Scout Ballfield Campout

Last night we went to the Mudhens stadium for another game and another Scout sleepover.  Becky and Aaron joined us for the camping portion this year.  Becky was very involved with the Scouts this year and Aaron was very distraught about not getting to stay last year.  Thankfully the weather this year was better as we didn't get soaked like last year.



Before the game, all the Scouts got to parade around the front of the field.  Becky and Alex went around this time, both in full uniform.



Alex wore his new Bear hat and neckerchief as well as his patch vest which houses all of the extra patches he has earned, but can't wear on his uniform.  The big yellow "C" on his left is the equivalent to a high school "letter" where he can house his Sports and Academics pins.  Right now he has a Swimming pin, but may have a couple more joining it from Day Camp activities.



Becky got Aaron a Little Scout Buddy ball cap and t-shirt so he'd feel like part of the crowd.  He is very much entrenched into the Scouting mindset and is looking forward to starting Tiger Cubs in a couple more years.  Onto the side of the hat, Becky sewed the patch that he got for camping here tonight.



Another Scout from Alex's den, Nicolai, was here tonight also (which represented a majority of the 3 Scout den) and sat with us and ate popcorn and drank hot chocolate while we watched the animated baseball movie, Everyone's Hero.  Becky discovered a solution to last year's tent hassle.  Since we can't use stakes to anchor the tent, she found 2 small tents that don't require any.  These "InsTENTS" (get it?) pop up to a usable form with a minimum of effort in under a minute.  A few minutes later and the rainfly is strapped on and we could toss our stuff inside.  Becky and Alex slept in one tent on a full-size Aerobed mattress which just fit.  Aaron and I slept on self-inflating pads in the other tent.  The kids slept better than we did, but we made it through the night.  A 5:30am rain shower made us glad that we set up those rain flys.



This morning we got up and packed up the gear.  Stowing the InsTENTS is almost as easy as setting them up and they were light enough to carry on and off the field with our other gear all in one trip.  We ate a buffet breakfast in the Roost on the upper balcony before heading home.  This is now officially a tradition that we'll plan on doing for many years to come.