A Girl Scout Trip to the Nutcracker

In December, Jessica's Girl Scout troop went to see the Nutcracker.  Before the show, the girls got a behind the scenes tour.  Here are some photos from the photo booth station.

A Girl Scout Hike

In the middle of September, Jessica's Girl Scout troop went on a hike for their meeting activity.  The girls had a great time being silly and even did some hiking.

Camping at Sugar Pine in August

At the beginning of August, we took the girls on a Family Camp adventure at Sugar Pine Camp (associated with Girl Scouts).

On the way to Sugar Pine Camp, we stopped off to do some gold digging.  This was something that Jessica was interested in learning more about as she has been really interested in gems and crystals.  Unfortunately, due to the drought conditions, there wasn't water to do gold panning in, but we did do gold digging like they do in the desert.  Jim served as digger for all of us.

Jessica and Jamison got to practice gold panning in some water that was setup to the side.

Both girls found gold too!

Once we were at Sugar Pine Camp, the girls enjoyed the onsite and offsite activities.  One of their favorite activities was horse back riding.

Jamison was a bit small for the trail ride, but was super excited to be able to ride a horse in the ring.

I even shocked Jessica by going on a trail ride with her.

Here is a photo of Jim and the girls from breakfast one morning.

We spent one of our mornings at the Calaveras Big Trees State Park.

There were some really big and old trees at the park.

The girls and I easily fit into a tree that had fallen.

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The park has a tree that can be walked through.  The girls thought that walking through a tree was pretty fun.

On the way home from Sugar Pine, we stopped at Moaning Cavern Adventure Park.  Jessica and Jim took a walking tour of the cave.

Moaning Caverns also had rock climbing and zip lining.  Jamison, Jim, and Jessica had fun rock climbing.

The girls also got to discover crystals and gems.

Girl Scout Backpack Drive Summer 2014

Over the summer, our Girl Scout troop participated in a backpack and school supply drive.  We gathered supplies and assembled the backpacks.

In the end, we donated over 75 backpacks.

A Father's Day Girl Scout Camping Trip

Over Father's Day weekend, Jim and Jessica did a father and daughter camping trip with the Girl Scouts.

Jessica enjoyed the big water gun fight.

The campfires were also fun too.

Girl Scouts in the Mud from May

Back in May, Jessica and some of her Girl Scout friends went to the Marine Science Institute to learn about the animals that live at the bottom of the Bay.  At the end, they earned the "In the Mud" badge.

Jessica got to touch a shark after learning about sharks that live in the Bay.

They also learned about other animals that live in the water and then touched and identified some of them.

The girls also got to haul up some mud from the bottom of the Bay.

And, they then explored what was in the mud that they hauled up.

Girl Scout Bowling Party

At the end of the school year, our Girl Scout troop had a bowling party at a local bowling alley.    Here is a picture of Jessica bowling.

The girls had a great time bowling that afternoon.

Jim and Jamison bowled in a different part of the alley.  Jamison enjoyed her first bowling experience.

arts and crafts at Girl Scouts

Jessica and the rest of her troop decorated wood frames for Mother's Day at one of our meetings.

a Daisy Girl Scout event at the aviation museum

Back in April, Jessica went to a Daisy Girl Scout event at the local aviation museum with her friend McKenna.

She had fun doing the activities and touring the museum.

She also earned another badge too!

selling Girl Scout Cookies

During January, February, and March, our entire family was quite busy selling Girl Scout Cookies. Jim managed the cookie sales for our troop and our troop did lots of booths and lots of sales in general.  Here are some of the girls, including Jessica, at one of our booths.

While Jessica and her friends sold away, Jamison entertained cars driving by with her rendition of "Let It Go".

Girl Scout cookies

Jessica is a Daisy Girl Scout this year.  This was our troop's first cookie pick-up.  We did  two more SUVs full, plus some smaller runs before the season was done!

Jessica's Daisy Investiture Ceremony

Back in February, Jessica's Girl Scout troop finally had their investiture ceremony.  Our troop got a late start in November, so it took a while to put everything together.


Jamison was excited to finally get to go to something Girl Scouts related and insisted on wearing her Chip hat to the ceremony.  It was a perfect wardrobe choice as far as she was concerned.

Here is a photo of the girls waiting for us to kick off the ceremony.

As part of the ceremony, the girls said the Girl Scout Law.

Here is a picture of Jessica getting pinned.

And a quick picture with her troop leader also known as mom.

And a quick picture of the whole troop after the ceremony and before they dove into the celebration cake.