We left early Sunday morning, checked in, and after our swim test (which reminded me how much I hate swimming) we got right into activities for the day. They sure kept us busy there! Swimming, fishing, boating, archery, BB guns, outdoor survival skills (used later on during camp). After dinner on Sunday, we had our opening camp fire and enjoyed skits by the camp staff and learned some camp songs. That night, we learned about the stars as Nature Mary pointed them out (with a super-strong green laser beam!).

Monday was again full of activities. In between these activities, we had some GREAT food (with the kids acting as waiters – setting up the tables and cleaning up when we were finished). I can’t remember all of the meals, but breakfast was typically pancakes, french toast with cereal & fresh fruit; lunch was hamburgers one day… can’t remember any more. Dinner was raviolis one day, ham another. I think pizza was in there somewhere, too.

Tuesday was an interesting day, as the afternoon was an adjusted schedule giving us more time to learn some important outdoor survival skills. First the kids learned some important knots, and they better have paid attention because after that was how to build a shelter (lean-to) using a tarp. The boys then built a hobo-stove from a coffee can. After dinner that day, we left our camp and headed to build our own shelter and test out our hobo stoves. Well, the flame under the stove was a bit much, so the boys pretty much had some bread that was burnt in the center with cold cheese in-between (not quite “grilled cheese”). They ate it anyways.

Then it was another campfire (of course) with songs & skits before we braved the outdoors & slept in our lean-to. Surprisingly, it was the best night’s rest I got! I was so asleep, I missed Digger with the morning coffee!! Wednesday morning was our last chance for the early morning swim and it was also the coldest morning so far! Well, we went in anyways. We had some more activities to do, had to pack the van then ate our final meal there. The weather was turning worse in the afternoon, so we didn’t stick around for the final campfire.

We all had a great time at camp. I may have had the best time out of everyone We’re already signed up for camp next year! My only regret is that we didn’t go in previous years. Next year will be Jason’s last at Cub Scout camp – then he moves up to Boy Scouts! I plan on staying with the Cub Scouts, although Jason doesn’t like that idea. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll do both!

We got the dining canopy up and then our tents, then Jason & I sat down to eat as the others trickled in & set-up their tents. That night, everyone was chowing down on Hobo Pies (or, to be politically correct, “Mountain Pies”) – both pizza and cherry or apple filled. Of course, Smores were on the menu as well. Jason & I cleaned up shortly after 11 and were in our tent by 11:30 or so.

Saturday morning, like most days, I was up at 5AM. Too bad nobody else was. Or, maybe it was a good thing. I got to spend some time alone and I walked some trails & took some pictures. Seeing the moon set over camp was pretty neat.

Mr. Ed & I were the cooks Saturday morning, making up pancakes, sausage and coffee for the Pack. But either somebody forgot to bring the 2nd box of pancake mix, or some creature stole it during the night, so everyone ate except the cooks. Oh well, I was in the beginning of the line at lunch time!

For the most part, the boys entertained themselves. There were a couple of organized games, and some of the kids went fishing, but for me, it was go-go-go. Bringing in firewood, or prepping dinner, or cleaning up something had to be done. Prepping dinner a couple hours ahead of time worked very well this year: we had an assembly-line packing tin-foil dinners with seasoned potatoes, frozen veggies, a ripped up burger patty and salt & pepper. More family members came for dinner, including Laura & the girls. In all, we ended up feeding 52 people that night!

After dinner, the boys & leaders got into their uniforms for the moving up ceremony. Jason moved from the Bear den to Webelos I (and so did I). It was a nice ceremony after which we changed back into our play clothes and got ready for another campfire. Another leader approached me during the fire and asked, “Was your pie iron the aluminum one with the metal handle?” I replied, “I heard you say, ‘was’”. The pie iron had melted in the fire! If you’re going to get a pie iron, make sure it’s cast iron!

During the campfire, the sky got dark and the winds really picked up. We could see lightning in the distance and hear the rumble of thunder. We scrambled to put away what we could and rounded up everyone into a nearby cabin. We all had our phones out, watching the weather radar as the kids just acted like nuts in the cabin. After a bit, we decided to calm them down, turned off all the lights except for a single lantern, and told some ghost stories. When the rain slowed & the lightning was gone, we headed back to our tents. I found water in ours and with the threat of more lighting that night and home being only 20 minutes away, Jason & I took off. I snuck in a quick shower then slept in my own bed Saturday night, then we both headed back the next morning.

I thought everyone would be sleeping when I got there Sunday, but a few were up trying to figure out how to use my coffee maker. Coffee is very important, especially when camping. We enjoyed breakfast (leftover sausage & cereal (hot & cold)) then started to clean up. Most of the pack was gone by noon.

When Jason & I got home, we quickly unloaded the car, ate lunch, and then were out the door to watch Laura’s cousin play softball. I enjoyed the game, and hopefully will catch them again Thursday night. After the game, they came back to our house for Chiavetta’s chicken. Then a bit after 7, I went upstairs to watch TV & rest. I think I got too much sun that afternoon as I slept from 8 to 9:45, then went back to bed until 8:00 the next morning! That’s what happens when nobody else in the house needs to wake up (the kids had the day off of school).

