Scouting for food

The Weblos went out today collecting non-perishable food donations for the Boy Scouts annual food drive. Our donations benefit 2nd Harvest Food Bank. To celebrate their success, the boys all went roller skating this afternoon.

Please consider donating to your local food bank. There are so many underprivileged children who depend on food banks. Many of these are chidlren who get most of their daily nutrition from free or reduced breakfast and lunch programs at their schools which are not available during the upcoming holiday school breaks - when so many of us enjoy hearty, wonderful meals with our families. 'Tis the season!

Scout Camporee 2010

Despite the chilly wind and pouring rain, we had a great day at the BSA Centennial Camporee. The local event was held at the Spokane County Fairgrounds. It is a huge camping event, drawing Scouts and their families from all over the Inland Northwest.Outside, the rain was pouring and a cold wind was blowing. Thankfully the indoor activities were plentiful. Rikard sat through a discussion of American Flag etiquette and learned to properly and respectfully fold the flag. I am constantly amazed at the level of respect and compassion the older Scouts have for the younger Scouts in teaching and guiding them through large events like these or small weekly den meetings. It is a such a dramatic contrast to what we see in some of our everday contacts with other children.

Another room was filled with old-fashioned (non-electronic) games, including several versions of ring toss and bean bag games, maze putter golf and a magic show. Rikard also enjoyed the law enforcement displays (especially the K-9 officer), building a model rocket, watching model sail boats and airplanes, and a little hands-on whittling. There were over 150 activities to take part in, there was no way we could squeeze them all into one day.

There were several great interactive displays on fish and wildlife, habitat preservation, forestry, fossils and hiking. Here Rikard is using the microscope to view the surface of a dragon fly's eyes.

The family's favorite activity of all was building a mini cooking unit from the base of two aluminum pop cans.

Rick and Rikard worked well together to construct the little stove unit. Once completed it is filled with a clear fuel, like denatured alcohol , set inside a clean tuna can and lit. It burns quite nicely.

Tatum also completed one. We will take them camping next weekend and test them out!

Which way to do we go?

It is much better when the weekend presents a challenge, don't you think? Last weekend was Rikard's monthly Cub Scout Pack event. We hit the road for Finch Arboretum for an orienteering event.

Rick and Rikard got a quick tutorial on using a map and compass to find way or control points. The event was sponsored by the Eastern Washington Orienteering Club. They provided timers, compasses, maps and developed the course. It took us a few tries, but finally the boys had us on the right track.

For many in our little group, as soon as a direction was determined the race was on to find the next marker. Rikard held the map and compass, Tatum stamped the card at each control point and Keeli usually just ran and ran and ran with the dog. She did read us the numbers of the control points once she arrived, just so we knew we were at the right one.

Tatum was sidetracked more than once along the way. She needed to know out how old the trees were before they were cut down and stopped multiple times to read the educational tree markers and donation plaques along the paths.

Sometimes we saw our friends along the way, following another course. Hi Francine and David!

By the end of the morning and with the experience of two beginner courses under his belt, Rikard was fairly adept at determining the direction to follow to find the next control point.

4, 4, 3, 4

Rikard's pinewood derby car finished 4th, 4th, 3rd and 4th during his respective heats. Like all pinewood derby cars, his started out with such promise at the top of the track (the white one with orange wheels on the right).

But promise wasn't enough. The finish line was a lonely place for Rikard's car. The others crossed the finish line L-O-N-G before his did. His car was at maximum weight, it was just poorly distributed.
We think maybe his race number was a bit foretelling. He was assigned #44. Sort of an ominous number after the first two races, huh? Or, maybe just something for us adults to laugh about.
You can see by the look on his face as he watches his car trail the others down the track how disappointed he was. Luckily his disappointment didn't last long. He was quite satisfied with the blue participation ribbon and the idea that he can make a better car next year.

Cake Diaries - The Finale

If you watch enough Cake Boss you know a cake is never complete without some cereal treats. Rikard made his version of Olympic medals from cereal treats, frosting and colors sugar crystals.

Ta-da! The finished cake. His masterpiece. (A little voice keeps telling me we unleashed a cake creating monster, but I'm ignoring it right now). The pack raised $250+ at the cake auction.

The Blue and Gold banquet was a fun event. Our den chose an Asian theme for decorations and food. Rikard and I prepared ginger beef and teriyaki chicken for the banquet.
After all the singing, announcements, eating, cake bidding, guest speakers, fundraising pitches, award presentations, leader recognitions and the passing along of the spirit stick...we realized the evening went a little longer than some could handle.

The cake countdown

After an expensive trip to the grocery store for cake mixes, powdered sugar, white frosting, gell food colorings, dowels and - of course - fondant, we were making cake the Cake Boss way.
Rikard designed his cake and the process to make it on 3x5 cards. The theme for the Scouts Blue and Gold Banquet is the Olympics and his cake is supposed to resemble the winners podium. Our first lesson was that rolling fondant with a rolling pin is hard work! They make it look much easier on television.

Getting it onto the rolling pin and then onto the cake proved tricky. I promised not to show the photos of the fondant spinning off the rolling pin onto the floor.

Another Cake Boss lesson - frosting is glue. Rikard found out those offset spatulas and pallette knives are much more difficult to use than they look!

Dad had some quick input on cutting fine details.

Making the numbers was very intense work.
Taking care and having patience when transferring the numbers onto the cake...

Nearly perfect!

Model Scout

Rikard's latest Scouting project was to create and display a model. He chose a mini Erector race car model he got during he holidays and created a tiny race track to display it on. The model car took Rick and Rikard hours to put together. The tiny little nuts and bolts were very difficult under the axels. His final display piece was all his own handiwork.His den has several displays ready. Lego sets were by far the most plentiful. It was a very popular display.