Fathers and Sons Campout

Cameron, Landon, and I went on our first Fathers and Sons campout this past Friday and Saturday.  Our ward reserved a few sites at Del Valle State Park, near Livermore (about an hour from our house).  Besides the half hour wait in line to get into the park (very slow and inefficient ladies working at the check-in booth), we had a fun and relaxing time.  A friend of mine, Tim Willie, who was there with his 2 or 3 year old son had a big 10-man tent that he requested that we share with him, which worked great for us.  Friday evening we threw some hot dogs and hobo pies on the fire for dinner soon after arriving at our campsite.  After the hot dogs were cooked I looked around for the buns but couldn't find them at first.  Then I saw them in the coals of the fire and realized that Landon had thrown them in there.  Oh, was I angry!  But it was evident that Landon was only trying to help Daddy with dinner.  That night we had smores and sat with the others from the ward around the campfire as Bishop Burr shared a spiritual thought with all of us.  Landon got tired and wanted to go home, but I held him while sitting by the fire for a bit until he went to sleep.  And once Cameron had played with the fire long enough, we all went to bed.  Fortunately, all three of us slept very well that night without waking up.

The next day we had breakfast provided for us, as two of the Scout leaders, Ron Jacobson and Will Clark, made pancakes and bacon for everyone.  The highlight of breakfast was seeing Nathan Billeter (14 years old) drink a whole cup of pancake batter on a dare (well, he earned 10 bucks).  After breaking camp we drove a short ways down to check out the lake.  A few other guys and boys who were not in a rush to get home met us there.  I and my boys borrowed Jeff Smith's canoe and enjoyed a good half an hour rowing on the water.  That was the highlight of the trip for me, seeing Cameron and Landon get excited about riding in the canoe.  We rowed to the opposite shore of the lake, which is where I took the picture above.