Tiger Cub "Go See It" #1

For our first "Go See It" the two Tiger Dens came together and went to the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum. 

The boys were attentive, polite and even asked questions and made comments about some of the displays.  The first display that we saw on the main floor of the museum featured some of the prominent members of the Black community through the history of McMinn County.  One of the kids politely interrupted the guide to tell her "Yeah, but only, the color of your hair and eyes and skin, don't matter." 

Next we moved on to the "old timey" Dr's office, complete with a full human skeleton and an extra skull courtesy of the First Athens Baptist Church.  They literally had a skeleton in their closet.

The boys watched our guide carefully as she held the human skull and told them how fragile it was.  She got this look from the boys when she accidentally dropped the top of the skull on the counter...she decided not to pass the skull around since she couldn't even hold it careful enough...LoL...but she did hold it out for each of the boys to get a good look and she even offered to let them touch it... 

Zachary wasn't completely convinced that he wanted to touch the skull... 

They also had an old dentist's office display, an old gas pump and a country store set-up.  The guide talked about how people used to barter instead of just purchasing things from the store.  She also talked about how most families only went to the store once a week and if the kids had done their chores they could trade the goods that they got to keep for a piece of hard candy.

Aiden really liked seeing the weaving loom, sock darning machines and the spinning wheel.  He said they reminded him of his Grandma.

The boys really thought the old toys on display were awesome.  They each picked out which one they would have wanted, while the parents discussed which ones we had had growing up.

There was a beautiful church display.

Some neat postcards sent throughout the years.

The museum got a lot of donations from the USS Charles R. Ware on display and we got to hear a little bit about it's history, too.

The kids enjoyed trying to make letters with flags... 

...getting to see what the soldiers had on board to provide them some entertainment...

...The various uniforms, from the different wars throughout history...

....and the models of the tanks and planes and how they have changed over time!

The kids quickly identified the bathtub on display and commented on the fact that their parents still use wrought Iron pans to this day.

They each got to take a turn milking the cow before our time was up.  I think it's name was "Molly Moo" and I'm not sure if it was motion activated or on a timer, but boy was she noisy when she wanted to be... LoL... she kinda spooked a couple of the boys until they got to see her.

There was way more to see than what we had time for in our 1-hour block that we had scheduled, but I think it was a nice visit.  The boys seemed to enjoy the experience and they might have even learned a thing or two, at least I hope so.

I managed to get a couple of pictures at the very end of the tour of most of the kids that made it... I think one or two families snuck out before I realized that the other group was still in the museum, but getting this many to stand still and look in one direction was enough of a challenge...

One "Go See It" down, 4 more to go. Til next time!

Time for some Cub Scout Bling!

Aiden is officially a Bobcat!  On October 21, 2014 he was awarded  his Bobcat Badge and his Tiger Cub Immediate Recognition Emblem along with 4 of his fellow Den members in Tiger Den 2!  We have been working hard at getting the 8 requirements met for the Bobcat Badges and so far 5 of the Cubs in our Den have made it!  Congratulations to all of the boys, their hard work has paid off and they got some new "Bling" to add to their uniforms too!  We have been having a lot of fun in Cub Scouts this year and we are looking forward to even more fun as we continue to complete Achievements and Electives.  By the end of our next meeting some of the Cubs will be up to 5 of their 15 beads that they need to earn to get their Tiger Cub Badge. It makes me so happy to see so much interest and enthusiasm out of the boys and the dedication that their Adult Partners are putting in. 

 Aiden was so excited to have his Badges!!! I love the awe and excitement on his face!

Congratulations Aiden!  You worked hard and earned this!!!

Fall Family Camp-out at Buck Toms Boy Scout Camp

We set out for our first Family Camp-out at Camp Buck Toms in Rockwood, TN on Friday, October 10 with the Pierce family from our pack.  We packed the kids in like sardines after school and set-off on an adventure. 

 There were 4 families in our Pack that went to the Fall Family Camp this year and even though we endured a lot of rain, we still had fun!!! This is a picture of our home away from home for the weekend.

Since our Pack flag was at the Pumpkintown Festival for popcorn sales for the weekend we improvised and made a new Pack Flag out of an old towel, some permanent markers and the Cub Scout's, Tag along's and a couple of Adult Leader's hands.

Saturday was a long day, that started bright and early at 6:30 a.m.  We got up had some breakfast and then divided up by rank for activities.

The Tigers started with a fire safety activity (Achievement 3F).  We discussed the importance of changing batteries in smoke detectors, testing smoke detectors and having a meeting place outside the house in case of fire as well as escape routes. 

Then they paired off in groups of two to make a sandwich together.  The catch: each kid could only use one hand. They had to spread jelly on their piece of bread, fold it in half, cut it in half and put it in a bag as a team.

They all really seemed to enjoy this challenge and they worked very well together.

After all of the jelly sandwiches were made, cut in half and put in their paper bags we played another cooperation game by forming a circle and moving through a hula hoop until it went all the way around the circle without anyone breaking the circle.  Of course we also played with the hula hoop a little bit too.

The wolves did some campfire cooking activities and made some pretty awesome brownies.  

During our free time we did a little relaxing, played some Frisbee, and the Dads took the kids for a walk. *Note: If you find something interesting on a walk like a feather, be sure to bring it back to camp.  You may find that you need it later, for say a Scavenger Hunt activity... LoL...

Though the kids enjoyed the free time, there were times when they seemed bored.  We were thinking that for the next Camp-out, maybe we could organize some activities for our Pack that could earn the Scouts a belt loop.  Since it was our first Family Camp, we were a bit unprepared at times.  It was a good learning experience for all of us.

After our free time and lunch were taken care of we rejoined the other Packs for some fun and games.  The highlight of the weekend for many of the children was the rocket launch.  Each Pack got the same supplies and 10 minutes to make our rocket.  We actually did really well in the first round, but fell short in the second round.  The boys were good sports and none of them got upset over losing. I was really proud that they focused on the fun they were having instead.

Our Pack opted out of the Tug of war, because it was set-up to have 5 boys on each team and we only had 4 Cubs and 2 three-year-old tag-a-longs.  Plus all of our boys were pretty small since they were all Tigers and a Wolf.  We did have a lot of fun with the scavenger hunt though and at the camp fire we were awarded with a Third Place Ribbon to take back to our Pack!

The Camp Fire was a neat experience.  We started by retiring an old US Flag in the fire and then each Pack took turns singing a song or performing a skit.  Our Pack sang the "5 Little Monkeys" complete with the hand motions.  The kids were a little bashful, but I was able to get them to join in. At least the ones that were still conscious...LoL... Isabella had passed out on Ms. Vanette after such a long day and a late camp fire. (That was one thing I would have changed for a Cub Scout camp I think it is more appropriate to do the Camp Fire at 7:30 p.m. instead of waiting until 8:30 p.m. to get it started.)

After the Camp Fire Ceremony was over we went back to camp and got our Patches for attending Family Camp.  Since the patches don't go on the uniform I have been checking out all sorts of ideas on Pinterest, but I haven't decided how to preserve and display them for Aiden and the Girls.

Of course, I didn't get any pictures of myself at the Camp-out, but I did snag a couple cute ones of Emma that I couldn't resist sharing...and other than her need to cry out in the middle of the night, she was actually on fairly good behavior for most of the weekend.