Jack Krashpad'll be the death of me (weekend report)

[Brian Krashpad]

Friday:

Left work early to get ready for a gig of sorts Friday night and camping with El Krashpadito and his Boy Scout troop the next day. Got the van all packed with gig gear, and all our clothes and supplies together for camping. Also, since Jack was to be "grubmaster" for his scout patrol, we had to run by the church staging area with all the food for the weekend campout so his patrol would have food even though he wouldn't be there until the next day.

Drove off to the show, in a neighboring town, just before 9 p.m. They had asked me to get one of the bands I'm in to play at a "Walk for Life" for the American Cancer Society, but I couldn't get any of them to do it, so I told them I would just show up and jam some with the husband of one of the promoters, a buddy from my former church whom I'd done similar things at parties with before.

As I was just a couple miles from my destination, and already in the neighboring town, I got a cell phone call. It was from the promoter lady saying there was hardly anyone there and her husband didn't want to play, and I could just turn around if I wanted to, because they'd feel bad if I unloaded and setup just to play for a few people by myself.

So I turned around, stopped at a convenience store, bought a bottle of beer, and drove home. This gave me a chance to get all my music gear out and the camping gear into the van on Friday night instead of trying to do everything Saturday morning before the footbal game El Krashpadito was to play on Saturday.

Saturday:

Saturday morning was Jack's second football game of the year. It's a flag football league for both boys and girls. His team the prior year had been very inexperienced and mismatched, and hadn't won a game all year. His new team's first game had been a loss too, but they'd come back towards the end, which was promising.

More about this week's game in next post.

Here's a pic of Jack, in the right foreground, playing defense (I guess that's like cornerback, but I don't know much about American football position names):

Here's Jack on the sidelines checking his plays with the rest of the team:

 

[Brian Krashpad]

So anyhow, they won the game this week. Although the other team scored first, Jack's team came back and surpassed them, stopping their first two extra point tries. Jack broke up 3 passes on the day. On offense he was most often center, as he's the best snapper on the team since he did that on his team last year.

Here's pic on offense, on one of the downs where Jack wasn't snapping. He's in the center of the pic, leaning forward:

More sidelines checking (Jack is #82):

After the game we got some food at a Schlotzky's Deli drive-through and ate at my office, where Jack could shower and change for the camp-out.

Then we drove down to Manatee Springs. Pics from there in next post.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Once at Manatee Springs, we found that the scouts in Jack's patrol were to work on water safety and lifesaving. Here's Jack "saving" his buddy Derrick, having thrown him a line and now pulling him in:

Jack being "saved" with a life preserver:

 

[Brian Krashpad]

The third life-saving technique was the human chain:

Jack, as grubmnaster, going through the food bag to make dinner:

Jack and his buddy Derrick being typical 11-year-olds:

After dinner I got out my acoustic 12-string and I and some of the other parents played it. One of the other parents does a prison music ministry and plays in area minimum security places.

Then we did a flag retirement ceremony where 2 US flags were burned. Here's a scary pic of Jack and me:

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Sunday:

Jack cooking breakfast for his patrol (adults eat separately, all scouts have to make their own food, by patrol):

After breakfast the scouts broke camp and changed into their dress uniforms for a short "church" service.

Then we went over to view the sinkhole they'd cleared, the previous morning (before our arrival), of invasive water lettuce; you can see some still floating in the distance:

I got a little more sun than I wanted over the weekend, and found two ticks on me (one Saturday night and one Sunday after we returned), but so long as I don't get skin cancer or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, the weekend was a big success and lots of fun.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Oops, forgot this'un:

 

[Justaguyin_nc]

Annual Skin Cancer treatments $300 million
Annual Rocky Mountain Fever Victims 1000
Pictures and Memories of Son from Father doing the right things
PRICELESS!!
:bravo: :beer: :bravo:

 

[Bloozcat]

Great looking kid, Brian.

Must get it from your wife, huh?

