Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Merit Badges Galore

It has been a merit badge extravaganza this week. The boys had two classes at Hogle Zoo for Soil and Water Conservation and Bird Study. They also worked hard on finishing up their Insect Study badge and got that passed off when they went back for these classes this week. Whew. Getting to Eagle is not easy, that is for sure. Yesterday was the soil class and I dropped them off at nine and then had to kill three hours before I could pick them up again. There was no way I was going to drive home and back again. Not worth it.

Instead, I took my little kids to Liberty Park. They have completely redone the playground area and it is now quite fabulous. There is a splash pad and all new equipment. Three hours sped by, especially since we made a quick stop at Trader Joe's for some treats to hold us over.

Noelle just loved the swing.


And she loves her brother Eli. He was so cute with her. Julia and Harry each found kids to play with and keep them occupied, but Eli seemed content to just hang around with me and play with her. It was charming.


Then when we got home from the zoo, the boys spent another hour finishing up their insect scrapbook. It took us about 5 hours to find bugs and then have them sketch and observe and research. Oy.

Today, I decided to take the little ones to the University of Utah bowling alley, a popular spot for my husband all through college. He wasn't too sure where the library was, but he found the billiards and bowling alley the first day of school. And boy, my kids fit in well. We played with bumper lanes. I even bowled one game. And I really, truly stink at bowling. Believe me, I tried. I think my score was 65, with bumpers!  Harry and Eli beat me handily.

Harry even managed to get two spares in a row, and Eli threw a strike. Julia has inherited my bowling prowess, unfortunately.  And I think she is about as interested in it as I am. But Harry and Eli really enjoyed lobbing those balls down the lane. They bowled a second game and Julia quite after the 4th frame. Harry and Eli would each bowl her frame for her. And they both broke 100 on their second games. I think Harry's score was like a 114. He has got his daddy's skills for sure.


We then walked down to the bookstore and got a couple of kids books so that I could get the parking validated. It was free popcorn Wednesday, so four bags of popcorn was a nice consolation prize as well.

We then picked up Raef and Zach, got some lunch, and then went to the Jordan Water Plant in Sandy. The boys did a tour to learn about how we get our drinking water and then I made them write everything down when we got home. Like I said, it was a Boy Scouting extravaganza these past few days.

I am wiped out!

3 comments:

Hoku said...

Good job, Kelly! It's almost impossible for boys to earn their Eagle without a good amount of help and "motivation" from a committed parent. ;)

We're REALLY BIG into scouting, too, and are always doing scouting stuff. It's so terrific for young men and future missionaries!!! Who'd have thunk, me?! Tamahere's on course to earn his Eagle at 14.

likeschocolate said...

This is why I love the scouting program.

NormaKimokeo said...

We used to LOVE taking our kids bowling on all our family trips! It was kind of a tradition to find a bowling alley somewhere. Sounds fun! And good job on all the merit badge "awareness" ("Can this count?")

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