The summer weather keeping with the same pattern as the spring has continued to be wet.  If it’s not been wet, it has been hot them stormy.  So since yesterday was a beautiful day (temps in the upper 70s and no humidity), this morning the storms and rain moved in.  Fortunately, the rains moved out by the time church ended.  So despite the clouds and a bit of a strong breeze we had a dry time for our event.

In keeping the outing in Scouting, we planned the events for outside (but had a ”plan B” just in case).  We started out with a friendly game of wiffle ball.  This was a good fit since most of our boys play organized baseball.  We had 14 boys show up so it was 7-on-7.  In order to keep things moving (since we had other activities) we agreed to play for three outs or roster bat,  That way there was a definite end to each inning.  The game stayed pretty close and was tied 11-11 going in to the bottom of the last inning.  The home team ended up winning in walk off fashion 12-11.

Then it was on to the craft.  We had purchased some craft kits for our spring camp out in case it rained during the weekend.  Since we had great weather then, we decided to use the crafts as “calm activity” after wiffle ball in case the weather was hot.  The boys and siblings enjoyed putting them together.

Next was everyone’s favorite — the water balloon toss.  At first we did two rounds of the actual toss game.  Then with the leftover balloons, we let the boys have a water balloon war.  After everyone was sufficiently wet and we cleaned up all the balloon pieces (Leave No Trace), it was on to the highlight of the afternoon and the day’s namesake…SUNDAES!!!!  Nothing out of the ordinary here, just your typical vanilla ice cream and the variety of toppings.

So the activities for the first month for the National Pack Summertime Award are now successfully behind us, now our sights turn to July and the fun it will hold.

• #1 Read Bernoulli’s principle. Show how it works.
• #2 Read Pascal’s Law. Tell about some inventions that use Pascal’s law.
• #3 Read Newton’s first law of motion. Show in three different ways how inertia works.
• #6 Show the effects of air pressure.
• #7 Show the effects of water pressure. This may be combined with atmospheric pressure or with air pressure.
• #8 With adult supervision, build and launch a model rocket. Describe how Newton’s third law of motion explains how the rocket is propelled into the sky.
• #9 Explain what causes fog. Show how this works.
• #10 Explain how crystals are formed. Make some.
• #12 Show in three different ways how your eyes work together and show what is meant by an optical illusion.

We’ve already had one meeting to begin working through these activities.  In that meeting we worked on requirements 12, 2 & 3.  For the “eyes” requirement we did three activities from the handbook showing how our eyes work together.  Then we discussed how optical illusions work.  Then the boys showed or performed an optical illusion.  For Pascal’s Law, we discussed the various inventions that utilize the principle and looked at a hydraulic lift at our meeting today.  Completing that one was a bit tough but I think seeing the lift helped the boys understand what is at play.  For Newton’s first law, the boys each did the “stack of pennies”, “coin in a cup” and “water in a bucket” activities.

Today was our second meeting to work on the badge.  We covered air pressure, water pressure and crystals (5, 6 & 10).  The air and water pressure experiments were taken right from the handbook.  For the crystals, we used this activity and got started with making the sugar solution and setting up the “rigs” for the crystals to form.  We’ll see how they turn out at our next meeting in two weeks.

With all the activities, we have broken up the work over four meetings.  So two more to go.  The last meeting actually will be focused solely on the rocket launch.  The boys are really looking forward to that.  More to come as we plow through a Scientific summer.

Here are a few pictures from the evening’s activities. 

This year’s theme is “Scouts, Camera, Action!”  The boys will be having a blast doing Archery, shooting BB guns fishing, playing sports, doing crafts and hiking.  All the typical Cub Camp stuff with a movie theme twist.  Monday through Wednesday the boys go through the various activity stations doing things and learning scout craft stuff.  Thursday is our hike night where each rank has its own trail with various stations geared toward nature study and hiking fundamentals.  Friday night is family night where the boys can take their parents around to some of the stations and show what they did during the week.  The evening then wraps up with a campfire program and flag retirement ceremony.

