Girl Scout Skate Lock-In

Three weeks ago when my mom was here and we took the girls skating (see earlier entry) Abby saw a sign for a Girl Scout All-Night Skate and Lock-In and she asked if her troop could do it and if I would help chaperone.  It was three weeks away and sounded like something that would be nice and so I said yes.

It was a good idea until the day of when the temperature outside plummeted and I was dreaming of a quiet night indoors next to the fireplace, watching one of my shows on the DVR.  I had promised though and so after a half hour late start (a whole other story)  Abby and I headed out.  I carefully placed the address in the navigation system and confidently began driving.  When we ended up at the skate rink the lot was full.  I thought it odd that several men were walking in but thought that maybe they were dad's escorting their daughters.  They weren't.  They were there for the Martin Luther King Jr. late night skate that was happening at this rink, not the rink that we were supposed to be at.  We were also the only pale faces that I saw.  I had mistakenly put in the address for another skate rink and now we were at least 50 minutes away from the rink we should have been at.  We made it safe and sound though only an hour and a half late to meet her troop leader and three other little girls.  

There is nothing like one hundred eighty-five girl scouts in a skate rink with loads of sugar in their systems.  Thankfully, there was much to do with roller skating, laser tag, games and a play area.  At midnight they had all of us bed down on the skating rink floor to watch a movie and get some sleep.  I opted to take a lounge chair which added some amount of comfort to the experience.  I say some because a lounge chair can't quite conquer the chilliness of the rink, the smell of sweaty stinky feet, the loud flushing of the toilets and the unhappiness of one eight year old who forgot her beloved Blankie to go to sleep with.  I did manage to catch a few Z's though and woke with a start at 6:30 a.m. when they snapped on the lights, played YMCA at a deafening level and shouted, "Good Morning, Girl Scouts".  Poor Abs looked like a zombie as we stumbled out to the minivan.  She was so tired that she turned down doughnuts for breakfast.  We got home just as Bud was leaving for work and she and I tumbled into bed for a two hour nap.  I had an amazing time with my daughter though and I would so do it all again to see the smile on her face.