Ah, girls camp! That time of year when young women in our church gear up for a week of camping, learning new skills, and hopefully have a great time building friendships with one another. Our girls camp this year can be summed up in one word, “RAIN!” It rained every day and there was even a flash flood right through the middle of camp. Take a look!

Our ward got the worst of it with tents and sleeping bags getting flooded. Thank goodness for wonderful ward camp leaders who kept their spirits up and made things a lot more bearable! Since girls camp this year was not such a stellar experience my girls were a bit hesitant when I told them we were invited to watch a special screening for a new movie based on girls camp called Once I Was a Beehive.

Since we don’t live in Utah where all the screenings were taking place I was kindly given a special online link and we gathered in my living room to watch the movie from the comfort of our couches and my recliner. The best way to screen a movie if you ask me!

Once I Was a Beehive is the perfect mix of comedy, drama, and reality. As the movie poster says it’s based on thousands of true stories. And, boy is it! It brought back so many memories of my girls camps growing up. My girls and I were laughing constantly at the characters, the situations, and even conversations in the movie. So many hit so close to home! The characters were a great mix of camp leaders and young women we have all met at one time or another:

• the boy crazy girl
• the hyper optimistic young women leader
• the girl who can imitate others and do all different kinds of voices
• the nerdy new girl
• the “perfect” girl who has to keep up appearances
• the camp director who blows a trumpet to call everyone to each activity

The various situations that arise in the movie are so reminiscent of past experiences at girls camp. Yes, there was even rain! My girls groaned and laughed and groaned some more through those scenes. “That’s probably what we looked like when we ran out of our flooded tent!” or “You sounded just like that!” It was pretty funny to see them react as they watched the movie.

We quite enjoyed the movie. My husband came in towards the end and said, “I’ve been hearing a lot of laughing coming from here!” The girls replied, “It’s because it is just like girls camp! Only, actual girls camp is a lot worse because there are ten times as many girls as in the movie.”

If you are looking for a good, uplifting clean movie to watch with your family Once I Was a Beehive fits the bill. Even my younger kids enjoyed it and were laughing at all the things that happened. It comes out in theaters August 14th. Keep up-to-date on the latest news on their facebook page.