So, Fred left this morning at 3:45 a.m. to take 7 boys to Scout Camp! He will be doing Scoutmaster stuff until Saturday. In honor of his week at Scout Camp, I wanted to post this story, because it made me laugh really hard. I thought it was so funny that I read it to Fred. When I read it the second time, I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe. Fred was laughing, but I'm not sure if he was laughing, because I was tickled or if he really thought the story was that funny.
There is an author/blogger that I like. Her name is Sophie Hudson and she lives in Birmingham, Alabama. I was reading this story about her son, Alex, going off to Scout Camp for the first time. It made me laugh so hard that I practically cried. Mostly, because it is funny and also because it reminded me of this time that my friend, Ruth and I accompanied our guys to a BBQ dinner for all of the Wood Badge participants. Let's just say that our experience was very similar to Sophie's Family Night experience at Scout Camp. I thought we were going to a nice BBQ dinner and it was nothing like that at all. We didn't have to hike to our dinner. However, like Sophie, we were definitely overdressed. Maybe, I'll write a post about it.
Here is Sophie's story. I hope you think it is as funny as I did:
Alex has been at camp all this week. It's his first time to stay a week at overnight camp, so I spent most of last Friday and Saturday going through the packing list and running to the store and trying to make sure he had everything he needed for the week. This is why I will forever refer to last weekend as THAT TIME TARGET TOOK ALL OF OUR MONEY.
So I got the boy packed, and after our usual Sunday routine of church and Chuy's, we took him to the drop-off spot and said our good-byes. I was determined to keep everything LIGHT and BREEZY and FULL-O-CHEER, but I really shouldn't have worried because he wasn't even a little bit upset about leaving us. He was excited about being with his buddies and fired up about an adventure run / mud obstacle course that they were doing on Monday. So, you know, BYE FELICIA.
Last night (Wednesday) was Family Night at camp, so David came home from work early and we left the house around 3:30 in the hopes that we'd be at camp by 5. I knew it was going to be hot because so far the month of June DOES NOT PLAY, so I wore some super-thin / comfy palazzo pants and the thinnest tunic-style t-shirt I could find in my closet. I mean, yes, it's hot, but I wanted to look cute-ish for the family dinner, and IN MY HEAD I thought that we would be at some sort of picnic shelter located mere seconds from our car.
Why did I think that? Well, I have no idea. It was just the mental image I'd created when David first mentioned Family Night, and I may have also envisioned lots of lights strung through the trees sort of like what you see in the Bravermans' backyard on Parenthood.
Well, we were about 45 minutes into our drive when David mentioned that he didn't know whether Alex would be with us on the hike or not, and I promise you that my head whipped around and I said, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HIKE? I AM UNFAMILIAR WITH THIS TERM."
He said, "Didn't you read the email? We have to hike to the campsite."
I stared at him for several seconds before I said, "No. No, I didn't read the email. The email was very long and I'm not sure if you've noticed but I'M WEARING WEDGES."
Then I pointed to my shoes for emphasis.
He asked where I thought we'd be having our picnic, and I calmly explained DUH, AT A PICNIC SHELTER, LIKE AT THE PARK, and then I pointed to my shoes again and he got very tickled.
Well.
As soon as we got to the campground, Alex and his buddies were walking through the parking area, and he looked so happy and was so quick to tell us how much fun he was having. Then he said, "Hey! I can hike with y'all to the campsite!" and I looked at David and Alex looked at me and I pointed to my shoes and then I kid you not it started to rain.
Thankfully the rain didn't last long at all - just enough to stir up some good steam - and we started our hike. THROUGH THE WOODS. While I was wearing palazzo pants and a tunic. Sporting some serious statement earrings. Carrying my sassy little Noonday tote bag and the 7-layer salad I'd made for the festivities.
I texted Melanie later and told her that I felt a little bit like Mrs. Howell on Gilligan's Island. I mean, I certainly don't relate to the Howells on a cash money level or anything like that, but I was really just a hair shy of carrying a clutch bag and wearing pearls.
In other words, I looked absolutely ridiculous.
By the time we made it to the campground 14 or 42 minutes later, I was drenched in sweat. It was like I'd arrived on the Survivor island in my street clothes and the first item of business was an elimination challenge featuring a relay race that culminated in a wood-chopping contest.
Eventually, though, I started to cool down, and we set up our chairs and visited with some of the other families. Alex showed us his tent (I may or may not have seized his battery-operated fan to help me cool down a bit), he told us about everything they'd been doing, and my mama heart was so relieved that he was having a blast and totally in his element that I was able to ignore the fact that my hair looked like I'd just finished up at the shampoo bowl at Truvy's Salon.
After dinner and some more time catching up and talking, David said it was probably time for us to head back home. We gathered up all our stuff, hugged our boy good-bye, and then I remembered that if I'd had to hike to the campsite, I was going to have to hike back to the car. And honestly, it wasn't *that* far - maybe 1/2 mile - but the wedges on dirt and clay and hills and gravel? NOT THE BEST OPTION.
Finally - mercifully - I made it back to the car, and I hadn't even sat down in my seat before I cranked the A/C all the way up to FREEZE & STUN. I tried to pull my hair off of my face but was unfortunately without a clippy, so I just held the wet, soggy mess off of my neck and let the A/C work its magic. And make no mistake: the time at camp was so worth it because it did our hearts a world of good to see Alex thriving in that environment. However, I've already decided that when we go back for Family Night next year, I will be wearing a ventilated fishing shirt, shorts, and some shoes that are suitable for hiking. BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO HIKE, YOU SEE.
Silver lining? I probably lost six pounds.
So, what do you think? Was it as funny as I promised it would be?
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