I’ve got 2 more camping trips planned for this summer: 1 with the Cub Scout leaders to plan next year’s activities, and another at Summer Camp with Jason. Both are going to be completely different experiences (one w/out any kids, and the other I don’t have to plan!).

I’ve picked up 9 geocaches recently; one evening I went out with Becca and this deer thought we were going to feed it:

Then Friday night out with Ray & Theresa. Here are some photos from one of the caches we found:

Then Sunday I hit up Grand Island:

While on Grand Island, we placed Jason’s Cursed Pirate Booty – our first geocoin. I also picked up a few ticks, but got them off me before they buried in. Next time I’ll have to wear long pants. Finally we found a quickie on Monday while taking a break from a party & introducing a muggle to the sport of geocaching. It’s amazing how people don’t know about this, but are instantly hooked when they go out & do it.

It was a busy weekend with 3 parties & a parade; tonight Echo is coming over to spend a few days with us. Echo is one of my mom’s border collies and it adorable. When mom gets home, I may not answer the phone so Echo can stay with us longer!

The kids are excited about the school year ending in about 4 weeks. I’m excited about no more tuition payments!

The Lost finale is on tomorrow night, which I can’t wait for. It’s always a tough decision… do I watch in HD, or hook up the projector? Either way, I have to get the surround sound working. Then it’s back to no TV again – I got so much done last year when I gave it up.

Finally, I apologize to everyone in Buffalo for the recent cold & frost advisory last night. It’s all my fault because I packed up my sweaters for the summer. Now we’ll probably end up getting snow!

OK – off for a busy day of work – later!

Ray, Steve and I took some time Friday & did a bit of geocaching along 2 Mile Creek. The weather was nice, despite the call for rain. Our first attempt was a multi-cache. Steve found legs 1 & 2, but nobody could find the final part. We then moved on and I found the next 2 caches. We were then about 1-1/4 miles away from the car, so we started to head back. Steve took off, but Ray and I stuck around & found the last cache of the day (Ray found this one).

That makes us 3 and 2/3 out of 4 for the day – not too bad! Oh, I picked up a geocoin from one of the caches, so I have to get out & move it pretty soon. I also ordered 2 geocoins from eBay and will be placing them soon, too.

Afterwards, Laura and I took the kids up to Niagara Falls for a nice tour of Goat Island and 3 Sisters Island. I’d like to get up there & do some geocaching, too – bring the bikes, though, so we’re not stuck too far away from the cars.

Some of the plants were just massive, so I moved them outside. Then I kept going. So the pumpkins, zucchini, spinach, tomatoes, green peppers, and some lettuce are now outside. The spinach actually looks tasty, and I may steal a few leaves soon.

Oh, and Becca’s sunflowers are now 13″ tall – well on their way to their 12′ expected height!

Here’s the photo of the plants enjoying the beautiful weather we had today:

The bell peppers were scaring me, but between last night and this morning, 9 sprouts came up out of nowhere! I moved a few of the squash into the ground today. While we still have a month until the last average frost date, if I know a frost is coming I can cover those that are in the ground. If I loose them, I have plenty more. The directions said to plant more than are needed, in case something doesn’t germinate, but it seems all of my seeds are coming up, so I have to do something with them.

Lettuce sprouting	Becca’s sunflowers
Seedlings

I built some “greenhouses” for the plants out of some old temporary fencing and saran-wrap, and stole Laura’s heating pad to help regulate the temperature. Of course, to monitor the temperature, I’m using an Oregon Scientific Wireless Waterproof Temperature Sensor. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to get it to register up in my weather station yet – I think I have to sync resetting the sensor and scanning for new channels at the same time on the base unit. For now, I turn the heating pad on during the day to get the temperature up to about 70-degrees, and turn it off at night.

Look for an update next week – I hope by then the sprouts will be taller, and hopefully some of the herbs and tomatoes will be showing signs of success!

It’s also nice to actually be able to OPEN the windows! We’ve had windows opened that haven’t been opened since we moved into the house! The new windows are great

Geocaching is best described as using billion-dollar US Military technology to find Tupperware in the woods.

So far, my finds have either been with Rob, Ray, or Steve. The cache I was going after was What’s the Point by Road Kill, one that I attempted last year without any notes. Well, I needed the notes, as the first line reads: “The coordinates are not the final cache”.

So while Laura & the girls were looking for crafty things, Jason, Scout & I went out looking for this cache. We had a good time finding it… I just have to teach Jason that everyone isn’t out geocaching, and muggles don’t understand.

I’ve found 11 so far… quite a bit behind the near-500 Rob has found. Maybe I should do a few that are near home.

This was a 5K race, not a 5K run. There’s a big difference. I need to get into more races, if I want to do the Turkey Trot in 40 minutes.

You can see the course and details of my run here. My official time was 0:27:30 which is an 8:51 pace. I finished 76th overall, and 7th in the Male 20-29 group. Andy (now engaged!!!) crossed right behind me. Tom was with me for the first mile, then took off, finishing in 25:05, while his girlfriend kept up a 10:18 pace finishing in an even 32:00.

There’s another race at Delaware Park this weekend… I may do that to get more race experiences.