One Crazy Weekend

It was a crazy weekend with many changes of uniforms and one major change of heart. We knew that we had karate, cub scouts, baseball, and church school on the docket. I hadn't been planning on participating in the overnight camping part of the Cub Scout event, but after Evan's interest in camping over hadn't waned (he was asking everyone if they had a tent we could borrow), I headed out to Walmart on Saturday morning to purchase a tent. As a close friend said upon hearing that I was spending the night in a tent at Trout Brook, "That doesn't sound like Nicole."

So the first uniform of the weekend was karate. Liam started taking karate classes last weekend. This is the first time that he has done this sort of thing. We were lucky to get a gift certificate from a person at church for 6 weeks of classes at a local maritial arts place. The first two weeks are individual lessons to go over the basics, and this Saturday he'll join the other dragons (4 and 5 year olds). So far he really enjoys karate and has picked up on the moves quickly.
Then, it was on to the first baseball game of the weekend for Evan.

As soon as the game ended, we headed over to Trout Brook Reservation for the Cub Scout end-of-the year campover. Evan made a quick change into his Class A Cub Scout uniform in the car. The whole family joined for the cookout and awards ceremony part of the evening. Greg lugged all of our camping gear to the field. All I had to do was look slightly puzzled at the tent bag, and a dad had the entire thing up in 5 minutes. All of that practice in setting it up in the backyard for nothing!

The awards ceremony was dreadfully long as usual. The highlight was Evan's crossing over from a Tiger Scout to Wolf Scout. He was very excited to get his new kerchief and slide.

After the awards ceremony, we all headed to the field where to enjoy a large cooking fire (bonfires are not allowed) and usual skits and songs. Evan spent much of the dark night playing light-up frisbee and tag with some classmates and older scouts while I tried to stay warm by the fire. At 9:45 PM, we headed back to the tent to go to sleep. The 10:00 PM quiet time had been delayed by the Bruins game which was being aired in the picnic pavilion on a small TV made possible by some improvised satellite set-up that probably earned some scout a badge. Despite the noise, Evan fell asleep in 5 minutes. I, on the other hand, was awake until at least 1:30 PM. Evan woke up sometime in the night because he was cold, and it was cold. I zipped us both into my sleeping bag, and Evan slept until 6:30 AM.

Surviving the sleepover in the tent gave me a bit more confidence for co-leading the den next year. I think I have even resigned myself to wearing the uniform, shirt only--no kerchief and hat!