Pack Holiday 2013 - Friday

27/9/13

Dad picked me up from school and we drove across to pack holiday. We got there at around 4:30, a few minutes after Mum had got there. We unloaded all the stuff from both cars and then Snowy Owl and the two cooks (parents who help out regularly) arrived. We put up the posters and sorted out all of our things. We go to Campwood House in Macaroni Woods near Eastleach which is a converted WW2 house in the middle of some private woodland. It's owned by the Guide Association and has been refurbished a lot since we first went there in 2002! There is a fully functioning kitchen (complete with dishwasher which we don't use!), a living room/dining room with a long table in and a craft room for all the messy stuff! There is also a guider's room with 4 regular beds, a first aid room with another bed (and a really creepy looking knitted doll!), a small room with 3 bunk beds which we use as a Young Leader's room, two connected rooms containing 9 bunk beds where the girls 'sleep' and 3 bathrooms (with showers and a bath),  It really is a very well equipped little building (hence why we've gone back for 12 consecutive years!).

I then sat on the sofa and did some of my homework before the girls started arriving at 6. It is always quite chaotic when the girls arrive and their parents settle them in because the rooms are quite small but, once they've all left, we can get started. Amazingly, no one got lost getting here for the first time in years! It's quite out of the way and, if you miss the turning, it can be quite hard to get back to it so usually we have at least one girl who is late arriving.

We started off with the house rules and gave out the badges and a little booklet including spaces for them to write a diary (if they want their Brownie Holiday badge) and some little puzzles for them to do in any spare time. Then we had some food! We always get the girls to do duties while they're on pack holiday which we've split up into cook (help prepare food), waitress (lay and clean the table) and health (dry up and clean toilets) and the sixes rotate through the different ones during the course of the weekend. The waitresses put out knives and forks and the place cards made yesterday and then we served pizza. We put it out on trays in the middle of the table for the girls to help themselves to as they should have eaten before they arrived anyway. It was rather entertaining as the cooks didn't realise how spicy the pepperoni pizza was so lots of the girls had a slice and then were complaining about how hot it was!

After the food we launched straight into the first activity. Each six was given a black bin bag, a white bin bag, a newspaper and some sticky tape and was tasked with making an outfit for one girl in their six. They were actually quite imaginative with their ideas - one six made a zebra print boob-tube and handbag from theirs! We then did a cat walk down the main corridor in the house. All the girls stood at one end except the model and one other girl who was describing what they were wearing to everyone. I was surprised at how much they seemed to know about how cat walks work and what is usually said on them! I didn't expect a group of primary school students to know that much about them - I certainly didn't when I was their age! Then there was an absolute mess to tidy up - there were bin bags everywhere! The girls did a really good job at cleaning up quickly though and the whole room was spotless again in 10 minutes!

After that, the girls were all allowed a hot chocolate before bed and then went to go and change into their pyjamas. In theory, then they would have all got into bed and fallen straight asleep but when do things ever go to plan! The girls were running around their bedrooms even after lights out, shouting, flashing torches around and planning their midnight feast! The leaders took it in turn to go in and tell them to go to sleep which, as usual, culminated in Mum sitting in the room until the majority of them had fallen asleep! I had a headache so I'd already gone to bed about half an hour after their lights were turned out (about 9:30) but I couldn't get to sleep until around 10:30...

I don't really mind though because I know that it will always happen (I was one of the 'culprits' when I was a Brownie!) and I know that this weekend I won't get much sleep but the enjoyment the girls get from it will make up for it!