DR & LBB's Excellent Adventure

DragonRider recently finished the books Hatchet and Brian's Winter. These are both stories of survival in a desolated area. He was feeling pretty inspired because on Sunday, he decided he should give it a shot. I was all for it. It seems to be something of a right of passage almost. At least I remember wanting to do stuff like this when I was his age! So, he found an old BoyScout knapsack and filled it up with some essentials. There was food - 3 hotdogs, 3 apples, two buns, and a bottle of water. There was clothing - extra socks, mittens, and a hat. There was survival tools - flint and sparker thingy, pocket knives, paper for starting a fire and walkie talkies. He got all bundled up in his long underwear and old clothes and was ready to go.

At some point while all this was happening, LittleBoyBlue started catching on. There was no way DragonRider was going to get out the door without his little brother :) So, we found an old backpack and filled it up with a few more essentials. Mostly clothes. The food that was packed would be shared - except an additional water bottle was added. They were both pretty psyched and glad for each other's company. I told them that they could use anything they found outside, including a covered firepit and camping tools & blankets they might find in the garage, but they were NOT allowed inside the house or vehicles. It was just after 10:30 in the morning and they were on their own for the day!

They had an amazing time. They made a shelter in the hay barn - up high where nothing could steal their food. They covered their area with blankets and settled in. They found twigs and bark that they would need later for a fire and stockpiled it. They brought the firepit to where they thought they'd need it (we ended up moving it before they used it so the hay wouldn't accidentally catch fire from a flying spark). It was all so cute and well done. They came in the house once around 3 because they couldn't get the fire started with the flint. He tried for a l o n g time but it wasn't happening. So, I relented and came out there with a lighter and got it going for them. Other than that - they were independent and I didn't see them until around 6! DragonRider wanted to camp out overnight but I ixnayed it on account of school the next day :) Sometime though!