Another Year of Caravan

This week the girls and I started back with our weekly Caravan meetings.  We had taken off most of the summer, but since the boys are getting back into scouts, it was time for the girls to start up again too.

We still have a couple of badges to earn from our first book, and then we will be beginning the Quester handbooks.  The merit badges for this level look like a lot of fun:  camping, field trip, environment, the Bible, stewardship, missions, bike safety, crafts, God made me, cooking, flag, music, Child of the King, party planning, and good sport.

I always personalize our program by adding in extra activities.  This year we are going to do some of the requirements for the Fun for the Family program published by the Boy Scouts of America.  This is a neat curriculum for the whole family that contains “a series of activities and requirements designed to strengthen families and to develop good character skills among family members.”  The activities are divided into five categories, and there are both badges and pins that the girls can earn.  This program can actually be used for several years, so depending on how it goes, we might just keep with it for awhile.

This week we looked through some of the suggested activities for the “Shaping Your Family Identity” badge for the Family Fun program, and the girls picked out which ones they would like to do this year.  The first one is going to be a lot of fun.  We are going to make a “Name Book.”  This book will have separate pages for each member of our family that tells about the meaning of their names and other special things about each one.  We will work on the cover for the next meeting.  I have found some interesting things about our family name, and even this site where we can design our own family Coat of Arms.  So, this project will take us a few weeks, but it will be fun.

I also do cooking activities quite often for Caravan, and this week was no exception.  This week I adapted a recipe out of a Taste of Home magazine for a dessert quesadilla that was quite easy and yummy.  In fact, I wonder if it might work for a camping recipe….  Anyway, I will post a Smilebox of the recipe.  There are no specific amounts for the ingredients since it is all done to taste.

As a side note:  it looks like this year I will be helping with Luke’s Wolf Scout group.  It should be interesting because I will need to take the girls with me when we go.  I am working with a great lady, though, so I think it will go well.  I’m sure there will be posts about that in the future.

Make a Smilebox recipe

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Camp Recipes: Meatballs in Gravy, Hearty Taters, and Easy Scout Pies

As promised, I am posting the supper recipes that John made at this weekend’s camp.  (By the way, any of these recipes would work at home in normal ovens too!)

Make a Smilebox recipe

Make a Smilebox recipe

Make a Smilebox recipe

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