Things are progressing nicely here at the home of the Loudamericans and we along with the rest of Minnesota are not so patiently waiting for Spring. The arrival of the annual Blue and Gold banquet however is the current topic of discussion.
Comes a time in the life of every Cub Scout when the next patch becomes acknowledged and the movement toward the real goal of becoming a Boy Scout drives all behavior good and bad. Yes the wolf patch is now ready for all worthy recipients and what says "here is your Patch" better than a banquet complete with chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy and 100 screaming cub scouts. I mean, I thought the den leader was supposed to teach these kids manners and respect for the elders, otherwise what is the sense of cub scouts and the whole honor the pledge thing? I digress.
The "regular" scouts had dinner and were then called onto stage to receive their individual awards. It was quite the site and "herding cats" comes to mind. The final ceremony of the evening is called the Arrow of Light ceremony and no photography is allowed. However, due to the shortage of scouts able to do this ceremony we were in a holding pattern so the MC of the evening made his first mistake. He thought it would be a good idea to allow the scouts to come on stage, take the mic and tell jokes. This does not even work in theory and it came to pass that many of the kids have stage fright, not the case with Jimmy " give me the mic"Murphy. He had a little repertoire and finished with the favorite " On Valentines Day what did the boy octopus say to the girl octopus?" " Want to hold my hand, hand ,hand,hand?" The lighting ceremony was over and we headed out with Wolfe badge in hand and hope to be invited back next year.
Comes a time in the life of every Cub Scout when the next patch becomes acknowledged and the movement toward the real goal of becoming a Boy Scout drives all behavior good and bad. Yes the wolf patch is now ready for all worthy recipients and what says "here is your Patch" better than a banquet complete with chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy and 100 screaming cub scouts. I mean, I thought the den leader was supposed to teach these kids manners and respect for the elders, otherwise what is the sense of cub scouts and the whole honor the pledge thing? I digress.Aunt Sue made another trip over from Green Bay to visit and catch up after her recent stint in 
Costa Rica. She arrived in time to attend the aforementioned banquet. The Loudamericans plus Sue showed up at the venue and we found our way to the main floor with a view of the stage, for later in the evening Young James would be on that stage receiving his Wolf badge. The whole ceremony was dedicated to Scouts old and young. There is a member of the Scout Leaders whom received the highest award for a Scout, the National Heroism Award, which was quite awesome.
Costa Rica. She arrived in time to attend the aforementioned banquet. The Loudamericans plus Sue showed up at the venue and we found our way to the main floor with a view of the stage, for later in the evening Young James would be on that stage receiving his Wolf badge. The whole ceremony was dedicated to Scouts old and young. There is a member of the Scout Leaders whom received the highest award for a Scout, the National Heroism Award, which was quite awesome.
The "regular" scouts had dinner and were then called onto stage to receive their individual awards. It was quite the site and "herding cats" comes to mind. The final ceremony of the evening is called the Arrow of Light ceremony and no photography is allowed. However, due to the shortage of scouts able to do this ceremony we were in a holding pattern so the MC of the evening made his first mistake. He thought it would be a good idea to allow the scouts to come on stage, take the mic and tell jokes. This does not even work in theory and it came to pass that many of the kids have stage fright, not the case with Jimmy " give me the mic"Murphy. He had a little repertoire and finished with the favorite " On Valentines Day what did the boy octopus say to the girl octopus?" " Want to hold my hand, hand ,hand,hand?" The lighting ceremony was over and we headed out with Wolfe badge in hand and hope to be invited back next year.Saturday was all about Sooners Basketball. Jimmy's team is somewhere in the middle of the rankings, you will have to ask him the standings, and Sue was there to cheer him on. The team had only 7 of the 9 members present and half way through the first period 2 of the Sooners were on injured reserve, the game was well fought however the Sooners were soon winded. The coaches, taking advantage of the 2 time outs, tried to get he boys the needed rest however the opponents were relentless in their pursuit of victory. Much to the dismay of the Sooners the scoreboard was shut off, the boys continued to volunteer to sit out not realizing we had no subs. The team pulled together and put on an awesome display of determination and defense keeping the opponents under 50 points. Jimmy is now rallying the rest of his 2ND grade class to come "cheer them on" for their last game. He even has a cheerleader sign up sheet in class. So far he has 5 takers. He also gets them "fired up" leading the Sooners in pre-game chants before the jump shot. Go Sooners Go!
Sunday we celebrated Nikki's gotcha day. Hard to believe not only have we been back in the States for a year we have had Nikki for a year as well. Unlike the kids Gotcha Days which includes cupcakes and a trip to Mirror of Korea, Nikki received a bath and some new chew bones, it is unclear whether she realized it was her day or not!
In the mean time Jimmy has not abandoned his real and first love, FOOTBALL. He has been walking around the house as an offensive coordinator complete with head phones and a clip board, dark glasses and the offensive coordinator attitude, God help us this fall!
Thanks to Sue for coming over and hanging out and once again watching the kids so Mom and Dad could have a date night!
