Spencer's First Scout Camp -- July 28 - August 2

As a heads-up, I have to begin by letting you know this will probably be a long post. Spencer went to Scout Camp last week and today I decided to write down my views and thoughts about it. I also asked Spencer to write down everything he remembered about his experience at camp too, before he forgets. He didn't want to at first, but then as he sat down and begun typing, the experiences came pouring out and he wrote more and more. It took him between 2 - 3 hours before he was done. I asked him lots of questions to help jog his memory so he could add a lot more detail. I've copied and pasted his thoughts at the bottom of this post. I told him it's important to journal experiences like these. Someday he'll be glad to read about it and remember the things he did at his first year of scout camp.


MOM'S THOUGHTS ON SCOUT CAMP --
Spencer got back last Saturday afternoon (Aug. 2) after spending the whole week at Rota-Kiwan Scout Camp Reservation, located two hours west of us in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was his first time at scout camp. He was a little nervous but also a little excited. The Saturday before he left, he spent the morning packing and getting ready to go. The scout master gave us a list of items that he needed to bring. On Saturday morning, I gave Spencer a duffle bag and the list and said "Go pack!" I wanted to see if he could do it alone, and also see what he would actually pack without my help. I'd like to think I made an impact on him when I saw that he actually packed 5 different pairs of pants, several pairs of PJ's, a pair of clean underwear for each day he was there, and more than enough shirts to get by for the week. Joshua was adamant that he only needed one pair of pants for nighttime and a few pairs of shorts. Joshua is a minimalist when it comes to packing for anything -- even for family vacations! I tried to tell him that not every boy wants to put on the same pair of dirty pants and/or shorts each day but he just shakes his head at me. I guess it's a guy thing. I'm not afraid to get dirty while camping, but I do appreciate a clean pair of clothes to put on each morning. "Boys don't change their clothes at Scout camp!", Joshua informed me. "Well, maybe you didn't, but Spencer will!", I replied. I was wrong. He came home with most of his clothes unworn, but smelly from putting his dirty clothes back in with the clean ones. I had to wash everything in the bag!

He also didn't brush his teeth or take a shower the whole week either! Dirty clothes I can live with, but unbrushed teeth? And no showers for a week? But to be fair, none of the boys in his troop brushed or showered. Spencer and the other boys thought that the showers at camp were disgusting. I told him that HE was probably more disgusting than the showers by the end of the week. Why didn't the leaders enforce showers? They did when I went to Girls Camp! UGH! Spencer has been getting murmurings and grumblings from me this week on oral hygiene and who would be paying the next dental bills for cavities.

This year, Camp Rota-Kiwan was comprised completely of LDS scout troops from around the state of Michigan. Apparently it is rare when our scout troop gets an opportunity to attend an all LDS scout camp, so we were glad Spencer was old enough to experience that this year. At camp they had devotionals and testimony meetings which would be unique to the usual, standard scout camp, and the boys were able to meet and be around other LDS leaders and scouts.

The Dads of all the scouts in our ward took turns that week going to chaperone for a day and night. Joshua went on Wednesday night and all day Thursday. I sent a note with Joshua to give to Spencer telling him how much I loved and missed him and hoped he was having a good time. I also talked to Spencer on Joshua's cell phone for a half hour on Wed. evening. He told me tons of things about camp and thanked me for the note. He said I was the best mom because noone else's mom did that. That made me feel good. I love him!

When all was said and done, Spencer had a great time. At home we really missed him last week, especially Jessica, but we're glad he had a good experience. And Joshua and I are on our way to becoming experts at the "do's and don'ts" for scout camp. With several more years before Spencer is done, and two more boys working their way up to it, we'll someday be pros. This year, I didn't feel like one though. It was definitely a novel experience for me.


SPENCER'S THOUGHTS ON SCOUT CAMP --
On the night before I went to camp my Dad told me to set my alarm. I felt like I was going to school again. When my alarm rang on Monday morning it was early. I took a shower and got dressed and ate breakfast. My Dad drove me to Aldridge Gillespie’s house (He is one of my friends from scouts). All the deacons were meeting at his house to carpool to camp. It was about a 2 hour drive. In the car we talked, slept, and looked out of the window.

When we got there we ate lunch in the dining hall (chili dogs, potato chips, and salad). Then me and my friend Chandler went to Archery class (He is my best friend and we signed up for all the same merit badge classes). We talked about safety and always pointing your arrow down range. It was pretty boring that day because we didn’t get to shoot yet, but I knew it was important so I made sure to pay attention.

After Archery, we went to Leatherwork class. You could choose whatever you wanted to make – A small or large pocketknife holder, a luggage tag, a braided or straight belt, a small bag (those are the only ones I can remember, but there were tons more). I choose to make a straight belt. On the first day all I did was put in holes.

The next class was First Aid and we talked about splints and then we went to dinner. We ate macaroni & cheese, ham and salad. After dinner we have a free time. That was always my favorite time of day. That day we sat around the campfire and talked about our first day. We also had to set up our tents with our tent buddies. I shared a tent with Jared Johnson and Jacob Bradley.

Bedtime was 10:00 but we talked in the tent for a long time. Jacob was funny. He made me laugh a lot. Before I went to bed I said my prayers read my Book of Mormon.

On Tuesday morning we woke up when they played “Reveille”. I got ready and ate breakfast. It was french toast, my favorite, and sausage, and then I went to my morning merit badge classes.

First was Canoeing. It was so much funner than I thought. We learned the different parts of the oar. Then we went into the water and practiced different strokes.

