campermom

This past weekend we had our cub scout den and families attend a family camp out. 3 families camp regularly, the other 3 do not. The campers arrived before sunset Friday night and made camp. After breakfast the others arrived. They had plenty of help putting their tents up.

We started the day exploring the river. They hiked and crawled over the rocks but stopped and stayed at the spring. There is just something captivating about water and sand. After most of the boys "slipped" in the water getting their only pair of shoes wet, everyone removed their shoes, rolled up their jeans and started digging. Even the parents. It was really nice to step back and observe the families working together on their section of the "dam/culvert". The young siblings were making snow angels in the sand. We played there for 2 hours.

Lunchtime, back at the campsite, a spread of bread, sandwich fixins, chips, drinks, and a pot of homemade chicken noodle soup was laid out. With their tanks refilled, the boys were ready for more fun. We had planned on fishing. Most of the boys wanted to fish, only 2 parents wanted to fish. There is no way I'm going to take the 6 and their 4 siblings down there with only 1 other adult. I get tired of untangling my son's line, now I'd have 9 more. So, the boys ran around and played in the trees near the site. Even the introverted, gameboy playing kids were picking cactus fruit to make "supper". Good thing I brought the tweezers. I just had to leave them out by the stove.

We took a drive over to the bird blind. A few other people were there when we swarmed the place. A volunteer was there, desperately trying to keep us quiet. He soon gave up and just got back to pointing out the different birds. In the blind was a picnic table. Once the boys calmed down and observed a while, they gathered around the table to list the birds they knew by sight. Then they listed the ones they could identify from a picture or memory. I gave them hints, like, it is white and lives at the beach, it is black and eats dead animals, or it can see well in the dark and says whoooooooooo. I brought bird feeder kits for them to make but we never got around to it. They can make them at home. When kids are playing nice together for hours on end, you just don't mess with that. Supper was prepared by the third of the camper families, steak, hamburgers, chicken fajitas, rice, beans, and cobbler.

After dinner was campfire time. The kids were so tired, most ate a s'more and went to bed. I was in charge of breakfast. Even with the time change, it was to early. The boy in the tent next to us talks in his sleep, another of the young 'uns cried a few times during the night, and my air mattress went flat. We all had a leisurely morning. The non-campers asked me "Do you do this for fun?" Well yes I do. It usually is not this much work. It is usually me and my kiddo, so the food part is much easier than being in charge of breakfast for 18 people for 2 days, and be the activity coordinator. I will say that my friend, the other campermom, was a great help. She was in charge of the lunch. We ended up helping each other for both meals. When supper rolled around, camper #3 asked us for help. We looked at each other and said, "we need more ice, we'll go to town to get more." I will need to be more assertive when informing the non-campers of their duties for the next trip. This is not club med.

I know everyone had a good time because the kids didn't want to go home and the parents asked when are we going to plan the next trip. Last year we did a den camp out in the fall and pack camp out in the spring. Looks like we'll need to add to the calendar. They have requested Inks, they have cabins.

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