Girl's Camp 2023

 I was the Stake Girl's Camp Director again this year. We all knew going in that I would be more preoccupied with Victoria's graduation party and Nationals, but I told them since it would be planned for the same location as last year that it would make a big difference. I knew what to expect with a lot of things, however, there's always unexpected things that come up, and they did, but I would say it was another successful Girl's Camp.

I had 10 YCLS this year (Youth Camp Leaders) and Kai was happy to be one of them. I had them do most of the planning with me, as we're encouraged to do now. That made it easier and harder at the same time. Easier because they got to lead the activities and make most of the announcements, but harder because they're teenagers and still learning about timing in schedules for big groups and making backup plans. Our Stake YW leader had a baby about 1 1/2 months ago, so she wasn't able to help as much, but she did what she could. Victoria was one of my adult leaders. It was so fun to have her there another year and she even brought her non-member friend, Susie, who I think really enjoyed her time at camp. 

Monday morning, we met up at Walled Lake Outdoor Education Center. We had the same cubbies as last year for secret sisters. 

I had the shirts ready to go beforehand and the YCLs got little color-coded lists of their groups.

This year we encouraged them to give 1 gift, do 1 act of service, and have at least one moment of getting to know their secret sister. I really liked the friendships that formed because of that.

Our camp theme was S.T.A.R. (Strength Through And in the Redeemer) to go along with Philippians 4:13 which is the entire church youth theme of the year: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. So we had a space theme. The 1st years were yellow stars, 2nd years were blue moons, 3rd years were purple planets, and 4th years were orange suns. The YCLs wanted to be aliens, (mostly so they could plan an alien invasion) and the adult leaders were the Milky Way. 

Suns

Planets

Stars

Moons

Kai designed the shirts.

Upon the arrival of the girls, they made name tags for their beds, played games, and looked at the picture slideshow of last year's camp. We ate the sack lunches we brought all together and then went to the barracks together to set up beds so girls could sleep with whoever they chose to sleep near and not worry about late arrivals not getting to set up near early arrivals. The YCLs had put up white Christmas lights to set the space theme feel in the barracks and they designated a "loud" side and a "quiet" side for those who wanted more quiet sleeping arrangements. 

They got to know their groups after setting up their beds and went on to decorate their camp journals and group banners together after that. We had some YCLs perform do's and don't skits to help with the rules, lead them in some camp songs, and I introduced the theme with a little talk about stars before we went outside for large group games. 

Decorating journals

Group posters

Group posters

We broke into groups of two after that and I led one group to trim back some hedges of Walled Lake trails, while the other group made cat toys for the Humane Society for our service portion of camp. The other two groups learned how to make fires with flint and steel and then we switched.

Our cooks were amazing and cooked all of our dinners on camp griddles outside so we didn't have to pay the facility to feed us very small and unsatisfactory dinners like they did last year. We can't use their kitchen facilities, but our cooks knew that and volunteered to cook the ol' camping way- and did so very successfully! That first night we had pasta with sauce and meatballs, salad, and garlic bread. It was Bishop's night, so they came up after some skit practice and brought fixings for ice cream sundaes that we ate after our hour of time with our bishops. We talked about the Plan of Salvation in the Plymouth Ward and colored in little visuals for that so the girls can teach it to their families. 

I only got one cook pictured (I have a ton more pictures from other people, but I'm only including the ones I took on my blog)

The first 2 YCLs to give the devotional that night thought they each had 30 minutes, as opposed to 15 minutes total (?!) but their lesson on being children of God and individual personalities/qualities was so amazing! So we got majorly off schedule and didn't have much time by the campfire that night, but it was fine. 

When the lights were to be out by 11, we had a new plan for this year where girls would be allowed to go to the game room off the main hall in the building across from the barracks. The rule was, they all had to be ready for bed and no one could go in there past 11, so they wouldn't wake up anyone that could be sleeping when they left the barracks, and once they left the game room, they couldn't go back in. Everyone was to leave by midnight to quietly go to bed. I gave Victoria the job of being in charge of that late group since she loves to stay up, as do so many girls, which is why we did that. It went ok. The second night some girls let their friends in after 11, even though Victoria and the other young adult said no, so I had to get really strict the third night and they did better then.

