The Pumpkins

Portland Mini-Trip

Last weekend we drove down to Stumptown for a quick visit. It was my darling niece's 7th birthday so we packed up a batch of gluten free cupcakes, a few little gifts, and headed down. The best present of all, of course, was just for all the cousins to run around together.

We spent quite a bit of Saturday at the park where Pritam had a soccer game and our kids got busy on the seesaws which was a novel experience for them. After the game we rambled in Forest Park to enjoy the fall colors and it was there where we saw our first ever crawdad and this strange little mouse.



I don't know if something was wrong with him or what, but he was perfectly comfortable nibbling on a seed pod right in the middle of a heavily used path.


He was the size and shape of small grey pom pom and had very clean looking, delicate white feet. Was he was a baby?? In the end we shooed him across the path and into the forest duff on the other side.

Cubs in the House

After sitting for a year on the waiting list, the boys finally got spots in Pack 144, Washington's oldest cub scout pack and one of the oldest in the country - over 80 years running. The pack has close to 100 boys and they meet weekly at a local elementary school to do all kinds of fun and crazy stuff. Tonight they're running around in the park next to our house playing Capture the Flag in the dark (and the rain!) with glow sticks. It's pretty impressive!

Over the course of the school year they have 4 weekend long campouts and the first was a few weekends ago to Blake Island. The island is only accessible by boat so all the gear had to be packed up and lugged onto a chartered boat. These photos are from that first trip. You might want to get comfortable; there are a lot of photos here!
The pack is primarily a dad and son pack so with the boys in separate dens, Chris is very busy! Beck is a Wolf Cub and Yogi is a Tiger Cub.




They had unseasonably warm, clear weather for the first night and day.
That's the Space Needle you can see through the tent window!
Fishing was a big hit with both the boys.

Yogi got a "segment" (small patch) for his shirt for participating in the sea otter swim and believe me, he earned it! That water is cold! Beck impressed his den mates with his double s'more. On Saturday night they had a candlelight ceremony for all the new boys earning their Bobcat badge. Both Beck and Yogi participated.