Cub Scouts

Roll is still going strong in Cub Scouts although Mom and Dad have found this is as much our adventure as his. When doing something like this at this age it is a real commitment as we must attend each function with him to include meetings. We still need to practice the Boy Scout Promise and the Law of the Pack in order for him to earn his Bobcat patch. Several of the scouts are my students and it is odd seeing Roll standing in formation with them. He still seems as if he is my little boy at times but he is the same age as these other boys and I expect a lot from them. When I stop to think I realize he how fast he is growing!

Soon Cub Scouts will include a new group called the Lions. This will be for Rock's age next year (Kindergarten.) Prior to Roll joining I wouldn't have even considered this but now that Rock sees what Roll does, he is jealous and wants to do the same. I do hope that they have fewer requirments as I can't see Rock memorizing the Boy Scout Promise or such. This has been great for Roll to learn how to be a part of a "team" and that you cannot always win (this he still struggles with.) This has also been a great way for Roll to associate with other Americans his age.

Tonight he worked on the flag ceremony and carrying the flag. He was quite proud although had difficulty due to his height in keeping the flag off the ground. We will also be visiting a museum this weekend and going to a semi-pro hockey game in Weiden. Busy, Busy!! And Christmas is just around the corner!

Weekend Wonder - Grafenwoehr Water Tower

Today Roll's Cub Scout group met at the infamous Graf Water Tower. We have been here now almost six years and before today had never stepped foot inside the tower. It is quite impressive. This tower sits central to the military post.

In 1907 Bavarian Prince Luitpold directed the establishment of a training area at Grafenwoehr. From 1909 - 1911 craftsman from all over Bavaria were brought to Grafenwoehr to build the water tower and the original post. From 1910 - 1999 it served as the primary means of delivering drinking water from local wells on post to the kaserne and the field camps. From June 1999 to present day the town of Grafenwoehr supplies water to the main post. The water tower continue to supply water to the field camps as the Grafenwoehr city water systems does not have the pressure needed to push the water that far. The tower has served as a Boy Scout hut, the Post Fire Department radio relay, the AFN (Armed Forces Network) transmitter site, and a parade reviewing stand for the Bavarian royalty among other things. We were informed that many dollars went into reinforcing the walls to hold two conference rooms within in the tower. One is a pretty fancy and up-to-date with all necessities. Rock stated upon entering the fancy conference room "This room smells like Grandpa's car!" The room does have a lot of leather.

The Tower has ten floors (including the attic and basement) and is 137 feet high. There are 2 water tanks with a total capacity of 55,723 gallons of water. Most of the water pipes are original. It is divided into three distinct regions. The first has 68 hand-cut stone steps that climb from the front door to the fifth floor landing. We could see where the stone cutters wrote number with chalk or charcoal on the back of the stones as an assembly guide for the builders. The next section has an 80-step stone spiral staircase that reaches from the fifth floor to mid-way up the ninth floor. The last section of the tower starts with a metal staircase that leads to the attic room that is the top of the water tower. There are several windows to look out as you climb and today's view was spectacular!

When we reached the top we found that the flies nest there. It wasn't terrible but Roll found it really easy to catch them. We did keep several alive in a bag that I happened to have handy. This sounds horrible but I still have that spider in my classroom and I felt it against what I am teaching the students to let it starve to death and I am still to afraid to let it go. It would die outside anyhow. This sounds incredibly crazy as I write this but I have found that although I am still fearful of them, I do find them fascinating and the whole experience has been somewhat therapeutic.

Raingutter Regatta

Roll joined Cub Scouts this year with myself as his adult partner. I felt with so many things taking me away from the kids, it was necessary for me to do something that would bring us close. Well that was the theory. We have been extremely busy pretty much every Wed. evening and weekends with various Cub Scout related activities. The only problem we have run into is that Roll is a slow warmer when is comes to new things and he is definately not into competitive sports. The first function we had was the Belt Loop Derby where the cubbies learned the basics of volleyball, flag football, frisby, and badmitton. Roll was extremely shy not knowing anyone but did pretty well. Later when they competed against each other it was a whole different story. I felt really bad since he is the smallest kid out there. Even in his own den, he is at least a head shorter than the rest of the group. I am sure that can be intimidating. Last weekend we had the Belt Loop Bananza with several packs from around Europe to include all over Germany, Czhech, and Poland. Roll learned how to shoot and arrow in archery, how to shoot a BB gun, and he earned his Science, Language, and Geography belt loops.
So today was the Raingutter Regatta. Roll actually enrolled Dad's help this week to teach him how to make a proper boat. Dad went online to research a bit but he was really good at letting Roll sand, paint, build, and decorate his own boat. The only thing that Daddy did was the super glue. The ceremonies began with the cubbies receiving their belt loops that they have earned. Next the competition began. There were raingutters set up on tables and the cubbies hold a straw in their mouths and blow the boats sail to reach the other end. The first to touch the other end wins. Roll lost his first race by seconds. His boat crashed just at the end and his referee wasn't watching to fix the boat (Roll wasn't allowed to do this on his own.) Unfortunately Roll didn't handle his loss very well. We had a serious talk and he almost refused to race again. But he did and he won the next two. Somehow though that didn't move him into the next bracket and I believe it had something to do with his attitude. In the end they awarded three cubbies for great sportsmanship, needless to say it wasn't Roll. I do think this will be a good experience and he knows the motto by heart which is to "Do Your Best!" Life can be so unfair to a six year old. :(