Caleb and I went on our first Father and Son’s campout. This is an annual tradition in our church. I was originally scheduled for my first 100-miler on my bike, but Sterling (a college friend that attends the same church) convinced Caleb that he absolutely needed to attend the Father and Son’s campout. What was a father to do?
We got to Cascade Park about 6pm in the drizzle, but it soon cleared up and remained great weather for the remainder of the campout. I was told that this was the first good weather Father and Son’s campout. Caleb spent most of his time running around with Lincoln (Sterling’s son). He probably ran over a mile chasing Lincoln back and forth on the grassy campgrounds. We had hot dogs and bratwurst. At about 8pm, Caleb and Lincoln went into their tent and had a "dance party" for about an hour… I suppose this was cause for slight concern… but it was better than chasing each other around with sticks on fire (which also happened.) There’s something especially unnerving about kids wildly swinging fiery sticks around at face level with all their might.
In a previous campout, Caleb once got whacked in the mouth with a hot
dog roaster that was glowing red from being in the fire. After that
point, I make no apologies for being a paranoid father and taking my
son away from any situation that wreaks of danger.
The evening was cold, and we decided that we would share a single sleeping bag. I think Caleb slept soundly and warmly. I’m not completely sure what a banshee is, but I think he also slept like one of those. Consequently, I got a few hours of sleep between the kicks in the gut.
The next morning, all the other kids woke up at 5:30am and decided to hang out at our fire pit doing something seemingly dangerous. I wasn’t really sleeping at this point, but I didn’t want to leave to have Caleb wake up by himself and start crying. We finally got out of bed around 8am. By then, breakfast was already well under way – which is bad, because I had signed up to cook breakfast. After a few heartfelt apologies, I cleaned up some of the pots and pans. Afterwards, I took Caleb and Lincoln by the river and we threw hundreds of rocks into the river. When we felt we have done our damage, we packed up and stopped at a McDonald’s on the way home with Sterling and Lincoln. Caleb loved going camping, and he came home uninjured. I suppose at the end of it all, I can consider that success.
We got to Cascade Park about 6pm in the drizzle, but it soon cleared up and remained great weather for the remainder of the campout. I was told that this was the first good weather Father and Son’s campout. Caleb spent most of his time running around with Lincoln (Sterling’s son). He probably ran over a mile chasing Lincoln back and forth on the grassy campgrounds. We had hot dogs and bratwurst. At about 8pm, Caleb and Lincoln went into their tent and had a "dance party" for about an hour… I suppose this was cause for slight concern… but it was better than chasing each other around with sticks on fire (which also happened.) There’s something especially unnerving about kids wildly swinging fiery sticks around at face level with all their might.
In a previous campout, Caleb once got whacked in the mouth with a hot
dog roaster that was glowing red from being in the fire. After that
point, I make no apologies for being a paranoid father and taking my
son away from any situation that wreaks of danger.
The evening was cold, and we decided that we would share a single sleeping bag. I think Caleb slept soundly and warmly. I’m not completely sure what a banshee is, but I think he also slept like one of those. Consequently, I got a few hours of sleep between the kicks in the gut.
The next morning, all the other kids woke up at 5:30am and decided to hang out at our fire pit doing something seemingly dangerous. I wasn’t really sleeping at this point, but I didn’t want to leave to have Caleb wake up by himself and start crying. We finally got out of bed around 8am. By then, breakfast was already well under way – which is bad, because I had signed up to cook breakfast. After a few heartfelt apologies, I cleaned up some of the pots and pans. Afterwards, I took Caleb and Lincoln by the river and we threw hundreds of rocks into the river. When we felt we have done our damage, we packed up and stopped at a McDonald’s on the way home with Sterling and Lincoln. Caleb loved going camping, and he came home uninjured. I suppose at the end of it all, I can consider that success.
Hyun Family 