Scouts on Parade

We watched the local parade on the 4th. There were some very cute entries. The local Boy Scout troop along with their Cub Pack had entries as well. I was impressed with their creativity (so was my son).

There were scouts in the tent and Cubs around the 'camp fire'. They "bribed" the judges by giving them marshmallows that had been heated over the fire. Very cute.

These were being pulled behind the Scout trailer. The canoes were mounted (or tied on to) furniture dollies.

They started a water war while "bailing" their canoes.

The rest of the troop. It looked like a very large troop/pack combination.

Pack 593 Pinewood

To be fair to the boys, several of them were very creative as well..

Blue & Gold (phone views)

These are some of the photos my kids took with my phone Saturday night at the Blue & Gold Banquet.

Arrow of Light & Cross Over

Today is our Blue & Gold banquet. My boys will officially receive their Arrow of Light award (they earned it at the start of the year). They'll also be received by their chosen Scout Troop. I'll have pictures (hopefully) next week.

Last Den Meeting Ever..

It's kind of a sad day today. It's the last den meeting I'll hold with my Cub Scout patrol. They cross over into Boy Scouts this upcoming Saturday and are out of my hands. I can only hope I've helped them have lots of fun and that they'll continue with scouting. I have 9 boys in my patrol and all plan on joining Scouts. 7 of those 9 are earning their Arrow of Light award. I'm very proud of them and know I'll miss them, but it's time for the next step.

Pinewood Pics

The Webelos II were 'in charge' of the cars this morning at the Pack Pinewood Derby. It was a short race, so I only got a few pictures. But here are my boys that were there..

While they waited on results, siblings were allowed to race (if one was a non-scout).. my two watching their cars..

Pinewood Derby!

The race is tomorrow! Immediately followed by another basketball game. Anyway, here are the cars that we'll be racing..

Robert

Carolyn

Me..

Mine's actually too heavy to race, it'll just go in for show..

Arrow of Light

Today my Cub Scouts start working on their Arrow of Light displays. Hard to believe that almost 4 years ago I started working with my boys. True, of the ones I started with I only have 3 left, but I've added 5 more to the original 3 and should have 8 crossing over in February. This is a cool thing. They've worked hard and I've enjoyed it all the way. My son starts with his new troop tomorrow, getting in to Boy Scouts. Some days it's hard to believe he's gotten as old as he is, but with the new year brings new things and this is just one. Keep on Scouting, boys.

Yule Log

Three of 'my' boys at Yule Log

Helping raise and stake the flags & poles

Participating in the First Aid Relay (Fireman carry 'victim')

Yule Log - Scout Master Stew

I took some of my scouts out to Scoutland yesterday to participate in Yule Log. Their first experience in seeing a large organized scout event. Their first time encountering "Scout Master Stew". A very interesting thing, that. You start with a random selection of soup (contributed by the boys).

You put all of this in a large pot on a large gas cook top, stirring to make sure you have it mixed well.

And voila! Scout Master stew. Optional add-ons might be ramen noodles to add more substance to your soup.

Believe it or not, it was quite tasty.

Weekend camping

Our Webelos went camping this weekend out at Stone Mountain park. I caught quite a few pictures, but am sharing these of my son.

Learning Knots

Whittling a walking stick

Cooking a breakfast omelet in a bag

on the last one, yes we had a few go up in flames.. whether the bag fell into the fire or the boy got it too close to the fire. But still, most had a reasonable breakfast. :)

Puppets Cub Scout Style

I had my boys working on their Showman badge yesterday at Cub Scouts. I challenged them to create a play, design & make a stage and make puppets to go with it. They then had to perform it for their fellow scouts. All within a bit over an hour of time. I have to admit, they rose to the occasion (for the most part anyway).

Camping with a Troop

My den was invited to go camping with a local troop this weekend. The troop planned on doing a portion of their space exploration merit badge during the afternoon, then heading out to a local corn maze that evening after dinner. The boys had a lot of fun participating. They got to make 'rockets' out of plastic drink bottles, cardboard and duct tape. Oh, the magic and power of duct tape. Then they were able to launch them to see how their creations did. My son's didn't last the first couple of launchings, not that he really minded. He just launched the bottle without the 'rocket' part.