We had wake-up time at 7, meeting at the flagpole at 7:30, so some could really just roll out of bed if they didn't need much time before going out. After the Pledge, 2 more YCLs gave a much shorter devotional. We went to the parking lot for a 30 min Zumba class taught by one of the counselors in the Stake YW Presidency. Breakfast was breakfast burritos.

Our classes that morning were rock painting and a self-confidence class taught by 2 YCLs. I oversaw the rock painting and I hear the self-confidence class was amazing! 

Rock decorating

Lunch was sandwiches, chips, and fruit before we got ready for our hike. The YCLs were to hide the rocks the girls painted and the girls were to find them on the hike. The timing was a little off for hiding them and some of the groups got behind, but in the end, most people found their rocks and enjoyed the just under 4-mile hike. The rocks that weren't found will probably be found by some other lucky kids who go on that trail.

Leading the hike.

We didn't have as much time as we had thought for swimming at the dam, so only about half the girls wanted to hike back down a 1/2 mile to swim there, the other half had extra free time. When we returned and cleaned up, Kai taught an art class and we made alien ufos and another YCLs taught a watercolor class. We had a delicious dinner of walking tacos and then learned from our two Stake YW Counselors about testimonies. 

Swim time!

The groups performed some hilarious skits and then we went down to the fire pit to eat churros and have a sing-along.

Two more YCLs gave devotionals and then we had a dance! It took forever to get the music to connect and work, and when we did, it was the wrong playlist, so the dance started off kind of slowly. It started picking up and most girls had a great time. The YCLs planned their alien invasion to be toward the end, so they snuck away and when I got the signal text, we paused the music and they stormed in with their laser guns, alien headbands, glasses, and glow-in-the-dark shirts. Unfortunately, one of the girls banged her gun on the window of the door which caused a crack and spider-web effect. Needless to say, Walled Lake wasn't very happy about that, but we have church insurance, so everything will be just fine. 

Aliens!

The next day we had no workout planned since I knew from last year that there was no time for that on the day we do the high ropes and climbing tower. We still did the Pledge and spiritual feast for 30 minutes which I forgot to include that we did on Tuesday after breakfast and Zumba. 

Walled Lake employees took it from there. I had already preassigned our four groups into 3 for the rotation of high ropes, climbing tower, and lantern making. My group got to go to the climbing tower first. Not all the girls wanted to try, but those who did, improved from last year. I ended up having time to climb a few times. They could tell Kai and I are related and looked forward to Victoria coming to show us up! (she goes to a climbing wall facility fairly often in Detroit, so she's pretty legit)

Is this Kai??

Or is this Kai?? (Hint: one of them is me)

After a pizza lunch, my group was at lantern making. We just painted jars with glow-in-the-dark paint and acrylic paint. They all were very creative! We had tea lights to put in them.

Our final rotation was the high ropes. I didn't get to do them last year because I was in a very large group and some of the girls who were more hesitant went first and took a lot longer. This year, most of the girls in my group knew they wanted to just climb up the net and zipline down, as opposed to walking around on the high ropes, so I planned to go up. It worked out really well because we had a girl from the Detroit River Branch who has recently moved here from Ukraine. She had been in the care of some of the YCLs who were able to use their phones for translation, though she pretty much was able to communicate through English most of the time. For the high ripes, though, I was a little nervous she wouldn't catch all the voice commands, so she and I went up almost at the same time. I crossed the first rope and then waited for her to come across so I could help her yell down the voice commands to the high ropes attendants. While she was crossing, she was so nervous being up that high that she was shaking like I'd never seen and speaking Ukrainian very quickly and non-stop! Probably praying and asking why she decided to do the high ropes! To tell you the truth, I was a little afraid too. The way the ropes were in the trees, out in the open with no other apparatus above or below, made it feel higher and more scary. The last time I did something like that it was layered. The other scary part was that it was crunch time to beat the looming storm that was coming. I ended up telling Kira to go back rather than cross two more ropes to complete the triangle to return. Since we were the last 2, they had to emergency lower us to get down directly underneath the main platform, rather than zipline down to the other side. I think that made Kira nervous too, but the lowering wasn't fast or scary. It turned out that in the end, she had thought she had ruined the event and couldn't zipline down because of that, not due to the thunderstorm that literally hit us right after we got in the main hall.

