Scout Camp

Rocket and his troop headed to Boy Scout Camp this past week.  Camp is about 30 minutes from our house, so I was able to go up 2 times this week to see him and volunteer as a parent helper (his request).  They left on Sunday and my first day up there was Tuesday.  This is them at breakfast.

The boys were working on merit badges all week, so lots of hiking.  I am walking past the lake to go find them after breakfast.  My feet were killing me after this day of walking everywhere.

I finally found them, they were working on the Geocaching  merit badge and had been back in the woods.

By the way, this week is the hottest week so far this summer  Tuesday it was about 95 F (36C)

Heading back to the second merit badge- Natural World

Waiting for the counselor for this badge.  I ended up leaving this area right after this- too many bugs biting me even though I put on bug spray.

Me in the woods on Tuesday.

After lunch is siesta time (basically an hour to let the boys rest).  Our boys had a troop talk.  There were a few boys who were struggling with homesickness.  I wa surprised Rocket was not one of them.  All week long he said he was fine. (other parents volunteered too and I would check with them on his status- clearly I was not fine).

In the afternoon, the youngest boys (or first year scouts) had a program to help them work through their requirements for rank.  This was very disorganized and very much needs an overhaul.  The boys spent a lot of time sitting based on the 2 days I saw of this class.

Rocket's section of the class.

Friday, I went back out.  The boys have to be class A uniforms for dinner each night.  this was taken by another mom as I left before dinner on Friday.

Friday was a very humid day- about 93 F, but with heat a humidity, it felt like 100+ F (40C).  By the time I was out there from 7:30- 5 pm, I was exhausted.  At lunch, the sky opened  up and it poured rain.  I will talk more about that later.

Friday evening was a presentation for parents at the lake.  It looks beautiful.

Rocket in his tent on Tuesday. 

Playing games Friday afternoon at camp

Rocket volunteered to be a skit (a play) at the Friday night closing ceremonies. 

Rocket and Mom on Tuesday.

The Trailblazers on Friday- making silly faces

The camp after lunch when the rain was still coming down.  So lunch is around 12 noon.  The boys head to the parade field after their morning merit badges, they line up by troop and there are some announcements, then they are dismissed by categories (changes each day) to lunch in the dinning hall.  On Friday, I went to the lifesaving merit badge to get some pictures of a few of the boys in the troop.  The pool is right next to the parade field, so I sat under a tree (in the shade) to wait for the troop to get to the field for lunch.  As I was sitting there, the thunder started.  The staff must have seen lightening because they told everyone at the field to go ahead inside the dinning hall.  As I got into the building, the heavens opened up and sheets of rain came pouring down.  There are assigned tables for each troop, so I headed to the one for our troop and waited for the rest of the troop.  Some of the boys were clear across the lake at Archery, so I was hoping they had their rain ponchos.  As they came in to lunch, it was clear they did not.  Some boys had to shelter in place in the shower house until the lightening stopped (about 15 minutes) and then run  up to the dinning hall in the rain.  There were some very wet boys and leaders.

The rain poured all through lunch and then slowed to a drizzle as we left to head back to camp for siesta.  Thankfully some of the leaders had been at camp when the rain started and they closed up all the boys tents or they would have been sleeping on beds/sleeping bags.

Siesta time is game time.  The boys are playing RISK.  Rocket has asked for this game for his birthday.

 

Rocket got home at 9:30 am on Saturday morning.  I had him unpack his bag while I sorted it into piles for the laundry, he took a shower and then headed to bed for a nap.  I let him sleep for 3 hours before I got him up.  He is covered in bug bites and has some skin issues because his shoes and socks got wet (even though he had 2 pairs of shoes and about 9 pairs of socks, he only wore 1 pair of shoes all week).  Good thing he gets to stay home this week- it will give his skin time to heal.

 

Well, it is time for me to get him up for church.  Love and hugs,

Deb

bucket list item and getting ready for our next exchange student

Saturday night, J and I took the boys to the drive in movie theater to see "The secret life of pets".  I have not been to the drive in since I was kid.  When I was a kid, our parents would load us up in the station wagon with our sleeping bags and pillows and we would sit in the car and watch the movie.  there was a speaker that was put on a pole next to the car.  it was a summer activity and I remember it fondly.

Today, the boys are in the back, but they had to be in the seats on the drive to the theater and we will have to put the seats back up at the end of the movie so the boys can be buckled in their seats.  J has a SUV, so we could open the hatch back and let the boys watch the movie.  Unfortunately, the hatch back had to be tied down so it did not block the view of other people.  J and I sat in our collapsible chairs (she calls them bag chairs) outside the car and instead of speakers, you tune your car radio to a specific frequency and you listen to the movie on your radio.

