A survivalist summer, and white dresses

Scarborough Fish and Game sponsored a Maine Youth Field Day a few weeks ago (well, maybe a month ago, I'm not keeping up so well with my blog lately) and my girls had an opportunity to do some target shooting and learn more about outdoor survival skills.

The outdoor survival skills workshop was of particular interest to L. since doing her "living off the land" project this summer. She knew several of the tips offered by the instructors - like the fact that birch bark is a great fire starter - but also walked away with some new gear ideas for our longer mountain hikes. (Those however needed to be added to the Christmas wish list.)

L. peeling the bark into thin strips so they would more easily ignite.

Planning for a variety of scenarios with the least amount of gear weight is all about making decisions on what you really will need. But the knowledgeable instructors offered the kids tips on what to take and why it would be helpful - like a good small knife for cutting branches for a "log cabin" fire.

Then two weeks ago L. found a Discovery Channel cable show online featuring a couple of survivalist guys from different backgrounds teaming up to teach others how to survive in a variety of scenarios. The show, Dual Survival, just finished its first season and L. tracked down nearly every episode (it started in June) so she and her sister could watch them online (we don't have cable).

The dynamics between the two guys - one a former Army sniper, the other a naturalist who never wears shoes - is amusing. It's also really interesting to watch how each guy's survival training is put to use to solve each problem they face. The guy's unexpected collaborations to make something work offers some good lessons on teamwork too. The season started out with the former Army guy being less than impressed with his hippie counterpart. But by the last episode of the season, there seemed to be more respect for each other's approaches. L. and G. have really enjoyed watching this series and Fino and I agreed with them it's a good one even though neither of us is a fan of reality TV. We've also picked up quite a few tips on what to do in a variety of less-than-ideal situations.



The funny thing about this series is that just the week before the girls were all in to the very girly girl show - Say Yes to the Dress. They were introduced to this one by their NYC cousins who visited us for a couple of weeks.



Given the choice between which show I'd prefer my kids to watch, I'd have to say it would not be the show that's all about spending thousands and thousands of dollars on a single dress to be worn on a single day of their life.

But we're all about expanding our horizons and learning new things at our house so I'm good with the eclectic mix of screen time my kids have had this summer.