Lewis River Dixie at a Car Show!

Saturday afternoon the Dixie Band played at a Car Show in Battle Ground, in the parking lot of Victory Health – there were about two dozen cars there.

Photos of the band in front of Bill Peden's Allard are here.

Finally Home

The second day at Wildwood was, according to Alex, even more fun than the first. On Wednesday we basically let the kids go where they wanted, as a group. They spent quite a bit of time riding the Tremors roller coaster, a very wild wooden coaster. Tiffany was the only adult who tried it the first day . . . and she said she would NEVER do it again. Grandma Wiser finally tried it very near the end of the second day in the park, and said she would not do it again either. The kids also did the Terror Drop a couple times. This ride lifts you about 100 feet straight up and drops you straight down. The first time Alex did it he said it was fun. The second time he said it was scary. He said he felt like he had jumped out of an airplane, then realized that he had put on a backpack full of snacks instead of a parachute.

Alex, Andrew, and Britnee also went swimming for a little bit on the second day.

We also caught the shows on the second day. Tiffany and I watched the 'Sweethearts of Country' show. This was a very good singer who impersonates female country stars. She did Dolly Parton, Reba McIntire, Patsy Cline, and Loretta Lynn. She then took a request from the audience and did Taylor Swift. Next, everybody went and watched a magic show and ate pizza for lunch. The magician was very good. At one point he levitated a table in front of him, and walked around the audience with the table levitating in front of him. He even jumped up onto our table and levitated the smaller table over our pizza. After the magic show Grandpa and Grandma Wiser, Amanda, Tiffany, and I watched the singer again. This time she also did Shania Twain and a few others, by request. Finally, while the kids were riding rides Grandma and Grandpa Wiser, Tiffany, and I watched an ice show.

I had intended to catch the blog up that evening at the hotel. Instead, I collapsed on the bed and fell asleep in my clothes. Tiffany tried to wake me up and get me to go to bed, but she couldn't. I slept in my clothes all night.

This morning, we woke up and drove home.

First Day at Silverwood Theme Park

We spent the entire day yesterday at Silverwood Theme Park and Boulder Beach Waterpark.

The morning was spent together riding many rides. We found that Alex enjoyed all of the big, scary rollercoasters that the older kids did. He enjoyed rides that I would not get on, and that Tiffany would only get on when heavily prodded. The afternoon was in the waterpark. We went down quite a few big waterslides . . . Alex even tried one of the very high straight-down high-speed slides. He also spent a LOT of time in the wavepool. When the waterpark closed at 7, we rode the train around the park, then spent another hour and a half going on more rides.

We left at 9 and went to Applebees where everyone ate heartily (we had all FORGOTTEN to eat lunch!!!). Upon returning to the hotel at 11, everyone but me went to bed quietly and fell asleep quickly. I stayed up until 1 doing laundry . . . drying shoes and washing and drying towels.

Today the kids say that they want to go on rides, and may not want to swim. All the adults want to spend the day watching shows (there's a magic show and an ice show, among others). We've had breakfast already and are about ready to head out to the park AGAIN!

Made it to Spokane

We left home this morning on our trip to Spokane and Silverwood Theme Park (in Idaho).

We stopped only twice on the way - once at a rest area in Oregon and once for gas in Kennewick.

We're at the Spokane Comfort Inn now; this is where we will be spending the next three nights. It's a little older and perhaps not quite as nice as most Comfort Inns, but it does have all the expected amenities, including a nice indoor pool. The breakfast looks outstanding.

Silverwood is about an hour away, but it doesn't open until 11:00, so it should be no problem getting there in the morning.

Wild Soap Box Derby Weekend

We just got home from another weekend of Soap Box Rally racing in Salem. On Saturday Grandpa and Grandma Kennedy, Madeline, Everett, Uncle Jonathan, Marcia, Andrew, and Austin were at the race.