The love for Kira was so sweet. So many girls were hugging and comforting her so she could feel safe and happy again. A couple girls went with her to wash her face and finish calming her down. When we had to change our afternoon plans from water gun wars and water balloon fights to watching The Best Two Years in one room and Once I Was a Beehive in the other (with Ukrainian subtitles), Kira was all smiles. 

Dinner was bbq hamburgers, corn on the cob, and chips. Luckily the grill was in a covered pavilion since it was still raining. The YCLs changed their minds a few times about the Faith Walk. It had finally stopped raining and they decided to go ahead and do it outside, but as soon as we started out, leading a long line of blindfolded girls, interspersed with YCLs who could see, it started raining again and the thunder and lightning weren't far behind. We had put the lanterns that the girls made in the pavilion by the firepit, but then had to bring them back up to the game room, which is where we ended the faith walk. They read the love letters from their parents and we had the lights dim and the lanterns on the coffee table, so we rolled right into our testimony meeting, even though our timing was way off and President Montierth was supposed to give a little message first. I just knew it was the right time to hold the testimony meeting. It went on for about an hour and a half and was beautiful! The girls learned from what they learned in the testimony class and applied it to the meeting. Kira bore her testimony in Ukrainian and after my girls bore their heartfelt testimonies, Susie got up. At the end, she told me she wasn't sure if she should get up, but that she really felt a pull on her heart. I told her that is the Holy Ghost/Holy Spirit. Some of the girls wanted to meet in their small groups, but I knew others were done, so we let President Monteirth have a few minutes before we went to eat s'mores that had been on the grill in foil to melt the chocolate. We had the best cooks!

Faith walk, before the lightning. 

You can't see the lights in them, but they were lit and so cozy!

After the girls got ready for bed and a few threats about the late group, we turned in. Even us older adult leaders stayed up way too late. In the morning, there was one more time at the flag and a spiritual feast, followed by some yoga and a pancake and sausage breakfast. The girls cleaned up following their designated jobs, revealed their secret sisters, and signed journals. 

Even though we had a few hiccups, the way that testimony meeting went tells me that we accomplished what we needed to at Girl's Camp.

A National Champ!

 For years we have been planning vacations and for the most part, we have stayed on our vacation schedule. Jason's very organized with our travel funds and planning ahead so we can make the most of each one. We're a little backed up now, due to the pandemic, but we had still discussed going to Europe this summer- the summer before Victoria goes off to college. Well, late last summer, at the dance competition meeting, we learned that the competition team would go to nationals this year. It's not necessarily mandatory that each girl who's on the competition team go to nationals since it's during the summer rather than the school year, however, it's better if each girl on the team attends. Since Victoria never got to go, another mark for the pandemic, she really wanted to go. She told us, "I'd rather go to nationals than Europe this summer. Besides, I can win a national title and $500!" We kind of chuckled at that and were slightly annoyed that our family vacation would be to go to Niagra Falls for a week, rather than Europe. 

Bonus: Jason's parents wanted to attend and so did my mom and Jim, where he actually grew up. 

