24 Hours of Misery

We naively thought it would be fun to participate in the Cub Scout pack's family camp out this weekend. The campground was only about 40 minutes from our house, and I felt like I could convince Molly to come home with me to sleep, and then we would rejoin the group the next morning. The forecast was for the mid-30s on Saturday night.

Unfortunately, every time I offered her a bribe to go home, even as it got dark and the temperature dropped, she would yell, "I want to sleep in the tent!" I didn't want to abandon Chris with two kids in a tent, so I stayed too. The kids passed out 10 minutes after they went to sleep, Chris was snoring and I spent the night lying awake, hoping my kids weren't freezing to death and wondering why I ever agreed to camp out in November.

While I think the camp out was 24 of the most miserable hours of my life, the kids loved it. Josh (here reading his Cub Scout handbook) fished, hiked and roasted hotdogs and marshmallows. The boys told ghost stories and "funny" stories, which mainly involved a lot of jokes about poop, and did skits. I sat in our camp chair with three coats on and tried not to look as horrible as I felt.

Molly and her friend had fun playing in the leaves and sliding down a hill. I didn't take more pictures because that meant I had to take my hands out of my pockets. Thankfully, the Cubmaster announced on Sunday morning that there would be no more November overnight camps. Finally, someone came to their senses!