Cute Kid Pix January 2024

More photos that did not make their own blog post...

While my son was having his scoutmaster meeting for his Eagle Project, I had to hang out at the restaurant (The Corner Stable). I ordered the shrimp special and a pumpkin ale aged in bourbon barrels. Both were delicious. The meeting went well too.

Not a cute kid pic, sorry!

My younger son started working on his pinewood derby car for Scouts. Here he is smoothing down the axles.

Finally using power tools!?!

We went to the roller rink for the first time in a long time. Our youngest still isn't sure on his feet but he is working on it.

Rare (and lucky) shot of all three children

Getting help from mom

While geocaching, I ran across a random statue that seemed really random--like a random face and number of feet, random materials, random proportions, etc. How many people want their arms attached to their knees?

Unnamed work in Columbia, MD

We had a substantial snow day, leading to lots of sledding but only one picture.

Using the neighbor's hill

During one of the snow days, we went mini-golfing, indoors of course!

Putting into the corner hole

A bunch of posers

The final hole!

Before the AFC Championship, I went to a Baltimore Ravens rally at a local shopping center. The marching band and some of the cheerleaders were there, along with some uber-fans.

Side view of the band

Front view from back of the crowd

What a car!

I saw a hawk sitting on our backyard fence. I got a picture through the kitchen window. I tried to open the sliding door to the back but it flew away.

Usually squirrels are in that spot

My eldest participated in one of his fellow Scout's Eagle Court of Honor and did a great job. It will be his turn soon!

The Trail to Eagle part of the ceremony

Cute Kid Pix November 2023

More pictures that didn't make their own posts...

I chaperoned my youngest's field trip to the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore. It was fun if a bit repetitive after the same trip last year. My group loved the build zone so much we went there twice.

Generating power

Building with blocks

Science experimenting

More generating power

More building with blocks

Our dance studio held its Renaissance Dance in November, which was fun to dress up for. Our niece came too!

A blast from the past

I donated blood and got a cool pair of socks!

Don't leave this elf on a shelf!

I had a crazy/awesome game of Draftosaurus on Board Game Arena, scoring big without even using any of the highly-valued T-Rexes!

I love it when a plan comes together!

The Scholastic Book Fair came to school, resulting in some cute reading time at home.

Reading is FUNdamental

The weather is getting colder. Even statues need scarves!

Roscoe from Takoma Park

The scouts made some decorations for a future visit to either an old-age home or a hospice. It was fun if not exciting work.

Getting the gingerman together

Working together

Cute Kid Pix July 2023

More pictures that didn't make their own post...

The cub scouts had their raingutter regatta in July, which was a fun time for my youngest. While other dens were racing, the kids had water guns to shoot each other, so all the scouts were very wet before the race even started. 

Proud shipbuilder

Finishing in first

Ready to run again

After the racing was done, the cubmaster challenged the boys to dunk him in a tank of cold water. That was very popular, even with some of the parents!

Aiming to please

My older scout is working on an Eagle project, partnering with Sleep in Heavenly Peace, Howard County. The charity provides free beds to kids in the county so they don't have to sleep on the floor. We did a practice delivery to see what it was like. The kids were so happy.

Making the bed after making the bed, if you know what I mean

The trip to Europe used up a lot of the month, so not too many pictures here. More next month!

Klondike Derby 2022

My youngest son went to the Klondike Derby hosted by the local Scouting BSA district. At this derby, the scouts reenact some of the many challenges faced by those who went north back in the 1890s to search for gold in the Yukon Territory.

One of the challenges faced by the young scouts was crossing the icy waters of a bay. Each scout was given two small ice bergs (carpet squares) to leap frog their way to shore.

Ready to go forward

Grabbing the 'berg to move it in front

Another challenge for the intrepid explorers was the ever-popular team-cross-country skiing. Our pack had been put with another cub pack and my son worked with total strangers! They had a great time practicing. To provide extra motivation, they had a second go where they had to cross a field. But now it was 2145 and an evil doctor turned all the earth's water into lava! The only way to shut off his water-transforming machine was to cross a pool of lava on lava-proof skis and push the self-destruct button. My son liked that a lot.

