Cub Scouts

It was a big Pack Meeting in March for the Smith boys. Ethan got his Arrow of Light and "bridged." Ben received his Wolf badge. But mostly, it was a night of comedy. Let's see if I remember it all ...

Ethan spoke very clearly as he led the flag ceremony ... and made sure all the cub scouts were doing their job appropriately.

Ben was pleased to learn that he labeled all the bridge types correctly in the opening activity. He then spent some time walking around the room to check all the other kids' papers - looking under chairs and in garbage cans and any other place the papers were stowed ...

... while the rest of the scouts busily built paper bridges:


Ben received his Wolf badge (but of course said NO to the face painting)
He promptly turned his badge right side up. I'm pretty sure he skipped the "good turn" part.

We came up to the front together as a family for Ethan's Arrow of Light ceremony. Within a few seconds I had to reposition myself to stand between bickering children. The cub scout leader gave Ethan, Ben and Eliza each a colored ribbon with a label to put on a light at the appropriate time. Ben made some noise of disapproval when he noticed that "self control" was spelled incorrectly on his ribbon. I promptly traded his and Eliza's. Then Ethan discovered one of the ribbons he had was misspelled. Another trade. At last, all was lit and shining almost as brightly as our family:

I guess it doesn't all sound so funny now, but at the time I had tears of laughter. By the end of the night there were other tears, but we still grabbed a family picture. Thanks Papa and Grandma Joan for coming to be a part of this memorable night.

(Oh, and by the way, that's my $150 coat that I got for $7 at Macy's. Nice, eh? This picture makes me look forward to winter!)