We have 15 boys (out of 20) from the pack going.  We usually have a good turn out from our as we emphasize the fun the boys have and how much of a jump-start they can get on their next year’s rank advancement along with earning a few belt loops along the way.

As they say, the highlight of the year for many Cub Scouts is camp.  Summer camp has always been a highlight for me as well (both as a youth and now as a leader).  This year our pack has two opportunities (Twilight and Resident camp) to deliver on that promise.

It may seem Like Cub Scouts only meet during the school year as the program is based on grade levels and the school year.  That may have been the case years ago.  It is not now.  It is highly encouraged for packs to meet throughout the whole year.  There is a National Summertime Award that can be earned by units that hold a least one activity in the summer months (June, July & August).  Any boys who attends anyone event in each month also can earn a pin.  A den that has at least 50% attendance at all three earn a ribbon.

Ever since I joined the pack, we have planned a year round program.  The first summer (the oldest was a new Wolf) we planned just one activity in each month.  Only a couple of boys earned the rank’s pin.  The last two summers we had 1-2 in some of the months but not all three.  This summer our pack has planned 2 activities in each month.  We have Twilight Camp and a “Sundae-Funday” in June, a baseball game/overnighter and Resident Camp in July and a pool party then a cookout in August.  In addition to these our district and council also have summer activities that the boys can participate in.  In addition to the summer pack activities, our Webelos dens continue to meet for regular den meetings to work on activity badges that are better suited for being outside while our lower ranks meet once or twice as dens over the whole summer.  This keeps all the families engaged and gives a kick-start on programming when the fall rolls around. 

If you are in a Cub Scout pack, what activities do you do during the summer?  If you are in a Boy Scout Troop, how are your troop meetings modified (if at all) for more ”summer-like” activities?

With the Fort as our backdrop, we decided to have a Wild West theme.  We got bandanas, cowboy tattoos, sheriff’s stars, water pistols and other themed knickknacks.  We even had t-shirts made up (thanks classb.com).

Friday night was essentially set up with a little bit of free time.  Our Webelos (having just learned to tie their knots for Outdoorsman activity badge) led a demonstration on their own to teach the square knot to the other boys in the pack.  It’s never too early to get them performing in leadership roles in front of their peers in the pack.  Since we have only three Webelos, they decided to split up the pack into three groups to have each Webelos teach a smaller group of other scouts.  A true learning moment came when the Webelos were trying to get the younger scouts to line up and split into the three groups.  My oldest quipped to me, “this is hard to get them to listen and line up.”  “Welcome to my world.” I replied.  When not learning knots, the boys enjoyed scouting out the Fort by running around the top-level and through the courtyard.  As nightfall came, we had a small campfire, roasted marshmallows and performed a flag retirement ceremony.  Again the Webelos took a lead and performed the color guard duty of lowering the colors from the flag pole and also assisting with the retirement of the tattered, worn flags.  I noticed that throughout the weekend, the Webelos really showed a lot of maturity and leadership.  I think they have finally realized that they are the oldest in the pack now and need to set a good tone and example.

Saturday morning came and gorgeous weather along with it.  The month of April was the wettest April in the history of the Cincinnati area and the first part of May was very wet and rainy as well.  We had our fingers crossed we’d have a break in the weather in time for the camp out and for a change, Mother Nature delivered in our favor.  After breakfast, the boys went out to learn and play flag football.  Each year at our campout, we do an activity that involves a belt loop.  The boys that attend the campout and participate earn the belt loop.  We then present it that same night at our pack meeting campfire.  That is about as immediate as you can get with recognition.  After flag football, the boys received their water pistols and played capture the flag throughout the Fort.  The fun part about this activity was that at the end of their game, we set all the kids outside the fort, closed the door and told them we were “hiding the flag” so that they needed to work together to find it.  The ruse was that we parents were filling up our own water guns and super soakers to ambush the kids as they “stormed the fort” looking for the flag.  They had no clue what we were up to and when we let them in, an all out water gun war broke out between the parents and the kids.  Everyone got wet and had a blast.

