Camping is unanimously our favorite part of scouting. This campout is different from a council or district camporee. This is just our pack and it's completely parent/den leader run. We tailor all of the activities to the needs of the scout majority. In the spring there aren't usually an requirements needed towards rank, so we work together on various achievements.
This weekend we are working on the Fishing and Weather beltloops and pins, the kickball beltloop, along with the Outdoor Activity Award and Leave No Trace Award.
Friday night is spent setting up tents, our camp kitchen, and ends with time around the campfire. We usually set a time of 10:00pm quiet time, but we usually end up staying up really late enjoying ourselves.
Some things on our schedule are set in stone. Like flag raising. We do that every morning at camp. Then there's breakfast and clean up.
Here the boys are working on some of the written requirements for the Fishing Pin.
Both Jeremiah and Joshua caught their first fish ever.
Jeremiah even learned how to grab a fish by the bottom lip to release him. We have some great leaders who really take their time teaching the boys.
After fishing the boys settled in for lunch and some play time. Then we got them busy working on their Weather Beltloops and Pins. They defined some terms, made weather vanes and rain gages, and also started their charts to track the weather for one week.
After "so much school work" we took the boys out to the field to earn their Kickball Beltloops. They ended up playing for over an hour. They had a BLAST!
They also went on a 30 minute hike just before dinner to work towards their 100 Years of Scouting Ribbons.
After a dinner of hot dogs and hamburgers the boys settled around the campfire to perform skits and sing songs.
They also worked together to respectfully retire an American Flag.
Finally the moment came that they've been waiting all weekend for. S'MORES!!
Some decided the campfire was too hot (marshmallows melted right off their sticks)and they used the hot coals left over from dinner instead.
Kelsea is our Pack Story Teller. When we don't have the boys busy with a task or game, you can find several gathered around her listening to one of her many great stories. These scouts swarmed around her at 7:00 am when they were waiting for breakfast.
Once breakfast is over and Tent City has been broken down we gather around the fire pit for our Sunday Service. This usually includes a moment of prayer and a story with a good moral lesson.
The very last thing we do with our boys is to instill our Leave No Trace policy. We line up side by side on one end of camp and march in line through to the other, looking for trash or any other debris that may have fallen on the ground. We also rake over our tent beds to make sure we truly leave behind nothing but our footprints.
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