Last year we went to day camp and we had 5 boys with us. This year we had 2....but I kept counting for 5. I kept calling the boys the wrong names....I was calling them names of boys that we had last year.
It was a really lucid deja vu kind of experience. The location instantly took me back a year and it felt like we had literally just been there a couple days before. I couldn't believe it has been a whole year.
We've been in charge of Webelos together for almost 2 years. We are really grateful for the callings that we have but it is crazy to think that we have been doing them for that long.
All week before Day Camp, the weather forecast for up here said that on Friday, it was going to be Thunderstorms all day. That was the day of camp!!! NOOOOOO!!!! So of course, I used my weather controlling prayers to ask Heavenly Father to please not ruin on our scout day. Friday morning, I woke up to CLEAR SKIES. Okay Heavenly Father...I wouldn't have minded SOME clouds.
Okay, so we woke up and got to the church at 7am. We tried to get to sleep early the night before and thanks to my trip to Moab, 7am doesn't seem so early anymore.
We thought that we were going to have 4 boys with us but it just ended up being 2. That was fine but a little sad. We like all of our boys and would have liked to see them there.
But unlike last year, we were able to make it early enough to register and have everyone present at the flag ceremony. Last year Aaron was busy signing us in and we were left after flag ceremony waiting to find out where we would be going first.
We had BB Guns first and so we headed over there.
This year it was organized enough that the boys got to have a lot of turns with the BB Guns but that meant that the leaders didn't get a turn. Part of me wanted to give it a try this year, but the other half of me didn't care much.
I got to watch this Swallow going back and forth to its nest above us. This other leader and I were just hoping that it didn't feel like pooping. The boys enjoyed watching the local wildlife.
The next thing we did was work on our Outdoorsmen activity pin. Last year all they taught the boys in this section was building a fire, which irritated Aaron who wanted them to do the whole thing.
This is them learning about the fire.
And this is them learning about KNOT TYING! YEAH! Yup, they taught them knot tying for us in addition to talking about fire.
Look how intensely fascinated this boy was.
He did pretty well on his square knot. It must have been all that concentration.
Here is Aaron relaxing...and you know...looking like a sexy man. I love that guy.
This is my square knot. What? You thought that I was just there to chaperon? NO! I'm here to perfect my cub scouting skills.
Aaron was very focused on his knot...when I took this picture. It really wasn't that hard for him. I mean, we taught this to 4 boys last year so I would hope that we would remember some of it.
Mad knot tying skills! The boys also helped build a tent with the knots that they learned. I would have included a picture but I didn't like any of them.
I took a picture like this last year. Walking across this field to get to the next activity with the boys following Aaron. He is a pretty good leader and he is a great leader for these boys.
Next was the rock wall! This is Bowser's Castle. Apparently it has something to do with the Mario Brothers or something. Basically they have to walk all the way around without falling off.
While one of them was working on the Castle, the other one was on the climbing wall.
I was pretty surprised with how speedy he was at getting up there. I was also amazed by my awesome photography skills with only my point and shoot with me.
And once the boy on the climbing wall got down....
...the next one got to climb onto the wall.
Look at Aaron in the background, keeping an eye on things.
Once all the boys got to go, I asked if I could have a go. Last year I decided not to go and regretted it. So this year, I said that I would do it. The boys were at the bottom cheering me on. That felt pretty good. I looked really ungraceful though.
But I honked the horn and climbed back down.
Then Aaron went and the boys cheered for him. He got up a whole lot faster than I did.
You can't see it that well here but he has a crazy harness wedgie going on here.
Next, we moved onto the Geologist activity pin. I got to tell the boys the scientific word for dinosaur poop (coprolite) since I had been roommates with Clarise who wanted to be an archaeologist for awhile and actually worked in a museum.
The activity pins were a bit harder to focus on for the boys...which is why we tried to space them out.
We got to sit in the shade for this one and while we were in the shade and the boys were at the table listening, we got some snuggle time in.
Next up was ARCHERY!!! See! I told you that for every boring activity we had a fun one in the morning. We didn't want the boys to die of boredom with us (or heat stroke).
This girl was having them identify the parts of the bow and talking with them about how to use it.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that for some reason, we were the only people at this station.
That meant that since they had 8 stations and only 2 boys, they got double the arrows to use and so did Aaron and I. AND we got to shoot for 30 minutes without trading out. Did I mention that this was also the activity that the boys wanted to do the most? It worked out really great.
Look at that form! What a man!
Oh wait! Look at me! I'm working the stance as well! What a woman! (I should probably go watch Brave).
Because I still need to work on my aim.
One of our boys got this amazing shot! I mean....poor dorky hay bale. But good for that kid.
Aaron got a pretty good bull's eye too!
After this fun and excitement, we headed to THE ZIP LINE! We were kind of hoping that it would be as empty as the Archery but alas....it was pretty crowded. Our boys went first!
Which meant an early lunch!
This is where my camera battery died! Boo! That is THE WORST!!! That means that I have to use my memory to tell you what all came next and you have to just READ! Ewwwwww.....
Since we had a longer lunch, we went to the scout shop and both of our boys got Sling Shots. Aaron said that he would "hold onto them" so the boys wouldn't "lose them". That was code for "take them" so the boys wouldn't "shoot someones eye out".
Next, BMX Bikes! The boys really liked those too. Luckily, we had the perfect number of bikes for the number of boys in that group so they basically went in about 4 or 5 loops until they were tired, needed water, or it was time to leave. We were really lucky!
We worked on the Forester and then the Naturalist. It was a lot of talking and...I'm not going to lie, I almost fell asleep in the shady quiet room of Naturalist. I wouldn't have been the only one. The whole back of the room was sleeping dads and leaders. EXCEPT Aaron. Aaron was standing outside the room because he was scared that if he sat down, he would fall asleep.
After that we had one last thing to fill the time. It was a new one to us, Sling Shots and Crafts. Half of the boys worked on a craft and the other half played with wrist rockets and then they would switch off. All of the boys were really BAD at the craft and the wrist rockets. I mean, the rocks would go flying but not at the target....it was rocks going all over the place (luckily in the direction away from eye balls).
We didn't have anything for the boys to do for the last section....and so we went to check out archery again since the boys loved it. This time...it was jammed full of people. Boo!
We almost left then but I suggested that we look to see how busy the Zip Line was.
Lucky that we did! Only 5 people in there!! So we asked if our boys could go and they said yes. Then we asked if we could go and they said, "YES!"
Last year I didn't do it so I told myself that this year, I would going to do as much as I could so I was super excited to go. I LOVED IT! I knew that I would. No pictures of it so it is just going to have to be a memory in my head.
And that was our day at camp with our boys. Another year of loads of fun!!! I'm already excited for next year!
so since you are a boy scout expert now, I guess I shall come to you in a few years when leo is in scouts and I have no idea what is going on. Btw, you rocked that uniform :)
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