Apple Butter Day

Yesterday was cold but there was no staying in for us! The boys have had a cold lately so I've cancelled everything I can to keep them home so they can rest but Nick needed one more even to finish cubscouts so out we went!

He needed to attend a boyscout hosted event and since he bridges over to boyscouts this month we were running out of time. So thankful for Apple Butter Day! So many fun activities!

We hadn't planned on staying long so I asked the kids what they most wanted to do. Brandon and Megan picked archery, Nick picked tomahawk throwing and off we went.

 Megan was the only one I got a picture of at the archery range, the boys were too fast! She hit the target but I didn't get a shot of that.

Since the BB gun range was right beside archery, we stopped there too. Nick wasn't feeling good at that moment so he sat this one out.

 Tomahawk throwing had a huge line but since it was Nick's only request, we waited. Even he wasn't thrilled with my decision to wait but I'm so glad we did. Both boys hit the wood!

 If you cut the card you get to keep it. Brandon's souvenir:

 Nick did really weel too:

 Megan gave it a try but no wood for her.

Even though it was cold and cloudy it was a great afternoon!

Cub Scout Day Camp

Last week was Cubscout Day Camp. This is our last year participating in this week-long day camp since Nick will bridge to boyscouts in the fall so the we made sure to enjoy the week! I volunteer as well as Brandon and Megan goes to the "Sbling Circle" for a camp of her own while we're there. And Nick, of course, gets to have all the fun!

I was a little worried about the weather since on our first day it RAINED all day long! My camera didn't get drug out too many times on that day but I have a few pictures to share:

 The first day is busy with making I.D. "passports" and a flag that their den carries to each activity for the week. There are over 500 boys at camp this week so it's important that they can easily spot their den (the flag really helps with this) and that there is security in place for signing in and out.

 Nick's den was the Rattlesnakes in keeping with the Wild West theme of the week.

 Even the siblings get to fish! Of course it rained on them.

 The next day was creeking! Those boys were catching all kinds of critters!

 Since I volunteer at a station, I can only sneak out to see what fun thing Nick is doing when I have breaks. I miss so much but I'm thankful for the ones I do get to see!

 That smile says it all :)

Camp Falling Rock is one of the prettiest camps I've ever seen. I'll certainly miss it there!

Our Scout

Yes, I'm still working my way through last week's Cub Scout camp! Life has been so very busy but I'm determined to make it all the way through those!

Even though we had three kids at camp, I spent the most time with Brandon. Megan was with the other siblings, Nick was with his den, but Brandon and I were both volunteers. Since he didn't have a permanent spot, he would check in every morning to see what stations needed volunteers and choose one. He got alot of experiences this week! He worked at the Emergency Preparedness station, the Flag Football station, the soccer station, and......CRAFTS! Yep he was with me two days!! And out of the other three days he worked close by my station for two of those so we did alot of walking together :) Have I mentioned the hills? We had a major hike up hill every morning, back down the hill for lunch, up again after lunch and back down at the end of the day. One of the routes was called Cardiac Hill....I kid you not. Lots of walking. Also, lots of opportunity for pictures ;)

 And here's my helper!

Brandon, thank you for being my helper! I had so much fun with you this week!

Our Daisy

Even though it was Cub Scout Camp, Megan still had the opportunity to do some fun stuff! And I'm so glad. Because, really, there's nothing worse than watching fun stuff going on all around you and NOT getting to do any of it!

My station wasn't open that first morning as the cubs needed to take care of some "first day" things , so I walked around snapping some pictures ;)

Making her name tag:

 Parachute play:

 And the really fun activity of the day....fishing!

 Little girls don't fish without also just playing ;)

I'm so glad I got these because they ended up being almost the only pictures of Megan I took all week! She did all kinds of things: creeking, slingshot, BB gun (and I have the target paper to prove that she's a pretty good shot for a little thing ;)), and tye-dying. She really had a great time, but I think it was probably just a warm-up for her because the week ahead is her Daisy Day Camp!! This girl is having a very busy summer so far!

Where We Spent Our Week

Cub Scout Day Camp!!! Camp Falling Rock is gorgeous!

After much discussion, we decided to make this a Family Affair by volunteering to help out. I ran a station (crafts. Don't laugh! I can do crafts if someone gives me the supplies and says, "do this". ;)) and Brandon was a floating scout helper. They even had a "sibling's circle" so Megan had fun stuff to do also.

It was a wonderful experience for all of us! Nicholas had such a good time hanging out with his cub scout friends and doing all sorts of "boy stuff": archery, BB gun practice, fishing, creeking, just to name a few.

 They all participated in painting their flag and when they went from station to station, the flag led the way.

He was a bit shy that first day. That's how he is sometimes. But he warmed up quickly and had a great time!

Cub scout camp rocks!!! More to come :)

Becoming a Webelos

Next on our agenda was Nick's cubscout graduation. Talk about a change of pace! We go from an auditorium so full people were sitting on the stairs and dolled up little girls everywhere to a small, intimate ceremony complete with lots of muddy-kneed boys. It was the perfect snapshot of our life :)

Leading up to his graduation, we had lots of achievements to complete at home. It was a team effort; I made went through the Bear handbook and picked out activities, Todd made it happen ;) Here are a couple:

Todd covered knife safety with both boys then Nick carved an animal out of a bar of Ivory soap.

 Since he is a Bear scout, he chose a bear :)

 After that they both completed all requirements for their Whittling Chip so Todd took them to buy their first Swiss Army pocketknife. Did that make my heart beat faster? You bet!

 But they love it :)

 Nick also learned about tools and made his own toolbox.

 He absolutely loves building things and figuring out how things go together. He's so proud of his toolbox!

I found out that the pack does many of these at daycamp in the summer so guess where Nick is going this summer ;)

Finally, his big day:

 He's a Webelos Scout now! His den:

 The whole pack:

It was a very nice ceremony. Nick is so excited to be a Webelos now and looking forward to all the fun he will have at daycamp :)

Remember how excited Megan was that her sister brought her flowers? The minute we joined back up at Nick's graduation, she was hugging on her some more :)

I can't believe I didn't get any family pictures with Nick. All I can say for myself is that we were in a bit of a hurry. Why? Because Todd had planned something special to celebrate Nick becoming a Webelos:

A little backyard campout! Our tent is too small for all of us so Todd had planned on camping with Brandon, Nicholas, and Megan but at the last minute, Megan ended up inside with me and we had a girl's sleepover ;)

It was a busy but very good day :)