A Night in the Past: Fort Edmonton Sleepover!

 

My Guide Unit had a sleepover at Fort Edmonton a few weeks ago and it was a ton of fun! I took a lot of pictures and wanted to share a few with you!

(I think that is how all my posts have started lately- but I guess that is what happens when you do a lot of events and not a whole lot else!)

 

 

The Fort was almost eerie in the cold and quiet night. It is a truly different experience being there in the winter when there is no one else there. I really enjoyed myself!

 

 

The girls got to start of the night by making some bannock on a stick. It worked pretty well and they really enjoyed eating it right off the stick- classic Girl Guide move!

 

 

The Guides got to try their hand at beading with sinew and beads. I wish we got to do the traditional beading, but this was fun too!  

 

 

Our interpreter was fantastic. He had a very captive audience as he told fur trade tales by the glowing fire. We could have listened for hours.

 

 

The girls got to make a travois as a team and carry firewood from one end of the room to the other. I was really impressed with what they could do and I was shocked that none of them fell apart!

 

 

The lighting was just beautiful on Rowand House in the morning I couldn't resist to take a few shots.

 

 

We finished off our morning activities with a snowshoe romp through the park. These snowshoes were a lot harder to maneuver than the ones I used at the Groundhog Camp, but gave a huge appreciation for the people who had to use them to get around.

 

 

It was a great weekend event and even if it was a little bit pricey. I would definitely recommend it as it is a little bit different than your typical sleepover. The girls had a lot of fun and earned two interest badges! Snowshoeing and Provincial Heritage! Great job girls!

Groundhog Day Camp!

Last weekend I was lucky enough to go to camp with a Guide unit in my district and I wanted to share a few photos of my experience. This was the first Guiding event that I had my new camera so I took a ton of photos. It was a lot of fun! Enjoy!

There is nothing like starting a Guide Camp with a dance party! These girls were so much fun to camp with and their enthusiasm and joy were infectious!

This is the beautiful morning view from the deck of the building we were staying in. I had never stayed at this facility before so I really enjoyed trying something new. Plus this view was incredible!

One of the things I really enjoy about this unit is that they have a lot of traditions that they keep to, like flag raising every morning of camp. Even though it was chilly and a bit windy the girls tromped a horseshoe in the snow, sang O Canada and got day one of camp off to a great start!

One of the main parts of their program they were working on this weekend was their snowshoeing badge so we took a three hour "hike" down the trail. Now when I say hike- I mean for the girls; for me it was more of a try not to fall over and laugh it off when I trip over my own feet. You know that feeling when you know you are going down and there is nothing you can do about it? That was me 85% of the morning...

I love experimenting with light in photography- especially with my new camera (which I am in love with!) so I thought this shot of the frozen wetland was quite nice.

Nothing like the Guide Motto made of snow to make you smile! I like this a lot because it was the girl who went on a night hike's  idea to leave it as a surprise for the snowshoeing in the morning. It was cool to just stumble across it.

Cue Shannon wanting to capture the insane beauty of Alberta winters with a new camera (how many times have I said new camera so far?) Here are some trees... ooh ahh

Here are some pussy willows- it is not spring yet!

Here is an interesting cloud formation. Aren't you glad you are reading this right now? Hehe

Here is a little baby squirrel. He was so very cute I have a small photo shoot of him on my memory card. He was just so chubby and adorable. Too bad he is probably filled with diseases...

Here is some cool looking fungus on a stick. The red really stuck out in the snow and I thought it looked really neat!

The girls decorated the main room of the building with safety posters they had made at a meeting. This one was my favourite; it says "if the whistle blows, everyone goes!" I was pretty impressed with some of the slogans they came up with- some advertisers should get in contact with them for a campaign!

We were lucky enough to have a session on fire building with some of the program leaders who work out where we were staying. First everyone (including leaders!) worked on some knife safety and eventually ended up carving up a feather stick to use on a fire later on. I was very impressed with the girls in this activity and considering they had not really used knives before, the fact that everyone left with all of their fingers was a great success!

Most of the girls had never used a flint and steel before and they actually got a fires started with them which was fantastic! I left the session with a strong desire to get one of my own!

Here is the roaring fire we cooked bannock on for a tasty treat. I really enjoyed the session and learned a lot!

