Visiting a Violin Maker

Earlier this month Elise's Girl Scout troop visited the William Mason Violin Shop in Fredericksburg to see how violins are made.  Mr. Mason makes handmade violins, and we got to see his showroom as well as his workshop.  It was fascinating to learn how much goes into making a violin.

Mr. Mason played some violins so we could hear how each
violin sounds unique.

The girls got to hold and look at some violins, but they didn't play.
Some of these violins cost thousands of dollars and it made me
nervous that they were even allowed to touch them.

In the workshop, Mr. Mason showed us the steps in making a violin.

In the workshop, Elise asks a question.

Girl Scouts!

Elise and Anja are in a multi-age Girl Scout troop at their school, where all girls in Girl Scouts in their school are in their troop.  At meetings, the girls break into their divisions (Daisies, Juniors, Cadets) for activities.  Being part of a large troop gives them some opportunities a smaller troop would not, and they get to make friends across grade levels, which is really fun for them.  This troop stays very busy, meeting twice a month for regular meetings, and they have a larger activity about once a month.  The end of the school year brought the year-end picnic and awards ceremony, and in June the girls attended Girl Scout camp.

The girls had a fantastic time at the end-of-the-year picnic!

Anja receiving the badges she earned the second half of the year.

Elise's troop leader made each girl a photo album with pictures
from their year in Girl Scouts.

This was Elise's last year as a Brownie, and
she got to "bridge" to being a Junior!

The whole troop, grades K-5.

Girl Scout Camp
In June, the girls spent a week at Girl Scout Camp, about 20 miles from our house at Lake Anna.  Every day they worked on badges, swam in the lake, and had a great time.  On the last day they presented a program for families, where they sang songs and performed short skits.

As each group finished, they got popsicles.

Elise, ready to do her skit.  She did a great job!

So proud!

Girl Scouts Going Wild!

Well, not really wild, but definitely busy!  Elise and Anja are in a multi-age troop that has girls from Kindergarten to fifth grade.  During regular meetings they split up into Daisies, Brownies, Juniors and Cadets, but for special events they are all thrown together.  It makes it fun for me and the girls, since we all get to go together and share these experiences.

A Visit to the Local Newspaper

Elise and Anja's troop wrapping up their
tour of the Freelance-Star (Elise is in the pink hat in
the back row, Anja is in the purple jacket in front)

Outside the newspaper office, paper boy
statue in the background.

Cookie Sales!

We have not gone door-to-door this year, but have sold cookies at both Jason and Darcie's workplaces and have done booth sales.  The girls were great at the booth sale.  Elise went out to the busy corner and held up a sign to attract people into our booth, and Anja held a sign and yelled "Girl Scout cookies for sale!"

Taking a break from holding her sign

We take credit cards!

Learning About How Soil is Made

I am a helper for Anja's group, the Daisies, so I get to see a lot more of what she is doing, and get more pictures of what she is doing.  At our last meeting, a person from the Conservation office came in and taught the girls how soil is made, using oreo cookies (rocks), pudding (chemical and organic matter), licorice (worms), sprinkles (rocks and leaves on top).  They had a great time and hopefully even learned a little!

Anja was very anxious to help with making
soil (her with hand raised).

Crushing up her "rocks" (oreo cookies).

Soil all made!  On top is organic matter
(chocolate pudding), worms (licorice),
rocks and leaves (sprinkles).  She had fun
eating it all, after a warning from the
Conservation lady to "never eat real soil."

Girl Scouts Winter Awards

Both Elise and Anja have been really enjoying Girl Scouts this year and have been very busy with Girl Scout activities.  This week their troops had an awards dinner where they received badges they have earned since the Fall.  They were very excited!

Elise and Anja waiting to be called up to accept their badges.
These two girls love each other and sometimes
they even show it, like this night, when Anja sat
 in Elise's lap and Elise let her.

Anja and her very first Girl Scout badges!  These were
for learning about animals and how to care for animals.

Elise earned quite a few badges and she was pretty
pleased!  Her troop earned badges for learning how to
care for themselves and be healthy, and a dance badge.

Horsing Around

Hilltop Stables

We have been pretty busy with Girl Scouts in the past month, with some fun special events.  One of those was a trip to Hilltop Stables, just down the road from us, where the girls learned about horses and riding and earned an Equestrian badge.

They spent quite a bit of time in the barn, getting lessons on the parts of a horse's body, how to groom a horse, and the parts of a bridle and saddle. 

After that, they headed outside to learn about and practice vaulting and riding.  It was a lot of fun to watch the demonstration of vaulting, which I had read about but never seen, and to watch the girls practice that.  It was also fun to see the girls riding English, since the only riding they'd done to that point had been Western.  We love new experiences!

Practicing 2-point position, which must be learned
before a person can do any jumps.  We did not
do jumps that day.  Whew!

Anja in two-point position.

Snead's Farm

Within a short distance of where we live in Virginia, there are a lot of places that do pumpkin patches, apple orchards, and all kinds of fun fall activities.  Earlier in the fall, we visited Belvedere Plantation right outside of Fredericksburg (see a post about all that fun here ).  A couple weeks ago, we got to go with the Girl Scouts to Snead's Farm, where they grow pumpkins, Christmas trees and other crops and have bonfires and hayrides.  It was a family event, so Elise, Anja, Jason and I all had a great time!

Lots of fun things to do at Snead's Farm!

We started out on the rope swings in the barn, which were a HUGE hit with the girls.  They quickly got the hang of it.  See a video of Anja swinging here.  See a video of Elise swinging here.

Next, we all piled into the hay wagon for a ride around the farm.  It was really fun to see all they grew at Snead's.  I recognized pumpkins, squash, asparagus, sunflowers, raspberries, blackberries, and Christmas trees, and there were some things I did not recognize so I have no idea what they were. 

Getting pulled on the hayride.

What a great time!

After the hayride we got the bonfire going, where we roasted hotdogs and marshmallows. 

We left when it was dark and it was a beautiful thing to be out in the country, without the interference of the city lights, and to look up at the night sky and be able to see thousands and thousands of stars. 

It was a beautiful and enjoyable night!

Girl Scouts

I was in Girl Scouts as a kid and was pretty excited when Elise wanted to join as a 1st grader.  This year, Elise is in her second year of being a Brownie (2nd and 3rd graders are Brownies) and Anja is a first-year Daisy (Daisies are Kindergarten and 1st graders).  The Girl Scouts at their school are organized a little differently than we are used to, in that all levels (Daisies, Brownies and Juniors) meet at the same time and do part of the meeting together (the opening and closing).  They also plan their large events together.  Having the girls meet at the same time is a huge help for me, as it means I only have to worry about one meeting and one day, rather than getting them to separate meetings and separate events.

Elise and Anja ready for their first Girl Scout
meeting of the year.

Anja with her Daisy troop, making a treat
to put outside for the birds and squirrels.

That was a very fun, very messy project.

Their troops are actively working on badges and have done several fun events already this year (Snead's Farm and horseback riding). On Monday the Girl Scouts will do part of the Veteran's Day presentation at their school, and Elise has a speaking part in the presentation.  She volunteered for the part and I am so proud of her!  I never would have had the self-confidence to do that at her age.  The girls really love being in Girl Scouts!