Flash Back Friday

Jamboral May 8 2010

In celebration of the Boy Scouts of America 100 years of Scouting, our council had a Jamboral at the state fair grounds. It was open to all scouts, including the cubs. Lee and Robbie went with their troops on Friday night, and I decided to take Rickie and two of his friends on Saturday. The turn out was amazing, there was well over 8,ooo people there, about 2000 more than the council planned for. They had so many fun things to do. We all had a great time, despite the crowds. Lee and Robbie were with their troops all day so I didn't get any pictures of them, but they had a blast.

Matt, Rickie, and Tyler in front of the monster truck

Rickie holding on for dear life as a Varsity scout tried to "throw him from the bull"

The boys loved this, they spent almost an hour ridin the bull. They even got blisters from the rope.

This was a fun station. The boys would race/petal to get the the liquid in the tubes up to the top to make a horn go off. It was really hard because their feet would slip off the petals when they got going fast. Rickie won this round.

It wouldn't be a scouting event without guns. There were several stations with different types of guns. One of which was the machine gun. Apparently, only scouts 14 and older were allowed to shot the machine gun, but the army guys were not so good at following the rules. So when Tyler's older brother saw cubs shooting he came and found us and they got a chance to fire the machine gun. It was the best part of the day for Rickie. It was even sweeter for him when he told Lee and Robbie about it and they were green with envy. It's not often that Rickie gets to do something his older brothers haven't.

As I was waiting for the boys to get their turn with the gun, the army guy looked and me and asked if I wanted to try. I had never fired a gun before, let alone a machine gun. But I figured I'd better not pass it up, it may be the only chance I get to fire one. It was awesome! I was shocked at how fun it was. I now understand why people go out shooting.
I came home and told Ches we should get a gun, I wanted to go shootin again. He liked that idea.

It was a fun day of Scouting.

Swim Club

This summer the kids joined a swim team/club at Apple Athletic. It was in June and July twice a week for an hour and a half. They learned the different types of strokes and how to dive and whatnot. At first, the boys didn't like it much, said it was too exhausting. But I made them go and in the end the they loved it. They got so good at swimming and diving. Lee was able to earn his swimming merit badge at scout camp and Robbie passed off the swim requirements for Second Class scout. Rickie showed the most improvement. At the beginning of the summer he didn't like be in the deep end of the pool. Now he is very confident in his swim skills, he can dive in and swim where ever. He now wants to earn the aqua pin for Webelos next month.

Lee and Robbie were on the same team. They were good buds who supported each other....I loved it!

Rickie learning to dive...he mastered it in the end

Lee after swimming his laps

Robbie feelin good after a race

Rickie having a break between laps

Kimmie was also in swim club. She did a great job the first week. She had swim lessons last year and was an awesome swimmer so we thought she would love being in swim club. We were SO wrong. The first time she was asked to swim along the edge of the lap pool without a float board, she panicked. Tears flowed and she refused to be in the water without me or her life jacket on. I could see a fear of swimming forming so I talked to the coach and had her transferred back to regular swim lessons.

Kimmie was confident and happy if she had her life jacket on....not so great since I wanted her to learn how to swim

They put her in level one swim class again. Her bestest friend Isabelle was in her class and that really helped her relax and build her confidence so she could enjoy swimming again.

Her coach was fabulous. He was so patient and encouraging.

By the end of the two week lesson she had returned to her former mermaid self. She was even willing to swim without the coach holding her hands.

Kimmie had one more round of swim lessons left. The coaches decided that she was swimming so well they bumped her up several classes, putting her with the 8 yr olds. Her class was all boys and she totally showed them up. She swam faster and better then any boy in the class. She is an amazing swimmer ~ I'm so proud!

It was so great having the kids swim this summer. It gave them something to do each week, so they weren't as bored. I loved that involved exercise and they all learned that they can do hard things.

Flash Back Friday

Yellowstone August 2009

Last August for our family vacation we went to Yellowstone for a week. It was our first time visiting the park. We loved it! The kids enjoyed the scenery and helped us look for wild life. They loved the geyers (except the smell) and enjoyed the hikes and visitor centers. Since we live so close we plan on visiting every year.

In West Yellowstone there is a Bear & Wolf Reserve. It is not apart of the Nat'l Park, but it was awsome. There are lots of exhibits about bears and wolves and there are some live ones you can watch while they feed and play. The kids loved the wolves. We watched them "hunt" for some food the caretakers hid in their habitat.

This is in the learning section of the Reserve, there are exibits of stuffed bears and wolves in their natural environment. It is really awsome how they are setup, the sad part is a lot of the bears and wolves in the exhibit were killed by poachers.

This is the grizzly bear Spirit. She was the only bear out that day.

Lee being attacked by a grizzly.

These are the canis lupus that were real active while we were there.

Ches loves canis lupus.

Kimmie at Yellowstone Lake

As we were leaving the park one night there was this buffalo bull on the side of the road. We pulled over to watch and getr some pictures. There were many people who got out of their cars to get close up shots, I was happy to zoom in with the camera from the safety of the van. The bull was huge. It was definately the highlight of the day.

This is the two room cabin we stayed in at the KOA in West Yellowstone.

Lee and Robbie all snug in their beds.

Having breakfast at the cabin.

At Old Faithfull

As you can see from Rickie and Kimmie it's smelly at the geysers.

The kids showing off their treasures on the cabin porch swing

This is at the Bear & Wolf Reserve.

Robbie huggin a bear outside the Bear& Wolf Reserve