After canoeing I went to my swimming merit badge class. We didn’t get in the water that day. All we did was talk about safety. It was kinda boring but funny because the teacher was funny. I wanted to get in the water because it was hot outside.

We ate lunch after that and it was Sloppy Joes. After lunch, I went to Archery class again. I was excited to learn to shoot an arrow, but I wasn’t very good at it. It was hard to hit the target. I’m not Robin Hood.

For Leatherwork class today, I finished making the rest of the holes. For First Aid we brought in our First Aid Kits from home and showed the whole class. The First Aid merit badge and Swimming merit badge are required for Eagle Scout.

We ate chicken for dinner tonight in the dining hall and I thought while I was eating it that it was good but not as good as the ones from home.

For evening free-time, me and my friends went kayaking on the lake next to our tents. It was lots of fun. I thought it was better than canoeing. When we got back, it was time for bed so I read my Book of Mormon and said my prayers and went to sleep.

On Wednesday morning we ate breakfast and I went to my canoeing class. We had races and paddled around the lake. I was in a canoe with Chandler and we explored places around the lake we hadn’t seen before. On the other side of the lake there was a big wooden raft. There was a bunch of lily pads that we thought were cool.

In swimming class, one of the requirements to get the merit badge is to jump in the water with all of your clothes on, take your shoes and socks off and put them on the dock, then take off your pants to use as a float. We learned this for survival, like if we ever fell in the water with heavy clothes we would know what to do. It was really hard but I passed.

Lunch was corn dogs and then straight to archery class. We learned how to make a bowstring that day. I was still frustrated because I wasn’t very good at shooting. This wasn’t one of my favorite classes like I thought it would be.

For leatherwork class today, I decorated my belt. I stamped it with stamps that were cool, like a ninja sign and salamander and some planets. My favorite stamp was a sword stamp. For First Aid class, we learned CPR. I learned that if someone’s heart stopped beating that CPR would help their heart to beat again and keep them alive. It was boring but I learned that if that ever really happened to someone, I would know what to do.

For dinner that night, each camp we supposed to make your own dinner over the campfire for a cooking contest, but our camp decided we didn’t want to (it was optional) and we just ordered pizza. It was Little Caesar’s pizza. There was enough for all of us to have an entire pizza each, and we ate them all! I had to go to the bathroom really bad, but when I came back the pizza was gone. I still wanted more. For evening free time me and Chandler went swimming. I came back and saw that my Dad was at camp. He came to chaperone for the night and the next day. I was excited because he brought me a Power-Ade drink. My favorite (besides Gatorade)!

That night we did lots of skits and had a fun time. Each ward had to come up with their own skit to put on in front of the whole camp. Our bishop thought up a really funny one that we did. They were all really funny. My Dad sat with me. After that we went to bed. My Dad stayed in the leader’s tent. There were three of them.

Thursday morning, we ate pancakes, cereal, and sausage for breakfast. In Canoeing class, we swamped our canoes. Swamped means tipping the canoe over. It was my very favorite experience at camp. I thought it was lots of fun because I liked tipping it over and falling in the water. My teacher told me that me and my partner had the most creative way of tipping it over. We did it many times.

In swimming class, we had to practice laps and stokes and pass them off. Anyone who didn’t pass off their merit badge that day for swimming had to go again on Friday. I passed it off. After swimming I decided to buy dad a drink from the vending machine with my own money. I gave it to him and he was happy. I was glad he was there, but he had a headache that day.

We ate lunch and then me and Chandler went to Archery class. We learned how to make arrows. I thought it was fun choosing what feathers we wanted to put on the arrows. I chose two blue ones and a yellow one.

After Archery class, I went back to my tent to get my wallet. When I looked in my bag, I didn’t see it. I looked in my whole tent and didn’t find it. I said a prayer to Heavenly Father to help me find my wallet. I looked in my bags one more time and found it!

Later that night Dad left to go back home. Then it was time for our ward testimony meeting around the campfire. Everyone bore their testimony and when it was my turn I said, “Today I lost my wallet and I was trying to find it but it wasn’t anywhere. Finally I said a prayer and looked some more hoping to find it. I looked in my bag and I found it. I would like to bear my testimony that if you have faith in Jesus Christ he will bless you.” It was a very spiritual night and made me feel warm inside. After testimony meeting we went to bed.

On Friday morning I ate breakfast and went to Canoeing class. We learned how to get in the canoe by ourselves with no help, jump out, and get back in. I passed the test and passed off the entire merit badge.

I ate lunch and went to Archery class. I tried my best to get a lot of points by shooting at the targets but I didn’t hit very many. I only got 11 points. In Leatherwork that day I completely finished my belt. I wore it the rest of the time at camp and on the way home to show my family. I’m very proud of it. I think it looks good. I also finished my First aid merit badge today.

After eating dinner we stayed up really late and I talked with my friends in our tent. We talked about different TV. shows we use to watch when we were little and video games we like. We would just talk about random things and weird names for sodas and candies. Every night Jacob would complain about people shinning flashlights in our tents. He made me laugh.

On Saturday morning we packed up and took our tents down and drove back home. I was glad to be back home even though I had a fun time. I didn’t know if I would like camp but I did. It was good to take a shower at my house. I helped mom put away all my stuff.

The End!

Spencer is a "First Class" scout right now, but just completed all his "Star" requirements. He'll get that at the next Court of Honor.
Now it's only "Life" and "Eagle" to go until he is done!