Sunday, 07 June 2009

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  Camping

  I went camping with Cub Scouts this weekend.  In a tent.  Without Mark.  With two kids.  I was too cheap to pay someone to watch the dog while we were camping only 20 minutes from home and didn't want to leave her in the crate for that long, so the deal I made with Mark was he could stay home if he came and helped set up the tent, relieved me long enough on Saturday so I could go play cat-sitter and get a shower, then come back and help tear down this morning.  I am not sure I would do that again...  It was tough having to deal with both kids by myself under the circumstances (not like we were at home or someone else's house).
  
  Friday afternoon, we packed up the car and headed to the campsite, with Mark stopping at McDonald's for food.  He and I set up camp while the kids went off and played.  Mark went home and I blew up the air mattress, set up the sleeping bags, etc.  They had a campfire going already and Michael showed his first signs of trouble for the weekend.  Michael is fascinated by fire.  And wants to "play" in it (meaning poke at it with sticks, throw sticks and leaves in, etc).  A few of us told him not to poke at or put anything in the fire.  Every time I turned around he was back over there, stick in hand, poking at it again.  I pretty much spent the entire weekend yelling at him (and ruining his camping trip, according to him) for being at the fire again.  The Cubmaster set the rules down that nobody under 12 was allowed to put ANYTHING in the fire (the kids are all 11 and under), but Michael had to be reminded again and again and again, not only by me, but by a number of other adults as well.  It was not fun.
  
  The kids got tired and were ready for bed, so we headed to the tent around 9:30, only to discover my air mattress was deflated again.  Damnitall, I grabbed the one with the leak (why I hadn't thrown it out, I don't know - probably thought I could fix it).  So I ended up sleeping on the ground Friday night.  I am still hurting from that.  And it was pretty chilly, so between the hard surface and the cold, I didn't get much sleep.  Katy woke up at 5 a.m. and had to go to the bathroom.  That is, until she got out of her sleeping bag and realized just how chilly it was.  She immediately declared she could wait until morning and then went back to sleep.
  
  Saturday morning were the "organized" activities.  Once again, the kids got a chance to climb the climbing tower, ride the "swing" and do some archery.  Michael does not like archery at all and we lucked out in that it was our last rotation, so he just skipped that one.  Partway through all this, Mark showed up and I left for a bit.  Made it back in time to get lunch and then it was off to the pool.  Technically, Katy should not have been in the pool without an adult in the water with her, but she is almost 6 (that's the "cutoff age") and she looks older, so I let her go in while I sat on the sidelines.  I did stick my foot in the water - it was COLD!  Supposedly heated, but I guess because they haven't officially opened the pool for the season yet, it wasn't heated yet.  After about an hour, Michael was ready to go back to camp, Katy wasn't.  And there was nobody at camp, so I couldn't let him go back alone.  He, of course, got mad at me and started getting mouthy.  Thankfully, Katy only lasted another 5-10 minutes and we all headed back.
  
  Once the pool time was over, we split up into groups - some of the kids opted to stay at camp and just play/hang out (Michael included, big surprise), most of the kids (including Katy) went for a hike to the fish hatchery located in the adjacent park, and I took a group geocaching in the park.  Both nearby caches were ones I had found already, so it was embarassing to come away from the first one not able to find it!  The second one I remembered and was much easier - one of the first graders found it.  Then, as we were only a third of a mile from the fish hatchery, we hiked over there and met up with the other group to walk back with them.
  
  I was on dinner duty last night, so came back, washed up, and helped out with that.  After dinner, we cleaned up and they broke down camp (loaded all the grills, etc. back on the trucks to take home this morning).  Then it was campfire time, complete with s'mores.  This was the one time I let Michael at the fire, as he was setting marshmallows on fire for me.  ;)  It was the last campout with our current Cubmaster (his son will be moving to Boy Scouts next year) so he gave his "farewell speech" and introduced the new Cubmaster.  Went to bed around 10:00.
  
  After a much better night (I traded out air mattresses during the day yesterday), got up this morning, quick breakfast (cereal, muffins, leftovers from yesterday reheated...) and broke down.  Mark came to help take the tent down and cart stuff home - we were home before 10 a.m.  Now I feel like I should be out geocaching - it IS Sunday, after all...
  
  Highlights of the weekend (the good, the bad and the ugly):
  

  • Katy spent almost the entire time playing in the dirt/sand in the baseball diamond near camp (I may have to soak her for a few hours to get all the layers of grime off of her!)
    
  • We had a deer go running right across the field we were camping in Friday night
  • We encountered a snapping turtle, not once, but twice (last night and again this morning) near one of the trails leading to the bathrooms
  • Discovering my son is a pyromaniac
  • One of the den leaders presented our outgoing leaders with their own personalized hats, which they were made to wear, along with t-shirts that they were told to put on and let the kids sign while they were wearing them
  • Having the Cubmaster's son with me while geocaching and having him fall off his bike (he rode with us instead of walking) and land on the wrist he had already injured once from falling off his bike
  • Getting to know some of the new parents/kids, both the younger boys as well as new kids in Michael's den this year
  • s'mores!
  • Caterpillars everywhere
    

  All that is left now is to download the camera (pictures to come) and take care of the nasty laundry.  And catch up on sleep, of course.  But for now, I have some cats to go feed...
  
  

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