After lunch the boys along with the parents went on a scavenger hunt around the grounds of Cub World.  Upon completion of the hunt, the boys were awarded a goody bag of more Cowboy paraphilia.  Everyone then made up their mountain man dinner packet (hamburger meat, potatoes, carrots, onions wrapped in foil), put it on the fire coals and headed off on a nature hike.  This was the first time we had tried this for a meal so sorting the foil packs was a bit of a challenge after the hike because despite each person putting their name on their foil pack in sharpie marker, those that did not apply the marker liberally had their name worn off by the heat and fire from the coals.  The other item was that depending on where the packet was placed on the coals, 25-30 minutes per side was waaaayyy too long and some hamburger was well done.  Luckily there was other food so no one went hungry.

Once dinner was cleaned up we had our pack meeting campfire.  Each den always prepares a skit or song to perform and everyone joins in for a song and a cheer (or two or three).  Then it is on to awards.  We handed out the Flag Football belt loops from the morning activity.  Most of the boys had earned their rank earlier this year.  We did however present a Wolf badge, the Webelos received their Outdoorsman activity badge, we awarded some Outdoor Activity Awards, Leave No Trace awards and a few World Conservation awards.  The highlight of the meeting is the boys get to “crossover” into their next rank.  We have a wooden bridge that we use for crossing into Boy Scouts as well as for rank crossovers.  We start by having the first year Webelos cross first to become second year Webelos.  Then the Bears are next.  Last year we started the tradition of having the boys in the existing rank welcome and present the books, neckerchiefs and slides to the boys crossing over.  So the existing (now second year) Webelos welcomed the Bears to the Webelos den.  The (now) former Bears, welcome the new Bears.  The (now) former Wolfs welcome the new Wolfs and so on.  This year we did a spring recruiting and had two new Tigers join (one of whom is my youngest son).  When they were called up to receive their new handbooks and neckerchiefs, they were so excited that they were now officially Cub Scouts.  After the meeting we then do s’mores over the fire.  We do them with a twist.  Instead of melting chocolate bars with the marshmallow between graham crackers, we use Fudge Round cookies.  It’s one less thing to care for and generally the chocolate doesn’t melt as easily.  This year we also had Peeps that the boys could roast (got that idea from Scouter Mom).  Once the fire died down, we let the boys run off the sugar in the fort by giving them glow sticks and rings and they were off to bed.  For some reason, they fell asleep much quicker than on Friday?!?!?!

Sunday morning brought another bright sunny day.  After our worship service, we had breakfast then began cleaning up and packing to go home.  All in all the boys and the adults had a great time.  So much that we will be having our spring campout back at the Fort next year.

My first (and only) foray into patch trading was at the 1989 National Jamboree.  I was on youth staff and decided to bring along a whole bunch of my council’s regular CSP, a few of the special Jambo CSPs and some OA lodge flaps (regular and Jambo).  I remember going to the various sub camps and asking around if anyone wanted to trade.  I remember the most popular patch sought was an OA flap from the Malibu lodge in Hawaii.  Everyone would ask, “Do you have a Malibu?” as a greeting.  I did not get to the Hawaii sub-camp and did not find anyone who had multiples.  But I did get a fair number of ones that I thought were cool and were unique.  I also made it a point to trade for a CSP and OA flap from the council I began scouting with (which so happens to be the council I and my sons are in now).  I did not spread a blanket nor did I occupy all of my time trading.  I incorporated it into the other activities I took part in at the Jamboree.  Here is a picture of that collection now over 20 years old.