The day finally came to go to Niagra Falls. Jason's parents had already been to our house and were with their camper in the eastern states, ready to meet us there, though they would be staying at a campsite and us at a hotel. My mom and Jim "rented" one of our cars and we split up into two vehicles to drive out there. Somehow, Kai didn't have an enhanced driver's license, like we thought, and her passport was expired, which we knew, so one car went through the States for 6 1/2 hours and the other car went through Canada for what was supposed to be 4 1/2 hours. On the way there, the drive took 6 hours through Canada because of the very long line into the country. Jim got out to check out what was going on since it was our line that was moving the least. Well, the security didn't like that and threatened to have him banned from Canada! We made it after going through too much construction as well. (For the ride home, the boys came with Victoria and me since they're under 16 and only needed birth certificates, and our ride through Canada was much quicker!)

While in Niagra, we managed to balance everything very well between supporting Victoria's dancing and vacationing/sightseeing. On the first day, she went to audition for the National Performer of the Year dance-off performance. She was assigned a try-out number and learned part of a routine. She was given certain parts in the final performance and was observed by judges. All soloists who signed up to be entered got to participate in this opportunity. While she was busy doing that for most of the day, we all went to Palmyra to see the church history sights there. We enjoyed the historical stories and spiritual stories. Erik was in a mood so that put a damper on things at the beginning...

I really liked the new emphasis on Christ here. They reminded us that it's Christ's church, not Joseph Smith's.

Austin was the 14-year-old boy they referenced when making connections to Joseph Smith.

The Palmyra Temple.

The Sacred Grove. Erik thinks the First Vision was in this area.

The 4 churches that started Joseph's inquiries. 

Victoria had another dance-off practice Tuesday morning, similar to the one on Monday, including learning more parts. When she was done, we all got to go on the Maid of the Mist tour, including Vicky's best friend Susie's family. It was a wet and windy adventure!

My run that morning was leading up to the falls.

We were all very wet! But the wind on the way back dried us off.

Then, some of us hiked up the stairs right next to the falls and got even more wet! The water drops were actually hitting our phones and messing with our picture-taking!

Susie's dad, Joe, actually got these 2 pics of us at the falls because he's pretty tall and his body blocked the water drops.

That night, the dancers had a party in their instructors' suite (George, Dana, and Kaylie), after more practice. Jason and I took our other 3 kids to swim at the big hotel with Sammie, Susie's younger sister, and we played cards with her parents. 

In order to make this very expensive competition work for our family, we stayed at the Fairfield Inn where we had points for free nights. It also included free breakfasts. That was the only way to go when we had to be there for 6 nights. All the other dancers stayed at the Sheraton, which was across the street from the Convention Center where the competition was held. The Sheraton Ballroom was where all the dance practices and auditions were held. Victoria was not happy with where we were going to stay when we booked it, and she still wasn't happy about when we were there, but she coped with it. It was a 10-minute walk away or a two-minute drive. I promised her I would drive her there and back as much as I could, and I did. I think when we were in Palmyra, she had to get a ride to grab something she forgot. 

We passed this cool Catholic church on our walk from hotel to hotel.

The Sheraton's pool was better than ours, though most of the other parts of both hotels were the same. Obviously, the Sheraton was much bigger, it had no breakfast though. The biggest problem for us was that there was no free parking anywhere by the Convention Center or the Sheraton, so after I would drop her off, I would have to drive back to Fairfield and park, and then walk over. Sometimes it was a  speed walk, a few times it was a run. When I would have to run back to get the car to pick her up after performances, when she was wiped out from a long dance day, I could make it in 5 minutes. 

Here's our hotel's pool- a lot smaller than the other, but Erik and Austin still enjoyed it.

Pretty much every night, after Tuesday, the kids swam with Sammie at the Sheraton. On the street in between the Sheraton and Convention Center, which was more like a plaza, there were outdoor games like giant checkers, corn hole, ping pong, and connect 4. My boys spent a lot of time there and that saved us when we were watching dances and they only wanted to watch Victoria's. We gave them a number of dance numbers in between and they'd leave and then come back. Kai, Austin, and Erik were very good sports about it!

Kai and Austin even did the Worm to show off their dance moves!

Wednesday morning was Victoria's small group senior lyrical number, Make You Feel My Love. It was very early and all 9 of us made it there in time, amazingly enough. It received a platinum (highest achievement), a judge's award for Stunning Stage Presence, got 3rd overall for senior small group, and was called back to be a dance-off final number. 

