Girls' Camp 2026

I consider my attendance at Girls' Camp to be a personal miracle.

I didn't want to go.

I actually felt panicked about attending.

My throat hurt, too.

I asked Sir Walter Scott for a priesthood blessing before leaving, and he did.  He said a number of things that I cannot remember but which were soothing to my heart and mind.  He also said something that I do remember--"You will be an inspiration to the girls."

Two weeks later, and I have no idea how I inspired anyone, but I trust that it happened somehow, at some time.

Anyway . . . Girls' Camp was a blast!

And I didn't fall sick until I got home. 😆

Photo dump now!

(In astonishingly random order!)

This photo of Little Princess and Lola was taken the first night when the girls had a "Survivor" activity.  Little Princess led the chalk war. 

Watching her lead was one of life's great joys for me.  She was utterly in her element--unaware of time--wholly involved.

I said to the leader sitting with me, "I love watching her lead.  She's such a born leader."

My co-leader replied, "She's a loving leader, and the girls respond to that love."

😍😍😍

Little Princess was a YCL this year.  The camp activity theme was something to do with cruise ships.  We were welcomed with leis, given passports, and the leaders all had shirts with cruise ship titles on them.  The YCLs were all crew.

And they gave one another pirate names for fun and had themselves marked with henna.

Little Princess was named Peg Leg because she usually goes to camp with one or more ankles in braces/boots!

Little Princess, Ladybug, and their friend all got to help lead the Tahitian dance class led by their Tahitian dance leader from Island Fest.   (She's their YW president.)

Jumping from the first day to the last, here are the girls again doing their Tahitian dances as an impromptu way of finding joy as they waited for cleaning inspections to be finished and for camp dismissal.

On the last night, the YCL's presented ways to walk with Christ by bringing a shoe that represented a challenge they've faced and overcome with Him.

Little Princess brought her boot!

And she shared a moving devotional about how her boot supported her weak/hurt ankle the way Christ supports her in times of weakness and pain.  

Random jump to swimming!

 

Group photo with our Bishop.

Our ward camp leader invited him to come up and share stories of his mission to Venezuela years ago and to talk to the girls about serving missions.

One afternoon, the girls did the camp challenge course.

This photo does not contain one of my daughters, but do you see all of that braided hair?
That's Ladybug's handiwork. 😊
When camp was over, her reputation remained, and she was hired to do some of the girls' hair for their aunt's wedding!

It's hard to see her, but Ladybug is in the following two photos of the exercise class.

The next two photos are of the girls preparing to do the scavenger hunt led by Little Princess.

I hate t-shirts.  They don't fit me well.

But I know how to sew!

So I took my camp shirt and refashioned it.

I got a lot of love from the other leaders over what I did. 

They threw a dance party!

 

Just before the dance party was  the Untalent Show.

Silly, impromptu skits left everyone laughing.

Lola had to have been the tiniest girl at camp!  Here she is trying to sign up for a class.  She needed help to see the sign-up sheets!

Craft cabin.

Lola liked archery so much, she took it twice!

Cute girls at camp!

Lola said to me, "I can't believe I'm really here.  It doesn't seem real."
She's watched sisters go to camp every year for her entire life.
It was finally her turn!

The girls' YW president and me.

Gathered for some reason or other . . . probably before a meal.

Each ward in the stake had a banner to paint.  Our girls chose to put each girl's handprint on the banner.  

Going way back to the beginning, the YCLs went to camp a day early to prepare.  They decorated and organized and had some fun.  Here they are on the challenge course.

And before they even arrived at camp, they met at a church building to get organized.

I drove our van full of girls to camp and back.  They called it "The Party Bus" and took every opportunity to have fun!  They sang camp songs, wrote a story taking turns to write only 10 words at a time, and talked and talked and talked!

I smiled every minute of the two drives.

While the girls were away, Sir Walter Scott and the boys had adventures of their own.

I know he worked from home while the boys played with Legos all day.

The next day they had several medical/dental appointments, so they traveled around the city taking photos at places that have always fascinated Sir Walter Scott.

It was also library day, so he made Baymax pose for this photo to show they did, in fact, go to the library.

The next day was all about baseball.  They played on their own at the park, and then they attended a community game.

They hung around at home waiting for us on Friday.

We told as many stories as we could . . . and then I fell into bed and (mostly) didn't get out again until Monday!