Camping is for the Wolves!

 Cub Scout Wolves, that is! Inks Lake, April 19-21, 2013

Our campsite, before set up! I was the lucky person chosen to arrive first at campsite. After they tried to put all five of our campsites together in a horrible, no good, awful location, I ran back to the Ranger headquarters and said no way, find something else. So glad I did, because we ended up with this AMAZING cove all to ourselves.

 After setup! We made this our "party site" and all of the tents were to the left of this picture in surrounding sites with parking and hook-ups. To the right of this picture is an open field that we had all to ourselves - well, with an occasional hiker walking through.

View from the open field, water is to the right. The orange tent is the McD Family headquarters :)

 Rock Island, as our boys called it, provided hours of imaginative fun for the kiddos. It was just off the open field by our campsite. 

 I'm not sure what is going on here, but our Den leader is the one pretending to be a rabbit. Or a bear? Anyway, this should give you an idea what our gatherings are like!!!

 The dads, the scouts and their siblings. The men folk will be taking over the den in the Fall of 2014. Yes, the mamas already have it all planned out.

 Roughin' it...lol! What I adore about our lovebug is that when he is tired, it is "lights out" and he crawls in bed even if the others are still playing (which of course, they were). Notice all of the sleeping bags, blankets, etc. It got down to 38 DEGREES in the wee hours of Friday night/Saturday morning. Still way better than trying to sleep when it's 88 degrees at night!

Ummm, our big boy is in there somewhere! He crawled down into his Eskimo sleeping bag both nights and slept so soundly.

 Saturday = hike, swim, canoe and fishing! FUN!

 Due to a very steep slope just on the other side of this rock, the little one's ended up on a hike with some of the parents, while the other parents took the big boys to a cool swimming hole. 

 Made my scout pose before he and dad went off to swim.

 Time to canoe!

 Paddle, paddle, paddle! 

This lake is gorgeous!

Our sweet campers.

My fishing buddy. No catches this time, but relaxing fun.

 Campfires when it is in the 50's at night are sooooo much better. And the kids thought it was even more fun when the flames changed colors, thanks to some magic our den leader brought along. And yes, smores were had by all, as well as some strawberries dipped in marshmallow cream and then roasted. Too busy eating to take pictures, ha!

 Early morning games after breakfast. 

 We finished our Sunday with the Dad's taking the kids paddle boating. I have the BEST video of three paddle boats coming up to our camp site, all joined together, singing the Imperial Death March. I am saving it for something special :)

Things I learned from our second camping trip - 

1. It is MUCH better to go camping and get a little cold versus camping when you are sweating through three changes of clothes a day.
2. I love being outdoors with my boys. It is a joy to see them appreciate nature and learn about where we live.
3. I wish I had been able to camp with my Granny, but I know she is watching over us and is so happy to see her great-grandsons share in her love of the outdoors.
4. We need a bigger tent, lol! No but really. Especially as these boys continue to grow. I'm thinking one of those cool, eight person with a drape to section off rooms...
5. The "Quiet Time Rules" are not suggestions at state parks. They are strict rules and are enforced even if you accidentally keep playing your music and chatting around a campfire, not realizing it's a little past 10pm. Wait, it was almost 11pm? Whoops.
6. Camping with friends is the BEST. Even if it's a little chilly the first morning, and you wake up with chattering teeth and have trouble going back to sleep. Having breakfast and fellowship with friends makes it all worthwhile.

Summer's HERE & Big Boy Update

Lovebug & Snake at Hotel Galvez - May 10, 2013

SCHOOOOOOOOOOOOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!

And the McD family continued our tradition of heading to the beach the day after the boy's last day of school. This year's destination? Galveston. So much fun!

Now, an update on our oldest baby. I mean, young man.

I know. He IS handsome, isn't he? This big boy is 8 years, 5 months and 1 day old. I counted it out because I can't believe it myself. My husband has always called him "Sneaky Snake" and it is funny now, because he likes it! Even though this tenderhearted little man is the furthest thing from the definition of a snake that you can get. Perhaps exactly why he likes it. ;)

Snake just finished his SECOND GRADE year in school. WHAT???? I now have a Third Grader. He is a great student and is thriving at his Christian, Classical, University Model-style school. He still attends classes at SCS on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I am blessed to co-teach him at home on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Working diligently at home. His favorite subjects are science and history. He is really gifted at math and likes it, too. His least favorite is anything having to do with writing! At the end of each school year at SCS, the teachers hands out "Character Rocks" with a characteristic written on it that the teacher believes the student has embodied all year. So far, Jacob has collected Honesty, Enthusiasm and this year, Loyalty. :) He is all of these things, plus extremely caring and tenderhearted. He is an incredible big brother and prays over his little brother every time Lovebug gets sick.

 Future Former Student, Class of '27! He loves our Alma Mater and had a blast going to football games this year. We even have video of him getting a high five from a certain Heisman winning quarterback during the Spirit Walk before the very first home game.

And suddenly, this kid has an opinion about music! One of his favorites, R5, just happened to be playing a famous little BBQ place here in town. We decided to be the cool parents and take Snake and one of his best little buddies, EK, to see them play. It was during the day and has a "kid-friendly" area so these two pre-tweeners weren't squished by all the teen girls trying to see the cuties on stage. He also likes some pop music he has heard on the radio, Christian music, and I found out recently, Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne. O.K...

Finally, our big boy is beyond blessed by his friends and their parents. His own super hero dad has coached his 2nd Grade Boys soccer team this Spring. Their last game of the year is tomorrow evening (due to the holiday weekend coming up). Snake is so, so, so fortunate to be playing with his four best buddies. They not only all go to the same small school together, but all five of them are in their own little Cub Scout Den. 

Den 10, plus siblings and dads :)

God has more than provided our prayer to surround our boys with exceptional people and friends. Add in our amazing family, and maybe, just maybe JM and I will survive raising these boys!