*Note: the pictures I include of any dancing are courtesy of a friend who bought the package of her daughter. They're pretty expensive, so we didn't purchase them as we did for the first competition in Feb, which I wasn't impressed with the shots they got. They only got one of her solo that wasn't my fav. Maybe they would have been better this time since her solo was so much better, but it's ok. It's all written down.

The final pose of the dance.

Wednesday night was her solo. It was the best she's ever performed it! Her leaps, jumps, and turns were higher and more beautiful than ever! She scored a platinum, a judge's award for Beautiful Ballet, which surprised her, and me, since it was a lyrical number. But when the judge explained about her beautiful lines and how she must have had really good ballet training, then it made sense. I think that particular achievement was one of my favorites because she really does have beautiful lines. She got 2nd place in the senior downtown solos, which meant she was in the running to win the National Performer of the Year. The girl who got 1st place hadn't entered the dance-off competition part, which meant we knew Victoria would have a good chance of winning something. I knew she would perform well in the dance-off because it had a little Latin flair and she has an amazing stage presence! 

The soloists from Dancin' Feet.

The professional pic in her solo costume.

In between those two numbers on Wednesday, the rest of the group went to Fort Niagra to see where Jim used to work as a teenager. A lot has changed since then! They all had a great time and I missed going, but since Victoria had to be taken back and forth a couple times for practices and we were gone the whole first day, I didn't want to leave her hanging. 

Thursday morning was the morning with the rest of her dances, spread out within an hour of each other, so the boys really enjoyed the plaza games! It was tricky getting everyone where they needed to be at the right time and with the snacks/meals we might need, but it all worked out.  

Popcorn Pops!

Early on Thursday morning was her senior jazz trio, Everybody Wants to be a Cat. It achieved a platinum, 4th overall senior duo/trio, and made it as a finalist to the dance-off, which was good since a few of our group missed this early number, but got to see it again at the dance-off!

Look at her leap here on the right!

One of my favorite dances.

Stand By Me, a large senior large group lyrical, received a platinum, a judge's Best Costume award (they looked pretty, but Victoria's kept malfunctioning behind the scenes!), and 2nd place overall in their category.

Singing in the Rain, a large group senior jazz, received a platinum, 1st place for senior large group in the downtown level, and was chosen as a gala showcase performance number. The judges gave an award to George, the head choreographer, for this number. It was called Genius! It had the appearance of being simple, though they knew it wasn't, but eye-catching. I always refer to it as a breath of fresh air. Just so nice and classic. George truly is a genius.

She's on the left with another amazing leap!

The last number was Jailhouse Rock, which was the Teen Small Production Tap. It received platinum, a judge's award for Spotlight Precision, and 1st place overall teen production in their category. It was also entered into the dance-off and won 1st place in our category! It was Grandpa Jim's favorite. 

She's a police officer.

After the awards on Thursday, we went to Buffalo to eat wings at the place where Buffalo wings were invented, Anchor Bar. It was pretty busy for the middle of the day. Victoria had more practices for the dance-off the next day, and Kai wasn't feeling well, but Susie's family joined us. I know all the men really loved it! It had a fun atmosphere. After a good lunch, we went to find the "easy" little hike "off the freeway" near Buffalo. It was Eternal Flame Falls and seemed very intriguing. Susie's family left, but Jason and I with the boys and grandparents drove farther than we expected, though it was fun to see Buffalo through that, to a hike that wasn't off the freeway, as it had said. It turned out to not be very long, but full of obstacles. Roots all along the path led us down to a "trail" along the wet shale rock along a stream that led to the falls. They didn't disappoint, though, and we really enjoyed it! The Eternal Flame is a natural gas leak behind a small waterfall. Sometimes the flame is out, but if you bring a lighter along, you can easily light it. It was lit when we arrived. The boys helped Gramms and Abuelo out on the way back and earned a reward for that. We brought donuts to the pool that night to share with the Kish family. 

