Bear Camp is done.Wow. That was a whole lot of crazy. I understand now why the parents need to go. It takes that many adults to wrangle that many kids. Still, it was a blast. Here’s what happened…
We all met at the school at 8:45. We made any last minute stops and headed out to Camp. The line was fairly long. It took about 10 minutes to get in and get parked. We didn’t make it to our campsite until about 9:40. At that point, most of the tents were already taken but we still found 3 that were next to each other. Unfortunately the boys missed out on getting their bear necklaces.
The opening flag ceremony was at 10:15. We showed up at about 10:00, I checked us in and got our shirts and mugs. Everyone was wearing their class A uniforms and we listened to what was going on and met the staff. After the announcements, we hit lunch. I had the boys change into their Bear Camp shirts at this point when they went to wash up.
Lunch was a little on the light side. If you eat quickly, you MAY have the opportunity for seconds. We learned a little later that we might as well grab a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at the end of the line anyway.
As soon as we were done with lunch it was right into the shelter for an emergency drill. That really only took a minute, then we were off to the range for BB guns. This is a little different than Day Camp. They were broken up into 3 groups and one got to fire the guns while the other two went to other stations. Then we rotated around until everyone got to fire the BB gun.
Right after that, we went to the water park. The boys had a really good time. Well…mostly. Just a little advice here, have them wash their face before they go there. The bug spray and sun block really stings when it gets in their eyes.
After this, we went to the Stockade. Here, they made some seriously stout toolboxes. It was fun watching them and helping them. When that was over, they went upstairs and helped make some rope.They loved it.
After the stockade, it was on to the castle. At the castle, they played some games. It sounds simple enough, but everything they do fills some requirement in the book.This is where I realized that I REALLY REALLY should have brought a camp chair. Some people got to take a quick nap while others simply stood around and baked.
After the Castle, we went back to the flag mall and had the flag lowering ceremony. That didn’t take long at all and we were off to dinner. Again, dinner was light, but there were PB&J sandwiches on the side if you thought to grab one. After dinner was the Order of the Arrow Dancers. Some of you may remember them from our Blue and Gold Banquet this past February(Thanks again Amy!).
Next was some free time from 6:30-7:30. The pool was open for us from 7-7:30 so we spent the first half hour at the trading post where the boys somehow managed to convince us that we should all buy over priced sticks with a bear head on them. That may have actually been the highlight of their day. At least, it was right at that moment.
After our free time was done, we met up at the flag mall again to go to the campfire and take the group photo. I have got to say that this was fantastic. I know the boys had a blast and at the end, they retired a couple flags.That part really got to me. I think I had some smoke or dust in my eyes though, because they kept watering.
Finally, we made it back to the campsite at about 10 just in time for lights out. It was still pretty darn hot, so the sleeping bags were not needed. I kept the flaps on my tent open all night. I wish I would have thought to bring a battery powered fan. Luckily I brought sandwich stuff in my cooler so we all had a snack before we passed out.
On the schedule it says “Day 2 7:00 Reveille/good morning”. That didn’t happen. People started getting up with the sun and by about 6:15 or 6:30 it was almost impossible to sleep. When 7 rolled around the staff came to our site singing a merry song about waking up.
We went on down to the morning flag ceremony and then had breakfast. Again, it was a little light, but they had eggs, sausage, cheese, salsa, a tortilla, cereal, OJ, and milk. Most importantly, there was coffee. Bring your own cup.
When this was done, it was off to the lost mine to hunt for gold. I believe they found quite a bit.
Next up was the Indian village where they rotated around and did some small projects and learned about Native Americans. The boys were getting a little tired by this time and it was only about 10:45. Luckily up next we had…
WATER PARK! This was needed. Not just by the boys, but by the adults too.
After splashing around and getting buckets of water dumped on us from above, we went back for lunch.You guessed it, small portions.
At 1, we went to Archery. The boys enjoyed that and then rotated around like they did with the BB guns and learned stuff while working on electives and achievements.
After archery, we had free time again. Because of the oppressive heat, they let us go to the water park again, but we decided to work on some belt loops. They boys got their whittling chips and played chess. Many people started leaving at this point, but we stuck it out.
At about 4:30, they started the closing ceremony. Our pack got second place for the scavenger hunt and then after the flag was lowered, they all got their “Bear Claw”. Finally it was time to go. We were all hot and tired. While the boys were doing belt loops, the adults took turns emptying out their tents and putting stuff in the cars.
It was a very fun and productive time. Two days that were so packed full of stuff it was unbelievable. We got to see how other packs do things and make some friends. A good time was had by all.
Now, I need to mark down all of the things we did in the bear book. That could take a little time.