They Will Stink

Aaron is in the middle of two of his Scout buds.

Aaron left for his first full week of Boy Scout camp this morning.  He has gone on several weekend trips as a Boy Scout and countless as a Cub Scout.  This will be his first week long trip.

He was not nervous at all.  He loves it!!  The boys were limited to bringing just their footlocker.  They will be sleeping in platform tents and eating in a cafeteria type setting so that saves them from packing some of their gear.

Yesterday, I helped Aaron pack.  Oh...my...word!  He spent most of the time digging through his room hunting for items such as his compass, water shoes and personal first aid kit.  When he comes back from this trip, I am going to help him unpack and then we are going to put all of his gear in the footlocker.  Next time he is packing for a camping trip, he will know where everything is.  P.K. said the next time he has to pack, Aaron will do it himself and then we can check it afterwards.  Sounds like a plan to me.

Of course, he will leave out what I would consider essentials like clean underwear, soap and toothpaste.  I packed him lots of extra socks and underwear, but I know he won't change them as often as he should.  I told him to brush his teeth every day, but, again, I know he won't.  He also has soap, but I'm quite certain he won't use that.  When I go to pick him up on Saturday, I know I will want to tie him to the top of the van to air him out on the ride home and to keep the smell from permeating the inside of the van. 

I also know he will have a great adventure this week.  Each time he goes to a regular weekly meeting or goes on a weekend camping trip, he learns new skills and can explain them in detail.  I know this week will not be any different.  Plus, the camp has a Slurpee machine and the Scouts took along enough cash to buy two a day.  What could be any better?

600 Steps...'Bout Died

As a family, we like to explore the outdoors.  We decided to take a day to hike Amicalola Falls in the north Georgia mountains.

The hike is gorgeous the entire way.  We followed the stream that runs down from the falls.

Aaron and Hannah especially like climbing on the rocks.

Just ignore what this sign says.

When they saw fallen trees they wanted to climb out on them.  Aaron and Hannah were a bit timid, but were more brave with P.K.

To get to the bottom of the falls we had to climb 175 steps.

It took me a while to catch my breath once we got to the top.  P.K. waited for us to climb to the top to get a picture.  He kept telling me to get the kids for a picture, but I couldn't talk to do it.  Ha!

Once we enjoyed the view at the base of the falls, we had 425 more steps to make it to the top.  P.K., Aaron and Hannah went first.  Rachel and I stood and thought about it for a while, but we finally made it.

The view from the top was gorgeous.  I thought the walk back down would easier, but my legs were like jello.  We decided to try the restaurant at the lodge after our hike.  We were seated by the window that takes up the full wall.  It was also a beautiful view of the mountains.  The food?  Let's just say it wasn't nearly as good as the view.