Daisies: End-of-the-Year Party!

To celebrate our last meeting of the year, the girls decided they wanted to spend their cookie money on a trip to Build-A-Bear. We had given them several options for the party, and this was what they chose.

We had set a goal for each girl to sell an average of 50 boxes, in order to pay for the party. Any child whose parent did not wish to participate in cookie sales was given the option to pay out of pocket for her child to attend the party. All other girls -- even those who only sold 10 boxes -- were happily welcome to come. We are all sisters. We all helped out each other.

The girls did a great job, and had a wonderful time at Build-A-Bear! We opted to have it in the middle of the afternoon, and did not include a trip to any restaurants, just to keep cost down. But if you wanted to make a bigger to-do of it, you could call your local Build-A-Bear and ask what they recommend, since they do not allow food/drink in the stores. Most will be able to point you to a pizza or snack place nearby.

Anyway, we were able to purchase the special edition Thin Mints bear (though some girls chose different animals, which was fine), and stuff and dress each one in a Daisy uniform. (You can find other Girl Scout products at Build-A-Bear, here.)

We took lots of pictures to share on our Shutterfly site, got a great end-of-the-year troop picture, and the kids had an absolute blast!

How adorable are these? (And no, B-A-B is not paying me to advertise their items. I just think they're so darned cute, I can't help myself.)

Thin Mints Bear:

Daisy Uniform (sold separately):

Altogether:

Ours didn't come with shoes or shirt, though (my choice -- helped keep the cost in the $20s per girl, even though the website lists this bear ensemble at $41, because we had a coupon and opted for basic uniform only). But they did come with participation patches for the girls to put on the backs on their own uniforms, and troop number stickers for the bears, which was nice.

If you decide to take your troop to your local B-A-B shop, be sure to make reservations ahead of time, and give them your tax-exempt information. You can also ask about discounts for larger groups, etc. We had a 20% off coupon, which was an enormous help.

Next up! Bridging to Brownies, and How to Get Started with Brownies. 

See you soon! :)