Today I was able to spend the day with my elder son as we went on a field trip. We went to the Boyd's Bears store and all the children built bears (or a few other animals). The trip started by a trek up to the third floor of the store where you will find the nursery and the bear factory. The kids were all given time cards and hard hats before they entered the building area. Next was when they all picked out their animal. They had several different kinds to choose from: bears, cows, bunnies, cats, dogs, monkeys, etc. After picking the kind of animal they desired they were lead to the "Filler up workshop" where they put all the wonderful things inside of their animals. After they were filled and their bellybuttons sewn up, they picked out nametags and clothes for them. There were so many different outfits from which to choose. I think I already have mine in mind when I go back to make my own! ;) The children were all so excited about the whole process. The naming was also VERY serious. It was so much fun to see how happy they were to make these stuffed animals. Touring the store was amazing with so many cute bears! We also ate our lunch there in the store's Willie B. Bacon's Feed Trough. After all that fun we came back to the school where the children all went outside to play on the playground. Almost everyone was carrying around their animals. Some of the girls made sling carriers for theirs.
The boys and I went to the K-town Zoo last week to buy season passes for the three of us. Since they were out for spring break we could spend most of the day hanging out with all the animals. One son just wanted to see the penguins. The other wanted to see the snakes. Of course, the biggest attraction for both was the exhibit of the mole rats (naturally naked mole rats!). They had seen the billboards around town and asked to go to see them. Our younger son will be going to the zoo again next week with his class, so the elder wanted to go see them as well. It was a great excuse to get them out somewhere so we could walk around for a while. When we got to the mole rat exhibit, we learned that there were new babies born on the 5th of April. If you saw them they were very small, only about 1”-1 ½” long. There were several “rooms” that were connected with the long pipes. There were three different “rooms”: nursery/nesting, food, and bathroom/trash. They also had several other animals there that were relatives of the mole rats. We had a good day together and got to see lots of animals. I look forward to going back more this year!
After our trip to Fort Sumter, we took part in a scavenger hunt.There were several parts to this hunt and it included not only the USS Yorktown, but also all of the other three ships at Patriots Point.There was a sheet with questions about each vessel and the answers were on all in the information plaques on each one.Our Pack Master split us up by dens and gave us each a vessel to search.The webelos broke up into their groups (Webelos I and Webelos II) to do the search on the Yorktown.The bears took the Destroyer (Laffey DD-724), the wolves took the Coast Guard Cutter (Ingham WHEC-35), and the tigers took the submarine (Clamagore SS-343).There was a contest to see who out of the groups (there were about 8 other groups staying on the Yorktown) could complete their scavenger hunt with the greatest amount of correct answers.It was fun to see the boys looking for the information.After we completed our answers for the Clamagore we went to tour the others.When we got to the Laffey we noticed that the bears had two questions that they could not find the answers.When I started to help my elder son look around, I had no idea he would take me around that ship about five or six times!Boy, did I learn how to take the stairs quickly just to keep up with several 9 year olds!It was fun, though.Then after that Joe took our younger son back to the Yorktown while I (along with the torturous elder son) went to the Coast Guard Cutter.He took me around that thing about as many times as we went around the Destroyer.I was just about worn out!Thank goodness he was starting to wear out as well!We then headed back to the Yorktown to meet up with the rest of our family. Later on that evening we learned that our Pack won the Scavenger hunt! We were all very happy to hear that.
The next part of our trip was Saturday morning when at 8:15 am we boarded the boat to Fort Sumter. This was my third trip to the fort. I really loved the boat ride, which has an audio historical documentary playing both on your way to and from the island fort.
As you arrive at the fort you are herded together to listen to a park ranger give a speech on the rules of the fort. It was so funny when our ranger started his speech. We all did a double take. We were not sure if he was serious or not. He had a great impression of a drill instructor! He never cracked into a smile, but he did make some funny comments. One was where he was warning about sticking your head into the cannons and getting stuck. "In order for us to fire you out we have to put the gunpowder in first. You can guess which way you will come out. It will be a Kodak moment, everybody laughing at you, don't do it!"
After his talk he asked that anyone who would like to help in raising the flags to meet him on the upper level. Several of our scouts were eager to help. It put to use the wonderful training they have been received in the Cub Scouts.
After touring the fort we all loaded back on the boat to make our way back to Patriots Points and the USS Yorktown.
Last night, Joe and I had a date night. Now Hair if you think that this was a typical date (i.e. dinner and a movie) you are wrong! Joe made a great choice and instead we went to a Tennessee Smokies baseball game. Three hours of watching some good ol' American baseball! It was fun and I really enjoyed our evening. We had Pepsi and peanuts while watching the game. To our surprise, since it was the season opener, they had a fireworks show after the game. The Smokies lost to the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx, but there were some great plays!
After the Citadel we headed over to the USS Yorktown. Our first stop was at Hanger Bay #3 right in front of the big American flag. This is where we got a rundown of the rules and then we were taken to the berthing areas. The men went in one area and the women in another. To get to our sleeping area you took two flights of stairs (very steep), went on a walkway on the outside of the ship, then into the berthing area. There were three "rooms" that were separated by a slight doorway. The first room was a large sleeping area with about 50 beds. The next room was another sleeping area, which is where our group of females stayed, that held about 25 beds. On the end were the bathrooms. Most of the beds were bunks two deep and three high. There was not much room between them. I was lucky enough to grab a top bunk. My bunk was only 5 feet from the floor. The bottom of the bunk was 6 to 8 inches off the floor. The bed that I stayed in had a few of the support springs missing from the side, which made the mattress sink underneath the metal frame. Luckily I could sleep closer to the wall so I would not roll out. It was not too bad, though the berthing areas you see on tour #1 are much nicer and spacious (see lower picture).
At the start of our Yorktown trip we stopped by the Citadel to see the military dress parade on Friday. It was a unique experience. We were able to see the band, which included bagpipes, and all the cadets parading. During the parade several cadets were honored foroutstanding achievements. There was a little boy that caught the attention of everyone there when the band was marching around the field. He was dressed in the same uniform as the bagpipers from the band. He was a hit with many people around him. People were taking pictures of him and ignoring the cadets on the field for a little while.
Today was the Sequoyah District's Pinewood Derby race. We had ten boys who were able to compete in this race, five for speed and five for design. At the race we had only six of these to show for the competition. After a much shorter race today (which made Joe happy) we came away with one son in third place in speed for our District, as well as another one of our scouts who landed in 8th place for speed and another in 3rd for design. We were very excited that both our boys' cars were doing very well in each race. They were happy to cheer for each of our scouts that were racing and not too over the top when they won. All in all it was a fun day for them. I guess they are out celebrating by heading for the local driving range to hit a few golf balls. Congratulations, Bubba!
For a little bit of information about me here goes…I am a born again believer, wife to my dear husband, mother of four wonderful sons and a beautiful daughter, a daughter to my parents, a sister to my brother, genealogist, Janeite, photographer, crocheter and more.
Today I was able to spend the day with my elder son as we went on a field trip. We went to the Boyd's Bears store and all the children built bears (or a few other animals). The trip started by a trek up to the third floor of the store 
where you will find the nursery and the bear factory. The kids were all given time cards and hard hats before they entered the building area. Next was when they all picked out their animal. They had several different kinds to choose from: bears, cows, bunnies, cats, dogs, monkeys, etc. After picking the kind of animal they desired they were lead to the "Filler up workshop" where they put all the wonderful things inside of their animals. After they were filled and their bellybuttons sewn up, they picked out nametags and clothes for them. There were so many different outfits from which to choose. I think I already have mine in mind when I go back to make my own! ;) The children were all so excited about the whole process. The naming was also VERY serious. It was so much fun to see how happy they were to make these stuffed animals. Touring the store was amazing with so many cute bears! We also ate our lunch there in the store's Willie B. Bacon's Feed Trough. After all that fun we came back to the school where the children all went outside to play on the playground. Almost everyone was carrying around their animals. Some of the girls made sling carriers for theirs.
