Swimming at the Holiday Inn....

Jazzy spent the night with our friends Mick, Michelle and Myah Klein at the Fargo Holiday Inn. Myah is Jasmine's 3 yr old friend with whom she plays on an almost daily basis. Mick is a musician and is working at the Holiday Inn this weekend. When he plays there, he gets a free night stay, meals and several swimming passes. Last night, Jasmine, Myah, and other neighbors-Tana, Rico and probably others went swimming at the big popular indoor pool at the Holiday Inn. Jasmine and Tana spent the night at the hotel with Myah and her family. Apparently, they swam until late at night and ate pizza. They got up at 8 AM and started swimming again. They are still there swimming- all day long! I hope she's REALLY tired! Myah, Jasmine, Tana.

Back from Elk River....

8 hours of driving today! "Mommy, this was the best camp of the summer" - which is what I heard about all the other camps! "Can I come back to this one next year?" Uh- nope! Here's some stuff from camp: patches, magnets, a post card, an "Elk River" snow globe, Elk River stuffed animals, Girl Scout crank flashlight- as if we needed more of those, and a lanyard with her "badges"- 2017 Elk River, Archery, Happy Birthday, Hiking Club, and Rockin Robin. Apparently, they had to choose what to do early in the morning- a Polar Plunge every morning for the Polar Plunge badge- which Jasmine will never do, or morning crafts for the Rockin Robin badge:) Crafts by Jasmine: a candle, tie dyed socks, along with an "achievement card" for archery, and her Elk River pencil. Nametag- Clay creations- Happy Vietnamese Birthday celebration- She says she had two "small" cupcakes. uh huh- Friends from camp- As much fun as it was, I'm fairly sure we won't be going back next year due to the distance!

Photos from camp....

I can't say there's been much camping going on since it's rained every day in Minneapolis this week. Jazzy's group was supposed to be doing archery...but probably not. There were only two photos on Elk River Facebook site. I'm not sure what they're doing here- Here they are making something or another with a banana, chocolate chips and marshmallows. Long drive again tomorrow to pick her up!

Camp Elk River....

One final camp this year. Camp Elk River- 30 miles NW of Minneapolis. When I signed Jazzy up for this camp, I briefly looked on a map to see where it was. It didn't look very far, but I didn't actually map it out. Stupid stupid me!! It was a 4 hour drive in heavy traffic, 90 minutes to "check in", and 4 hours to drive back. Minneapolis drivers are more rude than any place I have ever driven. Super heavy traffic on a Sunday!! Anyway, I think this is the largest Girl Scout Camp in the state, and the busiest- since is it so close to Minneapolis. They have such a variety of "camp themes"- just wish it was closer, or at least had bus service like they do in Phoenix. Of course, we had to go to the "camp store" and get a Camp Elk stuffed animal, snow globe, and patches:) Hopefully their Facebook page will have lots of photos this week. Here is Jasmine and her counselor "Kicker" from England. All of the Girl Scout counselors are from England. I think that the American girls go to England- kind of like an exchange program.

Photos from camp this week.....

Jasmine is at Camp Cormorant Wilderness Camp this week where she is supposed to be learning plant identification, outdoor cooking, etc. I'm not sure why she is in her pajama top in almost all of these photos.

More photos....

I picked Jasmine up from camp today, and wow...her laundry reeks of horse urine!! I'm not sure how she did this. Her backpack, suitcase, everything....yuk!! Here is Jasmine and Mercedes- Cabin 2 Counselor- the "grumpy one":)) Jasmine LOVED this camp- even more than Girl Scout Camp. She rode her horse "Slim Jim" a 25-ish year old mare for 2 hours every day. They went into the lake with the horses, and went on a very long trail ride. One of the horses, (not Jasmine's) tried to lay down in the lake with the kid on his/her back! Luckily, the kid jumped off in time! This is second hand from Jasmine, of course. They did a few crafts- the beads that you shape into a form and melt them together with an iron. She also did a tie dye shirt- which was so gross, it's in the washing machine. Also, lots of swimming, no jumping off the trampoline though, but she did climb the iceberg- or so she says. Jasmine is looking forward to going back to camp this coming week while I am in Billings, MT getting more dental work done. If I would have known I was going to Billings this week, I would have made the camp reservations for different time. She could have come with me for a little "vacation". You have to make reservations for these camps as early as February. If you wait any longer, they are already full. Oh well! She will have more fun than me next week! I've just been told this very moment that the reason her bath and swimming towels were so smelly is that the Horse Camp kids were finger painting the horses. It's nice-- the horses get a little massage, and the kids can get creative. No pictures of it though. Apparently, the towel was just thrown somewhere....? Playing bingo:) Going to the Thursday night dance!

Photos from Cormorant website

Cabin 2 for girls age 10-11 yrs. Horse Camp girls- Not sure what they're doing here- Trampoline is supposed to be in the water!Jazzy in the background- I did get a letter from Jasmine today. She said that the "counselor is a grump":))) Probably because the counselor told them to be quiet at night or something- so therefore she is a "grump":))