What are we going to do Outside of the tourist box in London? by Lizzy

I wish I could say and list out a bunch of things outside the “tourist box” in London, but I can’t. There are a few places like the China Town in England. However, what most of us wanted was in fact the touristy places – London Eye, National Gallery, etc. Also, there wasn’t really enough time to plan “outside the box”. That doesn’t mean the trip is ruined, this trip is going to be what we make it. Therefore, if we think, “Oh man, we’re only doing touristy things”, we’ll miss out on all the incredible experiences we could be making and doing. In the end it’s not what we do that really matters, it’s what we choose to make of it. We’ve balanced it pretty well between the “tourist” attractions and “non-tourist” attractions, but honestly, the amount of tourist vs non-tourist attractions shouldn’t even matter. We don’t know what will happen. Things on a schedule are weak and disposable, but the people you go with and the memories you make are what really matters. :)

Lizzy

The Energy in the Room- A Brief Insight on our Meetings by The Leader

It’s Friday afternoon again, not quite 50 degrees, raining, and cold outside. I shiver when I think this will be the HIGH in Iceland. My daughters come home from school exhausted as usual after a long week of busy days and late nights with school work and collapse into a fast power nap. They can do nothing but sleep! But I need help…. Girl Scouts have met at my house for five years now – hard to believe it has been so long. For some reason, we’re never quite ready…..the counters are dirty, dishes in the sink, random clothes dropped on couches, the bathrooms needs a quick swipe. We’re out of paper towels again – who used the last of the toilet paper and didn’t replace it? We do a quick surface clean. 

The doorbell rings – the first Girl Scout arrives. There are squeals and shrieks and lots of excited talking – everything that has happened in the last week gets aired. More girls pile in from the dark rainy evening, shedding shoes and notebooks and journals and bags in a pile at the door. They talk about EVERYTHING – and no subject is barred, and they get louder and louder and louder – there is lots of laughter. The energy in the room is palpable – joyous and exuberant. They have been waiting all week for this time with their friends.

One of the families brings dinner. What IS it? YUM! The girls pull out the tiny dining room table and add chairs and tablecloths and dishes and napkins and silverware and candles and in ten minutes, the empty room is now a table set neatly for 9. We sit, and the girl who brought the meal explains each dish – one night it could be a French meal native to the Ivory Coast, another a soup native to Taiwan, or an English meal in preparation for the trip. We sing a grace. We eat. We are so glad to be together again.

Ms. Susan

What’s for Dinner? Iceland Meal Plan by Katie

Stone Soup

This week I had to make a meal plan for our trip to Iceland, and let me just say: It’s not as easy as it sounds. At home, I’m used to my mom making our weekly meal plans and only asking my sister and me for input. I’ve also never made a meal plan for a trip like this, so drawing up this one was entirely new to me. We have certain restrictions on what we can make because of where we’re staying and the fact that foods from our regular diet may be unavailable in a regular Icelandic grocery store. While actually writing our meal plan, I tried to keep up variety. No two days have the same breakfast or dinner. We’ll have spaghetti with meatballs, stone soup, and beef stew on the menu for dinner and cereal, fruit, ramen noodles, boiled eggs, bagels, and peanut butter on the breakfast menu. We’re having picnic lunches during the week, but those are just sandwiches with cold cuts and cheese and fruit. There are also several days when we are buying lunch in Reykjavik instead of making ourselves. Whatever we’re eating, I know everyone in the troop is looking forward to trying new foods!

Katie 

Finalized Theme by Brittany

So we finally decided what we are going to do for the “Theme” of the trip. We decided that the theme is pretty much going to be the Girl Scout mission: leading with Courage, Confidence, and Character to help make the world a better place. There will be two parts to this project: gathering thoughts on courage, confidence, and character; then connecting those thoughts to making the world a better place. This will then be turned into a video presentation that will show the information we gathered.

How will this happen? Well, that’s simple. While we are overseas (or even in the airport if we want) our girls will go up to people and do a mini interview. Each girl will have a couple of questions dealing with courage, confidence, and/or character that they can ask people. Then we will ask them how one of these characteristics relates to making the world a better place, all the while recording their responses. This will then become a video presentation.

But here is a better question: why are we doing this? That’s a simple to answer too. We want to know other people’s opinions on topics that are a central theme to Girl Scouts. With this, we can make people think about how these aspects make the world a better place, and we can maybe even inspire others to try and change the world for the better.

Brittany

Two English Sister Troops by Emma

York Sister Troop is coming
to Atlanta August 2014!

Hello everyone!

As from now, we have 2 sister troops in England! The troop from York is our age and is also coming to Atlanta next fall.  Our other sister troop is age 10 to 13 and are Girl Guides from Swanley, Kent. When we meet the older girls this summer, we will be touring around London with them. We will also be going to Buckingham Palace together!

Lullingstone Castle

When we meet the younger girl guides, we will be visiting the Charles Darwin House, Lullingstone Castle, and going to a park to have a picnic. I’m very excited for these trips!

In the fall, when the older Girl Guides come to Atlanta, we will be having a small Scouts Own Ceremony where we can talk about our time in England with them and have some sister time!

Emma

York Sister Troop

Swanley Sister Troop



Pollen Keeps Falling on My Car... By Rosie

Hey! Rosie here!
Spring's here and its time to dust off some pollen grains!

We are having a car wash at the Rivermist Clubhouse soon! It is on April 26 from 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM and will fund our activities during our Iceland and England trip this summer.   We leave on June 7th!!!

Please stop by to help support us! See you then! :D
Rosie

Scout Hut by Selina

Hello again everyone!

This is a room in the Scout Hut

This is Selina here and its time for an update! So the past few weeks has been very crazy with  school and other such stuff, but SPRING BREAK is officially here!!! We are all so excited!

Another exciting news is that we have received information that the Scout Hut in Iceland is available for us! Yay! The place looks very neat, roomy, and just plain awesome! We can't wait to go!

Selina