The Dixieland band was playing for the Ridgefield 100^th Anniversary celebration, so I had to leave Salem after setting up the car to drive to Ridgefield, play with the band, then drive back. I got back to Salem about two o'clock just in time to see the first Phase of Alex's third and final Heat.

Alex ended up finishing 8^th and winning a trophy.

After the race we went to Pietro's Pizza with the rest of the racers, then went to the hotel and swam with Madeline and Everett for a couple hours. By about nine o'clock everybody was ready to sleep.

Sunday morning we were back at the track for another day of racing. Grandma and Grandpa Kennedy, Madeline, Everett, and Uncle Jonathan all came back to watch the racing again. We didn't seem to be doing quite as well as Saturday, and did not place.

On the way home from the race we stopped at the Woodburn outlet stores to buy Alex a couple jackets and a pair of Heeleys for school. We got home, unpacked and repacked, and are now exhausted, but will be leaving for Spokane early tomorrow morning.

Good night.

Cub Scout Popcorn Sales Update and Correction

In addition to following the link I gave you for the popcorn sale, you need to also enter Alex's Scout ID for him to get credit. His Scout ID is 'Kennedy'. Capitalization is important. Upper-case 'K'; the rest lower-case.

As I mentioned, there is a lot more popcorn online than Alex will have during the sale. I found out that there are no chocolate items available online because of summer weather – the chocolate would melt while shipping. Chocolate items will be available online after Labor Day.

Once again, the link is here: POPCORN.

Cub Scout Popcorn

The Cub Scout Popcorn sale has begun! You can order the best popcorn in the world, and Alex will be credited for it, if you follow this link: POPCORN.

If you order from the website you do have to pay shipping, so you'll save a little by buying directly from Alex (no, we do not yet have the popcorn, but we do have the catalogue), but there is quite a bit more stuff on the website than in the catalogue Alex will be selling out of.

Thank You!!!

Soap Box Derby in the Newspaper Again

This time, Cameron Reinhart is highlighted in the Woodburn Independent for his 4^th place finish at Akron in the Masters division. Soap Box Success – Woodburn Independent

Soap Box Derby in the Newspaper

The Salem Statesman Journal ran an article today about Kirsten Fauser placing 2^nd in the world in the Masters division at Akron a few weeks ago. She is Wes Fauser's daughter. Here's the article – Rolling to Success

Cub World at Scouters' Mountain

It’s been quite a while since Cub World at Scouter’s Mountain, the two night / three day Cub Scout camp that Alex and I went to. It’s been pretty hectic, though, and there's a lot to write about - making this a long post. I've been writing it little by little since camp.

Alex and Chandler Salyards were the only boys from Pack 402 to go. Chandler’s dad, Dan, also went, so we had two boys and two adults there. Avery Deer was planning on going, but his dad had some last minute issues come up at work and they couldn't make it. We were paired up with a few other packs and ended up with 13 boys and about 9 adults in our group. Because the theme was “Cavalry”, our group was called the Kansas Regiment. The boys in our regiment slept in two large wooden teepees set back in the trees, while most of the adults slept in canvas two-man pup tents with moss-covered wooden floors. A few adults pitched small personal tents.

On Friday afternoon, we had our first set of activities. Because it was very hot (well into the 90s), the boys were lethargic and were actually asking to take a nap. We kept pushing water. At one point, one of the camp leaders pulled the adults aside and asked us if there was anything else wrong with the boys other than the heat.

All of the activities were arranged in sets of three, with about 30 minutes in each station. Our Friday activities were making a large (4” X 4”) Jacob’s ladder out of wood blocks, ribbons, and tacks; riding BMX bicycles through an off-road dirt course through the forest with hills, roots, etc., and learning to fold the American flag. Alex seemed to enjoy the Jacob’s ladder. He was a bit bored with the flag folding, since he had already learned to properly fold it. He did not appear to enjoy the BMX course. He started by complaining that the bicycle didn’t fit him. Because everything was quick-release, I tried adjusting the seat, but he didn’t want it adjusted. The course started with a downhill section, and Alex opted to walk the bike down the hill. He got on the bike at the bottom of the hill and rode around the corner. A few minutes later, Alex reappeared from the woods at the end of the course, once again walking his bike. He said he was tired, and was done riding the bike. He parked it and sat out the remaining 10-15 minutes of bicycle time.

