We had a blast at our new pack's Fall Family Campout this last weekend. It was at Potter's Creek Park on Canyon Lake which is sort of off a bit between San Marcus and New Braunfels. It was a beautiful weekend for camping. Spending time outdoors with nature was really good for the soul. I saw a shooting star! Well, actually a meteor, but I still like to think of them as shooting stars (more romantic that way). It was the first time I have ever seen one. Apparently, there was a meteor shower I didn't know about early Saturday morning. I saw it on my way back from a restroom break at 5:45am. If I'd known I would have gone out for a look-see - I had trouble sleeping anyway and woke up several times during the night when Savanna would wake up whining a little because she was unsure of where she was. In spite of the little sleep, we had a lot of fun Saturday. The boys went hiking, some went fishing, they earned the Texas badge, the Map & Compass belt loop, the Astronomy belt loop and some of the different dens worked on other things as well. The best part was the treasure hunt (to be explained better later in pictures).
But mainly it was just a nice relaxing campout. I even enjoyed cooking! We got a Coleman propane cooker which was a lot easier than trying to deal with making a fire. It was especially windy Saturday evening, so it came in really handy! We did have a couple of fires made which were great for roasting marshmallows and dutch oven cobblers! I ended up leaving late Saturday evening with the toddlers. I didn't think they (or I) could handle another night trying to sleep outdoors. That turned out to be a wise choice as it was so windy that evening, Dan had a hard time sleeping with all the flapping noises (we forgot the fly to our tent and had to rig a tarp with rope to cover the tent). Plus, since the ground was mostly rock, we couldn't tie the tent down very well; the wind was so hard, the side of the tent just pushed in and kept hitting Dan (he was sleeping on the side where the wind was blowing). He had to take a nap when he got home to refresh before he could watch the Cowboys game at 3. Savanna and Bailey fell asleep within minutes of my starting the trip back home! Toddlers can only take so much camping. Savanna did amazingly well, but Bailey will probably take another good year before he is up for roughing it more than one night. Enough talk - time for pictures!
Here's all our tents. We looked out onto the water that's pictured in the first photo up top. Our family tent is the one a little to the left of center with the blue tarp on top (our rigged fly), and Dallas & Noah's tent is the grey one to the right of center that is about to fall over! The path on the right there leads to...
the pavilion where we cooked and ate meals and gathered together as a pack.
Here's Bailey, Savanna, Dan & Dallas "copping a squat" after breakfast Saturday morning (me too, but I'm taking the pictures). Noah is off on an adventure somewhere with members of his den. There was only one other Webelos there, probably because they went to the Webelos Woods campout the weekend before. So this is Dallas & Dan's second week in a row of camping! Unfortunately, I forgot to send the camera with Dan, so I don't have any pictures from that weekend. I should get Dallas to post a blog about his adventures; Webelos and Boy Scout camping is more "high adventure" than cub scout camping.
Bailey and me
Savanna and me - these are the only photos of me. I handed Dan the camera for a sec. I'm always the picture taker!
Here's the toddlers running back with Dan after I took their picture in front of Canyon Lake. Bailey's running up to get me...
Bailey made it to Mama and grabbed hold! When I was showing him the pictures after I downloaded them, I asked him who was in this picture, and he said, "Mama!" because my hand was in the picture! Notice his scratched up face (he also got a scratched knee). Poor Bailey took a few tumbles. But he took 'em like a man! He has a prominent instep which unfortunately causes him to trip over his feet a lot. Dan says to fix it, he would have to have his feet broken (Noah has one, also - they get it from Dan who has one, too). One of the moms at the campout was telling me about a baby she saw at their daycare that had casts on his legs because he had the surgery to correct the insteps. She said it was so sad watching him try to get around, he was so upset. I don't know if I can do that to Noah or Bailey, but it is hard on them when they try to run. I will have to think long and hard about it...
Savanna and her friend, Desiree, just chillin'...
This is Noah's den leader and treasure hunt mastermind, Homer (in the camo' hat). He's just called all the boys over for the treasure hunt.
Here he is telling the group how to proceed.
Listening closely is Noah's den, Bear den 7, and Bear den 4 also:
The wolves:
The tigers:
Bear den 7 (Noah and Anthony were the only ones there) and Webelos Dallas & (sorry, I do not know the other kid's name, but I will insert it here when I find out!). They are learning how to read a compass and figure out compass headings for the Map & Compass belt loop.
