The Boy came back from Scout camp -- and he wanted sushi.
And we wanted, for dinner, fried green tomatoes.
The Boy Returns
scouting
Orlando 2023 Day 3
The girls did better today: won two, lost one. The one they lost they should have won: it was not a team that dominated them, but they lost in the third set.
Finally, we have some pictures from the Boy: K went for the parents' night at scout camp today. He showed her around where they sleep, their bathhouse, and myriad other things -- all the details that make camp camp.
"E is having a good time," she texted, which assuaged my biggest worry--that he would be reluctant to engage with others and not really make any good friends.
The opposite seems to be happening.
Two Departures
The Boy left for Scout camp today:
I've been a little curious and worried about how he might take it: he's not actually going with his own troop because his uncle is coming from Poland with his family that week. "There's no way you're going to camp while Wojek D is here!" K exclaimed, so the Boy is going with a different troop. He knows a few people in that troop, but it's not his troop. He chose the troop he did because he wants to be with his friends, the friends who are going to Scout camp a couple of weeks from now.
The Girl and I, on the other hand, headed off to Orlando today for Nationals. How will her team do? I don't know. Is that so important? Yes, and no.
What is important? Our TV greeted us when we first entered the room...
New Beginnings
The Boy is no longer a Cub Scout. That's over -- a whole phase of his life behind him. Tonight was his first meeting as a Boy Scout.
There was the requisite paperwork -- which he filled out. "This is all you, little man," I told him with a smile.
They started the meeting with introductions to the troop: "We'd like to invite our newest scouts to introduce themselves and tell us a little bit about them." E stepped forward, shyly as always, and said, "I'm E. I like soccer and guitar." After introductions, the new scouts went out with some of the older boys to learn the ropes, so to speak.
So different than Cub Scouts. Boy-run, boy-planned, boy-approved. "We're just there to make sure they do everything safely," the scoutmaster told us when we first visited back in December.
We parents didn't see the kids until they were done, wrapping everything up with their circle. In fact, tonight is likely the only night we'll stay through the whole thing. "Most parents just drop them off and then pick them up later," the assistant scoutmaster told us new parents.
"This is going to do the Boy so much good," I told K.
Crossing Over
Final Cub Scout Pack Meeting
The Boy is moving on: cross-over is in a couple of weeks, and the pinewood derby is in a couple of days. After that, he'll no longer be a cub scout -- he'll move on to be a boy scout...
Painting the Car
The Boy is going on his first overnight field trip this week: Tuesday morning the fifth-grade class leaves for Chattanooga and they don't return until Thursday evening. And the derby is on Saturday, so we had to get things finished up today.
Pinewood Derby Car
This will be the last year E participates in the pinewood derby. The first time was five years ago, with a pack that we left because the Boy never really felt like he fit in there.
I don't even know how he did in that first derby, but he enjoyed it and was eager for the next derby.
The second pinewood derby was his last with that first pack. We took a year off from scouting and then returned in time for the first Covid-era pinewood derby:
I don't remember how well we did, but I know one of E's closest friends won that year. We tried our best, though, using all the tricks we could find:
- polishing the axels;
- bending the axles to make the wheels point outward at the bottom to minimize friction;
- mounting one front wheel high so that it didn’t touch the track;
- making sure we’d put the weight in the perfect location relative to the car’s center of gravity.
All that stuff is illegal now.
Last year, we went for a different strategy: amusement instead of performance. Our car was the Butter-mobile.
"I was hoping to win an originality award," the Boy confessed afterward, but we didn't even get that despite the laughs and positive comments from everyone.
This year we're going back to a performance idea. But we're trying to keep it simple as well.
Today we got the shape roughed in and the first bit of sanding done.
We'll see how things go, I guess, but I'm trying to get him simply to appreciate and to enjoy the fact that this is the last time we do this.
That made it a bittersweet activity for me...
Looking for a New Home
E's Cub Scout adventure is nearing its end. He and the other boys in his pack who are interested in moving on to Boy Scouts are checking out various troops. Tonight, they visited one about a mile from our house.
It's his top pick at the moment.
Lighting the Tree
The mayor of Simpsonville invited the Boy's scout pack to come and participate in the Christmas tree lighting. They got to do the countdown.