It's hard enough being coordinated by yourself, now with others?

The next station had the cubs practice their hunting skills. They were given long poles with ropes tied to them, the way they spear-hunted back in the day. The cub had to stand on the rope, throw the spear at the target, and pull the spear back with the rope.

Thar she hangs!

Another hardship was climbing over hills.

Waiting for his turn

Going up

In search of more nutrition, the scouts had to capture salmon in a net. In this case, the salmon were balls thrown downhill by older scouts. The nets were tarps. The scouts held one edge of the tarp/net to create a barrier. Once all the salmon/balls were on the tarp, the scouts picked up the other edge of the tarp, capturing the balls inside. Then they had to pour them into a bucket, which was less fun than catching the balls.

Ready for action

An even bigger challenge was following a rope while snow-blind (or with a blindfold for the snow- and wind-deprived). The rope course turned a few times, went over obstacles like tires and through some blue tubes (seen in the picture below). The challenge was tough but enjoyable.

Snow blind trail

The next station had scouts saving drowning scouts with a rope tossed from the shoreline. This was a bit trickier than anticipated. 

Getting the lasso ready

Throwing the rope

One of the final obstacles was crossing rivers using nothing other than rope bridges. These bridges show up in lots of scout events and are fun to cross. Too bad they don't make them big enough for adults!

Carefully crossing creek

Why couldn't the second bridge be for adults?

My son had a great time at the Klondike Derby. We'll probably go again next year!

See his older brother at a previous Klondike Derby here.

BALOO Training!

As part of my Woodbadge ticket, I took BALOO training hosted in the Baltimore Area Council of Scouting BSA. The name stands for "Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation" and is meant to mimic the character from The Jungle Book who teaches Mowgli the law of the jungle. We learned the law of the outdoor camping, which was fun. The camp site is just outside Poplar Springs Park in western Howard County.

Park entrance

Pretty sure this is the Poplar Spring

I already have some camping skills, like setting up a tent. They encouraged small tents since each of us had our own tent and the campout was only one night.

Our 1-2 person tent

We have a smaller tent but I didn't take it since the forecast had rain and drizzle. The one-person tent does not do well in the bad weather.

The scout campground is right next to a residential street. My nearest neighbors were chickens!

In the coop

The course started on Friday night. We had a campfire program as a model to show the elements of a good campfire. They described and then demonstrated various components of a campfire, including songs, skits, walk-ons, and ceremonial bits. We didn't do any cooking, i.e. no smores!

The campfire

The guy managing the fire did a great job and was able to extinguish it easily thanks to a good set-up. He said that he puts an unburnt stick in the middle of the campfire remains to assure the fire is completely out. 

The fire ring extinguished

Saturday morning we had a model flag-raising ceremony. My den was selected as the color guard, meaning we had to raise the flag. I attached it to the rope and pulled it to the top!

Later in the day

We learned a lot of other skills throughout the day, including knot tying, whittling safety, first aid (a natural follow-on after whittling), aquatics (though no actual swimming or boating), cooking (thanks to Covid, we didn't do any practical skills), hiking, geocaching (a nice add-on to a hike), and other topics. The group had three dens so we rotated through three stations. Some people got their first aid before their whittling!

The campground

During the geocaching rotation, we found the Poplar Springs Cache in the park. I already had the app loaded and led the way.

It's in there somewhere

One of the final rotations was through Large Group Games, where we were taught games appropriate for a whole bunch of people to play. One team game was taken from the recent Klondike Derby. Two scouters had to stand on a pair of planks and walk across the field. It's much harder than it looks! But also fun.

Tools to cross the field

The final ceremony was the awarding of completion certificates. The organizer made one long tube out of the certificates and made them into Kaa the Snake, another character from Jungle Book. Participants went one at a time to get their diploma and to announce the next recipient. 

Can you spot the snake?

The course is a lot of fun. I would definitely recommend it and I am now ready to help the pack go camping.