Tiger den figuring out one of the clues that forms their "triangle."
And here they are running up to the next point of the triangle.
The wolves are on the left figuring out their "code." There's Dan on the right with the little ones while I'm running around catching the action.
Here's Bear den 7 off to another compass heading...
Here goes the Tigers - they figured out what the "tube of enlightenment" was - the final point on their triangle. They are off to find the "red tape" to confirm it and get their final clue.
Yeah, Tigers! The first to finish...
Here's the wolves, still deciphering their "secret code"
And here's Bear den 4 off to confirm they are headed to right compass heading...
Here's the Tigers working on their Texas Badge while waiting for the Wolves and Bears to finish finding their clues.
Eureka! Bear den 4 is running back after finding their final clue.
Bear den 7 is back to the start...
trying to figure out their final clue while everyone is waiting patiently =-)
Eureka! They are off to meet with the other dens to put together their clues and figure out the "key" that will unlock the treasure chest.
Putting together the clues...
Working together...
Aha! - the parents have figured it out and are having a blast watching the kids figure it out! Desiree and Gabriel are back there sitting on, um, guarding, the treasure chest!
Eureka! The "key" was P345 - which stands for Pack 345, and led them to the sign hanging at the Pavilion.
There, they find a master lock with a combination of one letter and 3 numbers - P345!
Unlocking the lock...
which opens the treasure chest (there's Savanna in the back running with all the kids - she senses the excitement and wants in on the action!)
What's the treasure???
Ice Cream!!!
Spreading the wealth:
Noah posing with his share of the loot:
Savanna offering Mama a bite:
Bailey offering Mama a bite (I got quite a few bites!) After all that excitement, it was surprisingly quiet as everyone partook in their bounty. A perfect finish!
Here's Greg, the Tiger leader, leading the Astronomy belt loop.
He's asking the boys questions about stars.
And here he is about to have the pavilion lights turned out along with all flashlights and take the boys out to look at the stars. He showed them the halo of light that was San Marcus to the right, new Braunfels to the left, and then behind us, Austin. The moon was really bright, so it wasn't the best time of night for stargazing, but they all got a chance to look at the moon through binoculars to see the craters on the moon.
Here's Noah with his fellow den member and partner in crime for the weekend, Anthony and his brother Gabriel, a tiger. Bad Mama, I forgot to bring the boys' uniforms; they were just about the only ones who did not wear their uniform!
After the stargazing, they all got together around the campfire for skits. I gathered the babies and headed back to Round Rock, and the pack ended the evening with cobbler! What a weekend! Good times. Great memories...
Can't wait for the Spring Campout!!! This weekend the plan is to go visit Dan's family in Katy. His brother John's birthday was the 19th (we missed it for the campout); he turned 17! We'll be taking Monica's car back down there because Dan's mom is buying it for John. We'll once again be a one vehicle family. Back to creative time management! John wants us to go watch him play in the UIL marching band competition. If they place there, they will get to go to the state competition in San Antonio. That should bring back memories; I loved marching band - I was in the color guard in high school my junior and senior year (I played cello in the orchestra but wanted to be part of the marching band also - the best of both worlds!) Then, weekend after that, Nov 2-4, Dallas and Dan will go camping again with Boy Scout troop 345. As Webelos, they get invited to join the boy scouts camping trips so they can start to learn the boy scout way and also to test out the different troops and find the one they fit in with the best. My birthday is the next Friday, and we hope to be able to make it down for Sierra's birthday party that Saturday (she's having a girl/boy party!) She's turning 12, I think. If we can work out the babysitting details, Dan and I hope to have a weekend away the next weekend or possibly some weekend soon after. But the weekend after that is Thanksgiving. We plan on going to Lake Livingston to celebrate with PePa and the rest of the Tipton clan. Seeing everyone again at Nanny's funeral made me realize how much I missed getting together with them. Even though it is a grueling 5 hour drive up there (with 4 kids cramped together in our van), I think it will be worth it, and I am looking forward to seeing everyone again. It will be hard to be there without Nanny, but I know she would love for us all to be getting together again. What a busy month we have ahead of us! And then advent begins, Dan's and my favorite time of year. It's quite possible I will not post again until after the new year!
