morganfam7

Thanks for the encouragement, Alki! My husband and I spent about 5 minutes (as a closing) sitting with the kids at a picnic table after dark with a hurricane lantern (no campfires allowed in a state park), and we explained that the activities and fun we had was just a taste of what they could do. We tried to strike the balance between keeping them excited about the fun but emphasizing that this was their "baby," If it is going to get done - they would do it. We also made it clear to them that we were there to help and provide guidance and, on rare occasions, veto (only M&Ms for brea

Hello, We are Lone Scouts living in a rural area. Last night, my three boy scout age sons elected the oldest to be PL, the second oldest was appointed ASPL, the next asked for Historian, and then their sister (working the Girl Scout program) was assigned the job of scribe. We hope that Lone Scouting will develop into a regular county-wide troop chartered through our home school group, but until that time my sons can reap the benefits of being scouts. We're all in our first year of Scouting. My husband has a little experience with scouting when he was 12. Do y'all have any suggest

I haven't went to camparoo, so I hope this isn't duplicate info. When we went camping with 3 boys 4 and under, we carried our playpen. Padded with blankets, it makes a great bed for a little one. Of course, like you said, the stroller is indispensable. It doubles as a highchair. Last night it kept our 18 month old corraled while we had a Lone Scout Troop meeting at the lake. Also, those "leashes" are good for toddlers around water. Our little one kept trying to run back to the parking lot, so that helped him explore closer to us. A two room tent helps the little one take naps, and we c

The boys went camping last night by themselves. I insisted that they "do it by the book." They assumed they needed a latrine (and so did I), but we couldn't find it in the scout book. I did find something in the 77 field book. What are scouts supposed to do when in an area without bathrooms? What is the boy scout way now? Thanks, Marcy

I got a good laugh out of >>he and his friend will eat things burnt if they cook it (would cause a major scene at home).

I absolutely LOVE soup or stew fixed like this, but I have never seen too many kids like it. I have noticed these type of recipes offered for campouts - do the boys eat it when they're camping? Maybe it's the romance of the outdoors and they don't notice? I think I'll give the boys a choice of what they want to fix for the first campout and include this recipe. After that, they can find their own recipes. Do you have any others that I can add to this one that would be appropriate for Tenderfoot Scouts to prepare? Thanks, Marcy

We are planning on a campout to satisfy the rank requirements for our sons who are Lone Scouts. It's possible that we'll have a troop by the time we actually go camping. We have never really been so defined about our camping areas - we just did what worked at the time. We want to camp the BSA way because I'm sure it's much better camping than we have done. Does anyone have any tips or sure-fire things to do or not do? There needs to be dishwashing area, a kitchen area (near the fire, I assume), latrine, dining fly, tent area and what else? I read something about an entry into the

When I took a Master Composter class, they encouraged us to bury our food scraps because it quickly enriches the soil. My 1969 BSA Fieldbook says you can bury your food scraps in the latrine area. Is it now reccomended to never bury food scraps? Thanks for all the great information that I'm reading on these forums! Marcy

I was just told that the shadow part of a full moon - the valleys and canyons always points north while the bright half always points south. Is this true? I can't find anything about it in my books. Thanks for the good information above! We need to work on our knowledge of the constellations. Sounds like a good topic for a month of troop meetings. Do you think finding certain constellations would be a great outside preopening activity? Thanks, Marcy

Eman, What kind of aids do they have? We have the protractor style compass. We're going to another meet around Valentine's Day thatis put on by the local Orienteering Club. I'm not sure how that will be different than the Scout O Challenge we just attended. We sure had a lot of fun! Weekender, thanks for the invitation! I'm going to put a print out in our scout file. Maybe we'll make it through there some time. Is your troop a home school troop? I'm interested in starting a home school troop here and would like to email back and forth if you have any information about that.

We're back and we had a really good time! Our guys weren't used to the steep (to us) ravines, but they found about half of the markers, I think. One mistake we made - we overpacked. They had full packs - layers of clothing, extra water, gorp, scout essentials, ect. We didn't realize that the (easier) area was encompassed by a park road on all sides, so it would have been pretty hard to get lost. If they would have taken fanny packs and canteens only, they could have climbed better and made better time. There were three water stations, which we didn't expect. A pint's a pound the wo

Thanks for all the suggestions and help! We set up a course yesterday. It was good practice. We figured the length of our pace, and my husband ran the course to make sure it was accurate like eisley suggested. I had them go through some thick stuff and go around dead trees. It was a lot of fun. We're about to leave. I hope no one gets lost - it's 3500 acres and a 200 foot difference in altitude in the park. I'll let you know how it goes! Thanks again, Marcy

We are seriously thinking about going to the Scout-O Challenge in Bastrop, TX this next weekend. "My three sons" are new Lone Scouts. We don't get **any** contact from council no matter how many times we try so I don't know an O merit badge counselor to ask. I'm going to contact an O club about an hour from me....in the meantime, maybe someone here can help us. We just learned how to orient a compass, take bearings, minus our declination number and that sort of thing from a section in a book on camping last weekend. We have land that the boys can practice on, but we're not sure what t

Congratulations, Mike! You're beginning the hike of a lifetime! Thanks for the tips on hiking with children. I have made notes and hope to use them soon. I need to get some louder whistles. I think we might hike that short trail at the State Park without camping for the first time out. Then maybe I'll take the younger ones to the playground and a sack lunch while my husband and the older boys go for a more challenging hike. That way everyone will have fun. We've got to get some packs first. We're seriously considering Alice packs because they're cheap; and around this house, anything

Eisly, We live in northeast Texas. We do have panthers, but they rarely show up (2 sightings on our property in 6 years) and they are still afraid of humans. We have coyotes, too. We also have bobcats. The main thing we have to be concerned about when walking behind our home is wild pigs, so my husband carries a gun. The state park is almost an hour away, so I don't know what they might have there. We live in one of the wildest areas in a rural county, and our land backs up to river land owned by the TRA. So, what I'm trying to say is that I would think that the park might be s

Hi Mike, We're new to scouting, but we are anxious to get out on the trails. We do some hiking on our own property (no trails and very thick in places) and have a lot of fun. I'm looking for information about family hiking with young children. For instance, a toddler. He fits in a pack that we have (he's under 30#). What about a 35#, tall 3 year old girl, and an 8 year old girl? Do you have any suggestions about backpacking with them? I'm looking for the ideal situation where I can make sure the younger ones enjoy God's country and still challenge the older kids (boys - 13, 1