After the activities, the boys were given some much-needed down time. We then lowered the flag, ate dinner (spaghetti), and went to bed.

About an hour after bedtime the boys were pretty quiet, and we were pretty sure they were mostly asleep. The three adults camping outside Alex’s teepee decided to go up to the all-night adult’s break room to relax and talk for a while. The room had ice water, coffee, a few snacks, and was basically a place to get away from the camp for a few minutes. We sat for about 45 minutes, and then decided we’d better get back to camp. On our way back, we heard the boys from 75 feet away. The boys were literally climbing the walls. Alex was in his bunk, but two other boys were trying to climb in. There was quite a bit of argument about what had gone on while we were away, but it was clear that there had been very little sleeping. All six boys were pretty raucous.

It took another 45 minutes to get things quieted down, and we were finally able to sleep. There were a couple interruptions during the night, but no more major issues.

Saturday morning came early. I discovered that a very good time to shower was while the whole camp was at breakfast (I had brought my own food, and was not eating with the camp).

After breakfast, we went to the next group of activities – a nature trail, outdoor cooking, and leatherworking. In leatherworking, the boys made leather bracelets. On the nature trail they learned about different animal’s tracks and about various plants. In outdoor cooking, we learned to bake a small cake in a campfire (I will post the instructions separately). The cakes came out very good and moist . . . Alex was the only person there who said he didn’t like them.

At lunch Alex, Chandler and another had kitchen duty. Dan and I took the boys to the mess hall before lunch for them to set the tables and bring out the food. We had taco salad, so they had to go to the kitchen and replenish our food and drinks when we ran out. After lunch, they had to clean the tables.

Saturday afternoon was pretty warm again, but we had very good activities – we went to the marksmanship area. On the BB Gun range, Alex had trouble; his left arm was not quite long enough to hold the gun correctly, and he did not quite have the strength to pump the gun. He was allowed to shoot as many times as he could in 3 minutes, but I think he only got out about 3 shots. He really enjoyed archery, even though most of his arrows went over the top of the hay bales. Finally, at the slingshot range, he really had a blast. They were shooting dried garbanzo beans at pans hanging from ropes. Alex decided that he wanted to come back later and shoot paintballs.

After the activities, the boys had a couple hours to do any activity they wanted. They also turned on the waterslide for the first time. Alex rode the waterslide for the entire free time.

Saturday night went much better than the first night. We popped a huge batch of popcorn in a giant kettle (10 gallon?) over a small fire. Based on things we learned the previous night, the boys (and adults!) traded bunks around slightly. The boys went to sleep fairly quickly; the adults retreated to the break room for awhile, and upon our return everything was quiet. There were still a few interruptions in the middle of the night. For example, we were awoken at one point by a boy running through our camp. After chasing him down and catching him, we found that he was not one of ours, and he was calling out for his dad. The boy was sleepwalking, and his dad was not at camp. Finally he came to his senses and was able to lead us back to his camp.

Sunday morning I didn’t hear Revile. Suddenly my eyes opened, the sun was up, and there were boys running around outside. I missed Revile by about 10 minutes. Inside the teepee, Alex was the only boy still sleeping, and the rest of the boys were trying to wake him up.

