Tuesday's child is full of.....

ENERGY despite hardly sleeping a wink all night! He was up at the crack of dawn and ready to roll! I dropped them off and then had to actually take care of some orders but made it back in time for lunch. The kids were already at the trading post swapping quarters for popsicles (as you do) so I wandered around the site in the relative quiet of the steamy afternoon.

I saw a sign for the chapel and wandered that way. There in the clearing was a little A-frame chapel. I peeked in and was surprised to see a gorgeous stained glass window! It was completely unexpected and yet fit perfectly in the surroundings.


I sat on one of the dusty benches, listening to the birds squawking in agitation at the invasion of their home as the laughter and shouts of the mass of boys were carried to me on the breeze. It's funny how you think you know what life will bring, the things you plan and hope for. You know some will be good, some will be bad and some will be really, truly great. As I sat there looking at the window, listening to the day's soundtrack I was overcome by just how amazing my life was right now, right at that minute. Amazed at how the twists and turns brought me to be willingly out in the hot, nasty heat in a glaring yellow (SO not my color) shirt surrounded by sweaty, loud, sticky little boys - and how happy and complete this made me feel. Even now, looking at the pictures and remembering the week makes me smile. It was a week of growth for everyone, parents and scouts alike, and I am so glad that I was able to be there.

I should probably explain a couple of things....

You will notice as the week goes on beads begin appearing in various quantities on the totems and in some pictures some of the kids have things stuck to their shirts. You'll see day-glo cups in all the pics and will begin to notice a pirate theme emerging.

Beads - Each day the kids earn beads for various things. Each program they go to awards a certain number of beads, if they do something good they can get extra beads (or if they are bad they can lose beads). To get them to drink water they get a bead for each water break they take. If you are a hot, tired and frustrated mom who is tired of little boys not going potty you can get a bead for each spider you kill and flush in the bathrooms in the hopes they will finally pee.

Stickers - The stickers represent the characteristics of a good scout. If someone notices a cub going over and above they can award the child a sticker. If a leader is being a smart-ass she can award the Positive Attitude sticker to another leader who doesn't understand why parents don't send quarters for the Trading Post with their kid making the broke leader feel bad and rather like a change machine passing out quarters that she has "borrowed" from her own kid.

Cups - Each scout/staff receives a cup to ensure that we are drinking water. These cups are also a dirty trick that can cause a leader that may have certain artistic skills and be stationed in say, oh, Crafts for example to somehow end up decorating all the other leader's cups before they will let her come out and play again.

Wagons - In addition to their purely utilitarian function, wagons have many exciting additional features! Boys being rowdy?? Have some push while others pull the heavy wagon through the soft Florida sand.... they tame down pretty quickly. Have a bossy kid? Let them "lead" the group whilst pulling said wagon. They will begin to remember there is no I in team in record time. Have a tired leader? Well, we had four tired leaders and no one would let us ride in the wagon and the boys said they wouldn't pull us so we didn't test that feature.

Pirates - I have been in this Pack almost a year and I have no idea what the deal with pirates is. I know that we all love it and there is nothing cuter than a bunch of wee pirates running around... the dads look cool too. I do know that this year I will be getting myself a way cool pirate outfit too - or at least a hat!

It's Monday and the adventure begins...

(To view the photos larger/download photos just click on them)

So as I said, we were up and out and on our way to pick up Ely in no time flat. For once I was on time, early even... that should have told me right there that it was almost time for it to all go south lol.

We arrive at Ely's and Jack bolts to the door and knocks excitedly and loudly much to the dismay of the neighbors and a fat kitty trying to sneak up on a lizzard. The door flies open and it is obvious that Ely and his Dad have overslept. No problem, I am early, you have plenty of time say I. (Insert mental pat on back and ignore the brain's whispered warning about pride and falls) Ely gets ready and the boys sit and play Ely's new DS for a few minutes while Dad gets the rest of the gear together. (Note the handcuffs in the picture... they spent 10 minutes taking turns handcuffing each other before they lost the key LMAO)

Finally we head to Big Red who almost seems excited herself to be a part of the big day. More gear loaded, more pictures taken, boys piled in and belts snapped, Jack's favorite 80's mix blares and we're off. Life is good, traffic is good, we are early and...what's that? My phone? Diane is calling? What... why... Hello?

She: (panicked, as she does) "Where are you?? You're never late (LMAO, she truly believes this to be true) is everything ok???"

Me: "Uh, we are getting on 19 now. I am not late, we have plenty of time. Kristin said to be there by nine."

She: "You are kidding me! You were supposed to be here at 8:15 for the staff meeting!!!!"

Well phooey.

