Fall Hike

My feet are killing me. Correction, my foot is killing me. The sore one. The one that needs to get back in shape so I can climb back up on the ladder and put those gutters up. Today, if possible.

James (and I) went on the Cub Scout's Fall Hike today. It wasn't much of a 'hike', really. More like an Activity Day.

It was held out at a county park. Lots of rolling hills, lots of grassy fields, lots of trails. Lots of places for Cubs to run around and have fun. And it was very, very cold this morning. Close to freezing. And James, being James, didn't want to wear a real coat, just his jacket. Everyone else at the park was dressed for cold. Everyone else was still cold. James was positively frozen. Until his friend Josh chased him around for awhile. Then his cheeks were flushed and he was warmed up a bit.

Until the Activities started. There wasn't enough movement in the Activities.

First, the Flag ceremony. Pledge of Allegiance. Star-Spangled Banner (off-key, of course). A few pack-meeting whoop-it-up songs. Then each group (Purple, Orange, Blue, Red) went off to their respective areas to start.

We did the Historical Hike first, walking to some old buildings in the area and seeing how old they were. Walking. Not running. Walking. Not very warmed-up yet.

Then a hike along the river. More walking. Not running. Still not warm.

Then cooking doughboys (biscuit dough wrapped around a dowel, baked over a fire, brushed with butter then dipped in cinnamon-sugar). A bit warmer, but not much. Too much standing around.

Then hot cocoa. Mmmm! Now we're talking. James had two cups.

Then we were supposed to do games, but (as always) there was a mix-up in the order and some miscommunication between leaders and groups, so we ended up just playing Red-Light/Green-Light. Not much movement there.

Then another hike down to the Craft Station, where we huddled under a shelter and made Dog Bones out of Craft Foam which were then folded into Canoes which could then be used as neckerchief slides. Whoo-hoo!

Then back down to the river for our Watershed Lecture. A bit of a nice walk, but then thirty minutes of standing beside the river while some guy told us that Water Flows Down-Hill.

After that, it was back to the main area for a rousing game of ... beachball volleyball. Well, that at least got them moving around some. But James was still cold. And disappointed. He was hoping for more action. But I told him that the Fall Hike was meant more for the younger kids anyway, and it was time for him to move up to the Boy Scout kind of stuff.

Which is why tonight we're heading to a Boy Scout Troop meeting to see if we can find him a troop he might enjoy. This particular troop even meets at our church!