Girl Scouts and Halloween readiness

At a couple of recent Girl Scout outings, I got some pictures where you can't see any of their faces, so I thought I could post some so you can get an idea of what the troop is like. I think the greatest thing about the troop to me is that I can tell the girls are developing friendships and they get so excited about everything that we do. When Katy talks about playing with girls at school, about half of the time, it's girls from the troop.

First we went to a horse barn to learn about all things equestrian.

Their favorite part was brushing this gentle soul. He let those girls tug and brush and do all kinds of damage and he never so much as sighed.

On another trip we went to Olentangy Indian Caverns, an ancient underground maze of caverns used by Wyandotte Indians for refuge and ceremonies.

I have to admit that this trip tested me a bit. I was not prepared for the depth and the tightness of space. This passage is called "Fat Man's Squeeze" and the picture is deceptive - it is only 12.5 INCHES in width at the most narrow point. All the grown-ups had to turn sideways to squeeze through - luckily this wasn't the first thing we did so we had time to warm up to it.

The entrance. You can't even see the ground level at the top in this picture, nor can you see the bottom. I was just really shocked how steep and dark and *scary* these initial steps were. I was saying out loud to the girls that it was ok, no reason to feel nervous, but darn it! I WAS!! (Also, this time of year is only self-guided tours, so we didn't have a guide, we were going alone. That was part of the nervousness for me, I'm sure.)

But we all survived and that's what scouting is about, right? Building confidence that we can do things we didn't think we could do! Works for scouts AND leaders!! :)

We've also been getting ready for Halloween. The kids have had their costumes picked out for weeks and weeks - and have been playing in them for hours on end (super hero theme this year - and the costumes have already been worth the cost even if they didn't wear them for Halloween). Katy and David both have parades and parties at school on Wednesday (where Luke and I will attend both), and then trick or treat that night. We're watching Sandy and all the havoc she is wreaking on the east coast. Praying for family and friends in her path, and hoping that she slows down as she heads inland. There are already thousands of people in our county without power, and it hasn't even started yet.

Pumpkin and gourd washing party

Intently watching Daddy carve the pattern.

David's face

Luke jumped in on Katy's ghost

Brian's carving skills are getting better every year!

I volunteered to make goodie bags for Katy's class party - which was actually really fun. The kids helped me sort everything.

So someone asked if I was going to do daily blogging in November. My blogging has really slowed down lately, for various reasons, and I'm not sure if anyone cares about daily blogging here. But one thing I miss is keeping record of how the kids are - the things they say and do that are so easily forgotten. I can't believe how I will read a blog post, even from a few months ago, and I have already completely forgotten the tidbit. So maybe I will try to get down some really short little snapshots of what the kids are like right now. Even if only a few people are reading...that much is important to me for later.