The Simple Things....

Last weekend saw us (Hubby, Alexander and I) go off for our second camping weekend - this time to the Scouts Family Camp at Dilston Scout Campsite in Northumberland. We had never been to anything like this before so weren't sure what to take or expect once we got there.

We arrived at the campsite at the allocated time to find a large field already half full of tents in clusters. Our 'camp' was at the far end and took up almost a third of the field. When I say 'far end' I mean furthest away from the car park, and the toilet/shower block!

We found our spot and began to put up the tent along with other arrivals while Alexander and other Beavers, Cubs and Scouts went to explore. Amazingly we achieved an all time record - we had the whole tent up and running with the kettle on in 1hr 30 minutes.

The thing about these types of camps is that there are two kinds of people. The ones who do this kind of thing all the time ie, Scout Leaders and helpers, and those who dont and stand around like the preverbial spare part trying to work out what to do next and where and with whom while the 'others' just get on with all the 'things' that need to be done.

Fortunately there were several tents of us 'others' so between us we sussed things out eventually.


Like doing lots of 'male' bonding. It seems that it's more of a 'dad' experience in many families. There were several tents with Dad and kids, one of which was particularly upsetting for the 'Mum' who was told she couldn't come because she would make too much fuss.

After observing for two days I realised that the boy was right. Some of the mum's did fuss and worry about their kids, whereas 'dad's' tended to sit and chat or play games and give little regard to where their child was, comfortable in the knowledge that there is safety in packs!

There were so many age groups and lots of parents that there really was no point worrying about them. On the odd occasion where someone did poke their eye out with a stick or tumble down the steep forest path, one of the others would always come and tell the parent straight away.


My boy is a real outdoor type and loves nothing better than to be out getting dirty and exploring. He was right at home at the camp as you can see from these pictures.

The tree was his favourite spot. Being by the river and dug into the bank made it patricularly exciting as they could climb inside it. Talk of haunted trees, Goblins and Magic Rabbits were rife.
I wonder how many children have climbed on this tree over the years?


Shall I go down there?
Looks a bit dark and dirty......

(and you have your Beaver top on and I will never be able to get it clean again if you do!)
Of course I'm going in, to hell with dark and dirty.

And then I'm going to play at the side of the river (cos we aren't allowed to go in unless the scout leaders are there) and climb on the rocks until I accidentally on purpose fall in and get wet.

Who is that hiding in the root cave? maybe the magic rabbit came back or the Goblins?

This is such a cool place to hide away from annoying parents and leaders. We can play here for hours and do exactly what we want.



Looking for dinosaur fossils and strange coloured rocks.

We aren't just playing you know, we are getting an education!

We have discovered a hundred and one things to do with a big stick. Like poking things, pretending that its a rocket launcher, cooking bread twists, whacking trees, sword fighting, fishing in the river, stabbing goblins, flicking caps off heads and lots, lots more.


Scout crafts. Everyone had to make a family flag to put outside their tent using paint and glue. Here they are drying out.

We also made mini rafts for a race on Sunday, Alexander didnt like his much though.


And here is ours flying proudly outside our tent.

Due to the fact it was made with water based paint it had to be brought it every time it began to rain.




I learnt a lesson this weekend. When packing for a camping trip with a young boy, always make sure you pack T-Shirts. For some reason I packed everything else in copious amounts except T-shirts. My poor son had to spend the weekend in either his Beaver sweatshirt or hoodie. Fortunately it wasnt scorching hot and having sleeves did protect him from getting scratched by branches etc.

Neither did he have a need for the toothbrush and toothpaste, soap or hairbrush I packed. He woke up, got dressed, went out and then when it got dark, came in, undressed (partly) and was asleep in seconds. Eating and drinking as and when required.
And apparently that is pretty much standard procedure at Scout camp.

This was taken minutes before we all went home completely exhausted and in need of a nice hot bath.

We had a great time and will definitely be going again next year. Watching children truly enjoying themselves with sticks, trees, rivers and a bonfire makes me think that we protect our kids too much these days. On paper the weekend was a health and safety nightmare. All sorts of accidents, crisis and disasters could have happened - but they didnt! Ok so there were bruises, scratches and scrapes, filthy germ ridden hands eating hot dogs and lots of flies, bugs and beetles and a rather dubious toilet block by the end of the weekend but no-one minded in the least.

Back to the sumple things in life. I can't wait to get the tent out again!