A close call, then Cub Camp
Well, after a tense week culminated in an all-too-close game of political chicken, sanity finally popped back into a few peoples' heads in Washington DC, and they hashed out a budget compromise that should get us federal employees to the end of the fiscal year. I suspect we'll see tight budgets for some time now, but we've dealt with this before, and we'll survive it again... Speaking of bouts of near insanity, Hope put on an overnight camping trip for Monticello Cub Scout Pack 69 (she's the pack leader this year). Things went remarkably smoothly, all told--the weather was clear, if warm, muggy, and somewhat breezy... All the boys (and their parents) seemed to have survived the weekend alright (a few minor bumps and bruises, and plenty of ticks). Below, Hope instructs the boys on tying knots: 
This wasn't at a formal Boy Scout camp--we stayed at Cane Creek State Park, which is just about a half-hour north of here. As you can seen, the woods are greening up nicely down here:
We got a number of adjacent campsites, and people pitched tents--well, except a few of us northerners, who brought our air-conditioned pop-up campers! The boys started Saturday morning with a litter pick-up along the road leading into the park, followed by a camp set-up and then a little fishing. I couldn't join them right of the bat that morning because I had to give a talk at a professional meeting held on the UAM campus. By the time I arrived, it was time for lunch provided by the park and local community for those that picked up litter. In the afternoon, we did the knot tying and some other activities, followed by a dinner of grilled hot dogs and hamburgers:
After dinner, we took the boys for some fishing along the docks at a lake on the park, and then finished the evening with some campfire activities (including S'mores), jokes and "ghost" stories made up by the boys, and then songs. The next morning, after breakfast, the boys had a flag ceremony before closing up the camp:
For some of these boys, this was their first camping activity, and I think all of them enjoyed it. It was fairly easy to do, with all the other parents helping, and I know that they all got something out of it. One final picture of Kenny getting an award for all A's in his last report card:
Both Kenny and Beth are doing fabulously at school, and even lil' Stephen is doing well in preschool. They are going through their standardized tests now, as the school year is wrapping up. Hard to believe it will be summer soon--if I ignore the fact we've already hit 90 degrees out!
This wasn't at a formal Boy Scout camp--we stayed at Cane Creek State Park, which is just about a half-hour north of here. As you can seen, the woods are greening up nicely down here: 
We got a number of adjacent campsites, and people pitched tents--well, except a few of us northerners, who brought our air-conditioned pop-up campers! The boys started Saturday morning with a litter pick-up along the road leading into the park, followed by a camp set-up and then a little fishing. I couldn't join them right of the bat that morning because I had to give a talk at a professional meeting held on the UAM campus. By the time I arrived, it was time for lunch provided by the park and local community for those that picked up litter. In the afternoon, we did the knot tying and some other activities, followed by a dinner of grilled hot dogs and hamburgers:
After dinner, we took the boys for some fishing along the docks at a lake on the park, and then finished the evening with some campfire activities (including S'mores), jokes and "ghost" stories made up by the boys, and then songs. The next morning, after breakfast, the boys had a flag ceremony before closing up the camp:
For some of these boys, this was their first camping activity, and I think all of them enjoyed it. It was fairly easy to do, with all the other parents helping, and I know that they all got something out of it. One final picture of Kenny getting an award for all A's in his last report card:
Both Kenny and Beth are doing fabulously at school, and even lil' Stephen is doing well in preschool. They are going through their standardized tests now, as the school year is wrapping up. Hard to believe it will be summer soon--if I ignore the fact we've already hit 90 degrees out!
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