Finishing up the Cub Scout Conservation Badge

I took my Cub Scout den to a "Go See It" yesterday. We went to the Fountain of Youth. There are several different sections of the Fountain of Youth to see. There is "THE SPRING HOUSE" where the fountain is located, "TIMUCUA INDIAN EXHIBIT" showed how the Indians lived, "THE PLANETARIUM" showed how they lined up the stairs for the coordinates to get here, The "SPANISH CANNONS" They talked about how they defended themselves back in 1565, "THE DISCOVERY GLOBE". The Fountain of Youth was a wealth of information.

After seeing all the exhibits, we went to the water’s edge and talked about the different kinds of soil and plant materials that sustain all kinds of life. We also reflected on the fountain and how the use of water is reducing the aquifer.

The boys are listening to the Fountain informant. They learned how it began with a drink from the Legendary Spring that has flowed under this site for as long as anyone can remember. Learned the history of Ponce de Leon's search and his Spanish claim for Florida in 1513. They heard the story of Dr. Luella Day Mcconnell's purchase of the property at the turn of the 20th century and discovery of artifacts in 1904 such as the landmark cross and silver salt cellar. Experience the nostalgia of this Old Florida Attraction with diaramas installed in 1957 depicting the Spanish and Timucua Indians "First Encounter" on this site. 500 years of history in one place!

Firing of the Cannon, BOOM! The Spanish arrived in 1565 and established the first and oldest settlement. See how they defended their position with an historic cannon firing demonstration. Viva! 

There is alsways time to climb a tree. 

Natives inhabited this site for almost 3000 years. Gather in the Village of Seloy to experience how Timucuas lived, hunted, ate and thrived for so long. Hear the stories of long ago and connect past to present. 

Right before we were ready to leave I brought some bread for all the children to feed the birds.

Working on the Cub Scout Conservation Badge

Last night the boys worked on part one of two, Conservation Badge. We discussed the sea turtles and how they are endangered. We also discussed what wildlife conservation offers. For an activity the boys built a bird house. I had some leftover game boxes that we built last year from Lowes and I made a few cuts and recycled them into bird feeders / houses.   
After they complete the second part of the conservation requirements they will receive their badge

They enjoyed makeing the Bird Houses / Baths. 

Our first camping trip this year

Over the weekend we went to Gold Head National Park for a camping trip with the Cub Scouts. I have to say this was one of the best camping trips we have ever had. The boys got along so well and it was so funny watching them bond their friendships. In the past years I have had twenty to twenty-three scouts in my Den. This year I have twelve and it is pure heaven. I am able to get the boys much more award and we are only two weeks into the scouting year. Only three boys were able to go camping over the weekend. We racked up many belt loops / pins and badges. The Cisco Kid earned the golfing belt loop, fishing belt loop, volleyball pin, hiking pin, kickball pin, the Leave no Trace Badge and The Cub Scout Activity Award badge. In the Den meetings they all earned the Good Manners Belt loop.

The Cub Scout Activity Award badge

 The leave no Trace Badge

The good and memorable times.

The Cisco Kid thought this was the best.  He loves ridding in the bed of the truck.

We were going to do all our sport activities and it was about two miles away.  Since we were going to do a hiking trip that afternoon, we could not emagine walking there.     

Tug of War is the Cisco Kids favorite game.

The parents cannot be left out of the Tug of War. It seems that this is a favorite for them as well.

The chief is at the end anchoring it all down..

We went to this spot to go fishing.  We did a small amount of it but when nothing was biting The Cisco Kid found fun in making a big muddy hole filled with water. 

There is nothing that this boy likes more than to have mud and water to play in. 

 On our hike this large tree had fallen over the streem and of couse the boys saw an adventure in crosing over it.

What is it with climbing trees?????

Every night we start a fire and have Smore's. At that point i was dreaming of looking at the inside of my eyelids. 

Fun after a hard week!

When visiting Disney, depending on the time of year it could be relaxing with short lines and very enjoyable. Or, it could be not so enjoyable with very long lines and feeling like you didn't get to see much at all. Last week was a hard week with all the activities and homework we had. I thought we all needed a break and we decided to take the weekend and go to Disney. We have never been to Disney in September before and we didn't know what to expect in terms of crowds. I have to say, it was perfect. We went to Hollywood Studios and there was hardly anyone in the park. In my 40 years of going to Disney, I have never seen it that empty. The economy and school starting must be a big part of the park's attendance.  Needless to say we had a great time seeing the park.  The weather was great and there were no wait lines.

The first ride we had to go on was the rock'n roll rollercoaster.  We like it so much that we rode on it twice.

The Toy Story Army Man 

The entrance to Honey I shrunk the kids play ground. This is a pretty wild place. Everything is so large. The blades of grass are thirty feet tall and the ants are as big as a small car. I don't understand why this Tonka Truck is so small.

There are two favorite shows we like. This one is the Car stunt show. The cars and motorcycles do some amazing stunts. Here a motorcycle slid through the fire and the guy caught on fire. The other show is Indiana Jones stunt show.  

This is a new part of the show.  Lightning Mc Queen and the secret weapon car from Lightning Mc Queen 2. 

  The next day we went to Blizzard Beach Water Park. Again the park was empty. No wait lines and the weather was great. We went to this water park about three years ago and I thought it was to dangerous for a young child. They have some child friendly rides but the majority of them are very high and fast water slops. We spent most of our time on the obstacle course, lazy river and a couple of tube rides. This really kept us occupied for most of the day.

We could spend all day in the Lazy River.  

The Cisco Kid loved the challenge of catching the floating Ice burgs across the water.

It's a good thing The Cisco Kid got a chance to do this because they have a size cut off and within the next year of so he will be to big to go on it. 

The guys are heading to the summit. 

Heading up to the top! There are two different kinds of rides up there.  The one in this picture is a fee falling slop at 55 mph.  As daring as I am, I won't even go on that. The other ride is a nice easy ride on a large family sized tube.   

Bird’s eye view of kid friendly obstacle course.  

Blizzard beach gives you that icy cold atmosphere in sunny Florida.

At around three o'clock, sunny Florida turned into stormy Florida, as it often does.  When the parks weather watchers see a storm front coming in, they get everyone out of the water and close the park until the storm blows over.  At that point we said we had enough and come home.