alliekatgal

My children and I have spent the week at Boy Scout Camp.  Tomorrow is the last day, and I think we will all be sad to see it end.  Yes, it's damned hot out, and by 4:00 we are all hot and aching and all we can think about is getting in the car and basking in the A/C.  But the discomfort is far outweighed when I see how happy and proud and my son is when his arrow hits the bullseye, or when one of his BB's finally hits the target.  He is not a child who enjoys being outdoors, but he has spent the past four days at camp with very few complaints.  We have yet to catch a fish, but we now know how to read a compass, take down and fold the American flag, produce awesome tye-dye t-shirts, and we have a small army of beaded keychain animals.   Tomorrow we go hunting for ants to make ant farms.

The camp is for cub scouts, boys aged 6 to 11.  The camp has a program for siblings of scouts, mostly sisters under ten, but also younger brothers under six.  My girls have been able to try almost everything the scouts have done except for the BB shooting.  In exchange for volunteering for the week, my girls attend for free, so we have all been able to go there for what is really a very reasonable fee.  I'm hoping that the girls and I can go to Girl Scout camp next year, and send my son to resident Boy Scout camp for a week.

We will have Saturday to wash clothes and pack, and then we are off to Acadia National Park in Maine for a week of camping.  It's usually a bit cooler up there, so hopefully the weather will be good for hiking. 

I am enrolled in an online course in Medical Terminology, and I need to finish it by Saturday as the course ends while we will be in Maine.  I start Anatomy & Physiology in Sept., and this class is a pre-req.  It has been fun, but holy crap, there are a lot of terms for the musculoskeletal system!!  I was ahead of the schedule for the first two units of the course, but then we went camping, and now with day camp I'm finding it hard to muster up the energy to study.  One more exam, and then I will have almost a month before my new classes start.  I foresee a lot of chocolate being consumed to get me through the next two days!

We just returned from four days of camping in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.   Who knew that New Jersey had wilderness?   Just kidding there.  We saw the beautiful Delaware Water Gap area in northwestern New Jersey, and camped for two nights at Camp Taylor Campground. 

Good Points:  We went on a a tour of their wolf preserve, and listened to a great talk about the wolves.  At one point, all 24 wolves began to howl, which was quite an experience.  The wolves were about five feet from us, separated by two chain link fences.  Great photos are here: http://www.lakotawolf.com/.
The campground had a decent small lake for the kids to swim in, and overall the campground was very clean.

Bad points:  Walking to the bathroom at night.  Pitch black,  about a five minute walk, but in an area that has the most dense black bear population in the state.  Supposedly there are about three bears per acre.  We woke up on Sunday morning to find all the trash cans knocked over and ravaged.  Um, if you know there are lots of bears around, don't you think maybe you should invest in bear-proof trash containers, or at the very least do a trash pick-up at night?

We had terrible neighbors.  Two families camping right next to us played the crappiest music very loud for hours.  It's a family campground, people, and obnoxious music consisting only of the words 'Put your ass up in the air' just doesn't cut it.  Add to that kerosene lanterns set at the highest setting?  We hated them.  Although they were pretty funny around midnight, when the music was turned off.  By then they were plastered, and it's hard to resist being charmed by the sounds of drunk russian men.

We packed up the tents after two nights and went a bit further west into Pennsylvania and camped for a night at Lake Glory.  We took the kids to a sort of old-time amusement park, with lots of kiddie rides.  Our youngest laughed hysterically when she was able to drive the antique cars.  Crazy driver!

So, we had fun, but we probably won't go back to either place again.  The drive wasn't bad, about six hours.  We're off to Maine in a few weeks.  It takes about seven hours to get to Bar Harbor, but it's our favorite place to camp and hike, and after eighteen years of going there it's a stress-free week.  

We just have to survive a week of Boy Scout Camp the week before we go to Maine.   My son is signed up as a camper, I've signed up to volunteer, and the girls are going to the sibling camp within the Boy Scout Camp.  I'm out of mind, I'm sure, but hopefully it will be fun.

We have been going to Tanglewood for the past few years to listen to A Prairie Home Companion.  We listened to the show on the radio for years, and finally decided to see them perform the show at Tanglewood.  They are usually there the weekend of or before the 4th of July, so there are always a few patriotic songs sung by everyone.  

Last night the guest singer was James Taylor.  He lives in the Berkshires, and usually has a concert at Tanglewood on July 4th.  We have never gone because of the traffic and the crowds, so it was a bit of a treat to have him there yesterday.  I like his music, but only in small doses, so having him as a guest singer rather than being there for a full concert was perfect. He sang a few songs during the show, was a good sport for the skits they did, and then came back for more songs after the show ended. 

We buy lawn tickets, spread out quilts, and have a huge picnic.  Acres and acres of grass covered with people having picnics, playing frisbee, and enjoying the perfect weather which has graced Tanglewood each time we have been there.  I'm not a religious person at all, but it's still somewhat moving to listen as thousands of people sing Amazing Grace.  Of course, we also sing the Ketchup and Powder Milk Bicuit ditties, and howl over the Guy Noir episode.  It's sort of a throw-back evening, very laid back and feel-good.  We live an hour from Tanglewood, so it's close by, and the kids love playing on the lawn with their uncles and nephew.  

We'll be going  back for Film Night in August.  This year the BSO will be playing Harry Potter! 

I am major wuss when it comes to my teeth.  I can't chew cold food, and my teeth take a huge amount of novocaine to lose feeling.  I am usually in the dentist's chair every three or four months having a filling done, and I have a small fortune in silver in my molars.

So, this morning I survived a root canal done on a molar.  It had been aching for weeks, but became an insistent throbbing this weekend.  

The good news is the tooth doesn't hurt now.  The bad news is I will most likely have to go back and have another root canal done on a different tooth.  And the teh sucky news is that having these two teeth fixed will cost over $4000 and insurance will only pay $1000 per year.  Ouch.  I guess it's a good thing that my last car payment was last month, because I'll be paying for these teeth for the next year.  :(