What's Buzzing with the Brasfields: The Great American Campout

Another father/son campout is in the books for Russ and Tyler! This time it was at Shelby Farms and neighbors Justin and Bennett joined in on the fun.

The boys were a little young for this campout (recommended ages were 5-12), but this was the only offering as a make-good from a family campout we had already bought and paid for in the spring that was rained out. So, Russ and Justin decided to still take them and make the best of it. There were a lot of really cool planned activities, but some of them were over their heads. The little boys seemed to adapt fairly well though and the big boys let them do their own thing when they started losing interest. It was definitely good that they had a buddy, as they were the youngest there as 4-year-olds. And yes, this campout was in the middle of summer, but the day and night was surprisingly mild for June. They got lucky! Oh, and yep...Tyler was still in his cast, but this was planned for months so they just rolled with it!

They had to be there at 1p, which also meant no naps! First up - making tie-dyed shirts! We sent a plain white shirt for this activity. Russ said he had never tie-dyed before and I remember doing it a lot in Girl Scouts when I was a kid. Tyler was super interested in choosing the colors for his shirt, but not-so-much when it came to actually doing it. Maybe that was because of the cast?

Justin and Bennett dying a shirt

Tie-dyed shirt = check!

The next several activities centered around survival skills. (And on the way to the site, there was a snake siting!) The first skill was understanding that food and water are important...during this, the boys were mainly interested in the snacks. Ha!

The 2nd skill was orienteering which involved using a compass and map to determine where to go. Tyler was interested in the compass and did pretty well apparently...of course, he always wanted to lead!! After finding a few checkpoints, they were the first team to reach the "final" location, which was marked by hidden treasure (which was a Rodney Rat stuffed animal). While Justin was assisting sweet Bennett who somehow managed to turn his ankle in a nearby ditch, Tyler and Russ were busy trying to figure out what was lurking in the tall grass (Rodney Rat). When he got close to it, mean 'ole Daddy made the stuffed animal "jump out" at him, which scared the "everliving crap out of him" to quote Russ! Apparently, so badly that Russ felt guilty for scaring him! But they all were able to recover. Ha!

The 3rd skill was learning to build a shelter out of sticks. Neither kiddo was interested much in this and wanted to leave so they ventured over to the nearby playground and left the older kids behind. The littles also enjoyed some snacks in the back of Russ' truck while waiting for the next activity. There was some down time for the families to set up camp. So while Justin and Russ did that, Bennett and Tyler were occupied by playing with some cars and trucks we brought. They made a few new friends, too.

Not exactly roughing it. Ha!

Next up - DINNER! The boys learned how to gather sticks to build a fire and then watched how to build one. Dinner consisted of hot dogs, hamburgers, watermelon and s'mores. YUM! They passed the time while everyone finished eating with some animal identification games...the instructor had several animal skins and the kids got to touch them and try to tell what animals they were.

A docent led a nature walk after dinner and the highlights were seeing deer, lightning bugs and hearing an owl. They got back to camp and once the sun set, they broke out the glow sticks that I sent and chased each other around! No campout is complete without glowsticks! This occupied them until Tyler and Bennett found bugs and proceeded to torture them, according to Russ. Ha! There was also an annoying kid that kept coming over and getting mad because the boys were killing nature. He kept saying "bugs are almost extinct' and Russ told him to go away. Hahaha!

The start of the nature hike!

The last thing they did before bed was look through a telescope that was positioned to see Venus and Jupiter. Then they headed back to the tent and called it a night - the kids were dead tired after a full day and no nap. Tyler was on his cot, Russ on his sleeping bag and camp mat and Bennett and Justin shared a blow up mattress.

They were up early the next morning to have breakfast and pack up. They were home around 8:30a and both looked exhausted. (Russ more than Tyler, of course!) When it was time for naps, Russ laid down with Tyler and they both passed out!! Fun times enjoyed by all!

Showing off his tie-dyed shirt. I was impressed!

Snoozing at naptime...

Meanwhile, Caroline and I had some fun girl time while the boys were away. I painted furniture while she slept. We had a fun playdate at Connor's house and played in his new pool. We ran a few errands and enjoyed some dinner together at McAlisters. And she got to pick the movies, which is hard for her to get to do with big brother usually around. Of course, her picks were Cinderella and Belle (Beauty and the Beast). Love this little toot!