Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! Brookfield Zoo recap (with photos)

I think that may have been my favorite troop field trip so far! Now that I've recovered from the sleep deprivation, I think it was a great trip! Hope all the girls and moms had fun! 

I learned so many facts I didn't know myself about different animals. I thought the counselors were all fantastic. And I liked the variety of projects they had the kids do and the different activities (night hike, morning hike).

It was so great to feel like we had the zoo to ourselves. On the morning hike I saw more animals than I think I ever had in all my visits to zoos. Maybe they are especially active in the morning before the crowds get there?

I was very proud of our girls, too. They all behaved really well and asked some great questions, as well as sharing a lot of cool animals facts, themselves! I was impressed!

I will definitely recommend the Brookfield Zoo overnight to other Girl Scout troops and Boy Scouts/Cub Scouts for anyone looking into field trip possibilities. I'm very glad Linn Surd suggested sleeping at the zoo at our first meeting this year. Thank you, Linn!

Okay, on with the photos!

Fun hanging out with these animals at the zoo!

Making a craft/toy for the lemurs!

Learning about animal hides and skulls

Bear!

Bird feeder time!

Tiger!

Good morning Mr. Lion!

Ready for the morning hike!

A lemur about to enjoy a homemade craft!

Ice cream!

Woohoo!! Way to go Troop 10265!!

I'm so proud of the girls who worked at our military booth sale Saturday! They all did so well and the public was very generous! 

We raised $400 in donations for the military! That means 80 U.S. soldiers, sailers, etc. will receive a can of nuts or a magazine to show them how much Girl Scouts care about all that they do!! 

This was a great service project and I think everyone who contributed was happy to be involved -- from the girls and moms/dads and the public who donated! So many people seemed impressed that the girls were collecting for such a good cause.

I hope the girls learned that just donating one hour of their time can truly make a difference in someone else's life! It was also great practice in being polite, making eye contact with people and speaking clearly, working with money and making change, etc. The girls were awesome!

Thanks to Natalie Raffin for taking on the fall product sale and to all the moms and dads who helped on Saturday.

AND A HUGE THANK YOU TO THE GIRLS WHO PARTICIPATED!! Please pass along a big congratulations to all of them!

I'm also excited that the girls/moms didn't feel any pressure to sell anything and, instead, could focus on just doing something kind.

Again, there is no pressure to buy anything or sell in the fall product sale. If you do want to order any holiday gifts (candy/nuts, etc.) of course you can still do so until Oct. 29. That's the date we're supposed to turn in all orders. They do make nice gifts for teachers/bus drivers/coaches. Some of the materials we dropped off at your houses involve filling out postcards to family/friends and submitting email addresses. Let us know if you have any questions and thanks again to all who helped!

Friday meeting and Saturday booth sale!

Hello! This Friday (Oct. 10) we'll have a Girl Scout meeting after school. We need a parent to come if possible for the last 15 minutes of the meeting (4:30-4:45) to hear Natalie explain the fall product sale. Important info about the booth sale later in this post so please read through. Pickup time will be 4:45.

Elena's grandma, who makes jewelry, will be leading the girls through the jeweler badge Friday with Elena's help. 

Dairy or crunchy snack: Naomi and Mary

Fruit or veggie snack: Margie and Barb

Drinks: Elena and Nicole

Please remember we have a NUT ALLERGY in our troop. We have 14 girls. Also if you can make sure the snack is at school no later than 3:30 p.m. it would be a big help. Consider dropping off the snack/drink at school earlier if possible, or sending it to school with your daughter. The later in the meeting we have to push the snack the less time we have to get started and we have a lot of hungry, thirsty girls asking about snack and drink right at 3:30! ;-)

If you haven't yet told me if your daughter is helping with our first community service project of the year, our military "gift of caring" booth this Saturday at Munster Jewel, please let me know ASAP. This would take just one hour of her time for a very good cause! So far we have Naomi, Ava, Margie, Kayley, Vanya, Lindsey and Julianna signed up to work shifts. It would be great to have a few more people helping so let me know if your daughter can help for one hour Saturday. The girls will be taking donations from the public so U.S. Military troops can receive candy or a magazine through Girl Scouts "gift of caring" program.

If your daughter can take a shift between Noon and 4 p.m. let me know. We especially need girls from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Girls who participate will receive a patch and the good feeling of knowing they did something to support our troops!

If your daughter is working at the booth sale we need them to wear their Girl Scout vest! If you haven't already purchased the green Junior vest you still have time. Or they can wear their Brownie vest. They also might want to wear something patriotic (red, white and blue) with their vest.

I will have posters at our meeting Friday for the girls to decorate for the booth sale.

A lot of times I know we all get tired of buying and selling things for fundraisers but this is a chance to turn a fundraiser into a service project that shows soldiers we appreciate them!

Another upcoming service project: We will be helping cook and serve another meal for the City Rescue Mission in Hammond on Saturday November 22.

We will begin cooking at Ridge United Church in Munster at 9 a.m. and serve our meal at the mission at Noon. This was, by far, one of the most rewarding things we did last year so please consider being a part of it this year! I know we can't make every event but this one is really heartwarming. I'm letting you know about it now so you can mark it on your calendar. 

Families, spouses, and siblings are more than welcome to help us cook and serve the meal. We had some great dads, brothers and sisters help last year and I think everybody loved the experience!

Quickly:

At last night's leaders meeting we got our troop's top vote getter country of Ecuador for Culture Fest! This one should be a lot of fun since it includes the Galápagos Islands, home of many of the world's species! We will have lots of cool material to work with! 

We also voted as a group with other Frank Hammond troop leaders for ice skating as a new event in place of the daddy daughter sock hop on March 7. We will open this event to families so, just when we all have cabin fever at the end of winter, we'll be able to go ice skating at Midwest training center in March 7!

Looking forward to our Brookfield Zoo sleepover later this month. The fun begins at 7:15 p.m. Friday Oct. 17.

Our Oct. 24 meeting will be part two of the Jeweler badge with help from Margie, Lindsey, Tori and Clare helping lead the 

girls through different jewelry-making stations. 

See you and your daughters this Friday! Please let me know about whether your daughter wants to take an hour shift Saturday at our booth sale if you haven't already.

Thanks!