Last Cub Scout Day Camp in Texas

Liam's last week-long cub scout day camp for the summer came was a much bigger hit than the one last year. The theme was "Cub Scouts of the Round Table" and we were fortunate to have better weather than previous years. It was hot, but not scorchingly so. Here is Liam's Pack lined up by the most popular even of the camp, the archery and BB gun range. Liam is at the far end to the right of the group.

We had our usual windbags that loved to throw out the rules we all know by heart, mixed in with songs and skits. We always had announcements at the beginning of each day. This day started at 2:00. Luckily this year, I had NCO's that were very accommodating.

Next to the archery/BB gun range in popularity was the pool. Unfortunately, the boys didn't have much free play available to them. They were closely monitored and had to answer questions at the top of their lungs on the side of the pool.

During most of the talking, Liam usually just dipped his head under the water and I would explain to him what they expected of him.

Like me, Liam enjoyed shooting, though he had to be closely monitored. Here he is learning how to load the BB gun. As stressful and tiring as it is to be right at his side 100% of the time, it was rewarding to see how much he enjoyed being a part of the group and participating in all the activities.

Here is Liam posing with his arrows. He decided to go for a very dramatic "Ohhhh, he got me" look.

As is usually the case, Liam is pretty worn out by the end of the week. This picture was taken on Thursday, and while the instructor was explaining what he wanted the kids to do during soccer, he fell asleep. As there were enough leaders to handle the kids, I laid down next to him and caught about 15 minutes myself!

The last day, I was unable to make it because I had CQ. The last day was supposed to be an imitation Medieval Faire where the kids could exchange little crafts they had been making during their down time all week. Liam's Pack rarely had any downtime as our schedule marched us all over the CTC campus with little time to spare. So, the night before, I had Liam gather as many small stones as he could out of the garden. We washed them off, and dried them in the sun. Then we spray pained them a metallic gold.

I was just going to have Liam trade that, but Lisa came up with the ingenious idea of making the gold into gold trolls with hair and eyes and mustaches. Lisa went with the two younger boys and Liam's commodity was a huge hit. Everyone wanted to trade with him! He still had some leftover so he gave the rest to members of his pack so that they could trade them or keep them as they wished.

I'm not going to deny that Cub Scout Day Camp isn't one of my favorite events of the year. However, it is awesome to me to see how excited Liam gets. He always has his shirt and makes sure he has his hat and dinner. Even though he doesn't talk much with the other scouts, he likes being part of the group and participating, and that makes enduring the heat and the bickering of the scouts worth it.