After breakfast for everyone (except me . . . I enjoyed a shower while everyone else ate), we went to the logging area for our last round of activities. The first activity was whittling. Alex really enjoyed this, and was very careful with the knife. The boys learned how to safely open and close a pocket knife, and how to shave chips off a soft piece of wood. They also learned about a "blood circle". This is basically the area around your body that the knife blade can reach with an outstretched hand. Before opening the knife, the boy has to check that his blood circle is clear. While whittling, if someone enters the blood circle, they are supposed to ask the person to leave their blood circle. Here's a little advice . . . if a person with an open knife asks you to leave their blood circle, DO IT! After a little practice, the boys demonstrated that they had learned the safe was to handle a pocket knife. With a successful demonstration, they earned their whittling chip. The whittling chip is a card that has safety rules printed on back, and acts like a license to carry a pocket knife. As long as the boy has his whittling chip on him, he is allowed to carry a pocket knife at Scout events, and is allowed to use the pocket knife after an adult gives him permission. If he is ever seen using a pocketknife in an unsafe manner, a corner gets cut off the whittling chip - when the last corner gets clipped, he loses the whittling chip and has to earn it all over again.

The boys proceeded from whittling to the four-man saw. The four-man saw was a two-man saw with the handles removed and a T-Handle welded in its place, allowing two boys to get on each end. I sat on the log we were cutting for ballast, and with a lot of sweat and grunting, the boys cut a thin slice (a 'cookie') off of a log about 2-3 feet in diameter. They worked in shifts, but completed the cut in about 10 minutes. Next, the dads got our turn. I was one of four dads involved in this - it seems like it took us about an hour and a half of straining and grunting, but I'm sure it was more like three minutes. I was a little sore afterwards (the four of us did the whole job - we did not take shifts!)

Finally, we went to the blacksmith. In this station, the boys made a wooden cover for their stamp books, and the blacksmith branded the cover of each book with a Cub World logo. The branding created lots of smoke, and even some flames.

We went to lunch, and then had several hours in the afternoon as open time during which families could come and enjoy activities with the kids. Alex had bought some paintballs at the store that he was going to shoot on the slingshot range with grandpas, and wanted to go down the waterslide with Madeline and Everett. While waiting for everyone to arrive, Alex went to the slingshot range to practice. He was goofing off a little bit and shot a garbanzo bean into the metal roof above him. The range master told him to only shoot downrange. A few minutes later, Alex ducked underneath the rail, likely to reach a bean on the ground out in the range. Without saying another word, the range master removed him from the range. When Alex asked if he could come back later, he was told 'No'.

Alex was extremely upset about being kicked out of the slingshot range, and even more so because he had been wanting to shoot slingshots with both grandpas for quite a while . . . I think this is the whole reason he wanted them to come. Plus, he had a couple dozen paintballs that he could not use now. I think it was too hot and dry out there for tears to actually form, but he was this close to breaking down. About 45 minutes later, I calmed Alex down enough and coached him on exactly what to say to the range master. I led him back, and he gave the range master the most sincere apology I have ever heard come out of Alex, then he explained that he really wanted to shoot slingshots with his grandpas once they arrived. The range master told Alex that he never took back a punishment, but that he also was not into breaking little boys hearts . . . he told Alex that he could come back with his grandpas when they arrived, but that he had better be EXTRA responsible, and that ANY slip-up would result in him being expelled for good (again).

About 2/3 of the way through the family free time, the family arrived. Tiffany, Grandpa and Grandma Kennedy, Grandpa and Grandma Wiser, Madeline, Everett, and Aunt Laurie all came. Austin Johns also came along with them, to check out what this Cub Scout thing is all about. The arrival of the family raised Alex's spirits and he quickly forgot about how upset he had just been. There was not enough time left for Alex to do all of the activities, so he chose one area - the shooting ranges - to take the grandpas while Madeline and Everett enjoyed the water slide. Alex tried the BB guns again and nearly (but not quite) won his marksmanship award. He then happily led the grandpas to the slingshot range and let go of all of the paintballs he had been so patiently saving. He even let the grandpas shoot one or two paintballs. Almost none of them actually broke.

Finally, it was time for dinner - outdoor bar-b-q - then closing songs and skits, and it was all over. We loaded up the truck, and went home.

That night we both slept very well.