No biggie, we headed north "singing" vintage Thomas Dolby ("Europa"), Erasure ("Chains of Love") and of course MARRS ("Pump up the Volume") at the top of our lungs. The singing for some reason distressed Ely, I can't imagine why lol.
















We arrived at Camp Soule exactly when I planned to despite the fact that technically we were half an hour late. I drove around the circle and dropped the boys off at their respective dens - Den 1 for Jack and Den 2 for Ely.

After parking I reported for duty and discovered I would be in Crafts which was headquartered in the Dining Hall - no a/c but lots of fans!! We had a free period (and I hadn't realized yet that I could pretty much come and go as I needed/wanted) so I stood out on the porch and watched the dens heading to the Council Circle for the morning ceremonies and flag raising. It was a beautiful morning and a beautiful scene watching the bright green and yellow shirts bob against the blue of the lake on their way to celebrate the day.

















I caught up with the boys at lunch and they were remarkably chipper for having been to three programs already! Sweaty, laughing and covered in dirt and paint they shouted over each other to tell me all about knots and cave painting as they swapped parts of lunches and ate cookies before carrots. After a recap the main topic of conversation - or pestering depending on your mood - was when oh when would they get to go to the Trading Post??

Now the Trading Post was GENIUS. Everything in the place was 25¢ and the menu was a little boy's dream come true: every imagineable color of freeze-pop, giant dill pickles, bugles, Slim Jims and so on. Jack thought he had died and gone to heaven with two freeze-pops (purple and orange, his fave combo) in one hand and giant dill pickle in the other...yeah, I know that's nasty but he likes it and the smile you get for letting him be gross is worth it all! Now behave and listen or I will come over there and make you eat freeze-pops and dill pickles too!




































I decided that crafts could wait a few minutes and followed "Our Boys" out to the fishing dock. I caught up to them just in time to hear wee man squeal and see a fish flying through the air!! I don't know which was funnier the look on Jack's face or the speed with which the other boys came running... a couple ran over so quickly that they didn't realize they were dragging poor unsuspecting fishies from their forgotten rods!











The next time I caught up with the kids was at craft time that afternoon. They were the last group in and by the time they came tumbling in I realized just how much I had missed them and made a mental note that next year I wanted to be a Den Leader. The first day they were making their totems (name tag/bead hanger) and Den flags. The boys were running late and didn't have time to do their flags but they had a blast with the name tags. (And yes, that's me in all my yellow glory, not so much my color)

I will be honest and admit that at the time I did not understand how it could take more than thirty minutes for the boys to yank on shoes, socks and shirts after swimming. I will take this opportunity to publicly apologize for my stupidity. As I would learn later in the week, thirty minutes was a feat of unparalelled greatness.
















And just like that, the day was over. I heard the whoops and Den yells drifting over on the afternoon seabreeze, felt the steamy day cool a bit, saw the sun wasn't quite so bright and knew that the afternoon thunderstorms and the boys were on their way. I couldn't wait to get in the car and hear all about the day, and what a day it was!

On Monday Jack:

Learned how to tie ten different knots,
Made cave paintings
Learned how to play marbles and won two games
Had lunch with his Mamma,
Fished for the first time, caught two blue gills and baited his own hook
After aborting the swim test he hopped right into the pool, swam like a fish and was bumped up a level on the first day
Learned how to shoot a bb gun and
Learned how to shoot a bow and arrow!

I am exhausted just typing it! Oh, despite Mr. Hurley's iron-clad guarantee that the kids would be passed out in the car on the way home Jack was up until almost midnight, too excited about Tuesday to sleep!

Finally the first installment of....

The Adventures of Cub Scout Camp!!!!!!!

"What day is it?" "Is it today, Mamma?" "How many more days?"

Finally, after months of relatively patient waiting on Jack's part and slight trepidation on mine, it was FINALLY the big day! The lunches were packed in the required clearly identified gallon zip-lock bags, Jack's swim bag was properly packed and hanging on the doorknob, the new BSA hat and Camp Shirt were hanging on the bunk bed by the head of the still dreaming soon to be camper...

"Good mor..." That's as far as I got before he flew out of bed in a frenzy of joy and excitement. Christmas Day has never received the reception this overcast Monday in June did. His chores were complete and he was dressed within minutes despite the non-stop peppering of questions and predictions from the wee man.

The dogs had been out, the kitties, the Mamma and the Boy fed and the gear was gathered and loaded into Big Red. As we pulled out of the driveway I had expectations of a fun, exciting, exhausting week for both of us. I never bargained on the adventures and events that would pop up during the week that would demonstrate in no uncertain terms just how amazing a person my son is and prove even to my always doubting self that I am, after all, a damn good mother.

Buckle your seat belts, grab a snack and be glad that you will experience everything except the sweltering, suffocating, stifling heat of June in Florida. We had a blast and I hope you will too...