Scout History in the Making

Alexander attended his first Court of Honor & met a celebrity.

This kid in our Stake has earned EVERY single merit badge known to man--no joke!

Even the centennial ones.

What a neat kid & such a great example!

{Did I mention he's home schooled?}

1st Boy Scout Campout

Bug spray, hiking boots, first aid kit, flint & steel, pocket knife, compass.

That's what we thought you bring on a rough outdoor excursion in the wilderness. Apparently not in Orange County.

The list changes to wetsuit, surfboard, swim trunks, beach towel, sunscreen.

Early morning--hot chocolate in a water bottle.

Xander had a wonderful time.

Arrow of Light

Pack meeting was lots of fun, as usual. Out in the hallway, we heard an ominous drum beating, and in entered this impressive Chief.

There wasn't a sound in the room--he did a great job talking to the boys .
Alexander & our family were then called up {yikes--a little scary!}.
Alexander was then presented the highest award in Cub Scouts, the Arrow of Light. It was a really special ceremony and an experience he won't forget.
Thanks to all who helped get him here!

He loves it! I have to give a huge shout out to the Farabees {especially Molly} for making this wicked cool plaque and taking pics for us at Pack Meeting. You rock!

Boy Scout

New uniform...new adventures!

Pinewood Derby-- Year 3

Our last year of Pinewood Derby {sniff, sniff}--I can't believe it. Alexander's awesome design idea this year was to make his car look like a Wii remote. We thought it was a fantastic idea. The boys didn't have much time to work on it this year, but we thought it turned out great! Darren made a painting booth, complete with string to suspend the car from. That's my engineer!

Alexander's car is on the far right. That darn graphite always messes up the best paint jobs!
We combined with another ward, and it was fun to see so many families from our previous wards {before we all split}. These are Alexander's three cars from the past years. Home Depot, Twins & the Wii.

Zoom! Off in a flash. I think Xander's car was 6th overall.

{It didn't help that during a test run on the tabletop, Mom missed catching his car & it got beat up and bent just before the race} Sorry, bud! We're proud of you!

Day Camper

Aaaaaaaarg! Cub scout day camp is hands down the highlight of the summer for pre-teen boys. For three days they are constantly moving, building, and learning archery, BB shooting, swimming, yelling, obstacle courses, and the list goes on. Our camp goes for three days, and the boys don't get home until 11:00 p.m. By day three, they're beyond exhausted. This year's theme was Pirates of the Pueblo {as if you couldn't tell}. Xander Man loved every minute! {except for getting a nasty scrape on his back} I don't know how I feel about the camp giving them hoop earrings... Darren was able to go up and participate with the boys on their last day. These are a few pics he snapped with his phone.

Super Scout Saturday

This is the last Saturday before Alexander is a Webelo Scout, so we're sprinting to earn lots of arrows. Typically we don't have very many clouds in the sky, so it was the perfect day to learn about and study them. The kiddos had fun with this little project.
We did eraser stamp drawings, classified these shells {which made me MISS Maine}, made a tin can planetarium, studied animal tracks, and lots of other things. FYI: If you're bored this summer, pick up a Cub Scout book. They're jam packed with all kinds of fun activities to do & the kids love it!

Pinewood Derby--Year 2

Alexander loves a theme. {Must be genetic!} This year Alexander is playing on the Twins baseball team, so he wanted his car to have the Twins logo on it.Priming and paintingSmoothing out the axles
The cars! We combined with another ward, so there were quite a few participants. Alexander's car is the dark blue one with the Twins logo on it. I thought it was ingenious that he painted the wheels white with red threads to look like baseballs.
He and another scout tied for 2nd place. Xander was fine with taking 3rd. What a great sport. All smiles and genuinely happy for everyone who participated. Way to go, Twins!

Scout Project...AKA Deadly Weapon

We tried over Spring Break to get some scouting arrow points done with Alexander. One was to build this nifty scooter. Alexander & I scrounged up the parts @ Home Depot, but asked Darren to help with the rest.

As the boys were working on the project, Darren flipped the scooter over just as Alexander was moving toward it. He got a pretty good bump & scrape, just an inch from his eye. Thankfully it wasn't anything worse.

Sorry all you scouters out there--but his Razor is much more fun {and less dangerous} to ride:)

Grrrrr!

Alexander earned his BEAR!

He and his friend Kameron {Alexander calls him his twin} earned their badges last night @ Blue & Gold Banquet. {Thanks for the bear claw, Sister Elsberry!}

We are so happy to have a scout program up and running again. The ward split in June of last year, and the boys have really missed it. Alexander earned this badge thanks to his amazing Grandma Kathie. They have little pack meetings over the phone:)

World Conservation Award

Tonight Alexander earned his World Conservation (Panda) Award, and a total of 9 arrowheads. Way to go! We are so proud of him! He loves being a Cub Scout.

Pinewood Derby

This year was Alexander's fist Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. He took 1st place in his den and then 3rd place in a combined den race (be sure to watch the video below). It complied with the rules but had a little "extra" engineering. When it comes to the Pinewood Derby some secrets will be taken to the grave.

Cutting out the car.

Counting fingers after cutting.

Sanding, sanding and sanding.

Alexander's design. Since Home Depot's #20 car, driven by Tony Stewart (or as Courtney says "Twenty Stort") is his favorite NASCAR, the theme was easy.

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