Sorry for the long delay in posting. School ended on the 18th and I have just been so busy wrapping things up with principals. We have some new teachers to hire with more full day kindergarten classrooms starting in the fall that I have not had much time to myself at night.
At our Mother's Day campout my brother Kevin, Sarah and I decided it was time to unleash an urban legend. It is part of a camper's life. Snipe Hunting!
My brothers grew up Boy Scouts, my sister and I were both Girl Scouts. Additionally, every summer for as long as I can remember we would pack up the paneled station wagon and go camping for a couple weeks. There are many camping traditions to uphold. Many around the type of cooking we do and how we make fires. The girls in our family can make a fire using kindling but the boys need charcoal lighter fluid.
One tradition that we all started to talk about from scout camping was the ritual called Snipe Hunting. With my nephews at the age to take them on a Snipe Hunt we decided this was the perfect weekend. We explained to the boys, Zach in high school, Max in junior high, and Liam in 4th grade, that we had to wait until it was dark out because Snipe only appear in the dark. It being the 21st Century and them having smart phones they looked up a Snipe. Whew, there was one. It is actually a bird, wink, wink.
As soon as it got dark the boys started to bug us to take them hunting. We explained that it had to be pitch dark. Once it was dark enough for the three of us to take the boys we gave them each a pot, a cooking spoon and a bag to put the Snipe in. We explained the very important details of catching a Snipe. They were to go out into the fields as close as possible to the tree line and make as much noise as possible banging the pots and making a whooping sound. Once they saw something move in the grass they were to shine their flashlight at the bird to stun it and then they would actually be able to catch it with their bag.
So off the boys went into the field as the adults stood on the trail just about ready to bust a gut. They were making so much noise that it was almost embarassing. Sarah was out with them to egg them on and actually pretended to catch a Snipe but pushed a hole through her bag saying it got away. That really got them excited about the possibility of cathing a Snipe.
Gullible. Just plain gullible. This was going on a solid 10 minutes with us shouting directions to go closer to the tree line and make more noise. They followed our directions. Finally we brought them back to the trail and asked them if they really thought that making all that noise at night would help them catch anything but mosquito bites. It took awhile for them to realize that we had just tricked them. We all laughted so hard still in disbelief that the older boys were not feeling foolish enough to think we were tricking them.
The next morning, Snipe Hunting was the topic of the day. The boys continued to share how they could not believe we tricked them and that they could not wait to do the same to their friends at home. They really did like that we were able to pull one over on them. Going out Snipe Hunting did not have the same impact if you were not camping. Can't wait to hear their stories.