Our view as the movie started.  the boys ended up sitting in the chairs for a while and then they headed back into the car for the remainder of the movie.

enjoying snacks from home as the movie started.

Sunday was national Ice Cream Day.  Not that this family needs a national day to have ice cream.  We headed to the local ice cream parlor where they had ice cream cones on sale for $1.49 (which is about 2 dollars cheaper then usual).  Rocket had Lemon ice cream, Mam had Peach ice cream

and I had chocolate hazelnut (a limited time flavor).

after Rocket left yesterday and I took Mam home, I started working on changing the bedroom around.  L will be here in 4 weeks.  Rocket and I need to get used to the new set up.  So I am in Rocket's room- my bed barely fits.  I had to take the foot board off in order to have a room door that closes.  The stuff animal is Rocket's but he has indicated it can be donated, so it is leaving this week.

this is the bins that house Rocket's toys.  the upper bins still have toys and the lower bins will be my dresser as there is no room for a dresser in this room.  The top looks disorganized, but it is neatly organized for the moment.  After Rocket gets home this coming weekend, we will finish going through the stuff on top to see what can be thrown away/donated or sold.  The last thing we will do is work on the shelves where all his stuff animals are sitting.  He has indicated he wants to only keep 2, so the rest will be donated and then we are setting up the shelves with his motorcycles and superheroes.  Definitely the room is beginning to look like a tween's room, not a little boy's room.

 

Back over in the master bedroom (my former room), the 2 twin beds are set up.  I like the set up, though I still have to clean.  Rocket will have the bed with Orca whale on it.  L will have the other bed.  There are 2 dressers in the room, the white one will not fit at the end of Rocket's bed, which might be good.  L's dresser can also be moved as there is still plenty of room.

And clearly I still need to clean up some of my things in this room.

 

I think we should be all set for L by the end of this month.

 

Love and hugs,

Deb

 

 

Leaving for Boy Scout Camp

Rocket has been preparing for Boy Scout Camp for the last few weeks.  We spent this week making lists, finishing laundry and writing his name on all his clothes. He will be gone for 6 days- coming home on Saturday.

 

He is going with 3 of his friends from school and one of the friend's older brother, along with most of his troop.  It is going to be an adventure.  He asked me to go up 2 times to help out this week.  It is different then cub scout camp- the boys will be working on different merit badges (though Rocket and his buddies picked some  of the same merit badges), so the adults are there to just make sure they get to meals and aren't staying in the tents when they should be at merit badge stations.  I am heading out on Tuesday and Friday and I promised Rocket I would not follow him around.  I did get him to agree that I could come quickly observe to get pictures for the other parents.

Rocket and his tent mate. I am not sure how much sleeping they will get this week.

Their senior patrol leader.  Also, one of the young men that I hope our new exchange student will become friends with once they are introduced.  D is very excited about our coming exchange student and is keen to meet him.

The boys getting together and getting away from the parents

 

The trailer all packed up.

Getting them organized, final instructions and prepping for the final photo for the parents.

Final picture- all ready to go

Loading up the bus with boys

And they're off.

Be safe, have fun, see you soon

 

Love and hugs,

Deb

Friends from far away

Friday, we got a call that our friends from the north were coming down for a quick visit.  Some hasting cleaning so the office could be used as their room and we were all set.  We had a great evening catching up.  In the morning, they headed out for an appointment and once they came home, I was in charge of the kids while my friend headed out for another appointment.  It was very hot and humid and neither of the kids (Rocket and Little C) were prepared to entertain themselves.  I packed them up and headed out to a splash park near by. 

 

They were not too impressed at the beginning.  Neither of them was going to get wet, but after about 15 minutes, they were both all in .

 

 

Rocket, playing in the spray (before he would get wet).

Little C, deciding if she is going to get into the water.

All in

Really all in here- Rocket is running out of the picture.

We headed to the playground- Little C was happy to play here.

Rocket played the bored pre-teen.  He would have been happy to have one of his buddies to play with, but that was not an option.

 

We ended up staying for an hour or so. After we got home and I fed the kids, Little C and her mom headed back north.  We will see them again soon.  Rocket and I finished up packing for his trip- see the next post and then we headed out for dinner with friends and a trip to the drive in movie theater.  I will post those pictures on Monday.

 

it was busy weekend for us.

 

Love and hugs,

 

Deb