The Camp Out

Last year on the Cub Scouts fall camping trip, Shark Boy and I spent the weekend hiking and messing around. We sat around our campfire at night in the cold, clear peacefulness by the lake, talking and getting sleepy, him eventually climbing onto my lap to keep warm.

This year was different. This year, he and I didn't really spend any time together. Mr. P and Bear came this year, and Shark is a year older, and we had a large community campfire instead of individual fires.

I feel like I only saw him from a distance, running and laughing with his friends, while I had Bear glued to my leg. (Really, Bear was trying to keep warm. The Den may have qualified for the sub-freezing camping patch.)

How much fun the boys had can be determined by how dirty they were at the end of the trip. He officially had a blast.

I did get plenty of time with Bear, seen here in deep Walden Pond-esque contemplation of the wonders of nature. Or he might just be frozen.

Bear got to take numerous hikes. And the little dude can walk a long way. Here he's heading back to camp after a walk with Daddy. (Gosh, they are cute.)

Here he's heading up the trail with The Godfather. He let go of me and said to his God-Papa, "Hold my hand," and off they went. He periodically looked back to make sure I hadn't gotten lost, while he happily talked and talked to his Godfather, doing that little chuckle to himself once in a while that I find so endearing, even if I haven't understood anything he said.

It was a great trip except for the part where I couldn't sleep at night because it was that cold.

And the part where we finally got home to a warm house and we all needed baths and a nap and Shark and I didn't get those things because he went and stabbed himself on the hand (it was more like he tried to fillet himself actually) within 10 minutes of walking in the door and blood was everywhere (which I missed because I was putting Bear down, but it gave P a mild heart attack), and I had to take him in to see if stitches were required.

Other than all that, and the possibility that my hair still smells like woodsmoke, it was awesome.