Winter Camp
There isn't a lot going on right now, but I had better write while some stuff is fresh in my mind.
Not a lot happened on Friday during the day. I left work (a little early) so I could get home and get some stuff together for the Winter Camp at Camp Tracy. I had put the stuff together mostly the previous night, but had to get it out into the car. I also stopped into Pep Boys to get a filter for my car and a headlight for the Pilot. The filter was fine, but I tried to put the headlight into the Honda Pilot and they had given me the wrong one. This made me a little bit late over to Glens house but that was OK because nobody else was there either.
Finally, all seven boys that were going up showed up and were ready to go. We had Glen, Scott and me as the leaders taking these boys. Scott is one of the boys fathers and he is a good man to have around. We drove the three vehicles up, and I wasn't sure if they would allow me to sleep in the lodge or not instead of in the tent site with the rest of the group. I wouldn't sleep in the tent site because then I would have cold air being driven directly to my lungs via the C-pap machine that I have to take with me. I would've come home if that were the case. It wasn't. They said I could sleep in the lodge but they would probably have staff up and playing around really late.
The boys had a hard time getting their tent up. The stakes weren't going through the ice as easily as they thought it should be. We told them they couldn't eat dinner until their tent was up and gave them some incentive. It went up a bit more quickly then.
We all headed over for the dinner and nobody complained about it. After dinner, Glen started carving and some of the boys headed up to take their finger printing merit badge. This was done in good time and then some of them started to carve. I went out to look at others who were going down the tubing hill. I talked with a leader from another troop for awhile, and he was interested in my blackberry storm. I let him play with it for a little bit and then went back to the lodge. It was at this point that some of the boys decided to go down the hill. We also found that two of our boys didn't think to bring their own boots. We told them they couldn't go down the hill that night without the boots because we didn't want any frozen toes from the cold all night long. Scott ended up letting one of them go down the hill anyway. He felt bad for him and those puppy dog eyes. They close the hill down around 9:45.
In the meantime, I went back to the lodge where they had started a bingo game and had other activities going around. They then had a camp fire program. There was nothing else to do, so we were there with them. I met up with Elden Read from a previous ward I had been in many years ago. My wife still does his wife's hair, and it was interesting to see him there. In talking with him, I found out that he has been a bishop since April of last year. He was there for the two deep leadership from his ward, but they only had two deacons (one being his son).
The camp fire program was kind of lame (as they usually are), but the boys seemed to enjoy the stupidity of it. I guess it has its place and it is good clean fun. There was one troop there that had about 50 boys in it. They were a Samoan troop and were from the Samoan ward. I talked with a couple of them and they seemed like a bunch of good guys although they didn't have as many leaders as they should. The leader ran them like an Army unit. I didn't like that much, but who am I to tell them I thought they were nuts (most of them are a lot bigger than me).
Finally, we got all the boys out of there and ready for bed. I was able to put up my cot in a corner in the lodge and got ready for bed. I was left alone for a bit, and I put in my earplugs and got into bed. It wasn't long after that that the staff came down and played a bit with the fire. They were there until somewhere between two or three in the morning. I woke up periodically and looked at them and they at me with my mask on my face. They kept me up a little bit but not a lot. I didn't get the best rest of my life but it wasn't because of discomfort but rather them periodically. The kitchen crew came in around 5:30 in the morning, and I got up around 6:00. This made for a tired day all day long.
I put my stuff away and took it all to my car. I then wandered the camp for a bit. When that got a bit boring, I looked around at some news on my blackberry as I watched the Samoan troop get up and do some exercising. I couldn't believe that they would get all of them to do this exercising. Finally, my own troop woke up and we headed to breakfast.
After breakfast, we headed to the tubing hill. This time I had put on my snow pants and was ready to go down the hill with them. Some of the boys were surprised that a leader would actually go down the hill with them. I had a relatively fast tube as well. I do have to say that the climb up the hill was a little bit taxing to this old man. I did some more wandering around the camp looking in on those doing the wood carving and then took some of the boys to the rifle range. We had lunch, and then it was time to go. It took a little while for the boys to get their tent down.
While the boys were taking down their tent, I got a call from my wife. She was wondering how long we would be. There wasn't very good reception so we really weren't able to talk, but I knew that something was wrong. As we were heading out, and I got to a better place to call from, I gave her a call. Sure enough, she was upset. It seems that Brandon has been stealing from his grandma (my wife's mother) for quite a few years by electronically paying his bills. We don't understand this at all since she has been so good to him through the years and helped in raising him. She has also helped him out of hard places through various points in his life (including last month). How he could come to her for help after helping himself all these years, I just don't understand.
I dropped the boys off at Glens home and then headed home myself. While I showered, my wife went to pick up a birthday present for her sister. We then headed over to my in-laws house to celebrate a birthday. We found out that you don't want to go to Chuck-a-Rama at 5:00 on a Saturday evening. The place was crowded. We did have fun though.
When we went back, I was feeling way tired from my day and I tried to take a nap. A little later my son was complaining about his Ipod and I looked up a site on my blackberry telling him how to reset it. This took care of the problem.
We came home soon after that. I went to bed almost immediately upon arriving home.
This morning, we woke up and prepared for church. I went to Deacons quorum and they weren't very well behaved today. We got through the lesson that Andrew had prepared though, and let them know that they had to be a bit more reverent and respectful to the person giving the lesson. Since Ally didn't show up, my wife was able to go to Relief Society and then to Sunday School. After Sunday School we were invited to go to a Empty Nester's group tomorrow evening because we are getting pretty close to the age of some of the people in that group (even though I don't feel we're that old). Because of where we are, we don't quite fit with others that have kids our kids age. Anyway, that should be kind of interesting.
