Evan's Winter Bear Adventures

Since I last did a comprehensive post about Evan's Cub Scout adventures in the Fall, I thought it was time to do another one since he has participated in several fun adventures with his troop.  Tomorrow is the big (quintessential?) Cub Scout event, the Pinewood Derby, and Evan is really looking forward to that since he wasn't able to contribute last year with either of his troops since his old troop didn't have theirs before we moved, and his new troop already had theirs.  He was very disappointed that he missed out so he is looking forward to racing his car.  He created his to look like the F-15 Thunderbirds we saw in action last year at the Air Show.  He has a die cast replica of one we used to design his car.  So that big event will get a post on its own.  For now, here are the adventures he has enjoyed since December.

The boys got to visit the Raleigh Police Station before Christmas.  Our troop leader's brother is an officer so he gave the boys a tour and a talk about his job.  

The boys loved sitting in the police car.  

Evan and the other scouts received honorary police badge stickers.  

Trying to capture a picture of the whole troop with the police officer.  They were sooo cooperative.  (I need a sarcasm font!)

Next, the boys helped make sandwiches and pack lunches for Brown Bag Ministry, a charity that serves and feeds the homeless in the Raleigh Triangle area.  

I love that the boys really seemed to enjoy their tasks. 

And in January the boys had a "snowball" fight with a whole bunch of white socks they donated to a charity after the fight.  It was EPIC!  

First, Evan and his troop were awarded their forensic belt loops for learning about crime scene investigation techniques, including fingerprinting. 

A picture depicting the chaos of the snowball fight.  I like that Evan was wearing a bright green long sleeve shirt under his uniform because it makes it easier to spot him. 

I stole this picture of the chaos from facebook because it showed my husband and the troop master up on the stage watching the action.  

At his last troop meeting, the boys learned all about volcanoes.  Evan told the group all he knew about the Ring of Fire.  They made mini volcanoes out of play dough and made them erupt with baking soda and vinegar. 

One of the bigger events was a trip to UNC's Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill.  It was a gorgeous Saturday with beautiful Carolina blue skies so it was a perfect day to be in Chapel Hill.  Plus, the Tarheels were playing a home game (basketball) against the Wolfpack and that match up is always EPIC.  Of course, I secretly (or not so secretly) pulled for the Tarheels.  I have been a lifelong Tarheel fan although I do pull for the Wolfpack at most other times.  Eddie doesn't care much for basketball so he didn't mind too much.  He was wearing his Wolfpack coat though to represent.  Ha! 

The Morehead Planetarium is a pretty neat place with a long history.  Here is the write up from Wikipedia:

Morehead Planetarium and Science Center is located on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is one of the oldest and largest planetariums in the United States having welcomed over 7 million visitors by its 60th anniversary in 2009.^[1] As a unit of the university, Morehead receives about one-third of its funding through state sources, one-third through ticket and gift sales, and one-third through gifts and grants.

First opened in 1949, the planetarium was used to train Gemini and Apollo program astronauts in celestial navigation.^[2] Until the late 1990s, it contained one of the largest working Copernican orreries in the world. The facility was donated to the university by alumnus John Motley Morehead III who invested over $3 million in the facility.^[1]

Morehead Planetarium opened on May 10, 1949 after seventeen months of construction. The first planetarium in the South, it was only the sixth to be built in the United States. Designed by the same architects who planned the Jefferson Memorial, the cost of its construction, more than $23,000,000 in today’s dollars, made it the most expensive building ever built in North Carolina at the time. Morehead Planetarium was officially dedicated during a ceremony held on May 10, 1949.^[1]

The sundial in front of Morehead Planetarium.

Since Zeiss, the German firm that produced planetarium projectors, had lost most of its factories during World War II, there were very few projectors available at the time. Morehead had to travel to Sweden, where he had previously served as American ambassador, to purchase a Zeiss Model II to serve as the heart of North Carolina’s new planetarium.

Let There Be Light was the planetarium's first show.

We had to get our pictures on the huge sundial out front.  It was exactly 12:00 so we were headed to lunch before coming back to meet Evan's troop.  I also had to get a picture of the UNC Chapel Hill historical sign.  Again, UNC Chapel Hill is also a pretty important piece of history in the United States as its first public state university.   Consequently, UNC Chapel Hill was the only other college I applied to and was accepted, but I chose to attend Meredith because I was afraid of such a huge university since I had always attended smaller high schools.  My high school graduating class had less than 100 graduates.  

We arrived at 10:00 in the morning thinking we would see a show together as a family.  We thought we were seeing the Magic Treehouse show (based on the popular children's book series that Evan has read), but it turned out that show didn't start until 11:00 so Mattox got to enjoy a special Sesame Street show.  It was amazing how mesmerized he was by Big Bird and Elmo as they journeyed to the moon.  His eyes were glued to the big dome screen.  I didn't take pictures during the show of course, but I captured a picture of the blurb about the show on the screen before it started.  For some reason, pictures in that room looked very pink.  We did watch the Magic Treehouse show as well.  

Daddy and the boys took a little trip to the moon, and the boys enjoyed seeing some miniature rockets and space vessels. 

The scouts saw a special show about our planet called Dynamic Earth.  It was narrated by Liam Neeson, and let me tell you, there is no more soothing voice in the world.  I could have seriously fallen asleep listening to him, but I didn't because it was very interesting.  But seriously, that Irish brogue of his is just way too sexy.  Haha!  After the show, the boys enjoyed a science demonstration.  That sweet looking scientist decided to give me quite a scare when she proceeded to dump a whole bowl full of liquid nitrogen right at my feet.  Yikes.  I know she said it wouldn't hurt me because it instantly transforms back to gas, but I was not taking any chances on losing some toes.  

The boys also enjoyed building a nanotube and learning about water.  I think I could have lived my entire life without the mental picture of a dinosaur's pee filling up an entire bathtub.  Yikes.  And I think Cocoa's pee is bad killing the grass in the yard.