Broad Run Band Camp

Pete finished off the summer of 2014 at Broad Run Band Camp. There were some long hot days but he had a good time and made some new friends. He was off to a good start for his Freshman year of high school.

Raingutter Regatta

Sam raced in his last Raingutter Regatta in August.

First race against Dominik:

Second race, with Mom and Dad looking on:

Waiting for others to race:

Wild Turtle

One of the funnier moments from camp this past week was the "Wild Turtle" incident.  Which oddly did not involve a turtle.

Sam noticed that one of the Scouts from our group looked like the LCS player known as Wild Turtle:

Of course, Dad had to get a picture of him to show Pete.  So Dad pretended to take a picture of Sam and snapped a picture of the rare Wild Turtle lookalike in the wild:

Camp Snyder - Day 4

Sam and Dad left the tent on Thursday morning with the bittersweet knowledge that it would be theiir last day at Camp Snyder.

Thursday's meals were Pancakes for breakfast, Spaghetti for lunch, and various types of Chicken for dinner.  Song time selections were The Birdie Song and The Shark Song.

Sam and Dad did the following activities on Thursday:

• Archery and 3 Gun Range
• More Fishing (with their own rods this time)
• Frisbee
• Pack up everything
• Sam read the book "Loser"
• "Manhood Test" activities (mostly rehash of the earlier activities during the week)
• Wiffle Ball
• Closing Bonfire - Sam, Dad, Alex, and Rex did the "Skittles" skit, which went very well

Pictures:

Station #2 at the 3 Gun Range (wit Svede and Trent):

Possibly the last time Sam will ever shoot a BB Gun:

Almost done packing up the tent at campsite #14:

Ready for the Bonfire:

Camp Snyder 2014 - Day 3

Day 3 at camp was full of promise and optimism, with the rain behind and forecasts in the low 80's for the rest of the week.

Wednesday's meals were Frech Toast for breakfast, Chicken Finger for lunch, and Hobo Dinner.  Hobo dinner means you cook a hamburger patty directly on the fire without a bun.  Song time selections were Alive Awake Alert Enthusiastic, Cheese Moose Song, and The Button Factory Song.

Sam and Dad did the following activities on Wednesday:

• Forester badge (with Stan)
• Model Rocket building
• Space Derby
• Swimming
• Frisbee
• Wiffle Ball
• Archery
• Staff Hunt

Photos from Day 3 (now that Dad had his camera back and fully operational):

Breakfast:

Working on the Forester badge:

Typical example of Svede not doing what he is supposed to be doing:

Preparing for successful launch of space rocket:

Building the family's 10th Space Derby rocket:

Watching Greg prepare his firepot cobbler:

Having the archery range to himself during the evening open activity (also pictured are Shane, Will, and David):

Camp Snyder 2014 - Day 2

Tuesday started off damp and got wetter and wetter as the day went on and the rain poured down.

Tuesday's meals were Omelettes for breakfast (which meant Berry Colossal Crunch for Sam), soft Tacos for lunch, and Pork BBQ for dinner.  Song time selections were The Rattlin Can, Calamine Lotion, and Singin in the Rain.

Sam, Dad, Alex, and Rex did the following activities on Tuesday:

• Boating in the rain - Sam, Dad, and Alex took out a paddle boat.  Then Alex went to the BB range while Sam and Dad took out a canoe for a sublime (and wet) excursion
• Assembling Dad's new phone (after several trips through the mud back to the campsite and car for Sam's sweatchirt, the car key, etc.)
• Sam finished reading The Giver
• Sam went with Alex and his Dad to see "Guardians of the Galaxy"
• Fishing with Tom (and the omnipresent and omni-annoying Svede)
• Frisbee
• Showers (during the dreaded Dodgeball campwide activity)

Sam and Dad discovered some pools of water that had gathered in the tent, which was a bit distressing but they soldiered on.  A flash flood watch was in effect for Tuesday night, so they hoped for the best.  The good news is that it did not rain again for the rest of the week.

