Scoutbase 2008

Jackson joined Cub Scouts this fall after school started. First graders are called Tiger Cubs. We joined just in time to get involved with Scoutbase, a large, every other year gathering of Scouts from three states. Scoutbase 2008 was held at the Tunica River Park in north Mississippi. The end we camped on included the facilities for the Tunica County Recreational Center (which just means we had some access to real bathrooms). We arrived @ our campsite about 730 Friday night. Fortunately our den leader had our tent up for us. I knew it was little but I promise it looked like 2 chairs with a beach towel over them... Most of the activities were scheduled for Saturday, so it could have been a day trip, but I guess the boys needed practice camping. Friday night there were fireworks we could see from our campsite. Saturday there was an opening ceremony with Navy Frogmen (parachuters- they are crazy but it looks neat). We're still getting used to all things Scout and the activity above did cause me some trepidation, but part of letting him join Scouts is wanting him to become more independent and be exposed to more. He earned a Trailblazers merit badge for shooting the BB gun and attempting archery. Fortunately, the Boy Scout motto is "Do Your Best," so accuracy was optional. Jackson hung out with another Tiger's family while I napped Wilson and volunteered for an hour. He earned some beads for various activities (and eventually I'll figure out where those go). Then the boys and I learned about another important scouting rule: leave no trace. We walked a short nature trail (see below; note soda!) and read about how to camp and enjoy the outdoors in an environmentally friendly way. So much of it should be common sense, but unfortunately that's not the case.

After our 2nd night of almost freezing, we packed up first thing Sunday AM and headed back. Now we're catching up on football. Overall the boys did really well. My goal was just to get us down there and stay both nights, so I did well too!