Rain Dance - Thursday 11:00 p.m.

Adrian enjoyed a bright sunny moment in the hammock before the rain fell. Just minutes after I posted the last blog and headed back to the campsite, the rain began to fall. And it fell in whomping buckets. I have some great video of it. Our campsite quickly became a lake, and we were all trying to find dry spots to stand in. In one of the patrol areas, all of the boys hopped up on the picnic table as though it was a raft. But, we actually enjoyed it. It was just amazing to see how quickly water pools on top of this sand down here. At one point, the table boys were singing a rousing chorus of "The propellor on the boat goes round and round, round and round, round and round." I took a lot of great video of the storm, as well. I hope it's not the last video I take at camp, though, as the camera is now displaying a graphic rain drop and the words, "Dew. Eject tape!" It won't work now, but I'm hoping it'll dry out by tomorrow.
The rain cleared out just in time for dinner. Another night of mountains of good food! We were told that another storm front might be moving through during the night, and the Wilderness Survival outpost camping was cancelled. Conor and Chris were supposed to go to another part of camp with just a flint and some rope, I believe. They were a little disappointed, but not for long.
The big event of the night was the big cooking contest. This was nerve-wracking! The boys were given their secret ingredients right after dinner. Three mystery spices, a whole chicken, a mango, a kiwi, some onion, celery, carrot, and rice crispies. They were also given some canned biscuit dough and cheese. Four troops competed. Only boys could enter the "Brownsea Stadium", and all adults had to stand outside. It was quite a distance, and we had no clue what was going on. We could see fire, and we could see our guys working together, but we didn't know what they were up to. In fact, at one point, some Henson staffers told us that we could go in and observe, and our own boys threw us out and told us that we needed to keep by one full mile!
When we were allowed in, I was so proud of them! AJ led the cooking team. Paul Becker led the fire team. (We call him Pyro Paulie for very good reason!) They had also assigned a wait staff, as well. All of the boys were dressed in freshly laundered red t-shirts, green shorts and scout socks. They had their black Troop 1 aprons, and Gerome had special permission to attend the inner circle. The boys used one of my bed sheets as a tablecloth. (It's now in the washing machine in the shower house, and I'm hoping to have it in time for bed.) They also thought ahead, knowing that even though they were starting in daylight at 7:00 p.m., they would finish up in darkness around 9:00 p.m. They had lanterns for light. And the best touch of all came from Scott, who told me, "I even shaved for this, Mrs. Shields, so that I'd be presentable."
When it came time to serve, I was pleased to find that the rules were changed to staff judging only, but one scoutmaster-type person was allowed to eat, as well. I was allowed to join the judges. Let me tell you! The boys did an amazing job on their own! They chose to roast the chicken with the vegetables. Zach De carefully carved the three kiwis into garnish flowers. The chicken was perfectly done, moist, tender, not at all dry. They made a special Asian sauce with soy sauce that they were given, lime, and a few other ingredients that I can't recall right now. Paul Lee was the sous chef, and it was amazing. They also baked "cheese balls" in the Dutch oven, which was made from the biscuit dough rolled into balls and topped with cheese. It was really delicious!
But the best was how the boys behaved. They were also being judged on scout spirit, patrol cooperation, and presentation. How could the presentation have been any better? My bed sheet and Gerome as a centerpiece! They stood very proud, spoke about what they did, how they prepared the food, and also talked about how they like to work as a troop. They also let another patrol from another troop use their presentation area immediately after their entry was judged. (Other patrols did not have light and were set up in other areas of the "stadium". The staff noticed this and thank them for doing that. I can't tell you how proud I am of the boys for being gracious to others even during the competition.
The results of the judging won't be announced until tomorrow evening, but it really doesn't matter how it turns out. We think the boys are the absolute best!


Some notes about tomorrow: Lucas and Andrew will be visiting camp tomorrow. I will be leaving for Abington tomorrow evening. I will keep in contact with Frank regarding the Saturday departure and will post any last minute arrival information that I get.