Fall campout, et cetera

Sam is in a club like boy scouts, except run through our church, so that it's something like boy scouts plus devotions. Cadets has campouts in fall and spring, and a winter overnight in a cabin in Webster.

I have photos from the fall campout, but first two Josh photos to share:

Josh is already eager to help mow the lawn. Bless his heart.

This is Josh on the way to picture day. 

Now, photos from the fall campout. It's at Poag's Hole, a little out-of-the-way piece of land on the side of a wooded hill, owned and generously lent for the purpose by members of our church. Poag's Hole is known for a dirt-bike contest in which contestants ride their bikes up the sheer side of a muddy hill.

Fortunately we didn't do any of that. Those guys are nuts. But down the road in the Poag's Hole valley, just before a private camp ground and halfway up a hill, is the place where we camp out each year (known by the inhabitants as "The Land").

It was warm, but the chance of rain was 30-50%, and for at least two hours this morning I'd say it was 100% where we were. It started gently around 7 am, and by 9 am was pounding hard just before it let off. During the worst of it I advised several cadets, who were by then too wet to send to their tents, to shelter under a camper, which was as yet dry as a bone, and spacious enough for several of them.

You can't see the rain, of course, but trust me, it was pouring.

Here's the concrete evidence for the heavy rains. Once it let up I got Sam in clean clothes. When we were packing I asked Susan to pack two pair of jeans, two pair of shorts. "Two?!" she said. Yes, two! :-)

We went to the nearby Stony Brook state park. It's really lovely, especially with the fall colors, on a foggy morning. Also has a nice playground the boys enjoyed.

Here's Danny, the cadets leader, delivering a devotional message about thankfulness.

The main trail in Stony Brook runs along a gorge. (Sam, second from left.) They are looking at a little hollow which in the summer gets blocked off so it fills up with water, and is used as a swimming pool. :-)

Love these old stone bridges!

We hiked up the gorge, then back down again along the rim. The whole hike was about 1.5 hours.

A good example of the dangers of poor punctuation. Should *we* not throw or kick stones? Or are we just being informed that the good-natured hikers below don't throw or kick stones?

Back at The Land there is a disk swing on a nice, long rope. This year it was the main attraction for Sam and his cohort.

There's a nice zipline the kids did as well.

One of the boys was running through the woods, stepped on a stick, and up out of the leaves popped the skull of a young stag, prompting Sam and me to do a little bone walk of our own.

Another annual tradition is some pellet and BB gun firearm training. This culminates in target practice on a used can of expanding foam. They start with the youngest shooter and proceed to the oldest. Last year everyone missed the target until the dad in the group who is a police officer took his shot. This year Sam went first and hit it right off!

Thus ends the campout photos. A very good time was had by all. A final photo of our kitchen blackboard, which has gotten pretty full: