Hellloooo

Okay, so looks like no one lives in blogland anymore. They must all be hanging out in farmville with the lost cows.

So, horse camp was fun. It was hotter than the proverbial popcorn fart, but it was fun. We were lucky and had one of the lower campsites on the hill. I don't know if our one boy would have made it had we needed to walk all the way to the top. And good grief, what are these parents thinking? When you send a scout to camp, do you really send them with a rolling suitcase?? There were some kids who dragged their rolling suitcases upside down up the hill.

Anyway, W had a great time. I was warned not to spoil his fun as we left the house. Well on the second day I violated his number one rule. See, there is a trading post at camp. And they only have it open at certain times. Then they only let a couple kids at a time in...duh. Well, our boys had been to the front of the line 4 times only to be told that the trading post was closed just as they were ready to cross the thresh hold. So, on the second day W and one of the other boys made it in right after breakfast, but our other two boys were once again turned away just as they got to the door. Well, later in the day W and his buddy were with the other leader from our group when he heard the trading post opened up again. He took off up the hill...without his buddy...to get his wallet. I saw his buddy and he told me that W had gone to the tents. So I went up and chewed him out for violating such a basic rule. I told him that since he left his buddy he couldn't go to the trading post until about 30 minutes before it closed again. He threw a little fit and was then told that he couldn't go until the next time it opened. Well, the rest of that day and into the next day I was told how horrible I was for ruining his fun.But hey, he didn't leave his buddy again.

Anyway, they had the option of getting up at 6 in the morning the first morning to go feed the horses. Two of them wanted to and the other two didn't, so we made them all get up. The next morning they had the option of getting up at 6 to feed the chickens and bunnies, play with goats and a couple calves. We neglected to tell them it was optional and just made them get up. Of course all was forgiven as soon as they got to the calves and were able to have their hands sucked on.

No, that is not a dead creature on W's head, only the tail of the racoon is real, the rest is the fur from the fauxbeast....

In addition to getting to ride horses for a whopping 15 minutes or so, they all got to pan for gold, make candles, wash their dirty socks and hang them to dry as well as help make dutch oven peach cobbler.

We did have our littlest boy get overheated the first day and he had to spend a few hours with the nurse. Then our oldest boys wanted to go home just after lights out because he was homesick, but by the end of the next day he'd forgotten about that. All in all we fared pretty well. And the ride home was totally quiet as the boys all slept.

So, H did not have as enjoyable of a weekend. We met up with grandma and grandpa about an hour before we got to camp and transferred him off to them. I guess he cried the whole way back to their trailer, about an hour. Then he was fine. Then D showed up late Friday. Saturday D, grandpa and H came to camp for the closing flag, BBQ and campfire. H was in heaven. He was sooo happy to see me and W. (W was a little crabby again and not as happy to see anyone unfortunately). Of course H thought he was going to stay with me when we left camp. Well, D was planning to take both boys back to grandma and grandpas and I was going to ride back home with the other leader and the rest of the boys. Well, W didn't want to go to grandma and grandpas, so he came back with us. And H didn't want to go anyplace but with us. So, he cried for the first maybe 10 minutes of the trip back. Poor kid. He just honestly doesn't realize that he isn't one of the big boys sometimes. Anyway, he was very happy to be home Sunday afternoon.

So, I thought things would slow down a little this week. But I guess not.

H had school on Monday. He refused to get on the bus, so I had to drive him. Then on the heals of abandoning him for the weekend, I figured I might as well just stay for the 1 1/2 hours of class. The Tuesday we had to head up the river for he eye appointment. He actually cooperated and they could determine that he has 20/30 vision in each eye. She said we don't have to come back for about 8 months now.

Thursday was scout day again. We took 6 of our scouts to the fish hatchery for a tour. They got to go into the incubating room, which is empty right now, and see how things are run there. Then they found that fish food was made of other fish. The guy giving the tour told them that to move the fish from there to the outside ponds they hooked up pipes and flushed them...yes, just like a toilet...to the outside. They also learned that the fish do not in fact eat small boys. After the tour we had a picnic lunch and hiked some of the trails. I wasn't aware of it, but there are lava flows that come all the way from Idaho back in there. They were really nice trails and the boys had a great time.

H feeding the fish....

Then last night we got a call from one of the other packs. There was a boy scout who just made eagle and they wanted 4 webelos to bring in colors. Well, the other pack could only get 3, so they called to see if W would be the 4th. He did very well. I'm sure part of the reason was because I told him that I was just his ride there and would be watching the ceremony, but the other cubmaster was in charge of him. And at the little reception afterward they had these cool drinks. They picked them up at some Asian store. They were lychee soda and the bottles were very unique. You popped the cap off and inside there was a plunger. You then pushed the plunger against the top of the bottle. That pushed a marble down from the mouth of the bottle down into the neck which was pinched off enough not to let the marble fall all the way down. As an adult I thought the marble was a bit annoying because you couldn't just tip back and drink the whole thing or the marble would block the mouth of the bottle again. From a kids stand point they were totally awesome. Once you were done drinking you could shake that bottle, or in H's case roll it along the floor, and make a ton of noise. Oh, and the chief who was in Top Gun is a scout leader and was there. So, I mentioned the movie to one of the other moms and she ran right over to ask if it was true. He said it is true and he was also in Tora Tora Tora when his family lived on Ford Island as well as being the EMT for the surfer movie with Patrick Swazye (Point Break or something like that)...

So, now I don't have anything scout related until next month. Oh, wait, that's just a few more days. The middle of the month we have the regatta parade and then a pack meeting. I'm hoping we have a good turn out for our meeting. We have two more boys who have earned their bear badge and need to go into the bear cave. Then we are going to do the broken arrow ceremony for the 3 bears that are crossing over to Webelos.

It looks like tomorrow we are loading up the boat and going fishing. The last time D went by himself with the boys and just as they were coming back to the boat ramp he busted an oar. So, we have brand new oars now and have moved H up one size in PFD's. So, as long as the boys are well rested, we should have a good time.

So, now that I hear that D and W have everything set for tomorrow, I will be done on here. Maybe on Thursday I will have some good fish stories and pictures for you guys....that is if you ever get on here anymore....