Camping

The week after ASTA camp was our camping trip. Nicholas went to Boy Scout camp,

Michael went to Cub Scout day camp,

and Tony and I just camped.(This is the inside of our pop-up camper)

Well, we didn't just camp. We drove around the East End, went to lunch one day, we went shopping(and found some great deals!), and Tony helped out at Nicholas' Scout camp for one day. The day that Tony helped out, the Scoutmasters had a "Scoutmaster Shootout" at the rifle range. I happened to be there when he had to pick his team member, so guess who he picked. That's right - me! We called ourselves "the Sharps"(get the play on words? "sharp musicians" and "sharpshooters") I have never shot a rifle before in my life! so the Rifle instructor brought us to the rifle range to give us some lessons. Here's a picture of me shooting a .22:

Now my brothers and sisters know that I have amblyopia, or "lazy eye", which means my eyes don't focus well together at all. To shoot this .22, however, I only needed my right eye(that's my good eye) to look through the sight at the target. I was absolutely amazed that out of 10 shots, I got 5 shots in the bullseye area! I know, I know, it must have been beginner's luck.

Well, that afternoon was the shootout contest. The target was a picture of billiard balls. Each team was assigned to shoot out the middle of their ball number, and whichever team got the closest grouping of shots together won the contest. Tony went first, and did pretty well. His 5 shots were all within an inch of each other. Then my turn came, and I managed to shoot all 5 of my shots in-between Tony's. I was pretty impressed with myself! Now, you would think that all of these Scoutmasters who have been at rifle ranges numerous times would be excellent marksmen. I didn't see how everyone did, but the teams' results I did see were much further apart than ours were. Needless to say, when we went to visit Nicholas the next day, his Scoutmaster told us that Tony and I won the shootout. I'm still shocked about it! Tony told me that because of my cross-stitching and sewing, I am able to keep my eyes and hands steady and focussed. I don't know if I'll go to a rifle range again, but I must admit that I kind of enjoyed myself!