It isn't often that you see Ryan sitting still for this long. This picture was taken while Ryan was at Camp Wiley, a Cub Scout camp in Running Springs, CA. I don't know about you, but this picture reminds me of something from the Andy Griffith Show. Unfortunately, I wasn't around to see him catch his fish. If you were to ask him, he would tell you that he caught a Blue Gill (he says it as if it were two separate words). I can't tell you how good the Cub Scouts has been for Ryan. Just at camp, he was able to go swimming, shoot a BB gun, learn some Archery, whittle (yes, with a real pocketknife). I have to admit, though, that I was worn out after a few days of Cub Scout Camp. I spent much of the time running back and forth between Alex's group, and Ryan's - which is why I missed capturing his fish on film. I think that I went through a couple of liters of water daily. I was very grateful that I had purchased a hydrating backpack to carry around with me.
Ryan was a star meteoroligist, too. The boys that had just graduated to Bear Scouts (going into 3rd grade) were "Weather Bears", and got to announce what the weather was going to be for the day. They also had a class in which they learned a little more about meteorology. Ryan already knew most of the different types of clouds (cumulus, cumulonimbus, stratus, cirrus, etc.).
Did I mention that one of Ryan's activities was whittling? Ryan handling a firearm? I could handle that. Ryan in Archery class? No problem. But Ryan with a knife was almost more than I could bear. This class was the reason that I didn't make it back to see Alex in Archery class. After a quick lecture in knife safety, the boys were each given a knife and a piece of wood to whittle. Fortunately, these knives were very dull, unlike the knife that I purchased for Ryan to use. Ryan then proceeded to wrap his fingers completely around the blade to open and close the knife, and because he was more to the side of the boys conducting the class, it wasn't noticed.
Before the class started, the parents were instructed not to speak to the boys. The older gentleman that ran this activity said that the only injuries he had ever had were due to parents distracting their children. Seeing my son with his fingers around the blade of a knife, however, was more than I could take. As Popeye is wont to say, "That's all I can stands and I can't stands no more." It took some effort, but I finally got the instructors' attention and they went over and supervised Ryan a bit more closely. This actually happened a couple of times before they realized that Ryan needed more supervision than most boys, but by the end of the session, someone was sitting next to Ryan the whole time. I was relieved when this activity was over. Looking at his Bear book, though, I noticed that Ryan is supposed to do a carving. I think that we will have him carve soap... using a plastic knife. As it is, his Cub Scout knife stays in my possession and only comes out when Ryan can be supervised.
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