Friday's Photos- camp wrap up

Today was the last day of Cub Scout camp and let me tell you, it was hotter than hinges of ...well you get the idea.

The boys were fried. I was fried. And we had stuff we had to do so they could finish their requirements for different belt loops and pins. And I'm proud to say my little den of Bad News Bears [my Facebook friends will recall some of the ridiculous things they did this week] persevered, dug deep and got it done.

Great job Den 7!

Now to brag about my boy....

This squishy little love tends to be shy, cautious and reserved, especially in new situations. He was brave and made new friends even though he was the only boy in our Den who didn't know any of the other boys on the first day. By Day 2, he was making fart noises with the rest of the gang.

This sweaty little pipster made great strides at the BB and archery ranges scoring several bulls-eyes. By the end of the week he was doing a great job of slowing down to aim and then fire - boys this age often aim-fire without taking the time to aim.... and then fire which means they're quite inaccurate. No worries though, BSA has *very strict* safety guidelines in place and injuries on the firing range are rare. Most of the injuries this week occurred as a result of goofing around while walking from station to station.

This "almost a young adult", as he likes to refer to himself, did some hard things this week. You may have noticed the quote I have in the header of the blog. I put it there to remind me to step outside my comfort zone, but Hank really excelled in that this week. Particularly in the pool.

 He wants to swim but he's afraid of the water and he doesn't like to get his face wet - at all, like not even in the shower. I was in the water with him (thus, no pix), but he is the one who had to put on the life vest and jump into the deep end, pop up and swim to the rope and back. And he didn't freak out about getting his face wet so he *can* do it!

I was right next to him, but he had to fight like crazy to tread water for 30 seconds (if the test required 32 seconds, he wouldn't have passed). He wouldn't float face down (not sure why that's a requirement anyway), but he floated on his back.

The station leader worked with him quite a bit to teach him the back and breast strokes. I'm glad I was able to be there so I can try to remember to use the same techniques. Because he can't actually swim, he didn't earn his pin - but - he made such personal progress that I am so very proud of him. Great job Hankster!

Being knighted by the king

 The theme of the camp was Medieval Adventures so the Director had some knights and the king from Medieval Times come to knight the boys. They did a short sword fight - it was too hot for them to do it for very long, and then they autographed posters for the boys.

about half of my den

For me, this was a hard week. I've never done anything like this before and I really had no idea how to handle some of the situations that came up (thank goodness for the experienced parents and older siblings who were there to help!).  I was on my feet from 8:30 until after 4 in the blazing heat herding boys from point to point. Encouraging them to stick with the hard things and stay awake for the boring things. Cheering for them when they succeeded and patting them on the back when they didn't. They were a fun, if not mischievous, group of boys.

I'm so glad I did it, and I'm actually looking forward to next year.