Trip to "Dega" with Cub Scouts

Saturday our boys, and Jeff and I were able to go with their "Cub Scout/Boy Scout Troop" to the Talladega Super Speedway for the Scout Expo 2008. The paper said there was supposed to be 10,000 people there, most of them cub or boy scouts! I believe them! It was unreal how many people were there, and very hard to keep up with your children when all the kids there were dressed very similar! I was not sure about it at first because I was the only mom to go along with our group, but I am glad I did. Jeff told me he wanted me there with them and that was reason enough. Too bad the other moms missed it. Don't misunderstand me though, I wasn't the only female at the track, just the only one with our group. Lots of moms go to these events with their cub scouts-some even take part by being their "den mom" but I haven't needed to do that yet. I wouldn't be opposed to it, but I don't think the other guys in our group are ready for that yet....Ha! Maybe if I keep showing up at the events, they will get used to it and wouldn't be so shocked if I started coming to their den meetings. Right now, I spend that night trying to catch up on my scrap booking and that is fine with me. I really enjoy it and haven't been able to do it for the last several years now. This gives me the perfect opportunity to do it.

Here is a group shot of our troop. They are sitting on the actual track at the speedway. It was very steep-I didn't realize how steep till I got up Sunday morning and noticed the slight pain in my thighs from walking up and down the track a couple of times. (I know I am WAY out of shape)

This is part of the track at Talladega's Super Speedway. Though I am not a "NASCAR" fan, it was something to see the track, walk on the track and visit the different areas at the speedway (pit row, garages, infield, ect) I think it would be neat to actually watch a race sometime. (If I could stand the noise) They had all kinds of activities for the boys to do. The next few pictures will be of our boys taking part in as many as we could. Because of the Huge crowd of people, you had to wait in line for everything! The boys got very tired of this, so we did as much as we could, then left about 1:30 to have lunch. They were too tired to return to the speedway after that.

Taylor getting ready to shoot "elk" on the big screen

Jorden hunting "elk" on the big screen. Jacob takes his turn (finally) to shoot the elk.

Mr. Wallace (Scout master) told the boys this was the sweetest candy they would ever eat. NOT!

Taylor got to try on some Medieval armor. It was very heavy and hot!

This looked very easy until you tried it.
Harlie Davidson Motorcycles had a nice display of several of their motorcycles, some you could even have your pictures taken on. (A few had large Do Not Touch! signs on them!)

Jacob trying his hand at climbing the wall

They let the boys shoot a compound bow at a target. This was very cool and the boys loved it.

Our Scout Master, Wallace, helping Taylor figure out how to hold and shoot the bow.

Jorden couldn't wait to do this! Now he would like one for Christmas! :o)

Taylor and Jacob listening to the directions from the leader on how to hold the bow. They were very strict about this!

Jeff helping Jacob aim at the target. Jacob said his arm got very tired!

Jorden and Jacob went through a "pretend" house set up by the Hoover Fire dept. After the demonstration and lesson inside, they had to climb out a window and then down a ladder. They thought this was great!

Jacob's favorite part of the day was watching the groups dressed as Native Americans doing their dances. He was fascinated by them! They were very good!

I believe the sun was in their eyes!

They had several games set up for the kids to participate in and if they played several, they could use it towards earning a badge or belt loop achievement. Our boys had a blast!

Sack races!

Jorden's favorite part of the day was playing "rat tail" with a large group of boys. He played about 4-5 times and was doing very well with it by the end. It was interesting to watch his leadership abilities come out with a group of boys he had never met before. Most of them responded very well to him too. That is him sitting down by the fence in the back. His tail had already been snatched.

This is our second year with scouting so we are still very new to it. The boys seem to enjoy it and we are with a great group. Some are from our church and many from our school. They meet once a week at our school on Tuesday evenings. It is fun watching them be a part of this.