Cub Scouts and warm weather

We hosted the Cub Scout Pack meeting at our house this month. It was originally set for last week but with our water heater bursting/basement flooding and all the rain it got pushed to this week. The plan was to have a campfire, do the awards and then roast marshmallows.  Looking at the forecast for Thursday I was nervous because it was supposed to be pretty warm, 86 or so but lucky for us the humidity was really low and our yard was all shaded by the start time.  It turned out to be a pleasant evening and lots of people came. Nobody parked in our driveway which was funny (it is steep and curvy and you would be blocked in so I got it but it also made me laugh). I remember being really nervous about parking there when we bought the house. Now I speed (carefully) out of there in reverse!  At least 5 cars could have fit but they all opted to keep going down the street. Our street is not that wide but its also not that busy. The older group of Cub Scouts arrived at 6:30 to work on a cooking merit badge and the rest of them arrived around 7:00.  It was fun to have people over, it was low key enough to not be stressful and the weather really made the night.  Our yard is not really level anywhere and the fire pit area is not huge (lucky for me since I had to weed it) but it wasn't as if people needed to be by the fire to stay warm so it worked out.  People played badminton, catch, tried out the tire swing, jumped on the trampoline and got along really well together.  I loved getting to visit with friends and was proud of myself for actually circulating to different people.  Often I find myself staying in one spot and then I don't talk to as many people as I would like so its something I am trying to work on. I think having it at my house helped because there wasn't a table to just sit at and I felt more hostess like.  I am pretty sure I will always prefer one on one or maybe a group of three but it was a nice evening.

Twinning with Jessie, a happy accident. 

The littles (well not that little, half of this group is 6 now) getting a chance to jump their hearts out.  

Happily there were no injuries that I was aware of. 

Lydia roasting a marshmallow she then did not eat. I didn't mind.

I was impressed by Jared's roasting skills. 

 Someone else commented on how well he did and he said, 

"I inherited my Dad's roasting skills." Burn. 

Mark was there for the first 30 - 40 minutes but then headed over to the church for interviews and such.  We were nervous we wouldn't get a fire going since it had rained 2 nights before and the wood was still damp but Mark succeeded. 

 

It is sadly starting to be consistently warmer than I would prefer.  The same day when we got home from school we made Lemonade.  I did the activity with my preschoolers and had enough lemons left over to do it with Jared and Lydia too. I feel like it tasted better last year but they had fun and liked it.

Today was the first day the lakes/pools were open.  Jared and Lydia wanted to go to the lake but neither Mark or I were feeling it. We had been running errands and it was already after 1:00 and we had somewhere we needed to be at 3:30.  Fortunately I had bought some water balloons a few weeks ago so we had some fun with those.  We tossed them to each other, launched them in towels and then bounced them on the trampoline.  It was a fun afternoon.  Much better than going to a lake or pool in my opinion.  Definitely easier and more low key, although filling water balloons does take a decent amount of patience. I think we will spend the extra money and by the self tying balloons at least once this Summer.  They were pretty awesome last year.

(Yes that it a toilet by Mark.  Our basement is so torn apart! We are updating the whole bathroom, new shower, toilet, vanity, mirror, and flooring, more insulation and new paint.  A whole wall of sheetrock has been taken down in the main room.  Its getting new paint, insulation, electrical outlet boxes, (they were a scary fire hazard, most of the outlet boxes behind the wall had rusted away, a fire could have broken out and there was no fire barrier so it would have just rushed right into the upstairs!) and water vapor protection as water has been building up behind that wall. Lastly, new flooring and possibly paint in the hallway) People were working in there last night and are here again today.  They have been since about 2:45. It really was a blessing our water heater burst so we could get this unexpected insurance money.