On September 9, 2017, we met at Parking Lot E at Prince William Forest Park to hike the Quantico Cascades Trail and have lunch together.  We invited pledges, prospects and four DeMolay chapters to join us.  The girls who were there included:  Gigi, Kate, Delanie, Zoey, Vanessa, Jo, Mackenzie, Ashley, M’Balu, Alyssa, and me.  The adults who were there were:  Mom Priscilla, Dad Tom, Mom Paula, Dad Wyatt, Mom Joanne, Dad Stan, Dad Ryan, Mom Jean, Mom Nancy K, and Mom Louisa.  The DeMolay that were there:  Preston and Connor.  Kate brought an out-of-town friend from Florida who was getting away from Hurricane Irma and her name is Genevieve and her mom was there too.  Zoey’s little brother, Sam, Alyssa’s little brother, Zach, and Ashley’s little sister, Jessica, were also there.  The event was scheduled to start at noon but we didn’t get started until almost 1pm since part of the group was running behind.  We hiked down to the creek and we were playing in the water.  Most of us did well, but Mackenzie fell in and got wet.  We took lots of pictures and had fun.  We arrived back from our hike at about 2pm and then we ate lunch.  We finished up about 3pm and headed home.

In Rainbow Love and Service,
Isabella

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On Saturday the 19th, we had our Lake Anna trip. Most of us met up at the Bealton McDonald’s and some of us got breakfast or snacks. Once everyone arrived, we drove to Lake Anna State Park so we could get there at 10am. We had two tents in the grassy area and two beach umbrellas on the beach area to sit. We swam in the lake, played Marco Polo, talked, and collected shells when we were in the water. For lunch we had lots of food (sandwiches, chicken nuggets, salad, pasta salad, potato salads, a veggie tray, a fruit tray, chips, brownies, cookies, cupcakes, and drinks). While half of us were still eating, the other half played on the playground to pass the time until we could go back to the lake. Most of us left to go home around 2:30 pm.

Many girls were there: Gigi, Katie, Delaney, Zoey, Vanessa, Zoe, Joella, Sami, Akshita, M’Balu, Alyssa, Batu, Maribel, my friend Ella, and me.

The adults who were there: Dad Clancy, Dad Joe, Mom Priscilla, Mom Jean, Mom Nancy K., Mom Jeanette, Mom & Dad Ramesh, and my mom.

We even had two little brothers: Alyssa’s & Akshita’s. It was a very fun afternoon!

In Rainbow Love & Service,

Isabella

On Sunday, August 7, 2017, Virginia Rainbow held our first statewide fun event. We visited The Brock Environmental Center, girls in attendance from Manassas were: Gigi, Katie, Dalanie, Zoey W, Joella, Sami, Isabella, Alyssa, and myself. We started with an introduction where we met our guides and then we each got a partner and had to introduce them to the whole group. After that we split into groups and each group had to answer questions or think of questions about The Center, after everyone had their answers each group presented what they had learned. Some cool things about The Center are that they have compost toilets, they recycle rainwater as drinking water, and that a lot of the materials used as floors came from a school. Next, we went to an area at the edge of the water where we saw some snails and a baby turtle. After that we played a game where a “bay saver” had to try to catch everyone. After that, we went seining, which is catching fish, crabs, and jellyfish. We caught same very cool jellyfish and some pretty big blue crabs. Finally, we ate lunch and headed home. It was a fun day!

In Rainbow Love and Service,
Zoe N