2010 Fathers and Sons Outing
by The Gimlet
The eagerly awaited Fathers and Sons outing happened this weekend. Your usual narrator called me Friday morning to let me know that Thing Two had started packing at about 9:30 a.m. He was ready to go! The poor little guy has to stay behind for all of Thing One’s adventures but this one.
We made it out a little after 3:30 and were able to avoid most of the traffic. The weather until Snoqualmie Pass was pouring rain. It dried up to a slight drizzle after we reached the pass. We arrived just in time to grab a burger (hot dog for Thing Two) at the lodge. We had dinner with the Tuckers and Bishop McCann (Read about their Fathers & Sons Outing traditions on their family blog).
Thing Two went out to play with the other kids and would pull longer grass from our side of the fence to feed the horses on the other side. He enjoyed it when they ate the grass from his hand. (Giggles and “That tickles!”)
After dinner was a magic show that Thing One has participated in in years past, and this year Thing Two was amazed by it. After that we all went to the fire circle. Last year I led the group in a few scout songs before the official campfire began. This year I was asked to do a repeat. I led a rousing rendition of the Bear song twice (once from memory and once with the cheat sheet. My memory is going and the cheat sheet will be used forever after.) On Top of Spaghetti and Junior Birdman rounded out the singing portion. After that President T usually tells a story. He did not this year and it was missed. (We hope that next year the story returns!) Without the story we went straight to the s’mores.
Bed time went well, although Thing Two did not want to use the unfamiliar toilet facilities.
In the morning, the drizzle had ended and nothing but blue skies greeted us. We were disappointed that Thing One could not go on a trail ride due to service projects. That is two years of not being able to go riding. I am not sure what we need to do to make it happen next year, but we will try again.
Thing Two and I went out in a canoe for about 20 minutes and at about 9:30 the water slide opened. Both Things were eager to go sliding. Thing Two walked up to the edge, discussed going down with Thing One and then returned to sit with the Gimlet and watch Thing One slide. We watched for a while, returned to our cabin and packed and returned to the slide to continue watching Thing One slide. After about two hours of sliding I decided I had watched all I could and we needed to go. With that we packed up and drove home. It was a great campout.
