Lessons from Camp...

Hello, friends! 

Many of you may know that one of the accomplishments that I'm most proud of in life is that I achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in 2003. It was a close call (VERY CLOSE) but I got there and no doubt, at least part of who I am today is because of my involvement in scouting. 

This weekend, Ezra went to his first ever Cub Scout Camp! It was such a fun time seeing him learn, play with his friends, sleep in a tent, do fun and exciting things, and generally have a good time. It was also tons of fun being able to spend some quality time with him.

It had been a while since I'd been to a Scout Camp (or really camping in general!) so here are a few lessons I learned from the weekend: 

- The big mosquito net is worth it. I was looking at our packing list and saw the one thing we were missing was a mosquito net, so I went down to Bass Pro to get one. There were 3 options: small, medium, and large. The small was only for a single person, so I knew that wouldn't work for us. The question was whether or not we needed to pay the extra money for a large. Friends, it may have been the best decision I made all weekend. Our net was spacious. It kept out the bugs (including some ticks!). It allowed for Ezra to roll around while he sleeps. It was, to quote Vax Varvatu... GLORIOUS! 

- The boy loves to fish: At camp, Ezra got to do all sorts of things. He rode in a canoe. He climbed a rock wall. He shot a bow and arrow and a BB gun. He built a bat habitat and used a 3D printer. He slept in a tent for the first time ever. Still, if you'll ask him what his favorite moment of the whole camping trip was, it would be the 10 minutes he spent fishing and the bass he caught. The boy is an angler for sure!

 - Boys stay silly... and that's OK. Our camp counselors were mostly scouts and mostly high school boys. It was perfect for our campers. There was a definite connection as counselor and scout alike enjoyed running around, being outside, and making fart jokes. On Friday and Saturday night, we had campfires with the whole camp. The counselors did skits, some involving bananas and shaving cream. Ezra loved every minute of it. 

All in all, it was such a great experience. Ezra is stoked to go back again next year, which is totally fine by me. Next year, we may be joined by Thaliea, which would be totally cool. If that's the case, it'll be fun for us to have this as our first scout camp trip together. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam