birthday celebration and feeding the birds

We had my family birthday celebration today.  I got to wear the fun hat and sign "happy birthday to me" (a family tradition).  The weather was so nice, that I grilled chicken and enjoyed being outside.  Warmer is all relative, it was around 50 degrees F today, which is 70 degrees warmer than last week.  Most of the snow is melting now, but of course, we are expecting more snow later this week.

I had a yummy cake, chocolate with nutella in the middle, chocolate icing and cherries on top.  Yummy. 

Earlier this week, due to the cold and snow, Bug and I made bird feeders.  We took toilet paper rolls, covered them in peanut butter, then rolled them in bird seed. We hung the bird feeders around the yard.  It took Pablo 2 days to find them and pull 2 of them down.  Thankfully the birds had eaten most of the seeds.

 

I am off to Boston again this week, so I will be writing to bug for the next few days so he can see what I am doing. But first we have another basketball game tomorrow and the Super bowl to watch.

 

love and hugs,

Deb

Rain Gutter Regatta (cub scouts 2013)

We had a great time today at the cub scout rain gutter regatta.  The afternoon started off rainy- go figure, but soon turned into a great sunny afternoon for the kids.

 

Listening to Den Leader M giving the instructions

Using pool noodles, already cut in half, an index card and straws and coffee stirrers, the kids have to build a boat to race in the regatta. 

Bug is working on shortening his pool noodle- the kids use plastic knives to cut and shape their boats.

Bug and N with their almost finished boats.  after testing them, we realized they needed some supports for sail to prevent the sails from spinning. 

One of the lesson learned from last year- turning the noodle over gives better floatability.

Testing stage.  During competition, they use straws to blow the boats down the rain gutter.

 

The Bears, all lined up.  N was put in their group, he is 18 months to 2 years younger than most of the boys.

Of course, Bug and N had to race against each other first.

N's mom is down at the end getting pictures from the front. 

The boys race in heats, Bug is racing against P here.

N racing P

N and Bug racing again.

First and second place in the Bear den.  Bug edged out N for the overall fastest boat.  Too cool for the boys!

So glad N did so well and happy for Bug that the lessons learned from last year were learned and applied.  The boys did great.

After the other dens competing (tigers, wolves, Bears, junior weblos, senior weblos, and siblings), the winners in each den compete for the overall pack champion. 

The final race, Bug against A winner take all.  Bug was in the lead, but A edged him out at the very end by this .. much. It was a very close race.  Bug came in second and he handled it like a champ.  I was so proud of him, he did his best and tried his hardest and behaved with grace and sportsmanship.  That's my little man.

After the regatta, the kids got to have a water balloon fight. 1000 water balloons for the kids to throw.  Get out of the way!!!

 

There was a supposed to be a fire truck to hose the kids down, but they had to leave due to an emergency.  We hope every one is OK.  I don't think the kids missed the truck.

When J posts the pictures she took, I will pull the pictures over to this blog.

 

It was a great day- lots of fun, lots of laughing, lots of friends. 

 

Love and hugs,

Deb