Anchor Bar

I loved the churches nearby.

Lots of roots!

It was small, but so cool!

Friday was the day that I knew nothing about because it was when all those call-back numbers were going to perform, and then the dance-off performance. I learned late Thursday night the order, but it was still confusing since the numbers of the dances were the original ones, but not all the original ones were performing, so we had to pay attention to the small text with the order of the callbacks. They were all in the late afternoon, so my mom rented two bikes for us to share and we enjoyed taking turns riding along the paths around the falls until then.

We didn't even have to adjust the seat for my growing kids!

On my run that morning I saw this rainbow!

Bike ride!

Big supporters!

A quick dinner for the dancers.

In the dance-off, we got to see all of her dances again, except the small group and her solo, since it already received second place. They had more awards, and then the dance-off number, Let's Get Loud. There were live congo drums off the stage and the dancers got to wear coin bracelets and roses in their hair. By this point in the night, I was freezing and shaking from cold, excitement, and nervousness. I had to move so I could see to record, even though we weren't supposed to, but Victoria requested that I do, and I was happy to oblige! I couldn't always tell where she was at the beginning since they all looked the same, but I knew enough to stop recording when the younger ones came on, just because I didn't want to get in trouble and I wasn't sure how good my recording was. I could see her at some point in the middle since she was more at the front for the second half. Her smile was beautiful, as always, and she was having the time of her life! It was very loud, though, due to all the screaming, which George discourages a lot of the crazy calling out during dance competitions. I did give a little whistle and a whoop when I saw her, but those constantly calling out girls' names got really annoying!

She's 3rd from the left.

2nd from the left here.

Somewhere in the same vicinity!

When it came time for the Senior Downtown First Place Performer of the Year, I was really nervous. Since the other two girls were from our studio and Victoria had placed higher than them on her solo, I figured she had won, but I couldn't get myself to record them announcing it until after they had said her name. You'll see my recording just after they announced her name was all over the place until I got control of myself. 

She did it- she won the $500 she said she would with the beauty pageant crown and sash! She won the National Title for Performer of the Year!! She worked so hard and even stayed in a different hotel so her family could join her. She really deserved it!

That night, there was a parent cocktail party in George's suite while the dancers went to see the fireworks over the falls. I'll never forget what one parent said to George in our toast. She thanked him for not only working the girls hard and teaching them but for not giving them "angry or sexy" routines. A lot of dances now are full of angst, anger, and boodie shaking. George has always kept the routines clean, classic, artistic, and beautiful. I am so proud of all the dancers and who they are through their movement. 

Our first group to leave from Niagra went the long way, through the States. Austin, Erik, and I stayed back while Victoria went to the gala party in her nice purple dress for a fancy lunch with all the dancers in the competition. Ours was the only studio with color-coordinating dresses and George wore his matching purple tie. 

The boys and I met up with the Kish family and wandered the plaza on the way to the falls. They played more of the big games and we even found a huge chessboard. Austin loves chess and observed the players there for a while. We also found a Ninja Warrior Obstacle Course that we promptly got in line for. They could definitely tell my boys have had Ninja Warrior training as they quickly and efficiently completed the two courses, even Erik with his still recovering finger. I couldn't resist either, and though I've never actually done a Ninja Warrior obstacle course, I knew I could do the hardest part because of my pull-up talent. It was trickier on the skinny balance beam for me and I definitely was slower than my boys at the beginning, but I was the first person to complete the entire course without falling because I could pull myself up on the bars at the end. I still got it!

Austin 

We bought some cinnamon bagels and stopped at the souvenir shop by the Falls for the Kish's. The boys found a wildlife game that they effortlessly completed in a faster time than anyone that day so far. We were just conquering everything there in Niagra! 

When we went through the border patrol into Canada, the guard enjoyed hearing about Victoria's win and I think it softened him up a bit. Those security officers mean business! 

We all made it safely home and enjoy reminiscing about when Victoria proclaimed that she would win the national title!