To the Bridge

Hi folks.

Well, it's been two years since we last did this - Abby's Girl Scout troop, led by Kris and Courtney, have 'graduated' (for lack of better term) from Brownies, and therefore it was time, once again, to hold a Bridging Ceremony.

If you'll recall (via the hyperlink above), last time we did this we did it in our own backyard, since we do have ourselves a bridge (recently scrubbed clean, by the way - just need to put some waterproof finish on it.)  Girls line up and take turns crossing the bridge, removing their patch-covered Brownie sashes, and donning the teal vests of the next class of Girl Scout, Juniors.  They then talk about the scout character traits they identify most with, and what they liked most about being a Brownie the last two years.

Following this, everyone - scouts and parents alike - hung out and picnicked in our backyard.  I was grateful that this time around I didn't simultaneously have a shitload of unpacking to do.  Still kinda sucked seeing how it was a school night, though - I really wanted people to eat fast and get the hell out of my backyard.

That shouldn't be all that surprising to anyone, honestly.

So yeah.  Here's another Bridging Ceremony. . .

Swearing fealty to all things Girl Scouts.

Bustin' a gut.  Great composure, kids.

Opening remarks.  Courtney, as usual, did all the talking while Kris handed stuff out.

Abby was the first up.  You could tell she was nervous, because she fast-walked across the bridge - practically jogging - and I barely had time to snap a decent picture of her.  Of course.

She shucked off her sash so fast I didn't get a shot of that either.  Way to go, kid.

Donning the teal.

Presenting Abby with her certificate of completion (or whatever the hell it's called), along with a new Girl Scout water bottle.

Abby tells the assembled masses her favorite things about being a Brownie.

Later, once the entire troop went through the above process.

Attempting to take some group pictures on our bridge. . .

Kinda surprised it held all this weight without buckling, to tell ya the truth.

Another Junior in the house. 

Kris helps set up the potluck table.

Now seriously. . . get the hell out of my backyard, people.

- Brian

Backyard Bridge Bonanza

The masses assembled.

Hi folks.

Today, as you can tell from the day's other post, has been a ridiculously draining day.  Productive, but draining.

As Yours Truly continues to move more and more crap into our new home - today was the Big Move day, where my brothers helped me move the big items of furniture into the house, so now we're officially in - Kris and her co-leader, Courtney, opted to hold their girl scout troop's official bridging ceremony in our backyard.

Let me explain.

When Daisies finish their second year of daisiehood, or whatever the hell their term of service is called, they graduate to Brownies.  You may remember that Alayna went through something similar last year.  Anyway, June 10th was the official date for this ceremony - it had been for months - and it was only through horrible coincidence that this just happened to fall on the SAME day we were renting a truck and moving all the heavy furniture.  Initially, Kris and Courtney wanted to hold this ceremony at the scout camp in frickin' Harrison, but that's a heck of a drive from Midland, and they don't even have a bridge there for the scouts to walk ceremoniously across.

Kris and Courtney rally the troops for the ceremony

So Kris volunteered our own, local backyard. . . which, as you know, comes fully equipped with a picturesque, wooden bridge.  Needless to say, parents of the troop pounced on the idea.

Kris was nice enough to allow me to work inside for most of it, unpacking and moving house crap, instead of shmoozing with parents over a picnic-styled lunch while drenched in sweat when I had way more important things to attend to.  All she asked was that I come outside for the ceremony part of it in order to take pictures.  I was obviously more than cool with this.

So yeah. . . that's how we got to today's ceremony, which I'm going to lighlty glaze over now because the pictures really speak for themselves (don't expect a slew of witty captions, folks.)

Here we go. . .

Reading off prepared statements for each of the scouts, one at a time.  Following their written introductions, the scouts walked across the bridge, accepted their 'diploma' (or whatever it's called), removed their Daisy vest, and received their Brownie sash.

Hurrah for mediocrity.

- Brian

To the Bridge

I don't really follow my kids' progress in the Girl Scouts.  Not that I don't like my kids or anything, but I just can't bring myself to being super-excited about every, last thing they do in life.  I'm involved in a lot, but if occasionally I'm out of the loop with regards to something they're doing. . . I'm okay with that.

Girl Scouts, case in point.

I don't mind my kids going to weekly meetings.  Whatever, I get it.  Anything beyond that, though, starts to become an annoyance.  My life does not revolve around you, Girl Scouts - chill out already.  The cookies, the outings, the field trips, the ceremonies. . . it's taking up more and more of our kids' time as we get further into the summer.

And now there's this thing called a 'bridging ceremony' and 'day camp' that the kids had to go to today.  Two big events in one day.  On a frickin' Saturday, no less.

Thanks a lot, Girl Scouts. .

The night before the "bridging ceremony," Alayna's troop was all going to stay the night at some church on the other side of town.  This would end up being Alayna's very first sleepover, so she was pretty pumped up about it.

The girls start staking out their positions for the slumber party. . .

Kris and I would end up giving Alayna her own sleeping bag later on in the weekend, as one of the girls' combo birthday presents (more to come on that later), so in the meantime she used one my mom let us borrow. . .

I don't know what's happening here.

The next morning, we returned to the church, where the bridging ceremony was to take place in the courtyard.

Is this a stork?  I'm not a birdologist.

The troop lines up for the ceremony (Alayna's troop is a combination of Brownies and Daisies, but next year she's enrolling in a different troop with some of her better friends from school, and it'll be all Brownies.)

(You see a lot of this whenever there's large numbers of children about.) 

Hitler Youth-ish pledges of fealty.

Not sure what's up with Alayna's samurai hairdo this morning. . .

Alayna's turn to cross the Bridge.

Excepting some kind of award. . . or something.  Every scout got one so it can't be all that impressive.

Yes, Alayna's crossing her eyes in this nice, group picture.

Hitting up the refreshment table. . .

Later that day, Yours Truly returned home to start prepping presents, decor, cameras, etc. for tomorrow's big combo party (more to come on that later), while Kris took the girls up to Harrison for some big Girl Scout Day Camp. . .

Alayna feels the effects of last night's sleepover. . .

Kris couldn't find the rest of the girls' troops up there (I guess it's a pretty big camp facility, and kids were spread out all over the place), so she took the girls around and tried out a few different activities with them.  Not surprisingly, the archery range was a big hit with the girls.

(FYI, if I was really into archery, I'd construct targets that looked like Orcs from The Lord of the Rings movies.  Just sayin'.)

- Brian