Survivorfam

Have you ever seen Survivorman or Man vs. Wild?

Well, we did it. We survived our first Cub Scouts camp-out, and it actually wasn't half-bad if you don't pay attention to the comedy of errors.

We left later than planned because we weren't packed and waited until the last minute to get all supplies (very Familyvance of us). Thankfully, Pat Legate loaned us some much-needed camp equipment such as self-inflating mattresses, cool headband lamps, small tables, and some silky-soft sleeping bags. The drive took longer than the hour that was advertised, but we made it there. However, we didn't make it there in time for Elijah to participate in the games, which was a disappointment to him. He took it like a champ though and was happy just to be there.

David and Elijah set the tent up like pros. We shared a pad with another family from our den, actually the Den Leader and his son. We had a two-person tent, 7x7, which surely would fit us. It did fit us, but I see now why it might be better to not have a family of 4 in a 2-person tent.

The boys were giddy and played in the tents. Our Den Leader brought a small grill, and we started hot dogs. Within 20 minutes, it started raining. It rained enough to create mud and wet the chairs and the bottoms of the tent where the rain tarp didn't protect it. Naturally, I had spread the bedding out and the pillows were right against the tent side. So two pillows got wet. Guess whose? Mine and David's of course. Better ours than the boys, if you want to minimize whining.

We took a hike to another section of the park where others from our pack were camping. Fortunately, it had stopped raining, and we enjoyed a nice s'more-making session and sing-a-long with the pack. Yawns all around, and we walked back to our camp in the lovely starlight. Elijah says, "It was about a mile walk."

Now comes the fun part - sleeping in the tent. I guess I did actually fall asleep after listening to the women in the camp next to us talk about Clue in detail. I don't know if they were playing the game or just talking about how to play the game, but when I say, "in detail," I mean IN DETAIL! David and I woke up on and off and shifted and turned. The boys seem to sleep fine, and they have no problem spreading out. About 3:15am, David gets up and moves to the van to sleep. Elijah seems feverish, and we wonder if he's come down with Joshua's illness from earlier in the week.

Morning dawns, and we've survived camping. I get out to head to the restrooms (there were very decent restrooms and showers very near our campsite). I try to unlock the van by sticking my arm through the window crack (see, I'm trying not to wake David up). Instead, I set the panic system off and wake up anyone left asleep in a 1/2-mile radius. We try to turn it off, but we can't. I lost the clicker a few weeks back, and a few years back David lost the other clicker. So we have no panic button to push on our clicker. We put the keys in the ignition, turn the car on, push all sorts of interior buttons, and finally David disconnects the battery. Phew.

David spends much of the morning trying to get the panic system to disarm. We still don't know why putting the key in and starting it did not work as it says in the manual that it "will shut off when key is inserted and turned to position 2." No matter what he tries, when he connects the battery, the horn and lights start up again.

So, we leave the battery disconnected and head down to the river for some swimming and stone throwing and skipping. The boys really enjoyed the water, and David proved himself to be the master stone-skipper and thrower by throwing rocks into cracks and crevices along the limestone wall across the river. I skipped a rock 4 times, which I think is a record for me. True, that's not much, but I never said I was a master stone skipper.

We are stuck with the panic-mode dilemma. We have to drive home, so I suppose we are going to drive with the horn beeping and lights flashing. This stuff always happens to us. Of course, I was going to buy a new keyless entry remote online a few weeks ago, and I didn't for some reason. Of course, this has to happen to us when we are at a Cub Scout camp out on a Sunday when Honda won't answer their 800 number.

But David isn't just smart; he's brilliant. He disconnected the horn fuse, so at least the horn stopped blaring. The lights are flashing, but oh well. David and I agreed the car is possessed. For the drive home, the panic-mode would come on anytime the car was started, stopped, or any door was opened. It would be in panic-mode for 30 seconds and then stop.

It wasn't until I unlocked the car from the passenger side at Joshua's Sunday afternoon T-ball game that the car stopped its panicking. I'm not sure why it decided to stop then, but unlocking with the key from the passenger side unlocks all the locks at once which may be what did the trick. Who knows. David said he tried that earlier while still at the camp site.

Elijah did end up with a fever and is sick. I think the boy willed himself to stay well enough to last through the camping trip. We stuck to our word of taking him camping this time, and he had a wonderful time. One day, he'll be in Boy Scouts, and I suppose then they actually camp out in places where you must build your own fire from scratch and dig your own latrine. I'll be sure to skip that camp out. ;o)