Movin' on Up...

For the last 2 weeks Quinn has been counting the days until he moves from Tiger Cub to Wolf Cub in scouting. He has gone as far as asking if it was bath night because he "needs to look nice for his ceremony!". Today, he informed us that the squirrels are going crazy outside "because they know a wolf is here now".  The much anticipated ceremony arrived and to Quinn's delight, several family members were there to watch it unfold.
Instead of an orange kerchief, he now wears yellow. Instead of a tiger, he now wears a wolf insignia on his belt. These may sound like minor differences to you but to his 7 year old...it is so much more. He truly loves scouts and is so proud of his new rank. Way to go little wolf cub, we are proud of you too.

Speed Racer

Today was Quinn's 1st Pine Wood Derby. He and Jim have been fashioning a raceable item out of a block of wood for the last 2 months. There was much cutting, sanding, painting, weighing, gluing and weighing again before the big day. He was insistent that it look just like Jim's Pine Wood Derby car from 1981. After loosing in the very 1st heat, he was able to muster out a 4th place overall finish out of 50 cars in the end. When asked what the best part of the day was, Quinn responded, "Winning the 2 races and next year I am going to make my car with metal topping!". Go figure.

Hello BB gun!

Today was the much anticipated scout camp day. Quinn and I drove through the beautiful fall Iowa countryside straight to Boy Scout day camp which oozes so much testosterone it can be detected miles away (no, I have no actual proof of this but I am sure of it none the less). The highlight of the day for Quinn was the 2nd of 6 stops today, the BB gun shooting. He was able to control his excitement long enough to listen carefully to all the safety instructions and then the long awaited moment arrived, he pulled the trigger. As you can see, he hit the paper holding the target and could not be more proud. To commemorate the event he will get his 1st belt loop (equivalent to a patch for a girl scout) for BB shooting.

We got to make a bird feeder out of pine cones and leave it in the woods for the birds, just in time for winter. There was a fort that we pummeled with tennis balls launched out of catapults and the last stop was the fishing pond where we caught a large mouth bass.

The highlight of the day for me was being immersed in all things boy and seeing my son love all of it. It isn't often we are able to spend the day on his turf with few rules and no reason to reign him in. I am glad to see my son be a part of this organization that understands boys like I do not and look forward to more days like this in the future.

PS- if you look closely at the fishing picture you will notice I am holding the fishing pole with a much improved left hand! Hurray!

Our little cub scout

Quinn has never been one to think that extracurricular activities sound like a good idea, until now. When he heard that there was an activity where he could use a bow and arrow as well as a BB gun he was all over it.

After the introductory meeting he begged us to stay in scouts through the 5th grade so that he could be old enough to use the BB guns. Imagine his delight when he found out that he could be shooting with the BB guns in just a few weeks when the scouts have their first out of town camping trip.

While we are not thrilled with his obsession with the weapons, it is nice to see his enthusiasm for scouting. Thanks to some legwork by our friend Jeanie he looks adorable in the uniform ... don't you think?