Beach Party!

Today we had a beach party!  In Texas!  In 90-plus-degree heat!  In a parking lot!

Seriously, it was the annual McGowen Family Carnival, one of our major fundraisers for the year.  We were looking forward to being able to go to the carnival this year, since we missed last year’s because of Taylor’s graduation.

Now that my scouts are Webelos, I’m more and more convinced that we need to be involved in leadership and service opportunities.  So as we began receiving information about the carnival, the other den leaders and I decided our boys would create and man a booth for the carnival.  We generated the ideas based on requirements from their Bear Handbook (since they could technically continue to earn arrow points toward Bear until the end of May), planned our meetings and home assignments so that every boy could have a part in creating the booth, and developed a volunteer schedule that allowed every boy and family to spend some time serving as a volunteer and some time enjoying the carnival.

Our first task was to create the game.  We decided on an obstacle course, with 5 different activities.  Since the theme was a beach party, our activities were based on that:

  • walk across a balance beam while being sprayed with water guns (“go surfing”)
  • jump into a kiddie-pool filled with sand (“jump on the sand”)
  • hop through 7 tires (“walking on the hot sand”)
  • toss a ball into a bucket (“beach ball toss”)
  • try to toss bean bags into cans attached to a wooden pole (“tiki toss”)
  • earn a prize (hawaiian-themed tattoos or bubbles)

During our den meetings in May, the boys were busy creating the items for the obstacle course:

5-4-09 Making the cans (r)

covering cans with brightly-colored tissue paper

5-4-09 Making the surfboard (r)

and painting and decorating the surfboard.

We had scouts who took on projects at home, such as creating our can catcher, painting the stripe on our surfboard,  and making the sign for our booth.  We also had scouts who donated money or items to give away as prizes.  It truly was a team effort!

The day of the carnival was HOT and sunny, despite all the rainy, cool days we’d had in May.  Bright, blazing sunshine with not a cloud in sight.  But that wasn’t a problem for our boys.  They were excited and eager to help everyone have a good time.

5-30-09 Trey & Andrew (r)

I was so proud of the boys for their leadership and willingness to serve!

5-30-09 Andrew explaining the rules (r)

Our sign was by far the best one there!  The boys decided on the name, and we had one family who worked together to create this amazing sign.

5-30-09 Beach bash sign (r)

It may have been hot, but I think our boys and leaders all had fun, regardless!

5-30-09 Den 3 with our sign (r)

And of course we had to show off our new cheer!

5-30-09 Bolt Bolt Stinging Power (r)

Even with all their hard work, there was still time for a little fun.  First Trey took his turn…

And then it was Crisana’s…

But the best part is always the time spent with friends.

5-30-09 Crisana & Bella (r)5-30-09 Crisana & Maracyn (r)