Pack Campout

M plans an all-pack camp out each June. I help set up on Friday and then go back all day on Saturday to help out. The theme was outer space (that was the theme all year -- remember the cake auction?) There were four activities to do: Frisbee golf, Rocket launch, Nature Hike (look for alien life), and Fishing (not space related, but a whole lot of fun.) They all wore their "class B uniforms" which means that they didn't have to wear their regular uniform, but could wear their Cub Scout t-shirt that they all received at the end of the year.

When I arrived on Saturday morning, I was greeted by R, happy, healthy, and filthy. (You should have seen his FILTHY feet after two days of wearing Crocs!)

Each boy decorated their own visors. (The pack was divided up into four teams, with matching colored visors for identification.) R's visor above says that he's the Commanding Officer of Cosmic Blast.

T used scissors to decorate his visor and wrote on it that he was the King of Cheesecake for the Neptune team (don't ask me, I just really don't know.) In this picture M is teaching the Neptune team how to play mini frisbee golf, with the flying saucers (frisbees) that they decorated themselves.

Here's an example of one of the frisbees --this one is decorated by a friend.



M proudly shows off his "flying saucer" with a big CM for "Cubmaster."

M designed and R helped him make all of goals for the mini golf course. R gets ready to send his saucer flying through the fourth hole in the 14-hole course.

Each team decorated a rocket ship to identify their picnic table -- this is Neptune's rocket.

R had a good time fishing, trying out his new bamboo pole. He actually won the award for catching the most fish. He caught fish. Too bad I didn't get a picture of any of them! He won a fishing pole for a prize. Since he already has two fishing poles, he gave his prize to a boy who loved the fishing and doesn't have a pole.

T is working on building his rocket. He's pretty excited to launch it.

Ready for takeoff. T minus 5-4-3-2-1



Take off!!

I tried over fifty times during the day to get the rockets coming down, finally I got one!

R gets ready to set his rocket off. He loves doing rockets!


Another successful blastoff!

Here's some of the tents all set up.

Campfires are always great.

We made "candy apples" which were apples with raisins, brown sugar, and marshmallows.

Here's the whole group with all the kids and adults.

After dessert, the boys brought down the flag. At this point, I went home and slept in my comfy bed, while M and the boys stayed the night in the tent. They were home after breakfast on Sunday, just in time for church.

Sand and Water - Good Old Fashioned Fun

R dug a big hole in the side of his sand pile and decided to stick his head in it. T thought that it was a good opportunity to pour water all over his brother. Evidently, the water was pretty cold. I just call this good old fashioned fun.

I just love good old fashioned fun!

Crazy Hair Day

I was cruising through my photos from the year and saw these from Crazy Hair day at the kids' school. I could name the pictures "Fun with Hair Gel."

T went for the spiky clumps effect.

R said that he had "bed head" to begin with, so it wasn't that hard to add the hair gel.

Too funny, huh?!?!

Sailing Solo

This is the first year that either of my boys are able to handle a sailboat by themselves. R has been crewing for M for two years now. T has reluctantly crewed for M a few times, but he's never really liked sailing. It all goes back to that unfortunate capsizing incident a few years back. For some reason, though, T decided that he does like sailing if HE is in charge. Sailing solo is the perfect thing for him. We have a little Sunfish that is perfect for the boys.


A few weeks ago, we borrowed another Sunfish from our sailing club and the boys were able to compete in a regatta. They were the only two Sunfishes racing (there was also another type of boat racing in the regatta. It was great to watch from the "Committee Boat" where I had the job of being the race official who signed the boats into the race and recorded what place they got when they finished. Being in the middle of the lake made for some good photo opportunities.


Earlier in the day, T said that he wanted to go sailing. Now, he had never sailed completely by himself before. His dad was either on the boat with him or out on the lake with him in a different boat nearby. M knew that T was ready to go solo and helped him rig the boat and sent him off to "learn how the boat worked with the wind." My baby out on the lake by himself? My mama bear instinct kicked into high gear and I stayed way out on the dock keeping an eye on him while M smiled and shook his head. M knew that there was hardly any wind and that T would be fine. I didn't take that for granted an watched him and I got a lot of pictures.

Here is T trying to get out of the marina area. He's pumping the tiller so to try to get some movement out of the boat since there was no wind.

He's making some slow progress. He sure looks like he knows what he's doing.

The boy who doesn't like sailing looks like he's having a pretty good time after all.

Here's his bro coming out to race!

They catch some wind and begin the race, neck and neck.

T got an early lead in the race and kept it for more than half of the race. He even rounded the mark ahead of R. How good that must of felt for him, to be ahead of his older brother! I hear from R that T kept turning around and shouting "tips" to R the whole time that he had the lead.

His lead didn't last the whole race. Here is where R is taking the lead. It looks like T is looking back wondering why R isn't still back there. R did win the race.

In the end, both boys were thrilled with their own performances. T was so proud to have the lead for so long, and R was so proud to finish first. What a great race!

Taking the boats back home, R stands up like he's seen his dad do.