One of the traditions the unit has is to do a project each year so the first years make a pillow, the second years a blanket, and the third years a teddy bear. It was a lot of fun helping the girls make these no sew blankets. It does not take very long and it is a useful craft! (I am sure I will talk about my feelings on some crafts later on on this blog somewhere...)

It was one of the leaders birthday on Saturday so we of course had to have cake! It was delicious!

Here are the supplies for a classic camp hat craft. Any ideas what it is? Hint: look at the picture below...

The classic yarn/ toilet paper roll toque! This is a really easy craft that cannot not be messed up even if you try it is so simple. If you would like a quick tutorial let me know!

Overall I had a great weekend and I am thankful that I got to go to camp with these girls!

Thanks for inviting me! 

Sparks gone Wild!

I was lucky enough to go to the Zoo with a Sparks unit for a sleepover a few weeks ago! I have done this program before and I am always to proud of how well the Sparks do with the program. It can be kind of scary to see all of these new animals and touch them- they all did a fantastic job!

 

I took a lot of pictures (like always...) but I wanted to show just a few of them, mostly of the ADORABLE animals! Enjoy! :)

 

We got to visit a lot of "behind the scenes" areas of the zoo as part of the Being a Zookeeper area and one of the places was where birds like owls, parrots, and chickens lived. A lot of the animals are looked after but are not necessarily okay to be in the public (a parrot with a potty mouth for example) so they are housed here. The girls got to pet a chinchilla and a rooster and see some beautiful owls, one of which was named Errol, the loopy owl from Harry Potter.

 

 

 The next area of the zoo we saw was the Polar Extremes exhibit where the sea lions and seals live. They were adorable and even the zookeepers said that they are never as active as the night we saw them. The girls were full of giggles as the sea lions splashed and played in the water and the seal lounged on the ground. It was a lot of fun to see.

 

One of the neat things about sleeping over at the zoo is you get to see the nocturnal animals in action. We got to see the sloths "move around" and little armadillos scurry about. I got this cute picture of a sloth and the girls got to touch an armadillo. I was really proud to see the girls who were a little scared to touch its back do it with huge smiles. It was awesome!

We got to take a walk around the zoo at night and see the tigers, wolves, and a few other critters and I came across this bridge that was all lit up. I thought it was beautiful!

After an actually restful sleep (one of the best for a Girl Guide event) we got up bright and early and got to see some more cute critters. Look at this momma and baby, they were adorable!

 

These ducks are so cute! I love their bouffants. :)

 

I don't remember what this little guy was called but he was a little bit scary... or trying to be.

The Sparks loved watching the monkeys swing around and play together. There were a lot of squeals and giggles while we watched them.

 

This is Lucy the Elephant and she is adorable. (How many times have I said adorable in this post?) You can tell that all of her handlers love her so much and they were giving her enrichments when we saw her. How many people can say that they have seen an elephant kick their feet to Dancing Queen? This Sparks group and I can! It was the most precious thing I saw at the zoo.

We did another walk around the zoo in the day time and got to see river otters, take a visit to the lemur enclosure and see a few more creatures like the cutest arctic foxes!

 

 

The last animal that the Sparks got to play with was a little tortoise named Frodo. He was so sweet and he suited his name perfectly!

 

 

One of the majestic tigers we saw the night before. These animals are so big! I was really impressed with this picture too!

 

 

And a snake... I am not a huge fan of snakes, but this is a cool picture.

 

 

And that's that! Thanks Sparks for letting me join you on your wild adventure!

 

December 2013

 

 It is hard to believe that it is already December! This year has been so crazy- so many unexpected things have happened and even though it has been wild, it has been a lot of fun. :) I really only had one Guiding event in December, our camping advisers meeting where we had a few crafts and a potluck and the coolest kind of Christmas gift exchange I have ever done!

 

 

These adorable ornaments needed a bottle cap, a few snowflake cut outs and scrapbook paper, a few beads, a jingle bell, some adhesive, and glitter glue. It is pretty self explanatory to create, and they are so cute!

 

 

 

 

The gift exchange was my favourite part of the evening. We were asked to bring a toy that reminded us of our childhood. We passed the gifts around and as we opened them we shared the story behind why we chose that toy. It was so interesting to learn a bit more about my fellow sisters in Guiding and have fun while were doing it too!

 

 

I loved my Christmas decorations this year and could not resist to share a few pictures. :) I hope you had a splendid holiday season!

 

 

Well this is the last post of 2013- it has been a crazy year! Here is to all the best in 2014!