Cole's Crazy
Campout was a huge success! The boys went home having survived a night of utter chaos and it was super special in every way. A brief recap of the night will in no way express how fabulous it was. I took a ton of pictures and found it terribly hard to narrow it down. But, with the achieved absence of all pressure that the blog post has to do the event complete justice, I rest with the feeling that these boys will remember this one for a long, long time.
Cole invited 3 buddies and Luke, David and Addison arrived at 5pm. Given that it was a balmy 92 with 87% humidity, we decided to start inside for an hour-long
Wii Challenge. This went by way too fast for me and by 6pm they were ready to head outdoors. The boys were assigned the task of gathering sticks for the fire. All 5 boys (Cooper included) sprinted around the yard and the job was completed in no time flat. They gathered around the fire pit for the challenge to see who could start the quickest fire with the flint block. Jason demonstrated while I quickly realized that these boys were not going to be able to accomplish this task. When I bought the flint thingy, it seemed like a brilliant idea but after watching Jason I knew it was beyond their capabilities. So, instead, Jason showed them how it is done and then let Addison use the long lighter to start the evening's fire. It was obvious that none of these boys had used a lighter before so this, in itself, turned out to be exciting in its own simple way. He also taught them how to make neat camping fire starters out of cardboard egg cartons, lint from the dryer and candle wax (a trick someone taught me on a camping trip last year).
The Motley Crew
Luke, Cole, Cooper, David, Addison & Ivy
Addison starts the fire!
After the lesson on fire safety and a quick game of Star Wars trivia, off they ran to play basketball, ride scooters, roller skate, bike ride and work up a sweat. I brought out a bucket of cold water and bandannas and they each grabbed one and soaked their heads, wiped their faces and headed toward the fire for the hot dog roast.
No Girls Allowed!
Dinner is served.
When given the option of playing another game or doing the s'mores, the boys easily chose the latter. We were being quite casual with the whole thing and told them that they could have as many s'mores as they wanted. The first thing I heard was Luke yelling "TRIPLE DECKER!" What came soon after was pure caloric overload. Ivy enjoyed her first marshmallow (unroasted) and sat in awe at what these boys created when armed with graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate.
Next was the firefly-catching contest and each boy was provided a baby food jar and lid before setting off to grab as many unsuspecting lightning bugs as possible within the allotted time frame. Cooper was screaming the entire time from both excitement and the occasional freak-out to the fact that he actually caught something. David won with a grand total of 15 and was the proud winner of a package of Lightning Bug Gummies.
We had planned to watch the movie outside on sleeping bags but it was still so durn hot that we moved Movie Time indoors. The guys watched Battle for Terra and enjoyed the time to cool off and chill for a bit. Snacks (although complete overkill in the sugar department) were as follows:
- Lightning Bug Gummies: won by David in the lightning bug contest and consumed by David
- Skittles: given to Cole in a birthday bag from Luke then traded to Luke for the Hot Tamales, consumed by Luke
- Hot Tamales: won by Luke for knowing that the bird call we were hearing from the woods was a Dove, traded to Cole because Luke doesn't like Hot Tamales, consumed by Cooper
After the movie ended at 10:20pm (during which Cooper fell asleep), the boys decided that it was time to play flashlight tag. We put Cooper in bed and I headed out with them to begin the game. It was still hot but gorgeous out there with the white lights wrapped around a big pine tree and the camping lights around the canopy. They made up their own rules which included the "it" man singing "Red Robin" while hunting and the hunted boys yelling "YUM" from their hiding places. It was hilarious! They played with their cool laser light/flashlight/light saber souvenirs for about 30 minutes and then came in to wash, brush teeth and change before heading to the camper with Jason.
Reports from Jason stated that they proceeded to play
DS until he had HAD IT by 12:30am. After shutting off the electronics, they talked and told stories until well after 1am. Jason was pooped. I was cozy in bed inside the house with Cooper asleep beside me and dozed off at about 11:30. At 3:45am, Cooper woke me up freaking out because he was supposed to sleep in the camper for the party. So, after locating the
Crocs, we headed out and entered the "no girls allowed" camper where Cooper crawled in bed and joined the big boys!
Morning came early when the boys came rushing in at 7:15 to play with the gifts Cole had been given the night before. The original plan was for the guys to cook the pancakes, bacon and eggs on the fire at the campsite but the noon rainstorm came early and we decided to whip it up (sans kiddos) while they played. The hearty meal included pancakes, bacon, eggs, tortillas, hot sauce, salsa, avocado, onion and cheese. David created a gorgeous breakfast burrito while the other boys opted for pancakes.
David and Luke were picked up at 10am (Addison left on Friday night because his brother's birthday was the next morning) and we were sad to see them go. They are great guys and I was proud to
watch them get along so well, play hard, and include Cooper without hesitation for the entire event. I can't believe Cole is already nine. Proud doesn't begin to explain how I feel about him. You can be a parent to the best of your ability but great friends play such a huge roll in growing up that it is nice to see him surrounded by such great kids!
