Boys will be Boys

May 21st marked Ryder’s 7th birthday. By all accounts he’s had some exciting birthdays. A trip to San Francisco narrowly edging out a light-saber duel with friends or building a step stool. Keeping the trend of great birthdays going, this year he selected an overnight camping trip with his friends and their dads. In the weeks leading up to the big event he planned everything from the menu to the types of games to be played. Hot dogs, Doritos, marshmallows, and pancakes were the meals of choice with a little bacon and orange juice mixed in to fill in the cracks. Side note: If eight boys run amuck in the woods and there aren’t photos to prove it, then their mother’s will never be the wiser.

As the big day approached the weather was threatening rain and contingencies were made in the event of inclement weather. Fortunately, the weather held and the clouds helped keep the temperature perfect for outdoor adventures. Our merry band of eight boys and their dads set out on an hour drive to a hundred acre property of a friend just over the North Carolina border on a river. Upon arrival we set the boys to work clearing the site, setting up tents, and digging a fire pit. After completing our chores the place commenced.

First order of business for the boys was a scouting expedition around the property to determine the site of the best bases for war games to come as well as checking the river to see if any fish were biting. The slightly older boys were tasked to get out the axes and saws and felling several trees for the sheer enjoyment of it. Throughout the rest of the evening the dads would often catch a glimpse of a blur yelling “zombies!” or “jedi!” or “rebels!”. Sometimes one would stop long enough to devour a hotdog, but that was rare.

Darkness eventually came, but that did little to temper the excitement. Instead, darkness simply signified it was time to break out the flashlights and begin a new game of flashlight tag. Sometime much later one of the dads surprised the boys with some fireworks that he had brought. Several different launch methods were experimented with and somehow no one was injured. As the night wore on slowly but surely kids started to retire to their tents of their own accord, worn out from hard hours of play. Finally, the camp was quiet… other than the snoring…

Morning brought a light rain and pancakes. As several of the dads experimented with various ways of cooking pancakes in bacon grease, the kids picked up where they left off and disappeared into the woods into some other nameless game involving chasing, shooting, and laughing. Too soon it was time to pack up our camp and return to a more civilized place. Another successful birthday in the books!