MASON: Scouting, Baseball, Field Day, a Hair Cut & an Award
I want to talk about Mason today. I've not had a lot of time for blogging this year so I want to go back and capture some of the activities and fun he's had.
He begged us to let him join the Boy Scouts this year (during 2nd grade). He actually wanted to join in 1st grade, but we didn't because I wasn't sure how much time it was going to take and if we could handle it with his school schedule. But this year we decided to let him do it. Honestly though, I think the only reason he wanted to join was because he thought that meant he'd get to go camping all the time. Outside . . . not upstairs in the playroom where the tent is currently set up. He quickly found out that was not the case. There is a lot more to Boy Scouts than camping.
But in January, he finally got his wish. It was the annual Family Camp Out. And since my idea of camping is spending the night at the Holiday Inn with a black and white TV, Mason went with his friend Braden's family.
They had a fairly nice little set-up. It also included a heater because this just so happened to be a rather chilly weekend. They boys even earned their Polar Bear patches (yeah, don't ask me to explain patches and belt loops and pins and such because it's complicated!) because the temperature dipped below something or another.
Mason had a blast! They did all kinds of things . . . like whatever it is 7 year old boys do when they go camping. All I know is that he came home with lots of wet and lots of mud. So that means he had fun.
And then in February was the Pinewood Derby. That means you have to get a block of wood, cut it in the shape of some sort of vehicle, add wheels and decorate it. Sounds easy enough. But not so. It has to weigh enough to go down the track and go quickly. But it can't weigh too much or you can't race. And there are all types of ways to weigh it down . . . like filling it with lead or attaching lead beads. But then you have to be sure they don't drag the ground. Oh, it's complicated all right. Seth spent a lot of time researching the internet and even took it upon himself to go to a craft store to buy a book about designing your car. As for me, well, I was nervous. I just wanted the thing to go and make it to the end of the track. That's all. Just go. Here is Mason with his car.
And here he is setting his car up on the track. Apparantly there is a "trick" to this as well. You have to pull the wheels out or something like that. But not all of them. Just some of them. We only know this because we saw some of the other boys doing it, and they were winning. So, obviously, that's what you're supposed to do.
And, wouldn't you know it . . . Mason won 3rd place among the Wolves! (Again, this Boy Scouts thing is complicated. You actually aren't a BOY Scout until like 16 years old or something. You are a CUB scout first. And when you're in 1st grade, you're . . . well, I can't remember what you are. When you're in 2nd grade, you're a wolf. And when you're in 3rd grade, I think it's a bear or something. So Mason basically won 3rd place out of all the 2nd graders.)
And here he is with his trophy, which he is super proud of.
In March his den (the 2nd grade group he's a part of) took a trip to visit and tour the Louisiana State Capitol building. Mason absolutely loved this! He was so intrigued by the history of the building, the materials used to make it, the bullet holes in the wall where a former governor was shot and killed, the pencil stuck in the ceiling of the Senate chamber after a bomb exploded in there. So now everytime we go into Baton Rouge, he always reminds us that he sees the State Capitol building. It's the tallest building in Baton Rouge. Here the boys are on the steps. Mason is the fourth one from the left.
The steps leading up into the capitol each have the names of the 50 states on them in the order they became states. Here Mason is sitting on the Louisiana step. Yes, there's a Georgia step, too.
We went to the observation deck at the top of the building where you can look out over Baton Rouge. On a clear day, you can see nearly all the way to Grosse Tete.
The Scouts meet the second Thursday of every month (all of them, all grades). Each month they do a different activity or have a different visitor. At the April meeting, they made catapults out of two coke cans, rubber bands and a fork. They then shot marshmallows across the room at each other. It was mass chaos, and they loved every minute of it.
And then it was time for baseball season. We spent many of our Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the ball park during the months of April and May. This year Mason moved up to machine pitch. He also had to wear "real" baseball pants, which he thought was super cool.
Because, you know, the object of baseball is to see just how dirty you can get these white baseball pants so Momma has to pull out all the stops after every game to get them white again and keep them white for two months!
Mason was number 1 again this year. Machine pitch proved to be quite challenging for him. But he did manage to get several hits, especially during the final weeks of the season. He loved making his way around the bases and never missed an opportunity to slide home or anywhere else for that matter.
Before school was out, they had Field Day. I had the opportunity to go and spend that day with him. His favorite game was the sponge race. You soak a sponge, put it on top of your head and race. He must've done this at least 27 times.
And by the end of Field Day, he was funky! He was also rather shaggy because we hadn't had time for a haircut. So that afternoon I promtly took him for a haircut. She shaved it all off and left some on the top to spike. Mason is loving the spike these days. Here he is with his new do the next day (he's holding one of Mrs. M's teacher appreciation gifts).
And at the end of what was a very long 2nd grade year, Mason was awarded the Bronze Scholar. This award meant a lot to us because he worked so hard all year. This award was not easy for him, and he earned every bit of it and more, if you ask me!
I sure do have some fun times with my boy, and I couldn't be prouder of him!
