We had such a good time at the Scout Expo this weekend. I don't know what it is, but I just love hokey little events like this. It always seems to my that things like this show us what is right with this country.

I think it's just fun to see what some of the different groups come up with. Some of them are very simple and inexpensive and some of them are really elaborate. They had knot-tying and paper airplane making. One booth had little boats made out of juice boxes and sails made out of construction paper. We spend so much money on STUFF, but kids can have so much fun with just some rope or a few pieces of paper. I think sometimes we need to give kids more of the simple stuff.



Several booths had different kinds of jousting, usually with some kind of sticks padded with foam rubber padding and platforms made of wood with rounded bottoms. One booth had a very neat lathe set up made out of PVC pipe and turned with a crank. I thought that was pretty cool. We missed the Expo last year because his small, neighborhood Cub Scout troop didn't want to participate, so we didn't find out about it until we read about it in the paper. I was heartbroken and so was Blake. I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want their kids to participate in something that is so fun and so wholesome, but we begged them to go again this year and they didn't want any part of it. That's when we decided it was time for a change and I think it's one of the best decisions we've made.


This group had a pretty nice home-made climbing wall. Blake really enjoyed that one.


This was a large, elaborate obstacle course made out of tarps, boxes, fake grass, PVC pipe and old tires. That one was so popular there must have been 20 kids lined up for it and they went through again and again. Isn't that funny? Kids today just don't get a chance to make stuff like that just out of what is essentially trash, but they can have a darn good time with it.





Here is Blake giving me the eye from the golf course. He looks so slick in his new grown-up Scout uniform. Notice the tucked-in shirt and the belt. His new troop is very strict about the uniform code and I think it's good for him. They have to do push ups if they are the slightest bit out of uniform, which I think is wonderful. I've noticed when he gets dressed for church now, he tucks his shirt in without even being asked. That's exactly the kind of self-respect you want a boy to get out of Scouting.




I forgot to get a picture of his troop's booth. They have one of the larger booths with a full sized teepee in it. They had two old wooden canoes that someone donated to the troop and they are in the process of rebuilding them. It was pretty interesting to see how they put them together with strips of cedar, about a billion staples and special glue. Since their booth was so unique, they were even written up in the paper about it.

We're definitely liking this whole new Scout thing. Should be an interesting summer!