Tyler has turned that age when he moves from the world of Cub Scouts to that of Boy Scouts. For most LDS, this is not typically a big deal. However, for our son, he has been in Cubs since he was six and is so passionate about Scouts that he has stayed in the community pack. I have been his den leader and then his Cubmaster for his entire time. As he has known for the last five years, the boys receive a ceremonial knife of some sort at crossover. This year, I decided that since he has five knives, that I would provide pocket hand saws.
Tyler has loved being a Scout. He got a new shirt and is ready to go. He even has the socks. His first overnight campout was a four mile hike in February in the Bridger mountains in a blizzard at night. He was in the lead and loved every minute. The ward here in Laie decided to do the 50 miler. They decided to do Kaena Point the first two days (33 miles) and then the rest back in Laie. The third day was light service for 10 hours. We had grandparents in town and so Tyler couldn’t go the first three days. That night, with Tyler ripping ready to go, we took him over to the Scoutmaster’s house and he stayed the night. The next morning they hiked to Laie Summit (11 miles) and he was provide lunch for the group. Going shopping with Tyler was pretty funny. No vegetables or fruit. White bread was a must and then we bought a peanut butter and strawberry mix. The healthy treat was Oreos, but Renee insisted on carrots. All of the food was gobbled down (except for the carrots that came uneaten ... or touched).
He was pretty tired and his feet were sore. He has special braces to help him with his feet as he has Trevor’s disease. However, he always stays at the front and pushes forward with the lead group. He never likes to be behind. At around 3 pm, he came back and looked like he rolled in mud. He was happy but really tired. He took a long bath and soaked up. At 6 pm, we took him back to his Scoutmaster’s house to have dinner with his troop which apparently Domino’s pizza delivers!
The next morning, he was in charge of cooking breakfast. Tyler’s special cooking skills consist of making lots of toast (with butter… what a treat). He had to make pancakes and cook eggs. I think Scouts might help him out of later on in his non-native life as well. After breakfast, we headed over to Kahana Valley, the wettest place on Oahu. This is where the majority of the island receives its water. Everything was wet and it was about 90 degrees. The mud was thick and the mosquitos bit hard.
We went around in a very large loop 6 mile loop. We passed through a bamboo forest – which is absolutely beautiful. We also went through a walking tree forest. We saw lots of Koa trees and picked up some Koa nuts. We also brought two bamboo walking sticks home… light weight and loads of fun.
They also had a chance to swim in freshwater, quite the treat here surrounded by the Pacific ocean. The water was pretty high but there were a few slower spots that they could jump into. The water was so cold though that most boys didn’t want to jump in.
On the way out, the boys got their pictures taken together. This is a shining moment for Tyler to see how friendly the boys are, even though they just met him. Tyler was really shy and was about 2-3 feet away from the group. One of the boys said, ‘Tyler, get over here!” and put his arms around him. That is the Spirit of Aloha.
The canopy of trees provide tons of shade. However, these trees are an invasive species that is killing all of the native trees underneath.
Bamboo forest
Celebrating B-day with Grandparents
The Spirit of Aloha
1 comment:
What an incredible experience!!!
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