Father and son campout

The boys got to go with daddy to Del Water Gap this last weekend for the annual stake Father and Son Campout. It started thursday, but Brian worked into the wee hours of the morning (friday) so he wouldn't have to take a personal day.

The boys were so excited, they were going to share a tent with Tally and Michael Ramos. Ethan got to skip school and that was wonderful! It was a decent temp out as we got the van packed up tight, but there were rainclouds grinning from above!

I received a call from Brian around 9:30 am asking if it were raining at home. It had not started yet but when it did it poured sheets! They couldn't put a tent up because it rained so hard. They were able to get a fire going eventually so they could cook hotdogs for lunch. It rained SOOOO hard on them. It never did let up. It rained, sorry! poured all night!

I got a call from Brian around 4:00 asking what was for dinner and could the boys crash our Mother and Daughter Spa Night. What can I say when its my baby boys out there freezing! They were going to leave in about an hour to get back for dinner.

I'm not sure what time it was but sometime after the 4:00 call two boys from another ward wandered upon our ward soaked and freezing. Their leader had dropped them off the night before without any gear, food, or water! The poor boys were starting to suffer greatly. They had slept out in the rain with only one cup of soup between them for dinner. For breakfast they shared the other cup of soup, cold, and had tried to warm up.

Our boys had gorged themselves on all the hotdogs at lunch and felt horrible now. Brian and Tally found the boys (teens) some snacks to eat. They got them next to the fire and layed sleeping bags on them.

Tally and Brian felt so horrible for these two, they decided to brave the rain and stay to make sure these boys were taken care of. Brian and Tally cooked Ribs for everyone that night. The teens ate at our camp. Brian gave them one of our sleeping bags to share so they wouldn't freeze that night. The tent was full of water so Brian and our boys slept in our van, Tally and Michael slept in theirs. At 11pm the teens knocked on the van, handing Brian back his sleeping bag and told him their leader had just arrived and was taking them home.

(As a mother, if those two teens were my boys I would have been livid with a certain leader!)

The next morning the rain stopped and the sun shone very bright. Brian and our boys stayed and played in the river, waiting for the tent to dry out. Tally and Michael came home. (Michael had a b-day party to go to) Brian and our boys came home in their jammies cause they were the only dry clothes left. They had a fantastic time.

One of the highlights was the dvd player in my van. Brian opened up the back, the men helped him put up a tarp so anyone who wanted could sit out the back end of the van and watch movies. Thank heavens for portable dvd players! They really enjoyed themselves though. My little guys didn't complain at all about the experience.