Breakfast
was French toast, sausage links, cereal, cut-up fruit and muffins. I love camping when someone else takes care
of the food. I think I would enjoy
cooking over a campfire, but as I’m still getting acclimating to this whole
“camping” thing, I am so grateful for trip organizers.
Kyle spent
the morning playing spoons and airsoft.
I told him we’d go kayaking a little later so that he could play awhile
in the morning. That’s when he told me
his swimsuit was wet and had moss on it.
He had gone down to his “secret spot” at the river that he and Cole had
found last year with some of the other boys and dads (I had been too worn out
with my knee issues after setting up the tent to go along). When he came back, he had apparently left his
swim trunks in a ball inside the tent rather than hanging them out to dry. It was fascinating to me how that boy
discards clothes when he’s changing. I
imagine his body motions being similar to that of someone at a rave for all the
random places I find his socks inside the tent.
He barely remembers to get his shoes off before entering the tent. It’s a good stretch for an “everything in its
place” type of person like me. I’m so
glad I’m at a place in life when I can handle this and roll with the punches a
little better. The 22-year-old me would
have been an overbearing micro-manager to a kid like Kyle. I’m amazed at what situations I’ve been able
to just let go on.
By some
miracle, his shorts weren’t stinking, and they were just barely damp, so we
were good to go after all. I had heard
that the Wishon Lake water levels were low, but that Courtright Lake might be a
better spot for the day. It was
beautiful. Kyle wasn’t thrilled about
the work to set up and inflate the kayak, but he did it. I think he enjoyed kayaking, he just wanted
to be back playing airsoft, but I figured it was good to get him away from
firearms for a little while. He was
almost no help paddling, and almost tipped us several times by dipping the
paddle too far into the water, but his technique improved over the afternoon.
We paddled
around and then pulled over to a different shore for a water and snack
break. We talked to a couple people
hanging out nearby. Then we got back in
the kayak and paddled all the way across the lake to this huge rock near the
opposite edge. It was probably 40 feet
tall and I wondered about the potential for rock jumping from it. Not something we would do today, but a
thought for the future.
We started
out with me in front and him in back.
After our break, I switched spots with him. Then when he complained, I’d splash him with
a little lake water. After two or three
times, he quit complaining.
We got back
to the dock and carried the kayak to the car to clean it out and deflate
it. Then we headed back to the camp,
eating our lunch on the way. He had been
in such a hurry for the next airsoft war that he refused to look at the lunch
fixings to tell me what he wanted, so I got him to agree to eat whatever I
brought without complaining. I made
three completely different sandwiches that I would eat so that I’d have two I
liked and a reasonable chance of him liking one of them. He wanted PB&J, so that left a
turkey/mustard and a roast beef/mustard for me.
When we got back, he bounded out of the car and I loaded him with stuff
to carry before he ran off, which the explicit instructions to hang up the wet
towels.
------------
Okay, this
has been lingering for awhile unfinished, so in the interest of finishing this
off quickly, here are the highlights of the remainder of the trip:
Kyle didn’t hang
up the towels as instructed, and later ran off to his secret spot in spite of my
instruction for him to wait for me.
Because of the repeated disobedience/not-listening, I laid down the law
for no airsoft for the rest of the night.
He still pushed the envelope, and ended up being limited to staying by
my side the rest of the evening. He was bummed,
but I knew he needed consistency in discipline more than he needed fun. It was a rough evening for us both. When I sent him to bed, I went and talked to
him to clarify the distinctions between the discipline over disobedience being
out of my love for him, and desiring him to grow up and obey Christ. I tried to just say it succinctly and not
drag out the point. Then I prayed with
him, and he went to sleep. Todd and I played
cards for a little while that evening, and a couple more guys joined us for
awhile.
The next
morning, Kyle was permitted to play airsoft again. I made him pack and intermittently help with
tear-down, but tried to give him ample time to play. We stayed longer than I planned, but oh
well. I had more time to talk with the
other dads and he had more time to play.
On the way down, he got a little car sick. This guy is amazing. He vomited in a bag and then softly announced
that he had thrown up. I had no mess in
my car to clean up, no screams or sudden scares coming from the backseat or anything. So I pulled over, hydrated him, got him to
walk around and breathe deeply. He even commented that he thought this was the same place he got carsick last year on the way down. When he was
ready, we got back on the road.
Thankfully he passed out pretty quickly so I didn’t have to continue
taking the turns as gently all the way home.
He slept all the way home.
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