the computer to help us do part 2 about learning about the product.

Brownie Pen Pal!

Seasan has been communicating with her pen pal in California.  We are teaming up to order the council's own before they become "extinct"..lol!  All I can say is both myself and my leader are annoyed at how Girl Scouts seems to be changing their program every two years or so...and now the council's own will be phased out as the try-its go to patches.  (I am sure they will bring them back in that form, but come on, can't we have some consistency?

Anyhow, back to the pen pal.  (I do not want to list a name until I check with her mom.. :)  Seasan was very excited to receive her letter a few weeks back and four cool try-its from North Dakota Wildlife.  Here are two of them:

 

We can't wait to do these this summer when she goes to Michigan.  (My dad will take her on all the outdoor activities.) 

We just sent her pen pal a letter with a few try-its we got in and should be sending another letter soon with more.  I encourage you to try out this pen pal activity because the girls think this is so much fun.  (Especially since they are on opposite ends of the USA!)

Discover the Nations Capital Patch

So we started on this one this week.  We went on the DC boat tour which is part of the transportation patch.  It was a very nice 1 hour boat tour..and the best part was that there were only 10 people on the tour!  I will post pictures soon.  We are looking forward to heading into DC to finish more items on this patch.

Tudor Place

We went to the Tudor place a week ago.  Seasan got to tour the house and build a bird house.  They also learned about gardening.  This helps them with the Eco-explorer badge.  It was downpouring most of the day and we got good and wet :)

Girl Scout Aid Try-it

Also talked to her Leader about this one.  The troop that Seasan is in is a little different than most.  It is a mix of Daisys, Brownies, and Juniors.  (Orig Brownies at differrent levels..then added Daisys at diff levels..you get the picture.)  They are helping with bridging this year, so this try it falls right in line with all the activities they do together.  One more that will be earned soon!

Sales Woman Try-it

Talked with Seasan's troop leader about this one and doing it with cookie sales.  Score!  They have done the requirements and she is going to order them for the troop!  Perfect try-it to do with sales or even in conjunction with the regular sales try-it from the brownie book.

San Antonio Missions Tour

This is not a try-it, but a patch offered by the Southwest Girl Scout Council of Texas.  We went out to Texas for Christmas this year and did a tour of the Missions in San Antonio to complete the "physical location" items.  Now Seasan just needs to complete the other requirements to finish it.

1. She needs to draw a pic of an Indian Home and decide where everyone would sleep.  Talk about what it would be like to live there.

2. Finish the cross word puzzle.

3. Use a method to cook outdoors.  What situation would that be handy.

We are going to try to wrap this up this week so we can order it.

Maple Syrup Try-it Earned!

Here are the pisc of the try-it. We did itens #1-#5. (Only had to do 4 items, but did 5 just because it was fun.)

Maple Syrup Try-it

So we are headed to Michigan for a very short trip. (Leave today, stay there tomorrow, and come back on Thursday.)  Maple Syrup sap is flowing, so Papa is going to help Seasan earn her Maple Syrup Try-it.  You can follow the link on this post to the requirements for the try-it.  Seasan is looking forward to the taste test part... :)

7 Try-its in a day!

My daughter is signing up for a weekend try-it program that will take them through 7 badges in two days!  As soon as I hear back from them on the classes she got in on, I will post what ones they are!

Cookie Wars

So I have never been much of a competitive person.  I always played sports because I liked them, and not to win.  This Friday was cookie truck day in our council.  We were on the schedule to sell at our local Lowe's at 5:30PM. 

My daughter and I showed up at 5:15PM (figuring we can help unload) and Lowe and behold (pun intended) there was a Junior troop there.  I asked them if they were selling there and they replied yes.  Assuming I messed up the location, I call our Leader to check.  She told me "nope...I even have the paperwork in front of me with a signed form from Lowe's".  So as I wait around, this Junior troop of 3 girls is staring me down.  I figure it is not my place to discuss the particulars, so I wait for our Leader. 

Upon her arrival, her and the other blond lady from the Junior troop march into Lowe's to get a Manager..and would you believe it...the manager in charge of sales is out.   So our Leader shows her paperwork and the blond lady says "well I have paperwork to...but not with me, you could always take the exit".  So our Leader reluctantly agrees.  In the mean time, I am standing inside the entrance to Lowe's with about 10 Brownie/Daisy's who are all talking at once.  One of the Junior girls yells "be quiet, we are trying to sell our cookies and they can't hear us".  (Can we say rude...did they forget manners that include the word "please".)  So I round them up with one or two mom's and we herd them outside to the bitter windy night.

Our Leader looks around on where to set up.  The exit to Lowe's is to small to be inside and not block part of it, so we set up just outside the exit. (Need I remind you we have Brownies and Daisy's and it is windy and cold..entrance to Lowe's would have been nice.) 

All of a sudden, Blond Lady comes outside and sees us setting up..and whips out her cell.  Spends the next 45 minutes on her cell.  (This is where it gets really devious).  She comes over and chats with one of our Brownies and goes "oh your in troop XXXX..okay" and proceeds to relay that to whoever is on the phone.  So our Leader gets a call from the council, and she explains what is going on.  Needless to say, the council told our Leader what she did was okay (being that she was the only one with paperwork) and told the Blond lady that she didn't have a leg to stand on without proof that they were also supposed to be there.  So 10 minutes later..her comes Blond lady with her 3 girls out into the bitter cold with their table and cookies to be outside the entrance.

Ahhh..the fun of Girl Scout Cookie Wars.   (Seriously people, it is cookies!)