My Webelo Goes to Resident Camp

I went 4 days without my camera. As crappy as that camera is, I really missed the hunk of junk. I felt naked without it. Like when you're used to wearing a watch every day, then suddenly you forget to put it on for the first time in 4 years. All day I was, "Oh how cute, let me go grab the cam-... nevermind." Or "Wait! Don't move. I have to get the-... grrrrr!" But now the camera is back and I can stop shaking.

Dominic and Brad had a very busy, exhausting, sweaty time at resident camp. 4 hours into the trip Dominic sliced his foot open on a rock in the river. The med staff on site did not have the necessary equipment on hand that day to help him so they sent him to the hospital. The nearest was 1 hour away. It was hard on Dom because he had to endure 4 shots of numbing stuff so they could clean the wound and seal him up with dermabond. "No swimming for 48 hours" the doctor said. Not what anyone wants to hear when they are at camp and it's super humid. But Brad said he was a real trooper hobbling around and hardly complained at all. Awww.

They did a whole lot more. Archery. BB shooting. Flag stuff. Fire stuff. And from what I understand the eatin' was surprisingly awesome. But really it was all about the trip to the ER for Dom. All the other stuff was mere filler. Brad was Super Husband for taking tons of pictures for me to obsess over. Unfortunately 75% of them were blurry. Hey, it's the thought people. And like I said before... it's a hunk of junk that camera.

I loved Dominic's comment when he walked through the door when he got home. "Aaah... I can't wait to have myself a nice big bowl of fresh cereal..." It's nice to know that the one thing that saw him through his sweaty campout was the idea that we had Fruity Pebbles stocked in the pantry. Nothing like a big bowl of rice, sugar, hydrogenated vegetable oil, red 40, yellow 6 & blue 2 at the end of the day. That's my boy.

Den 4 Wolverine Patrol

Fire stuff and Flag stuff.

Look! It's Dominic cleaning! (*Fist pump*)

"I am The Dom" Click, click, blow! ........... Archery was tough but he got it eventually.

I want to add that apparently the boys did a fab job on their tie-dye shirts. Brad said they got a lot of positive comments on them. Thanks Ms. Dawn!

For the 4 days that Dom and Brad were gone, it was just me and Ethan and Carmine. The house was strangely quiet. You'd think with two boys still in the house you would't notice so much. That wasn't the case. "What do you want to do now, mom?" Ethan asked after we dropped off Dom and Brad. It was our special time. Shall we do a puzzle? Draw? Movie maybe? First we did a puzzle. Next we went to the rental place and picked up Batman Begins. We watched that while Carmine napped. Next we gave each other temporary tatoos on our biceps (hello, camera?) For dinner we had porkchops and baked potatoes. After baths we did the puzzle again, much faster this time, then after putting Carmine to bed we seal up the night by coloring with markers. I told myself that whenever Ethan asked me if I wanted to do something with him, my answer would always be 'yes'. Every time. And I did. And it was so worth it. He sent an Email to his 2nd grade teacher that said 6 words: "I'm having a good day today." Aaah... that's what it's all about. Right there.

Camping With Pack 233

Our first weekend in our camper with the whole family. Yes, even Carmine. I don't think I will ever sleep in a tent again. Camper camping is like cheating, I know. But if loving campers is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Friday night we did a little dutch oven cooking. Each of us made a personal size pizza. They were delicious. Here is a picture of mine. Cheese, pepperoni, olives and pineapple.

The pack had a fishing derby so Dominic and Ethan took their first real shot at fishing. Actually casting their lines and baiting their hooks. Ethan had a lot more patience with the whole experience, but Dom seemed to genuinely enjoy it too. This was also a new location for the pack. It was a lot more scenic, but the bathrooms were not so great. Everyone got to camp right on the lake. It was so cool. Lots of wildlife. Frogs, ducks, snakes and tons of bugs (this is Texas). One sibling found a snake skin of what she was sure was a water moccasin. It sent the kids into a tizzy. They also had a playground located right in the middle of everything. Ethan spent most of his time there and has an awesome bruise on his knee to prove it.

Brad has recently taken over one of the grub master roles so he was busy spending most of his time cooking for the next meal. It takes a long time to cook for 100+ people. This left me pushing Carmine around the campground in his stroller. It was overall a nice weekend for weather. A little muggy during the day but the night was gorgeous.

2010 Pinewood Derby

Go Team Volini!

Brad felt the pressure this year to prove that last year was not a fluke. We were thrilled in 2009 when the boys took 3rd and 4th overall. Yes, quite thrilled. But even more shocked. You simply have no idea how your car is going to perform until you see it (hopefully) fly down the lane during it's first race. In fact, your car even making it to the finish line is in question. And if it does make it to the finish line with any speed, your golden. Being that last year was Brad's first ever pinewood derby he's ever attended, the first pine car he's ever constructed... I think my husband is pretty awesome. Needless to say, we reminisced in the after-glow for days. Well, actually more than days. We really enjoyed it and we really looked forward to this year's competition.

Team Volini basically constructed this years cars in the same fashion we did last years. Only Brad found a few more pointers on the internet that he wanted to try out. After the drill press, band saw, sanders, dremmels, funky oatmeal paste, graphite, glue, paint, tape, pipe cleaners, toothpaste, and weight ... Team Volini had completed their cars. #16 & #21. Blue Thunder and Bumble Bee. We took them to weigh them in on Friday night and found that they were slightly over the official weight of no more than 5 oz. So Brad had to remove some of the weight on both cars, which explains the blotchy paint job. But hey, it's not about looks is it? ... ...

This years competion was fantastic. In fact 2 other boys from Dominic's den placed 1st and 2nd in his rank. Den 4 dominated the Bears. It was a lot fun.

We would like to thank Uncle James, Lizzy & Walter for coming to support Team Volini this year. It was nice to hear the extra cheers for the boys. And Uncle James can really cheer.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Pack 233 Family Campout

Last weekend it was time for the Fall BSOA family campout. The weather was pretty cold at night, but perfect during the day. They boys have such a blast. They hiked all day and ran around and played in the dirt. Kool Aid was available all day so it seemed like every boy had stained red lips all weekend.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com