Miss Sweet Cheeks Herself

Blue and Gold Banquet- Knights of the Roundtable

We held our Cubscout Blue and Gold Banquet a few months ago, and I never got around to putting the pictures up.  But I think it's important to share great Cubscout ideas, since I am always hard-pressed to find them!  So here goes:

Our whole idea revolved around the Knights of the Roundtable.  We had an amazing costume resource from our friend in the ward (thanks Valerie!), so we ended up with totally cool costumes for all the leaders, which was fantastic.  We invited the families to come in costumes too, but really the only ones who obliged us were the little girls in princess dresses.  We decided to set the cultural hall (read: big gym) up like a Great Hall, with the tables in a giant U-shape.  Each family was asked to create a family crest, and we hung them on the front of the table where each family sat.  My brother-in-law, Jakob, is awesome at playing the French Horn, so he came in costume and played some super cool fanfare music before we started the event.  We thought it would be fun to have everyone eat with their hands, so the menu consisted of cooked whole cooked (Costco) chickens, platters of grapes, platters of vegetables, small bowls of ranch dressing, and whole loaves of french bread, all served with no utensils, and one knife for cutting.  The boys thought eating with their hands was super fun!  We used cleaned/recycled aluminum cans to hold our paper cups, used candles for centerpieces, and the tables looked great. 

After everyone ate, we gave the boys their awards. They had to walk up the red carpet one at a time. One of our leaders dressed up as the king, and he "knighted" each boy, using a super cool old sword, and presented them with their costume. (The boys had made poster board shields at their Den meetings the previous week. In addition, I made each cubscout a simple Knight hood by using no-fray metallic fabric and sewing one seam up the back, adding velcro at the chin, and completing the costume with a soft noodle sword.)

After the awards, we played Knight Games. We had Tug-o-War, Knight Jousting, Stick Pull, Leg/Arm Wrestle, and Hand Sword Fighting. All the families were put into groups and everyone rotated around the stations. It was really such a fun night, and I know the boys and their families really enjoyed it.

Shan was a good sport and played the Jester part.  He walked around while people were eating and entertained them with his juggling skills.  Overall, this activity turned out great because the menu was simple which made it possible for us to focus on other details that really made the "Knight night" special:  live fanfare, red carpet, real knight of armor statue, costumes, table decor, games etc.

Running Away

The other day I was briefly visiting a neighbor who lives about 3 houses away.  Apparently while I was gone, Ryan and Emma had gotten into an argument, and Emma decided she could no longer live in the same house with Ryan.  She packed up her little suitcase with her most prized possessions and decided to run away.  I think in her mind, the idea of running away sounded exciting, but the reality of it seemed a bit scary, so by the time Emma got outside, she decided maybe it was a better idea to run away "to the backyard" instead.  What I think is so cute is how her 8 year-old brain decided what the necessities of life were:

One change of clothes- check.  Three journals and a pen- check.  Life Savings of $106- check. Handmade paper box holding "jewels"- check. Three geodes in a plastic bag- check. Puffy (Emma's all-time favorite stuffed animal)- check.  Not pictured are the three apples, two bananas, and washed strawberries (individually wrapped in paper towels) that I asked her to put back on the fruit platter.  How adorable is this?

I remember doing the exact same thing at about the same age.  I was really upset with my family for some reason; decided to load my white bike basket with snacks, allowance money, and a change of clothes; and then rode off with the intent of running away.  The problem was, after I had gone a few blocks, I started to get scared-  I had never been on my own that far away from my house!  After assessing my options, I decided to just circle around about a 5-block circumference over and over until I was sure my family was unable to find me, super sorry for their ill- behavior, and looking forward to my grand return.  (In my mind, I felt like I rode around for hours, but in reality, I think it was more like 20 minutes.)  I have to admit I was offended when I returned to our house and no one was frantically running around the yard calling for me.  I rode up the driveway and parked in the garage, just waiting for my mom to come out and scold me.  Nope.  Thinking I must be in really deep trouble, I timidly walked in the house and when I encountered my mom I lied that I had just been out riding my bike, to which she replied, "Oh- I didn't even notice  you were gone."  Humph.