Scouts and Soccer

Back near the beginning of summer vacation Jack went with his Boy Scout troop on a camp out. It was a four day camp and they went up into the mountains near Big Bear.  They set up camp and worked on merit badge requirements such as cooking, tracking, and first aid.  They also pulled a trailer full of bikes up and took a ski lift to the top of Snow Summit, and then rode the bikes all the way down the mountain.

Pete was still on the mend from his knee surgery so he went up for only a couple of days and took it easy, but it was nice for Jack to have his dad there for a bit for his first Boy Scout overnight camping experience.   

The pictures which follow were ones I pulled off the ward website and the resolution is low so they aren't great, but they are all I've got.  They show Jack and his troop in just a couple of the many things they did this trip. 

Gathering in the church parking lot ready to head out 

First Aid Merit Badge 

Jumping across a rock crevice - this is why moms don't go on camp outs 

At the top of the mountain - Big Bear

ready to bike down 

Jack and his troop - July 2010 

So fast forward now to September 21st, to the Court of Honor at which

Jack receives his first Merit Badges - nine of them! Among them are 

First Aid, Tracking, Cooking, Swimming (hard!) and Geo caching, which

is a new offering and was a lot of fun for the boys.  He also earned the

Carpentry merit badge which is offered only this year for the 1910-2010

Boy Scout Centennial - to fulfill part of the requirement he hand-made, 

sanded, primed and painted me a footstool for my kitchen. It's red.

Jack leading the color guard at the Court of Honor 

With his Scoutmaster and his nine merit badges-

actually there are only eight here, Geo caching is too new to have a patch 

Here's Jack with all of the stuff he acquired to assemble a 72-hour kit 

for our family in case of an emergency -

 a project to fulfill part of the Family Life merit badge requirement  

Jack momentarily catches merit badge fever and is excited

to spend a Saturday with the bishop's identical twin sons 

passing off requirements at a merit badge workshop in Santa Ana. 

afterwards we stop by the bishop's house

and Jack tries out the zip line they rigged 

on their back hill - have a look




Harriet has been busy these days as well - her main focus is soccer.
After a (nice) break over the summer, she is back in full swing with
her sport. She once again tried out and was chosen for the Lake Forest girls
 U12 "Extra" team, which is an AYSO team that travels
 around to compete against teams in other Orange County cities.
With the exception of 3 new girls, the team is the same team as the one she
was on for last fall and spring.  Her coaches are the same, and its a
good group of girls from supportive families.  It's fun to travel around and
see some of the other fields and parks and communities of OC that we
otherwise probably wouldn't.  She also took part in a couple of soccer
clinics over the summer, her favorite of which is run by actual
coaches shipped over from the United Kingdom!
(they have really cool accents!)

With the U.K. coaches at a summer clinic with some of her teammates

Playing in Mission Viejo as the home team - 

wearing their Lake Forest green uniforms 

When they are the away team, as they were here in Long Beach,

they wear their white jerseys.  Harriet is #3. 

The team name and theme voted on by the girls this year was the Hippie Chicks. 

So their coaches tie dyed their official AYSO coach shirts to represent.

One girl's mom also made the whole team rainbow tie dyed headbands, 

shown here on Harriet and friend

and in these photos taken at grandma and grandpa's house,

you can see her in the tie dyed sweatshirt that another 

girl's mom ordered for the whole team.  Harriet really loves hers.

Up until yesterday Harriet's team had actually "tied" every game they played. (get it? "tied"dye)

But yesterday they played in Garden Grove against the number one team in the league.

Our girls came out strong and scored first within the first two minutes.  They actually

played strong and fought well, but ultimately ended up losing 4 - 1.  They were a little

disappointed, but knew that they had done their best in the end.  We are grateful that

Harriet is having this experience, it is so good for her.  And we are so grateful for 

the coaches who devote so much of their time and energy (all volunteer of course) 

to help Harriet and her teammates grow and learn a lot about soccer as well as other things. 

                                                         Team Cheer for the Hippie Chicks