Campin' with Colin

After months of asking to sleep out in a tent, C got his chance this weekend with his Cub Scout pack.  And it was Ba's first time sleeping on the ground in a really long time ('cause once you're staff at camp, you get to sleep in a cabin).

C and the rest of his Tiger den did extremely well.  They did all their activities quickly and then just played in the woods during their free time.  We went on a hike, ran an obstacle course that included a rope bridge, made a bird feeder out of a bagel, cooked our own meals over the coals.  It was fun to see C go for a hike and on the rope bridge as he wouldn't have done much of either had he only been with me.  In fact, on the hike, he started a "Mighty Tigers" call and response cheer that impressed his den leader.

He did well overnight too.  He was worn out by the end of the day and fell asleep during the "retiring of the flag" ceremony done by the Boy Scout troop at the campfire.  But after I carried him back to camp, he took his medicine, brushed his teeth and changed into pajamas without a tiredness meltdown.  I thought he might want me to stay with him in the tent until he was asleep, but he was reassured that I would be nearby at the campfire and kept the "big" flashlight in his sleeping bag "just in case."  I went to the campfire and he fell asleep on his own.  He only woke up once during the night and fell back to sleep once I reminded him that we were camping.

Sunday morning, I had parent breakfast duty and he went along with me to get breakfast ready.  As the boys went through line, he helped by telling them how many of each item they were allowed to have and showed them where to get juice.  In fact, he was a great helper the whole time, helping me load and unload the car, setting up the tent, and--his favorite--using a rake to clear a site for the tent (and cleaning up much of the ground cover in the vicinity!)

He slept almost the whole drive back to Charlotte and it was a well earned nap.