Rain Gutter Regatta

This past weekend we went on our first Cub Scout Camp Out.

For the longest time, our plan was just for Kevin and Connor to go, but then it became clear that Lex really wanted to go too, so he and I tagged along.

We all went to Lake Livingston State Park and slept in tents.  In November!  Living in Texas is nice that way.  No one goes camping in Ohio in November.  Without snow, I mean.

So we made our camp with all the other Tiger Cubs in Connor's den, and he participated in something called the Rain Gutter Regatta.  It's similar to the Pinewood Derby, but instead of building and racing cars, the boys build and race boats.

Connor and Daddy built his boat together, but for the first time, Connor got to use all the power tools and hand tools by himself.  He was so excited! 



Connor also designed the paint job so that his boat would look like a dragon.  Then, that sticker on the sail is the Fire Dragon from Lego Ninjago.



Here are some of the other boys in Connor's pack.  With their boats, of course.



Here are two of the rain gutters.  You can see that the ends are capped off, and they were filled with water to make the race track.



Connor raced a total of four times, and then they took the averages of the race times to determine the winners.  The top three from each den participated in a final race event to see who had the fastest boat in the whole pack.


The boys raced the boats by blowing on the sails.  Some of the times they used straws, and some of the times they didn't.  It was up to the boys if they wanted straws or not.



During some of the cub scout activities, Lex and I slipped away to check out Lake Livingston.



We climbed up to the top of a look out next to the fishing pier.



Later that night the pack cooked us all Frito pie for dinner.  Both our kids just ate the Fritos and cheese, but the chili was delicious!

After that there was a pack meeting where the kids put on skits and sang songs and were presented with awards.  Connor won a gold medal for having the fastest boat in the Tiger Den!  Every time someone congratulates him, though, he says that he didn't actually win, because he didn't win a trophy for having one of the best three times in the whole pack during the final rounds.  All three of the top boats for the pack were from the Bear Den, which makes them third graders.

Connor also was presented with his Bobcat Badge.  Which is the first badge that every boy earns when he first joins Cub Scouts. 

Of course there was more.  Things like campfires and s'mores and spooky stories and breakfast burritos.  All the things that you would expect on a Cub Scout Camp Out.  It was a good time.