Mom and Me Camp-out

Benjamin and I had a wonderful time together this past weekend at a local boy scout camp.  They invited cub scouts and their moms to come spend the weekend.

Benjamin and I left right from school on Friday afternoon and were there until late Saturday.  The first day we set up our tent and then explored the camp and talked before joining the whole group for an evening around a big bonfire.  We sang songs, drank hot chocolate, the boy scouts did skits and jokes, and we finished with just the two of us reading Percy Jackson in our tent.  When we got up in the morning Benjamin said, "This was the funnest campout!  I'm so glad we came.  Did you have fun?"  "Benjamin," I reminded him, "we have a whole day ahead of us still.  We've just begun!"  "Oh, that's right!" he exclaimed, "I forgot!"  He had only done a small portion of the campout and he already considered it a success.  That made me happy.

Saturday they woke everyone up at 6:45 by screaming "Wake Up Campers!!" as they walked around the tents.  Not appreciated by me since I'd slept poorly (as I always do when camping) and our assigned breakfast time wasn't until 7:45, but Benjamin didn't mind one bit.  We started with a group flag ceremony and then we shot BB guns, slingshots, and bows and arrows,

we made placemats, neckerchief sliders, and sand art (picture below),

 we branded wood and leather, we tied knots and lassoed animals (statues of animals),

 rode a hay wagon, made caramel apples, ate lots of junk food (next year I'm bringing my own food!), and chose a pumpkin from their pumpkin patch.  A station where you could make your own bird house was also available, but he'd made one in cub scouts the week prior and didn't feel like making another.  They also had a station where you could work with a compass and learn about map reading, but Benjamin refused to do it saying, "I don't want this to be ANYTHING like school and I study maps at school." I didn't push it. The whole trip was wonderful.  The weather was cold but the sun shone from time to time, the fall colors were so gorgeous, and it only rained during the night.  We'd brought plenty of warm clothes and blankets so we were fine.  It was so good to be with Benjamin one-on-one doing something other than homework or piano practice.  Being outdoors with him just having fun and learning new things was great.  He and I both came home very happy....and dirty...and over-sugared...and sleep deprived.....but very happy. :)