We've been looking forward to this weekend for a couple of months now. Alex started Cub Scouts when a program opened up at his school a few weeks ago. I noticed on the area Scout website that they were hosting a Dad & Lad campout this weekend at the local Scout camp - Camp Miakonda. This camp is located in the middle of the Toledo metro area, just 10 minutes from our house. However, once you leave the parking lot and cross the wooden bridge into the camp, you are definitely in the woods. They do have electricity, running water, flush toilets, and cabins to sleep in, so we were only partially roughing it. We got our stuff in our cabin and assembled for a flag ceremony. This may have been Alex's first, because they don't do this in his school. We were divided into tribes and scheduled into a variety of activities that the tribes all rotated amongst.
We started with two of Alex's favorite activities from the whole day. First was a turn at the archery range. He's going to get another chance at school this year, but this was his first time holding a bow and arrow. The boys sat for a safety speech and a history of bows and arrows. Then we took turns in groups of 8 with a compound bow. The bow was a little hard for him to pull back, but I helped him. The targets were mounted on a long rubber block and one of his arrows hit the block, three fell short and one went over the block. Next we snuck into our cabin to change into warmer clothes. Even with our jackets on, it was a chilly morning. From there we went across the camp to the BB gun range. We knew that BB guns would be a part of Scouts from stories we'd heard from other parents and kids. We had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, we have become very anti-gun, just about from the moment of Alex's birth. We don't let the kids play with toy guns, not even making "guns" out of Legos or sticks. We don't permit any shooting games where the boys pretend to shoot each other. The BB gun range also began with a safety lecture, including the use of the gun, the prone position they would be laying in to shoot, and the safety goggles that they had to wear. Alex did a good job and hit the target once. He let me shoot once as well (and yes I hit the target).
[I told him about the Red Ryder BB gun that I had when I was growing up. Dad (Papa) also taught us about gun safety and kept the guns and BBs out of reach. He used to take us to a dirt road outside of town during the day that was frequented by cruisers in the evening who threw their various bottles and cans out the window. We used them for target practice, and then carted them home to put into the trash.] Then we went to the Council Lodge building (back on the other side of camp) to do a craft. Alex made a story skin with sticks we found outside and a rabbit pelt they provided. Alex put a CM in the middle for Camp Miakonda, lightning bolts above it and arrows below it. I drew stick figures father and son at the bottom and we signed and dated it.
After lunch (hot dogs with the works) we went to the Fort. This fort looks like one that might have sprung up during colonial days, though it was built about 13 years ago. The boys learned how to make frybread from flour, salt, baking powder, and water. They flattened their piece of dough and a scoutmaster fried it for them in a dutch oven on coals. Alex put sugar and honey on his and we shared it. Then boys had free time to run around the fort before the scavenger hunt.
Next we started a lame scavenger hunt. It could have been kinda cool, except that the Boy Scout running it wasn't informed that additional clues were hidden all over the Camp, with each clue leading to the next. After finding 2 clues near the starting line, we were told that was it. Most of us went back to the cabin to rest off some of the hiking and lunch/frybread that we endured so far. Then it was time for games. First the boys divided into teams and had to find puzzle pieces on the ground blindfolded with the help of a sighted caller. Then they moved on to throwing balls through hoops that were tied between two trees. Then we all raced through an obstacle course and put in the best time for a tribe our size so far that day. Alex's favorite was a rope swing in the middle of the course. Then they ran a race to fill buckets with water carried in a styrofoam cup on a paint stick.
Next we practiced a skit that we needed to perform for the entire camp that night at campfire. Our skit had the Emperor (in the chair) reject various offer of food until he found raisins that he liked, but was upset when he found out that he couldn't get more because their rabbit died. Think about it for a minute. Alex was a guard to the left of the Emperor. We had dinner (tacos - Alex ate taco shells and pudding, not at the same time) and then went to the "Survivor Challenge". There we answered 30 trivia questions in teams to win a bag of candy. Our team fought hard but lost. However, the winning team was generous. They also let the kids roast marshmallows over a small campfire they had built there.
We had almost 2 hours left before the evening presentation. At the beginning of the day we were given a blank piece of fabric, some leather cord, two markers, and a pile of yellow beads to make a tribe flag. All day the kids traded their yellow beads for different colors from other tribes and special beads from the scout leaders. One of the scout leaders wanted a handful of trash for a bear claw or seashell. During this down time the kids played around the cabin, strung their beads, and signed and decorated the flag. The dads helped them mount it on a frame and we got them to pose around it before the evening campfire. During this evening presentation, we watched and participated in several skits. Awards (more candy) were given to the tribe with the best flag and to the one with the best time (per Dad) on the obstacle course. A thunderstorm moved through which canceled a planned evening hike. The evening movie would have been the 1960's Disney scouting movie "Follow Me Boys", if they brought a DVD player instead of the VHS player. Oh well. The glitches gave Alex and I a chance to go stargazing in the parade field with our star chart from the
planetarium. Alex slept well in the cabin, but I had a hard time getting comfortable on the bunk bed - spoiled I guess by my foam mattress topper. The next morning, we packed up our gear and had breakfast on the way out (after hiking all over camp one more time looking for Alex's sunglasses). Alex already wants to come back next year for the Dad and Lad campout.
We woke Becky up this AM with breakfast in bed that the boys helped me make. It was garnished by a rose we cut from her Mother's Day bouquet that she got yesterday. We had a lazy morning and just played with the kids. For lunch, I sauteed salmon filets with spices, steamed some asparagus and baked a foccacia beer bread that Becky had bought from a mix. We called and wished Nana Evans and Grammy Hardage a Happy Mother's Day each.
As we've been doing for several Sunday afternoons, we went to Alex's soccer game. Alex had a good game, blocking several shots and passing the ball to his teammates. Whenever the opposing players gets the ball near our half of the field, Alex has been running to a position just in front of the goal to block shots.
We went from there straight to El Camino Real for a Mexican Dia de las Madres celebration.
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