Well, that's the last couple of days. More to come later.
Not a lot happened on Friday during the day. I left work (a little early) so I could get home and get some stuff together for the Winter Camp at Camp Tracy. I had put the stuff together mostly the previous night, but had to get it out into the car. I also stopped into Pep Boys to get a filter for my car and a headlight for the Pilot. The filter was fine, but I tried to put the headlight into the Honda Pilot and they had given me the wrong one. This made me a little bit late over to Glens house but that was OK because nobody else was there either.
Finally, all seven boys that were going up showed up and were ready to go. We had Glen, Scott and me as the leaders taking these boys. Scott is one of the boys fathers and he is a good man to have around. We drove the three vehicles up, and I wasn't sure if they would allow me to sleep in the lodge or not instead of in the tent site with the rest of the group. I wouldn't sleep in the tent site because then I would have cold air being driven directly to my lungs via the C-pap machine that I have to take with me. I would've come home if that were the case. It wasn't. They said I could sleep in the lodge but they would probably have staff up and playing around really late.
The boys had a hard time getting their tent up. The stakes weren't going through the ice as easily as they thought it should be. We told them they couldn't eat dinner until their tent was up and gave them some incentive. It went up a bit more quickly then.
We all headed over for the dinner and nobody complained about it. After dinner, Glen started carving and some of the boys headed up to take their finger printing merit badge. This was done in good time and then some of them started to carve. I went out to look at others who were going down the tubing hill. I talked with a leader from another troop for awhile, and he was interested in my blackberry storm. I let him play with it for a little bit and then went back to the lodge. It was at this point that some of the boys decided to go down the hill. We also found that two of our boys didn't think to bring their own boots. We told them they couldn't go down the hill that night without the boots because we didn't want any frozen toes from the cold all night long. Scott ended up letting one of them go down the hill anyway. He felt bad for him and those puppy dog eyes. They close the hill down around 9:45.
In the meantime, I went back to the lodge where they had started a bingo game and had other activities going around. They then had a camp fire program. There was nothing else to do, so we were there with them. I met up with Elden Read from a previous ward I had been in many years ago. My wife still does his wife's hair, and it was interesting to see him there. In talking with him, I found out that he has been a bishop since April of last year. He was there for the two deep leadership from his ward, but they only had two deacons (one being his son).
The camp fire program was kind of lame (as they usually are), but the boys seemed to enjoy the stupidity of it. I guess it has its place and it is good clean fun. There was one troop there that had about 50 boys in it. They were a Samoan troop and were from the Samoan ward. I talked with a couple of them and they seemed like a bunch of good guys although they didn't have as many leaders as they should. The leader ran them like an Army unit. I didn't like that much, but who am I to tell them I thought they were nuts (most of them are a lot bigger than me).
Finally, we got all the boys out of there and ready for bed. I was able to put up my cot in a corner in the lodge and got ready for bed. I was left alone for a bit, and I put in my earplugs and got into bed. It wasn't long after that that the staff came down and played a bit with the fire. They were there until somewhere between two or three in the morning. I woke up periodically and looked at them and they at me with my mask on my face. They kept me up a little bit but not a lot. I didn't get the best rest of my life but it wasn't because of discomfort but rather them periodically. The kitchen crew came in around 5:30 in the morning, and I got up around 6:00. This made for a tired day all day long.
I put my stuff away and took it all to my car. I then wandered the camp for a bit. When that got a bit boring, I looked around at some news on my blackberry as I watched the Samoan troop get up and do some exercising. I couldn't believe that they would get all of them to do this exercising. Finally, my own troop woke up and we headed to breakfast.
After breakfast, we headed to the tubing hill. This time I had put on my snow pants and was ready to go down the hill with them. Some of the boys were surprised that a leader would actually go down the hill with them. I had a relatively fast tube as well. I do have to say that the climb up the hill was a little bit taxing to this old man. I did some more wandering around the camp looking in on those doing the wood carving and then took some of the boys to the rifle range. We had lunch, and then it was time to go. It took a little while for the boys to get their tent down.
While the boys were taking down their tent, I got a call from my wife. She was wondering how long we would be. There wasn't very good reception so we really weren't able to talk, but I knew that something was wrong. As we were heading out, and I got to a better place to call from, I gave her a call. Sure enough, she was upset. It seems that Brandon has been stealing from his grandma (my wife's mother) for quite a few years by electronically paying his bills. We don't understand this at all since she has been so good to him through the years and helped in raising him. She has also helped him out of hard places through various points in his life (including last month). How he could come to her for help after helping himself all these years, I just don't understand.
I dropped the boys off at Glens home and then headed home myself. While I showered, my wife went to pick up a birthday present for her sister. We then headed over to my in-laws house to celebrate a birthday. We found out that you don't want to go to Chuck-a-Rama at 5:00 on a Saturday evening. The place was crowded. We did have fun though.
When we went back, I was feeling way tired from my day and I tried to take a nap. A little later my son was complaining about his Ipod and I looked up a site on my blackberry telling him how to reset it. This took care of the problem.
We came home soon after that. I went to bed almost immediately upon arriving home.
This morning, we woke up and prepared for church. I went to Deacons quorum and they weren't very well behaved today. We got through the lesson that Andrew had prepared though, and let them know that they had to be a bit more reverent and respectful to the person giving the lesson. Since Ally didn't show up, my wife was able to go to Relief Society and then to Sunday School. After Sunday School we were invited to go to a Empty Nester's group tomorrow evening because we are getting pretty close to the age of some of the people in that group (even though I don't feel we're that old). Because of where we are, we don't quite fit with others that have kids our kids age. Anyway, that should be kind of interesting.
Well, that's the last couple of days. More to come later.
posted by Craig's Blog at 11:51 PM
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