Our Tiger Cub

This past fall, we signed Eli up for Cub Scouts. We had avoided getting him involved in organized activities up until now. He really isn't interested in sports enough to play in any organized leagues. Plus, he got his athletic ability from his mom and dad.......which isn't a good thing! We thought that he would enjoy Cub Scouts plus he could gain lots of great experiences and leadership skills through scouts. So when School Night for Scouting came around we signed him up. Little did we know how much Eli and the rest of the family would enjoy it. Nor did we know that Kevin would end up signing himself up to be a Den Leader!

Luke doesn't think it is fair that he can not be in Cub Scouts. He is counting the days until he can join!

The first den meeting of the year.

We were right... Eli LOVES Cub Scouts! He looks forward to the twice a month den meetings and the once a month pack meetings. He loves all the activities.

We found out that Eli is quite the salesman. When it was time to sale popcorn for scouts, my goal was to sale $500. Our pack will pay for one camping trip during the year for each scout that sales over $500. So when I heard free camping, I was motivated! But Eli was motivated beyond $500. He wanted to earn a telescope by selling over $1100 in popcorn. So we hit the streets and started selling. And I am happy to report, Eli earned his telescope! He was actually one of the top 5 salesmen in the pack. Three of the top five sellers came from Eli's den!

At the November pack meeting, Eli earned his Bobcat badge. This is the first badge that a Cub Scout earns. To earn this badge the scouts have to learn and memorize several things about Cub Scouts, like the motto and cub scout hand shake just to name a couple.

Kevin pinning Eli's Bobcat badge on. They pin the badges on upside down and the scouts can not turn in right side up until he does a good deed.

Part of Den 6 - Eli's den

Because all of the scouts worked hard and met the pack's goal in selling popcorn, the scouts got to throw pies in the faces of their leaders! Here is Eli throwing a pie at his daddy. To better illustrate his athletic ability, when Eli first threw the pie at Kevin, he missed him completely and hit an innocent bystander!

In January, Pinewood Derby fever hit our family. Eli, Kevin, and Luke began designing the Pinewood Derby cars. Luke was able to participate by entering the Outlaw Division. This is a division for non-Cub Scouts. After working on the cars for a couple of weeks, Kevin made a rule for our household... you have to be 4 years old before you can have a Pinewood Derby car! He wanted to put off have to make 4 cars as long as possible. When Eli is in his last year of cub scouts (5th grade), Kevin will have to make 4 Pinewood Derby cars!

Our races were held on Saturday, January 23. Eli's car came in 4th place in the Tiger Den Division. There were 12 cars that entered that division. Luke's car came in DL --Dead Last-- in the Outlaw division. His car didn't weigh near enough. Kevin learned a lot on what makes a good racer and what doesn't by watching and helping run the race! He took notes for next year!

Eli and Luke with their cars and participation ribbons. They didn't win any races or win any of the showmanship awards but they still had fun making their dream cars!

Eli's car
He is into GI Joe and Army things now. He wanted his derby car to be an army tank.

Luke's car
Luke first wanted a Cheetah but then decided that he wanted his car to be a dinosaur. I really think his car turned out looking really good!

All the cars in the Tiger Cub Division.

The cars in the Outlaw Division.

Eli's car racing. His car is the one on the far right track.

Luke's car racing. The Dinosaur is on the far left track.

The Tiger Cubs getting their ribbons and awards.

Luke decided to hand his ribbon in his ear!

This past weekend, our Cub Scout pack had their Blue and Gold Banquet. At this banquet, the scouts who have completed all of their achievements get their rank badge. The 5th graders also graduate from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts at the banquet. That was really neat to watch them cross over from being a Cub Scout and to becoming a Boy Scout. They walked into a tent with their Webalo II neckerchief on and walked out of the tent with their Boy Scout neckerchief on.

Eli and rest of his den members completed their achievements that are required in the Tiger Cub rank. At the banquet they were given their Tiger Cub badge! So he is an offical Tiger Cub now! Granna, Big Daddy, Nana, and Papa were able to come to the banquet. They enjoyed getting to see him get his Tiger Cub badge.

Eli and I walked up to get his badge and when we turned around, Luke had decided he wanted in on the action! We call Luke the Junior Tiger Cub.

Luke checking out Eli's new Tiger Cub badge after I pinned it on him. Eli has already completed his good deed, so he can now put his Tiger Cub badge on right side up.

US Representative, Louie Gohmert, was the keynote speaker at the banquet. Rep. Gohmert is an Eagle Scout himself. He was kind enough to take pictures with a lot of the scouts. I guess that is part of being a politician -- kissing babies, shaking hands, and having pictures made with constituents.

We are very proud of Eli and his accomplishments. He really enjoys Cub Scouts and so do we. It is really a family affair. If all the boys join Cub Scouts, we will have many, many, many, many more years to enjoy all the fun!! And we will have LOTS of popcorn to sell!