This was the day the scouts returned from their 5 day scouts camping trip.
7/28/2016
2016-07-21 Scout Camping Day 5
We just finished our last full day of camp. Most of the time was spent finishing requirements for our merit badges and exploring a new place we have never been to. The Jolly hole. Oi.
Too much fun the day before. Brennan is OUT. Had to jostle his hammock to get him to wake up! Hammock patrol!! More
like "mosquito" patrol. Wait until you see JR's hands.
Brother Merrill and I have stayed true to the TCB 
patrol. Taking care of that business...
Blech. Not one of my favorite breakfasts. "strawberry flavor"
These checker games can get very SERIOUS. Kyler has his game face on.
Tyler and I did a service project today. We installed window unit air conditioners at the Trading Post.
They can now sell chocolate. Before, it was miserably hot in the building.
We took a fairly long hike during activity hour to the Jolly hole. It's a swimming hole right on the edge of
Goshen Scout camp. I had never been there before. Very glad we went.
Brennan loved the swimming hole. So much that he almost missed his rocket building! Actually, he missed it,
but being Olmsted counselors, they rallied behind him after dinner and helped him build his rocket.
Richard enjoying a cool float down the river.
Our scouts completed their rockets for the Space Exploration badge. Most launched tonight. The mile
swimmers have to make up their launch tomorrow at 1:45.
My boy Tate. #ilovetate
I asked JR to eat some veggies. He ate the biggest salad you ever saw!! JR has really stepped up as
a leader. He leads by example. Especially these last few days.
After dinner shenanigans.
You HAVE to ask your scout about "Agatha"! She is a favorite of EVERYONE. Especially Buzz.
There is sooooo much going on in this pic. I challenged Brother Merrill and he came through like a champ!!
Mile swim start! Thanks Cooper for being our photographer.
The first four in. I finished the mile swim in 25 minutes, 19 seconds. The fastest time so far this summer at
Olmsted and a personal record for me. Last year, I finished in 26 minutes, 40 seconds. Tate, JR and Brother
Merrill finished in about 36 minutes. Respectable. 28 out of 250 campers did it. Only 4 adults. TCB.
I didn't get the time for these two in the mile swim. They finished and are the proud owners of the
sea horse mile swim patch. I challenged them early on and they went for it. It's hard, but we can do
hard things!
Brother McQueen showed up tonight to help drive everyone home tomorrow. We had our annual whittling
contest. I am happy to report that Caleb came in first, Tate in second and Sotir in third. Banana hammock,
christmas tree scene, and "fish". Maybe, they will bring them home to show you? Very creative.
See you tomorrow afternoon or early evening.
2016-07-20 Scout Camping Day 4
Up again at 6am for the polar bear plunge! We're not going to do that tomorrow morning because six of us need our sleep for the mile swim tomorrow night!! Cross your fingers that we all make it! Isaiah, Richard, JR, Tate, Brother Merrill and I all qualified tonight by swimming the 1/2 mile.
This is what 6am on Lake Merriweather looks like. We only had four brave scouts get up and take the plunge!
(JR came down a little later)
The water is definitely warmer than the air. That's steam rising up...
The two patrols in our new Class B shirts. TCB on the left, hammock on the right.
I've only taken a picture of our dinners. This is a typical breakfast.
Sotir working on his woodcarving badge.
Woodcarving work...
Griffin working on his basketry badge. Know how we know it is Griff? Cooper took the dog clippers to
the front of his hair and shaved a nice patch in his bangs. Griff did not. Ergo, we can tell them apart. ;)
Shot of the trading post. Scouts can buy any number of items.
I need to do a better job of promoting the mail. You can send your scout a letter or package and it will show up here.
Next year, let's send a card, care package or something encouraging to your scout!
We took a walk up to the overlook of Lake Merriweather after dinner tonight. Best view around.
OK, so look to the right. That is Camp Bowman. The mile swimmers swim in a diamond pattern across
the lake, touch the dock and swim back to Camp Olmsted on the left. Some perspective...
This is the control board for swimming and boating. You have to give these tags to the lifeguards any time
you want to enter the water. Red and blue mean that you have passed the swim test.
I am sending this picture mostly for Brother Hellewell. He will understand the true meaning. These
Olmsted BSA counselors have really tried hard to get the boys where they need/want to be.
James needed/wanted this.
He is such a great kid and deserved it. My favorite moment of camp so far.
Prepping for the big old bonfire tonight.
Yeah...badminton is the new favorite. Playing until the sun goes down!!!!
We had our first scrape today made by a carving tool. Anyone recognize that hand? It's just a flesh wound.
2016-07-19 Scout Camping Day 3
Today was a super busy day for us. We started out at 6am at the lake for the Pirate's breakfast. We basically grab our breakfast from the dining hall (cereal, milk, fruit and OJ) and paddle it out onto the lake to eat. Most of the boys jumped in kayaks. Brother Merrill and I rowed out to the middle and doled out the grub. I don't have any pictures of that because my camera was acting up. Here are a few of the pics I did get...
During lunch, we had our "Troop Shoot" at the firing range. Everyone was able to participate in rifle shooting.
Not sure what Caleb is doing...I think he is trying to outshoot Tate.
Richard demonstrating the proper method of loading a rifle. Brennan in the background showing who's boss!!
James is a natural. He is really eager to learn new things and is really catching on.
Getting safety instruction.
shotgun shooting.
Yeah, yeah, yeah Tate, we know you are the best marksman. You have the badge, you should be the best!
This is pretty much what our lunch looks like every day. Nothing fancy. Sandwiches.
Four packets of mayo Brennan?? That's four on top and four below the chicken.
He loves the mayo!!
More giant Jenga play. I think Buzz won this round?
Tuesday is the night you make your own meals. We decided to go off campus and play in the Maury
River. It's a beautiful picnic site that we had almost all to ourselves. Sotir found some rapids that we
could shoot down. He was really in his element. His dad should be proud. If we need outdoor guidance,
we usually ask Sotir.
River fun! I know...should have had some life jackets, but oh well...
Kyler...very serious about his swimming.
Man down! Slippery rocks!!
The dinner we made. A troop 1300 favorite. Velveeta mac/cheese and polska kielbasa with some organic watermelon.
Me, demonstrating how to use a Katadyn 50 micron water filter. We filtered drinking water
out of the river for bacteria and used a steri pen UV filter for viruses. Same filter Tate and I used
when we climbed Kilimanjaro.
OH YEAH TYLER!!!! Not afraid to drink the filtered river water! That's the spirit!!
All right. I thought Steven Zheng could EAT. NO ONE can eat like Brennan. For dinner, this kid ate two
servings of mac/cheese/kielbasa, one serving of tin foil dinner and then almost HALF an apple pie. Champion
eater!!!!! If you could see Brother Merrill and I...jaws on the ground.
We are getting up at 6am again tomorrow to polar bear plunge. Caleb gave our spiritual thought at the end of
the night. You can always count on Caleb. Always. His talk was on Proverbs 4:15, a troop 1300 favorite. So
much so that we had it put on the back of our trailer. Look it up.
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