This picture is listening to the actual 'how to' and such portion of the merit badge. You can see that my son is thrilled to have me out there taking pictures.

This one is launching his home made 'rocket'. They are powered by air pressure. Just a bit of water, then pumped full of air and released.

No pictures from the corn maze, but they did have a lot of fun. I held the record for getting through the maze and finding all the 'hidden' spots you're supposed to find the fastest (only one wrong turn). The boys may actually go WITH me next time instead of doing it on their own. Not that it really slowed them down any, they still had a blast.

Amateur Radio

I took my son and another cub scout out to Jamboree on the Air Saturday. They were able to see a HAM radio operator attempt to make contact with other operators. Unfortunately, we were out there for an hour but didn't get to talk to anyone since reception was bad.

Popcorn Season!

It's that time of year again, popcorn season! My son starts selling today and really wants to support the military as well as fill up an order form. Trails End will send popcorn directly to units stationed abroad. There's a $25 option and a $40 option to support the troops. You can see some really cool info on what they do here.

You can order online here.

WeLOTS

WeLOTS = Webelos Leaders Outdoor Training Skills = where I was this past weekend. We started at 8a on Saturday, went to bed around midnight, were back up by 7a, finished by around 11a. At which point I came home, got a shower and went to my den meeting. Tiring, but enjoyable.

Dutch Oven cooking demo View of Lake Lanier A knot The Forestry/Naturalist badge session

HandyMan badge

Today the 'men folk' are running the den meeting. The boys will be earning their Handyman badge. I fully intend for the boys to actually CHANGE the tire on a car (or two) as well as learn to grease chains, fix flats, etc on a bike. They can "earn" this badge at summer camp, but they do more talking and theory than actually hands on. I like hands on. So, even if they've earned it, they'll really earn it today. Of course, I have to get back from camping in time to make it, something I fully intend on doing.

Outdoor Leader Skills

This weekend I'm at a workshop at Lake Lanier. It's a Cub Scout thing. I'll be learning how to camp with the boys so that we can take the boys camping. 'eh, you might say? Well, we'll leave it at this: if I want to take my patrol camping and not have it be Family camping, I have to take this course. So, I'm taking it. Back tomorrow in time for the den meeting.

Cub Scouts

We had round-up at my son's school Thursday night. We had a GREAT turn out. Assuming they all show up, there are 7 new Webelos II joining the pack. Fortunately, another parent (my co-leader's husband) has said he'll be a patrol leader for them. I'm QUITE happy about this as I already have 10 boys and can't absorb 7 more. That's assuming that they all so. If it's only one, that's a different story. So here's hoping it's all or nothing. It'll make it that much easier to handle.

Cub Scouts (frustration)

The past few weeks I've been trying to set up my basic schedule for my boys to finish up as Webelos and become Boy Scouts. The past few days I've started talking to troops to see about visits (knowing my boys will need to pick a Troop). Today it hit me that I've had extreme tunnel vision this past year. I love my assistant leaders, don't get me wrong, but someone needed to be a Gibbs and smack my head. Doing it NOW won't help, but if they'd done it last year..

As it turns out, I've been working on the schedule to finish ALL the activity badges, with the aim of getting my older boys their Arrow of Light in the process. Of course, our sister Troop has had mostly dead silence towards me and my den for some time. That's a dual fault, I haven't tried talking to them this past year and they haven't tried talking to me either (tunnel vision, I say, tunnel vision). Den chief? nope, none of those. Unfortunately, another troop tried providing one (or two) to us and those didn't work either. I'm not sure if I scared the boys off or what. So, no real contact with other troops.

That isn't really the big deal, though it might have helped. The 'big deal' is that one of the req's for Arrow of Light is an outdoor activity with a Troop. Sounds simple? Not necessarily. We have our schedule, they have their schedule, and families have their own.

Someone just shoot me now.. I'm sure I'll figure SOMETHING out, right now, though it seems a bit impossible.