I remember seeing SM Shawn’s post a few months back (he recently re-posted) offering up one of his three CSPs in exchange for one from another scouter.  At the time I thought that would be a neat idea; combining a time-honored tradition with present day technology.  At the time of the original post I did not have any CSPs and as things got busy, it slipped my mind to get some next time I was at the scout shop.  It wasn’t until I saw a tweet from @okcscouter (David C.) asking if anyone wants to trade CSPs that I was able to jump into fun.  The pack had just bought a few CSPs for boys who joined up this spring who also ordered their uniform.  Since we didn’t get as many new recruits, and after reimbursing the pack I had some patches to trade.

I sent off one to SM Shawn as his offer still stood (no one had taken him up on his offer; I think I was the first, even after all this time) and sent my address to David via Twitter DM.  Right after the Memorial Day holiday both came on the same day.  Both came with the patch and a note.  As Shawn put on Twitter, “it’s nice to see that two scouters can still communicate for only $0.44.”

Since then, I have made contact (all through Twitter) with a few other scouters interested in trading CSPs.  I have sent out a couple, waiting to get one back and sent my address to some for them to initiate the trade.  So along with the others, here’s deal ScoutNation…you too can get in the game for the cost of your council’s CSP and $0.44.  If you are interested in swapping patches post a reply to this post, send me a DM on Twitter or email.  We can figure out address sharing then get to swapping.  Here is my council’s current patch.  It’s what I have to offer:

For those on Twitter, I propose using the hashtag #CSPSwap going forward when tweeting about our swaps.  That will help folks find who is in the game to be able to reach out and make a contact to swap.  Let’s see how much this can get going.  I know there are a few patches going through the mail (or soon will be).  Come join the fun.

• Made a trip to the scout shop to purchase the awards and advancement for the camp out pack meeting this weekend
• Ran the final Webelos den meeting for the boys as First Year Webelos
• Finished up the official postings in the 100 Days of Scouting

Today marks the end of a few things of this part of the scouting world.  It also marks the beginning of some other things.

We had our Webelos meeting tonight.  Yes, it is not Tuesday our normal night.  We have moved the meetings because one of the boys in the den has baseball games scheduled on Tuesdays this summer.  Not that there has been much baseball played with all the rain we have had.  It was just easier to move the meetings in advance rather than wait for word of a rain out or not and have to move at the last-minute.  This was the last meeting we had scheduled to complete all the requirements for Outdoorsman.  Two of the boys needed to have the knots requirement signed off (they tied them correct without any assistance).  We also had planned a fire building/string burning contest.  We finished up rehearsing our skit for the camp out.

Traditionally at our May camp out pack meeting we “cross over” each of the boys into their new rank for the upcoming year.  With everybody moving up, our Webelos will become Second Year Webelos.  The boys will start working on the Arrow of Light meeting plans in the Den and Pack Resource Guide starting with our next meeting.  So as one portion of the program wraps up another portion starts anew.

Today also marks the end of the daily (or almost/mostly daily) postings in the 100 Days of Scouting.  I took on the challenge set out by ScoutSigns to blog about my scouting activities each day from starting on the anniversary of scouting.  Some days were filled with lots of scouting activities.  Others there just wasn’t much going on.  I’ve met a number of scouters across the country via their blogs and Twitter.  I have enjoyed reading what others are doing within their part of ScoutNation and have even borrowed some great ideas.  I hope others who have stumbled by here feel the same way.  Now that the 100th day upon us, does that mean the posts will stop?  Of course not.  I started this blog last fall because I felt I had some things to share on what and how we do scouting here in Northern Kentucky.  As I did before February 8, I will continue to keep sharing the various activities in meetings and outings we do with our pack and den.  Now that our younger son is now a new Tiger Cub with me as the den leader, there should be enough stuff going on to keep the keyboard humming.  This round of the 100 Days has wrapped up.  Scouting won’t stop just because there are not daily posts.  The next round of postings starts anew with all the upcoming activities we have planned.

• Finished up the scout shop shopping list
• Emailed with our new Tiger family about sewing patched on his new uniform
• Started my gear and packing lists for the camp out this weekend
• Continued prepping the 100th post in this journey