Beginning at Butlins... Brownie Holiday!

After a couple of days of peace, my 2014 exploded into life when we took 6 of our Brownies all the way from Surrey to Skegness: that equated to more than 5 hours of journey time each way! But despite the 3 trains, 2 tubes and a bus ride, our girls were incredibly well behaved.

The journey was more than worth it though because we were off to Butlins for a weekend of Birthday celebrations! Brownie Starburst turned out to be a fantastic event, with the opportunity to do more than I could have imagined possible in a weekend. I had never been to Butlins before, so I wasn't sure what to exopect, but I had never envisaged that we would be doing so many things: from seeing a film at the cinema, to breakdancing, circus skills, rides at the funfair, discos (with a surprise performance from Sam Callahan off the X Factor), swimming at the new Waterworld, an entire balloon-themed game show and so much more! I'm so grateful to Girlguiding Anglia for organising it - I love planning and organising Pack Holidays, but while I'm located half way across the country from them during term time, it's not really feasible, so this was a great opportunity for both the girls and the leaders!

While we were there, I took the opportunity to complete my Brownie Holiday badge (actually, I did several while we were there, but the rest will come later!). So, what did I do?

1. Attend a Brownie holiday from beginning to end.

I definitely did that: 3rd-5th January 2014 :)

2. Take part in a new activity with your Brownie friends on holiday.

I tried a new craft (see below!), tried club juggling (no one died, but it was close... the Brownies thought it was hilarious!), and I went on a fairground ride I had never been on before - I wanted to go on a similar one at the fireworks last year, but it was a long way from being accessible! I still had to drag myself up the stairs on my bottom for this one, but the Brownies and Sprite encouraged me to try it. Turns out, it was possibly the most exciting (and scary!) ride I have ever been on in my life - I haven't screamed so much in ages! Considering that I LOVE big rides (Stealth and Saw at Thorpe Park are two of my favourites) then you get the picture that this was quite some ride! I was very impressed with the Brownies who were brave enough to try it!

This is me in blissful ignorance before it started:

3. Do both of the following**Keep a diary when you are on holiday. Tell another Brownie about the best things you did.

My diary wasn't a "diary" as such - it consists of photos, memories and some fantastic new ideas! I kept track of what we did, noting what I enjoyed and what the girls enjoyed so that I can recreate things in the future. As for telling another Brownie about the best things I did, I told LOTS of Brownies! I had so much fun that I couldn't wait to thank the fantastic Girlguiding Anglia team and say how grateful I was, so I emailed them, and the result is here! I'll also be filling in the official feedback form for leaders, reflecting on what we did - does that count as a diary?!

**Make something as a keepsake of your Brownie holiday.

Other than the memories (which are the best keepsake of any Brownie holiday!) I also got the opportunity to make this little fish pin badge:

He wasn't nearly as easy to make as he looks, but two straws and a lot of frustration later, he appeared - I was quite proud of myself! The next challenge was to teach Brown Owl how to make one...

4. Know why it is important to keep healthy while on holiday.

I know why it's important for Brownies to keep healthy on holiday - I remember a certain over-tired (Spritely) seven-year-old (who shall remain nameless) having to be carried out on her bed by the leaders! I don't think she was too impressed at missing out on the fun, but she obviously needed the rest, and once she had woken up she joined in with everything else.

As for leaders, it is equally important. I knew that if I got ill, the girls would be missing out on a tremendous amount of fun, so I wasn't going to let that happen! From simple things like washing my hands before meals to taking the time to go and get myself changed into dry warm clothes when we got wet I was determined not to miss out on a second.

5. On holiday help to:

**prepare and cook a meal

This was an interesting one to do - all of our meals while at Butlins were prepared for us, but as we were staying in Skegness until later on the Sunday, we needed a meal for the evening. So, with the help of the Brownies, we visited the shop to make sure we had enough ingredients to make sandwiches for everyone. We made our sandwiches, and when we got to Skegness station, Sprite and I went to the petrol station to buy everything else we needed to feed 6 hungry girls and ourselves on the 5 hour journey back!

**wash up and clear away afterwards.

Every night before bed, the Brownies came over to our apartment and we made hot chocolate. Needless to say, that resulted in a fair bit of washing up, but the girls did most of that themselves (we've trained them well...). I did, however, wash up my own mug after many of my copious cups of tea, and was very good at not leaving things out after I had used them.

6. Every day on holiday, make your bed and keep your things neat and tidy.

Well this one you can see for yourselves:

One beautifully tidy room! This was actually something of a personal challenge for me: normally my carer is responsible for making my bed as it is just about impossible for me to do myself without risking falling out of my wheelchair. Not only was making the bed a bit of a novelty (ok, so I used to do it, but it feels like a long time ago!) I was expected to make a DOUBLE bed. As it happens, I had been allocated an accessible room, which meant that I was able to get round the end of the bed so that, corner by corner, I was able to make the bed - I even arranged my pillows and cushions in a pretty pattern (silly perfectionist!). It was quite hard work and involved a fair amount of bending and stretching, but I counted it towards my daily physiotherapy!


So, there you have it! And here is a picture confirming it has been signed off :) If you find any issues and feel I don't deserve the badge, please let me know and I'll pass your concerns on to my assessor! But for now, badge number one-of-far-too-many is done: