Indian Guides - Comanche at Camp Tecumseh

You couldn't ask for a better setup. The forecast was sunny and 72 degrees. The place was Camp Tecumseh. This was the Camelot of Indian Guides campouts and I wasn't going to miss a minute of it. So Tate and I headed out on Friday night for the 2-1/2 hour drive to Brookston Indiana. It was still light when we got there, so we grabbed some bunks,

and headed out for a little fun. First we checked out the playground with Brae Brae Smash.

Then, Tate slid down the Arrow.

It was getting dark pretty fast, and can only mean one thing: time for a campfire. I'm sure we were in bed by a reasonable hour in some timezone.

Saturday was time to do everything Camp Tecumseh has to offer. First, horseback riding.

On the way, Tate found a bird's nest so we dropped that off at the nature center.

Then, it was time to make a candle.

It was still morning and we had barely scratched the surface. So, we took in some views of the Tippicanoe River...

...and headed over to the climbing wall...

so Tate could ring the bell.

The climbing wall doubles as a lookout tower, so we went up and looked out.

Can you believe it? It's still not even lunch time. So, we headed over to the bridge...

checked out the teepee...

...and the colonial village.

After lunch, we definitely needed to find the Ghost Cabin.

I found the Ghost Cabin last year with another Comanche / Fox dad leading the way. He took us on the "scenic route," a few wrong turns, up and down some steep slopes. Somehow, I took pretty much the same route. We went with Brae Brae Smash, because he'd never seen the Ghost Cabin, either.

Anyone seen the Ghost Cabin?

At last!

Tate was underwhelmed.

No time to rest, we needed to try the Black Hole. Tate was not at all sure he wanted to slide down through that tube. But, maybe if we went together...

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Since I had bought some riflery tickets, Tate went shooting. The target survived unscathed. The archery target was not so lucky.

Tate found his true passion-- the obstacle courses. I'll spare you the 7-1/2 minute video of him completing an entire course, so these are the highlights:

How-How, Chief Tecumseh!

Time for a wagon ride back to the Lake Village.

No time for rest, Tate wanted me to paddle him around the lake.

After some down time and dinner, we started the Saturday Camp Fire. Before long, the procession came to lead us to the ceremonial circle. This was passage: 4th and 5th grade boys were graduating from the program. I saw guys with patches on their vests dating back ten years and got a little misty eyed. We'll be doing this for a few more years , so I needed to pull it together.

We called the spirits of the four winds:

Then, all the boys did their Tribal Cheers. The Mighty Comanche took second place with this beauty:

That could make you hungry so we headed back for smores and burgers and late night antics. The boys eventually went to bed and there were no major injuries.

The next day, Tate slept in a little. OK, he was the last one up.

But we barely made breakfast at the lodge.

We played a little GaGa (not to be confused with Lady GaGa), a little teatherball, and said goodbye to Camp Tecumseh.

Until the next time.

An Afternoon at Fullersburg Woods

On Saturday, we were looking for something cool to do that met our somewhat restrictive budget: $0. We wanted to do something active and outdoors so we decided to spend the afternoon at Fullersburg Woods forest preserve in Oak Brook. Fullersburg has a great nature center, and lots of trails. It's pet friendly, so Levi could have come (if we had only known).

As we prepare for our hike, the kids scout the area for wild animals, good paths, and (in Tate's case) boxes of Nerds.

We stop by the nature center and wind up spending about half an hour there checking out all the cool stuff they have to offer, like a big bird nest:

There's lots of other really cool stuff at the Nature Center. They have some live critters: walking sticks, a salamander and fish. There's crafts, interactive exhibits and very helpful staff. Tate even found a huge fossil of a wooly mammoth who had lost his head.

They also let you "rent" stuff by giving them your car keys so we rented some extra binoculars, magnifiers, bug eye lenses, a bandana and a backpack so dad can carry everything. I love stopping every 30 seconds to take stuff out or put it away.

Just outside the door, we found out how big cottonwood trees can get.

First, we had to get our bearings. "Kids, find north."

Fullersburg Woods has great trails, but they are lined with poison ivy. In fact, there's poison ivy everywhere, so the first thing we did was have a lesson on identifying the nasty weed. Don't touch the poison ivy:


To me, there's nothing like the peace of hiking. Quiet, calm, nature. But if your kids like playing their Nintendo DS's in front of the TV while putting together a lego rocketship and fighting, you might want an "enhanced" hiking experience. No problem, Fullersburg Woods has you covered:

Sure enough, our attention-deprived boy found some tracks:

Even though it was barely 70° and nobody was thirsty, you can't pass up a water pump.

After all that pumping is was definitely time for a break.

Crossing Salt Creek, we found a mother duck and her ducklings.

Soon, we passed the Big Spooky Tree.

And that is when Tate found Jaws:

We packed up Jaws in the bandana and brought her back to the nature center. A helpful person working there identified Jaws as a female stag beetle.

She told us Jaws was a girl because her jaws were so little. The boys have even bigger ones they use to fight over the chicks. She picked it right up and said they don't usually pinch, so I had to hold her too.

Before we left the nature center, the kids had to make tracks. This cool exhibit was lined with silly putty and had stampers for making animal tracks.

On our way out, we passed a sign that read "please touch these benches, quickly now, don't listen to your dad."

We had a great time at Fullersburg Woods and it only cost us a few mosquito bites. We definitely got our money's worth.