Remarks at a "Let's Move!" Initiative Girl Scout Campout on the South Lawn

The President. How's it going? What are you guys doing in my yard? [Laughter] When did you guys show up here? [Laughter] You just came an hour ago? How's it going? Who are you? Your name's Cathy?

Girl Scout. Hi, Obama.

The President. Hey, you.

So what's been going on? What have you guys been up to?

Girl Scouts. Singing camp songs!

Girl Scouts. Rock climbing!

The President. You're singing camp songs?

Girl Scouts. Yes!

The President. I don't——

The First Lady. Is that all you've been doing is singing? And why are you all dusty? [Laughter] What game were you all playing? [Laughter]

The President. So you've been singing, but what were you doing before you were singing?

Girl Scouts. Eating dinner.

Girl Scouts. Rock climbing.

The President. You guys had dinner. I'll bet it was delicious.

Girl Scouts. Yes.

The President. You did some rock climbing?

Girl Scouts. Yes!

The President. Where did you go rock climbing? [Laughter] There are no rocks over there. What are you talking about? [Laughter]

Girl Scout. I made it to the top twice.

The President. Did you? Twice?

The First Lady. I saw it. I was there.

The President. You saw it? You can vouch for it? So you guys been having fun?

Girl Scouts. Yes!

The President. So the—most of you guys are going into fifth grade or sixth grade?

Girl Scouts. Fifth.

The President. Going into fifth. The—and so you guys are from a bunch of different troops, or—— Girl Scouts. Yes.

The President. Okay, from all over the country?

Girl Scouts. Yes.

The President. Wow. So you guys are making new friends.

Girl Scouts. Yes.

The President. Well, that's so much—that's terrific.

The First Lady. Look at their cool little chairs.

The President. They're very nice chairs.

Girl Scout. They roll back. [Laughter] Do we get to bring them home?

The President. Can I just say that, like, when I went camping, my tents weren't as nice. [Laughter] And I didn't have cool chairs like this. [Laughter] So you guys——

Girl Scout. Are these your chairs?

The President. Huh?

Girl Scout. Are these your chairs?

The President. No.

Girl Scout. [Inaudible]

The President. I don't know.

The First Lady. Did we give you these chairs?

The President. They just showed up. [Laughter] I don't know what you guys are doing here. [Laughter]

Girl Scout. We're camping on your lawn. [Laughter]

The President. You're camping on my lawn. I don't know how that happened.

Girl Scout. We're making history.

The First Lady. She says, "We're making history."

The President. You're making history. Well, actually, I think the reason that you guys are here is because we're celebrating the great outdoors

Girl Scouts. Yes.

The President. And the National Park Service is trying to make sure that young people "get outside, so you guys aren't watching TV all the time or playing video games all the time, but you're getting outside, getting some fresh air, and spending time with your friends and having adventures. And there are national parks all across the country, and it turns out that the White House is a national park.

The First Lady. Yes!

The President. Who knew? I didn't know that. Did I know that? I did?

The First Lady. They knew.

The President. You guys knew. Girl Scouts. Yes.

The President. Okay. So you guys are helping to celebrate and kick off this whole Great Outdoors adventure that everybody is having—going to be having this summer, right?

Girl Scouts. Yes!

The President. All right. So I don't really know any campfire songs. Are you guys going to teach me one?

Girl Scouts. Yes!

The President. Cathy, do you have a song?

[At this point, a troop leader made brief remarks. The Girl Scouts then sang a song, and the President and First Lady sang along.]

The President. Fantastic. That was outstanding. There's real talent here. You guys sounded pretty good. Had you practiced before?

Girl Scouts. No.

Girl Scout. We could go on "America's Got Talent."

The President. You could go on "America's Got Talent." No doubt about it. What's next?

[The troop leader made brief remarks, concluding as follows.]

Troop leader. You are all sisters. You're our sister too, Mr. President.

The President. I'm a brother. I'm a brother.

Troop leader. You're a brother.

The President. Hold on a second. Time out. I'm a brother.

Troop leader. Yes, but you're very in touch with your feminine side.

The President. Yes. Clearly.

Troop leader. That's what makes you so wonderful.

[The troop leader made additional remarks, and the Girl Scouts sang another song.]

The President. Yay! That was outstanding. Did you guys see the First Lady? Did you see the First Lady rocking out a little bit? [Laughter] She had some moves. Yes!

All right, well, this is a—you know what, you guys are having so much fun. Unfortunately, I've got to go to work.

Girl Scouts. No!

The President. I am not allowed to have fun. [Laughter]

Girl Scout. Can we have a hug?

Girl Scout. Can we hug?

The President. We can have a group hug.

[The Girl Scouts ran to the President for a group hug.]

The President. Those are some good hugs! I didn't know that Girl Scouts gave such good hugs. [Laughter] Who are those Girl Scouts over there? [The President pointed to the troop leaders.]

The President. They look at least like they're juniors. [Laughter]

Well, it's good to see you guys. I'm so glad you guys are having fun. All right? But I want to make sure—you guys better clean up this mess. [Laughter] When I come—when I wake up in the morning——

The First Lady. They're—they'll still be here.

The President. I'm teasing. You guys will still be here. I'm teasing, I'm teasing. But you guys aren't going to be making a racket, are you?

Girl Scouts. No!

Girl Scouts. Yes!

The President. Did I hear a yes?

Girl Scout. Obama, where's your daughters?

The President. Maybe? All right. It was good to see you guys. All right, have fun.

[The President greeted troop leaders.]

Remember to put out the fire before you go to bed. That's what Smokey the Bear says.