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Looks like a fun weekend! Our den is visiting the courthouse and meeting the two local judges this week on a tour I was able to set up. We get to start doing more outside stuff soon!

 

[aeolian]

That looks like a lot of fun.

My son, who is now 11, was in boy scouts for several years. Both my wife and I had gone with him on boy scouts campout before and it has always been fun for him. Not sleeping in a proper bed is bit tough on my old bones though.

 

[Katastrophe]

Sounds like a great weekend! That's the kind of stuff that Krashpadito will remember for the rest of his life.

I'm impressed by the flag retirement ceremony. I think the Scouts are the only group these days that know how to do it properly.

+1000000000000000 cool points for Brian!

 

[luvmyshiner]

Looks like a great weekend Brian! Bet you were glad to go to work this morning and get a little rest.

 

[Childbride]

:bravo:

loved the pictures. so wonderful that y'all got to share that time together. awesome!

here's to the rest of soccer season, and lots more scouting adventures!!! :AOK:

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Annual Skin Cancer treatments $300 million
Annual Rocky Mountain Fever Victims 1000
Pictures and Memories of Son from Father doing the right things
PRICELESS!!
:bravo: :beer: :bravo:

Haha, touche'!

True dat.

I was in Scouts for a year or so, but had a terrible troop. Basically a bunch of delinquents allegedly overseen by some ex-delinquents. I have no doubt that a couple of the kids in that troop are now in jail or dead, and not from natural causes. Even in that less-than-optimal environment, in retrospect the scouting camping with my dad is still a good memory.

All that being said, I cannot recommend Scouting enough to dads with sons-- just find a good Troop (Boy Scouts) or Pack (Cubs). We finished 3 years in Cub Scouts this year and I and El Krashpadito have many many wonderful memories as a result. Last year I even ended up being an Assistant Den Leader for his den. I'm not much for uniforms and such (I never bought any uniform stuff last year, beyond the "Class B" t-shirt for the pack I already had, though I suppose I was entitled/qualified to do that) but every year they did a big Spring trip, and I made a point on going with him (besides, unlike in Boy Scouts, in Cubs you're basically required to go along on overnight trips), and they were always great fun.

In Cubs, in our Pack anyhow, they alternated BIG Spring trips with little Spring Trips every year (both were "indoor camping"). Our first year was a biggie-- sleeping under a Saturn V rocket at Kennedy Space Center's visitor's center after hours, when we had the place to ourselves for the whole night. Jack got an autographed photo from a real astronaut (funny aside: astronaut's name: Tom Jones, who has been on 4 shuttle missions). Last year was an overnight trip to the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa (we slept in the Manatee House with a view of all kinds of fish and manatees, the other half of the Pack slept in the Kangaroo House).

Although Jack has "crossed over" (in Scout parlance) to Boy Scouts, this coming weekend we'll do the last of his Cub Scout Spring trips. We're driving to Charleston, South Carolina, and sleeping aboard a US Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Yorktown. My dad is a career naval officer, so I've been on carriers, even at sea [in the US Navy, they do (or at least used to do, when I was a kid in the '60's and '70's) "Dependents' Cruises," and take spouses and kids out on the ship for a day-- sorta like a "take your family to work" day], but Jack doesn't have any such experience and it'll be good to see what his grandpa was all about in a concrete way.

So you've all been warned-- Monday or so of next week you'll be barraged by more pics of our adventuires.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Sounds like a great weekend! That's the kind of stuff that Krashpadito will remember for the rest of his life.

I'm impressed by the flag retirement ceremony. I think the Scouts are the only group these days that know how to do it properly.

These are really cool ceremonies.

This was my third one. The prior two years, with Jack's Cub Scout pack, we did flag retirement ceremonies at our annual Memorial Day Weekend campout at Hanna Park (in Mayport, Florida, near where my dad used to be stationed prior to his retirement from the USN). Two years ago, when my dad was still living nearby, he came out for the evening and was very moved by the whole thing.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Great looking kid, Brian.

Must get it from your wife, huh?

Haha, yes, thank goodness!