Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Over Prepared Boy Scout Strikes Again


Tonight I said to Peanut Head, "Thank you so much for giving me such good material and letting me make fun of you on my blog all the time." He just smiled and nodded his head.

There are advantages to his having an over abundance of self-esteem.

So, that picture of Peanut Head above, that's him all ready for our hike a few weeks ago. Remember that one? The one that lasted five minutes. Yeah. Well, as you can see, he was packed for a trek on the Appalachian Trail. 

I don't know everything that he had in that backpack, but I'm pretty sure all this stuff was in there and then some. It almost makes me want to get lost in the wilderness, just so we can make all the packing and staging worthwhile. I bet he even has some MREs in there somewhere.

What is all this stuff? I don't know about you, but I think I would've tossed a GPS in there. Of course one of the dealie bobs in that mess is probably a compass, but we don't have a working knowledge of that just yet.

I'll explain.

Recently Peanut Head became involved in the Boy Scouts. He has all that pent up Marine Corps knowledge that he likes to knock about, so this is right up his alley. And yes, the Boy Scouts' goal is not to teach the young men how to kill each other in multiple and inventive ways, but they do need to learn survival skills and whatnot. Enter Peanut Head.

This week Peanut Head put together a little Orienteering course in our neighborhood for the Boy Scouts. He gave them each this map and a little Hints key, and they were to find the markers and record the numbers at each marker to prove that they had found them.

So, the boys did that last night and they loved it. Then this evening Peanut Head thought it would be a good idea for the girls and I to find all his markers, while he tagged along and watched amusedly, and we could pick them up at the same time.

Here the girls are, zeroing in on one of the markers.

Except I'm racing them to it because I need a picture of it before they rip it off.

So I knocked them down and got my picture. Hey, anything for the picture. The picture tells the story.

Of course then I did let Stinkerbell peel the marker off.

We didn't want to litter, so we stuck all the tape to Zoe Bug's head for storage. She didn't even notice what we were doing. We just kept smacking her in the head and she was all "HEY! Why'd you do that?!"

Because we love you, Sweetie.

Here's Annika trying to comprehend the compass.

Peanut Head was reading the hints to us, "80 meters on bearing of 200 degrees from blah-blah-blah."

All at once, the girls' and my mouths dropped open and we looked at him like "Say WHAT?"

He may as well have been speaking Greek.

He looks a little exasperated, doesn't he? But it was mixed with amusement and that's the only thing that kept his head from exploding, trust me.

Here he is trying to explain the compass to the girls and asking them leading questions. They were waiting for him to start speaking English.

"Meters? That's like feet, right?"

"No. yards."

"Oopsie."


This compass is taking for-EVER. Give me my GPS and the snotty talking lady that lives in the GPS.

In spite of the obstacles, Peanut Head persevered.

Zoe just had an epiphany. I'm happy to report that she at least, got Peanut Head's navigational genes. He has some pushy genes too, but that's another story for another day.

The verdict's still out on Stinkerbell. At one point she ripped the map out of my hands and tore it in half. She's enthusiastic if nothing else.

Here's Stinkerbell. She took off running in the direction Zoe pointed. She had no idea where she was going, but she was going to beat Zoe there, dang it.

Of course she had to change directions once she saw where Zoe actually headed.

They found it! Criminy, can you tell Peanut Head has a thing for rocks?

23 comments:

  1. LOL! I am so glad that I stumbled upon your blog. Your entries are so funny and I love reading them. I also really enjoy your tutorials. I've added several to my to-do list. :)

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  2. that looks like a lot of fun. I too would have rather done it with a GPS rather than a compass, but I'd like to think as mothers we have a different set of survival skills.

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  3. This was hilarious. The slappin the tape on her head was pretty funny :) I can just see me doing something like that. Although I don't think I would go a searchin for that stuff...maybe when Wire Nut becomes a boy scout! :)

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  4. What a fun activity! Are the girls going to be Girl Scouts??

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  5. You've got the story telling ability to tell about all of PH's antics, so you are quite the couple! And you are NORTH of me aren't you? I didn't even need my compass to figure that out. I'd much prefer a GPS anyway! :)

    Suzanne

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  6. ok, that is hilarious! but it looks like you had fun with the girls!

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  7. Actually there is a compass AND GPS in the lower right corner of the staging/inspection picture, next to the weight bench leg.

    PNut

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  8. It must kill PeanutHead not to have a son...

    I'm thinking he needs to take up geocaching (or however you spell it). Everyone else will have their GPS and he'll have his compass -- and enough survival gear to get him through years in the woods.

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  9. It must kill PeanutHead not to have a son...

    I'm thinking he needs to take up geocaching (or however you spell it). Everyone else will have their GPS and he'll have his compass -- and enough survival gear to get him through years in the woods.

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  10. That looks like fun! I too would prefer the GPS and I don't really know how to use that.

    You are already pretty high up on my list of favorite blogs. After reading that you didn't litter a tiny piece of tape, you moved up more! Good for you!

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  11. That looks like a lot of fun! I bet the girls enjoyed that! Has he ever thought about going on Survivor?????....lol

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  12. Thanks I SO needed a laugh today. That is funny, but it does look like a lot of fun. What a great dad, and of course mom to take the pictures!

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  13. I am hoping and praying that Jayden gets him as a leader when the time comes. That is so cool. He is awesome and we all can learn so much from him. He is a good dude to have around!!!! In fact, I wish some of my girls could have gone on his activity. Some of them have to do a compass orienteering activity to pass off a requirement for girls camp. This would have been awesome. In a mostly joking matter but a tiny bit serious...would you think he would consider recreating and doing a scaled down version for some giggly, crazy girls????

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  14. oooo, one day I wanna be a family photo journalist like you! I love your posts.

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  15. Ok I love that you call him Peanut head! So funny!

    I bet the girls loved that!

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  16. That looks like a lot of fun. As someone who is also married to a former Marine (is that what they call themselves?) I can see our family doing something like that one day.

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  17. I love organized men, especially organized boy scout leaders!!!!

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  18. I was laughing all through your post....and then I get to the comments...and see PeanutHead actually commented himself on the GPS!!!! hahahaha!!!!!!!! you two are hilarious!

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  19. OMG that is so stinkin' funny! I love that PNut, ever so prepared, needed to point out the GPS in the picture, lest we think he forgot to pack one!

    But wait... where's the treasure? There WAS a hidden treasure, wasn't there?! Oh right, the kids are still young... enjoy it while you can!

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  20. That looks like so much fun! I love the tapey helmet pic. So cute.

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  21. That is awesome. I love your stories!

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  22. I laughed so hard at your post that I had to read it aloud to my husband. The man who gave his four year old daughter a compass smiled and grunted something in "Marine". If your husband were here, he could probably translate that. Me? Not so much. We've got three girls and my husband already has plans on taking them out to teach them land nav. All the best.

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