Boy heaven

This weekend was Scout-o-rama, which is basically a Boy Scout carnival. Each local den or troop puts up a game booth specifically targeted toward boys (think flying objects, building weapons, and lots of sharp wooden spikes).

Mark's group was in charge of the water balloons. I figured they'd host a balloon toss, which shows you what a...girl...I am. Here's what they actually used to "toss" the balloons:




That's right, they built a catapult! Two of them, actually, so they could launch the balloons at each other. It was awesome!

Mark remembered the balloons at the last minute. He wanted to bring them along, even though they were still in the bag.

"They wanted us to bring them already filled," I told him. "You think there's gonna be a hose just lying around at the park?"

Which proved point 2, that yes, I really am a girl. Because here's what the ingenious Boy Scout dads had built:




Yup, a whole water balloon filling station! It's amazing what you can do with a wooden horse, some PVC pipe and a little imagination. I did tell Mark to fill the balloons from the side, however, after watching one poor kid stand directly in front of the faucets. When the balloon slipped out of his hands, he got a crotch-full of cold water.

We brought along my nephew Johnny, too, who can't wait to become a scout (he's got a couple years to go). He and Mark had a blast. Their favorite activity was making marshmallow guns out of PVC pipes. They loved crawling through a dark tunnel maze, although Mark only went through it four times. Johnny went though it one more time, but decided to stop and relax halfway through. I had to send Mark in to flush him out. ("He was just sitting in there!" Mark exclaimed.)

They also shot water rockets into the air.



Had tug of wars.


Tied knots.


Ran a relay race 6 times each.





And sawed off pieces of wood.



The only thing they didn't do were the zip line.

Mark played a rousing game of dodgeball, and Johnny joined in for a bit. But they were playing against much older scouts and I knew where that was headed. Sure enough, even with Mark protecting him, Johnny eventually got smacked in the head by a ball. He toughed it out, leaving the game peacefully, until he got to me and immediately burst into tears. Poor little guy. But after hugging and consoling him for a few minutes, he was ready to move on to the next activity.

It was a pretty great afternoon. The boys came home tired, sweaty, and talking about what they were gonna do next year.

I can't wait.