The Houghs: You Make Me Wanna Troop

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

You Make Me Wanna Troop

'Cause it makes sense.

My wife, in her infinite wisdom, felt that this year was going to be the year that she threw herself headlong into the role of "over-achieving Den Mother."

Or whatever it's called.

As you know, this year we have two daughters in Girl Scouts (Abby's a Daisy, Alayna's a Brownie.) That, in itself, makes for a hectic weekly schedule as is, but it wasn't quite hectic enough for Ol' Ma Hough. No, she up and ventured to co-lead Abby's Daisy troop. . . because hey, who likes Free Time anyway, right?

So the month of April, as it turns out, is prime Girl Scout Troop Outings time. Instead of the usual "Show up to some random church at 6pm, make a craft, sing a song, eat a snack, and have your parents pick you up at 7pm" routine, Abby and Alayna's troops were going out on multiple field trips throughout the community. Almost on a weekly basis.

Needless to say, as the sole Dude in the house, I was exempt at participating. Poor me.

Behold:

Being debriefed at a local fire station before getting the full tour. What is it with girl scout troops going to fire stations? I think it has something to do with all the moms chaperoning the trip, if you know what I mean. Call me crazy.

Abby's troop, gettin' the speech.

I think it's a law that requires a parent to take a picture of their child in a fire truck whenever they frequent a fire station.

Selfies

What the hell is that kid on the left doing?

Mustaches and hoses.

Suiting up for a demonstration (that's Abby at the far right, there.)

(I wish I knew what was going on in this picture. . .)

"Who wants to touch my suit?"

Apparently the tour was cut short when the fire team (or whatever it's called) received an emergency call and had to head out. I'm sure all the moms present loved this.

A couple weeks later, Abby's troop once again had an outing: this time at the Chippewa Nature Center, just outside of town. Kris took Abby up there a little early so that the two of them could check the place out thoroughly before the rest of the troop arrived. Here, we have Abby with a bunch of dead animals. . .

Bird calls. Interactive education at its finest.

Abby inspects an injun canoe (no idea what's inside that's peaked her interest, though.)

This joint sure does love its interactive bird displays. . .

"Hey, let me get a picture of you sittin' on these rocks. . ."

Another selfie

With the arrival of the rest of the Daisy troop, Kris and the other co-leader begin teaching the children survival skills. . .

Erecting a shelter. I think.

These kids wouldn't have a prayer if they were left out in the wilderness to survive on their own. Just sayin'.

On a scavenger hunt (fortunately, Abby and Kris didn't stumble upon any gators like Alayna and I did last year down in Orlando. Michigan woods are somewhat safer, I guess.)

Mandatory craft session following the nature hike.

Later in the week, Kris took our older daughter, the Cannonball, to some Girl Scout culture. . . thingy. Not sure what it was, exactly, but from what I gathered from Kris and Alayna's talking about it, each girl scout troop in the area made cultural items representing a certain country or region. Then, all the troops went around exchanging cultural items with one another. Something about 'diversity' and 'cultural sensitivity' and all that stuff.