Scout Camp Out & Cousin Camp Out

Well summer has just flown by. I guess it's because July was packed with rain and cold weather. July has been so hot and it seems like summer's just began but Aust starts school in five weeks! He is not looking forward to it and neither am I. I love having him home.




Aust was able to go on his second camp out with the scouts and this time it was way up in the mountains and not on the lawn at the church like the Merritt Badge Pow Wow was. I was a bit nervous to let him go. He had to take his bike because part of the requirement was to go on a 10 mile bike ride and I just figured that his scout leader would take them up somewhere where it was paved and let them coast all the way down since I've heard of many scout leaders doing that and these boys are only 11 years old. It was in the 90's so I figured he wouldn't have them do it in the heat of the day. I was wrong.




When Aust finally got home the next day around 4:30pm I came around the corner of the hall to greet him and there in the doorway stood the most dirty and tired little boy I'd ever seen. I put my arms out for a big hug and said "Hi son! I missed you so much!" and all he could do was fall into my arms and say in a whisper "....oh mom!" One little tear escaped and made a streak down his dirty little cheek. He hugged me like he never wanted to leave again! Come to find out, his scout leader is the "rough and rugged" type so there was absolutely no paved roads for the mountain bike ride. They went on a dirt and rocky road with much of it up hill. They started in the morning at 9:00 am and it took them until 1:00pm. Austin still has a child's bike that doesn't have gears. His tires are regular tires and not mountain bike tires so much of the time they did not grip very well. I could see that the bike ride had taken quite a toll on him but I was so proud of him for sticking it out even without the right equipment.

Here he just got home and he really hasn't found his smile yet. The whole thing was quite a work out for him.

He's almost asleep as he leans against the wall. (You can kind of see the dirt but the camera didn't pick it up very well. But it coated his whole face!)

He did very well on the cam pout though despite the long bike ride. His leader had him cook breakfast and hid did over the fire, scrambled eggs and huckleberry pancakes. He loves to cook on the fire and does it very well. He is such a responsible little guy that way. I am grateful for his leaders. They are very good with the scouts and really have fun with them. Austin learned so much and it seems he went away a little boy and came home much more grown up. It's good and sad all at the same time. He is a sweetie.

So, onto another topic. We had a little cousin camp out with Austin and some of his young cousins and it went great. Terry surprised me by building a tree house and swimming area all in about two week ends (4 days). He worked so hard but it sure paid off. All the kids had such a marvelous time. He even built a small water slide that works great! We didn't have money to get a fancy pool but this one gets the job done and it's 40' x 40' so there was plenty of room. We put chlorine in it and let the kids have at it. They played in the water almost the whole time. I am so lucky to have such a handy man!!! Thanks hon!! Love you!

All of the kids are singing the song "Little Tom Tinker" with Kim and Emily. My sweet sister Kim came to help me out. What a blessing!! Thank you sis!! You helped me so much!!!

"Tarzan Todd" and....

..."Jane" (Sierra) swinging on the rope vine from the tree-house tree.

The ever famous "Deep and Wide" song :)

...Still "Deep and Wide" their favorite!

The Boy's Skit.

Older Kid's Skit.

After all the smores, steal the sticks, skits, songs, water and fun we all made it through alive! Whew!! It was so fun to have you all!! Can't wait for next year's!