Cub Scouts

 Wesley is part of two scout troops - his main troop is through a non-denominational unit which provides a "real" scouting experience, and the other is though our ward troop which allows him to get closer to many of the boys his age in our neighborhood. Going to both troops is a lot of work, but he is simultaneously working on both his bear in the first troop (they go by grade), and his wolf in the second (they go by age).  He will probably discontinue the ward scouts next year since he will have already earned his bear, but he might attend certain activities to be with his friends. Both have their pros and cons, but the non-denominational troop really goes all out for every scouting event.  The ward troop is very, very small but the other troop has a large amount of enrolled scouts, (now including girl cub scouts) so they are able to provide fancier actives. 


Chase and Wesley got to participate in a Pinewood derby for the first time this year.  Their troop really embraces scouting - so much so that their pinewood derby lasted FOUR hours! Yes, FOUR hours! I couldn't believe how technical they were, and how serious many people take this event.  Chase built a tank car (which was one of the cutest cars in my opinion), and Wesley built a silver wedge car.  Sadly, Chase didn't win any awards for his, but Wesley won second place for Bears (which was a big deal considering we didn't put a ton of time into these cars).  Now that we know how competitive this troop is, maybe next year we will try a bit harder...or maybe not. 




Yes, you guessed it - Chase wore his SWAT halloween costume to the Pinewood derby. 

Chase's car is the tank in the middle 

We had a full house! 

Wesley's is the silver one on the right.  

As you can tell, Chase was pretty upset that his car didn't win any awards 

Another big event is the annual blue and gold dinner.   Once again, I was completely amazed by the amount of effort that their troop put into this event.   The ward blue and gold was nice, but it was very simple and sadly not very many people attended.  The non-denominational troop decorated to the MAX.   Parents, grandparents, and friends, attended.  It was very well planned, and a lot of fun. There was so much attention to detail - from big lego statues and cutouts, to the small details like lego shaped crayons placed on the tables.  It was amazing!

 Wesley received his bear, and Chase received his Tiger ranking.