I ((heart)) Cub Scouts.

These are the boys Ive been spending all my time with this week. They're pretty awesome. I mean that. They're AWESOME!

And the boys with the brown shirts in this next picture are also mine - my assistants, Nick and Seamus.

Tomorrow is the last day of Cub Scouts camp. Its gonna be bittersweet for me. On one hand, this camp experience has been super exhausting. The days have been hot and the shade at our location has been scarce. Im positive that the suburn I have aquired this week is going to come back and haunt me in later years. Its dirty at camp too. When I take off my shoes at the end of our day, I have a dark dirt line where my ankles meet my socked feet. Dirt and sweat might be the hallmark of a young boy's life, but in my opinion its really gross. At the beginning of this week, I felt incredibly bitter and resentful having to volunteer 7 hours of my daily time at this day camp. Babysitting 11 nine year old boys isnt normally on my list of ways to spend my summer vacation. However, watching this particular group of boys has made this past week more than tolerable; its made it kind of wonderful. These 11 boys (13 if you count my two assistants) are such fantastic young men. I have mentioned to many people this week that I have the BEST group of cub scouts at that entire camp. There honestly isnt a bad apple in the bunch. In my experience (and ironically, I have extensive experience working children's summer camps) having good kids makes a HUGE difference in the mental endurance required for working a children's day camp . My boys were amazing. They totally bought into the camp experience and in doing so, they made my time with them fun and rewarding. My boys were kind to each other. They were engaged. They were excited. Although this week has totally kicked my ass in a physical sense, I have enjoyed my week with these remarkable, young boys.

Happy Thursday night. :)