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!
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