Camp Snyder 2014 - Day 1

Sam and Dad stopped at McDonalds and then arrived Sunday evening for check-in at Camp Snyder.  They met Avelino at the campsite and pitched the enormous tent that would be theiir home for the next 4 days.

The special mystery event this week was to look for little space ducks hidden around the campus.  Whichever group found the most ducks each day got to go up first for dinner.

Monday got off to an early start, as a rather loud group of Scouts in the bunkhouse just outside the tent woke Dad at 6am.  Sam managed to sleep until 7:30, however.  This would be his daily wake up time for the week, including Friday after they got home.

Monday's meals were Eggs/Sausage for breakfast (which meant Berry Colossal Crunch for Sam), Turkey/Ham sandwich for lunch, and Fried Chicken for dinner.  Song time selections were The Rooster Song, Penguin Power Team, and Second Story Window.

Sam, Dad, Alex, and Rex did the following activities on Monday:

• BB Guns (which Dad discovered Sam really does not enjoy)
• Archery
• Fishing - Sam had to use the bamboo rod this time, since Dad was at the Verizon store
• Disc Golf - Each person designed 2 improv holes
• Milk Bottle knockdown
• Swimming test and swimming - Sam and Dad's first encounter with Svede, the Scout who does not listen
• 2 on 2 Soccer
• Cornhole with Avelino
• Indoor Bonfire (due to the rain)
• Lots of Wiffle Ball

At the indoor bonfire, Shane and David did the Space Worm skit, which was quite possibly the funniest skit that Sam and Dad had ever seen.

Back at camp, it rained all through the night but Sam and Dad stayed dry in the trusty tent.  Tuesday, however, would be another story.

Raingutter Regatta and Camp Snyder Preparation

Sam and Dad had a busy day on Sunday.  They packed up the car so they could go directly from the Raingutter Regatta to a week away at Camp Snyder.

Here is a picture of Sam's boat:

Here is the packing list for camp:

Large Tent
2 Sleeping Bags
2 pillows
Lantern
GPS
Headlamps
2 Medical Forms
Slingshot
Batteries - Headlamps, GPS, flashlight, lantern
Tools - small tool kit, multi-tool, small hammer, nails
First aid kit
Knife
Board Games - Uno, Blink, Make 'n Break, Apples 2 Apples Jr, Crazy Old Fish War
Scavenger Hunt baggie and list
Backpack
Water bottle
2 Uniform shirts
Webelos hat
Webelos neckerchief
Slide
2 bathing suits
Clothes - 5 days in ziploc bags (shirt, boxers, shorts, socks)
2 extra pair shoes
2 pairs flip flops / boat shoes
Planner
Marshmallows
Cell Phone
Cell Phone 2 wall chargers
Cell phone 3 charging blocks
3 ponchos
2 sweatshirts
Matches
3 Books - Giver, Loser, Brain Trust
Wallet
2 towels
Sunscreen
Bug Spray
2 Flashlights
2 toothbrushes
Toothpaste
Webelos Book
List of completed achievements for Sam and Alex
List of activities / electives for break times
Football
Wiffle Ball
Wiffle Ball Bat
Baseball glove
Baseball
1 blue golf disc
1 regular frisbee
Twin air mattresses
Coleman air mattress
Telescoping skewers

The only item they forgot was Sam's sunglasses.

Within about an hour of arriving at camp, Dad's phone had a catastrophic failure.  Dad missed a little bit of archery and fishing on Monday morning for a brief excursion to the Verizon store.

Bike Ride WOD Trail

Mom, Dad, and Sam took a nice bike ride on the WOD Trail up to Trailside Park.

They played in the Park for a while, which was pretty empty, and then headed home.

National Night Out

Dad and Pete walked over to National Night Out at the Lakes Recreation Center for some free ice cream.  Sam was sick, so he stayed home with Mom.

Dad mentioned to Pete on the way there that they were going to have police cars available for the kids to look at.  This led to the following conversation.

Dad: I bet you've always wondered what it would be like to sit in the back seat of a police car
Pete: [Pausing] Yeah... wondered