Scout Stuff

My boys spent this morning kayaking at Show Low Lake. When they came home this afternoon, they were bursting with enthusiastic kayaking tales!

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I don't have pictures from today's outing. The shot at left is from Oct 2006, when Jacob's Scout troop kayaked the San Juan River in Utah. That's Jacob in front.

Due to Dylan's recent illness, I didn't allow him to camp overnight with the rest of the Scouts at Fall Camporee. Since they were less than 5 miles from home, I picked him up after their campfire activities last night, he slept at home, and then Jacob took him back at 6:00 this morning.

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Dylan seemed to handle it well. It was his first time to kayak, and he loved it! They couldn't even get him to paddle in for lunch.

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Now that autumn has arrived, the cold weather will limit the number of camp-outs the Scouts will take. They made plenty of scouting memories this summer, though! Here are a few of those memories:

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The photo at right was taken on June 12, as Dylan was preparing to leave for his final excursion with the 11-year-old Scouts. He turned 12 three weeks later.

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Here is Dylan (back left) with a few other members of his former troop: Elijah, Steven, Alan, and Sam.

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They were all packed up and ready for a weekend in the Linden wilderness, working on merit badges, hiking 5 miles, and sleeping under the stars!

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Both Jacob and Dylan spent the week of July 28-August 1st at a church Young Men's Camp held at Green's Peak, far from civilization.

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Dylan's experience involved more scouting, including wilderness survival training. He worked on more merit badges, and then he had to go into the woods alone, build his own shelter, and stay the night in it.
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By the time he returned home on Saturday evening, he was coated with at least an inch of dirt! I took this picture as he headed toward a nice, warm shower.
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Jacob's experiences at Young Men's Camp were more spiritual in nature. Most of the older boys have completed their merit badges and/or achieved their Eagle rank.

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Nonetheless, as this photo shows, he still returned home sunburned and covered in grime.

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Jacob had to wait his turn to shower since we all insisted Dylan go first. Dylan's socks were so disgusting they needed to be burned, quickly! Apparently he never changed his socks during the 5-day campout. Yuck!

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Dylan's favorite event this summer was a "virtual" bow-hunt on August 15th. I'm not exactly sure how that works, but I think it involved shooting real arrows at virtual game animals.
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Dylan has loved archery ever since he was introduced to his first bow as an 8-year-old cub scout.

I saw one of his Scout leaders the day after this "virtual hunt," who raved about Dylan's marksmanship. Dylan is definitely the athlete of our family. (The rest of us, not so much...)
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For Dylan, the best part of the outing was winning this deer target. I couldn't believe my eyes when he brought this home. It has, of course, been shot full of holes since then (see above picture, taken in our backyard).

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I love the Boy Scouts program. Not only has it taught my sons some great survival skills, but it has built their character and given them self-confidence. It helps fill their time with worthwhile, fun activities. As a single mom of two boys, I appreciate that!