Skating with the Scouts

I have a confession to make. Technically since September 26th Trey has been a member of our ward's Cub Scout troop, since every boy that turns 8 is an automatic member of the pack. Even thought I have 5 brothers and have been to more Pack Nights than I care to remember growing up, it didn't register that Trey was now a scout. It wasn't until my neighbor told me that Trey was indeed one that it sunk in.

Even with this knowledge, life seemed so busy and to add another weekday activity (Wednesday nights at 7 PM) and a long drive to and from the church wasn't something I was looking forward to. I thought we'd start once we got a phone call. Of course I could have done the research myself as to who was over the boys, but I wasn't ready to commit.

I was finally found out last month while visiting teaching and the sister asked my my children's ages and then questioned if the 8 year old was a boy. I had discovered Trey's den mother. They didn't have any activities around Thanksgiving, so Trey had not been to his first meeting. At church on Sunday he happily declared that he was going ice skating with the scouts on Wednesday night. It had begun.

Rich and I had serious concerns about sending Trey with the scouts alone to skate for the first time. It was very apparent that one of us would need to accompany him. Rich's ankles took a beating during his years of playing basketball, so I eagerly volunteered to take him and Josh and Matt were begging to come along too. Rich stayed home with the girls and I took the boys over to the rink at 7 PM last night. (Thanks Rich!)

Thinking back to skating in my youth, each time I remember seeing some poor person exiting the ice with blood dripping from some part of their body. Being this was the boys first time, I really hoped we wouldn't have a reenactment of that scene.

The boys were talking non-stop on the drive over and when we turned into the parking lot Matt gravely told Josh, "Nice knowing ya!" It seems like they were a bit nervous too.I got their skates on nice and tight as I tried to instruct them how to move on the ice. I am no pro, but I can manage to get around the ice without any crashes. As they stepped onto the ice they were all arms and legs and no balance. Within one minute Trey was down with an injury. Tears were flowing and he had a serious bruise growing on his cheek, but thankfully no blood.

We only could skate for one hour, but believe me it was plenty long. The boys started out like this, and we had a few of these, but soon they were making their way around the rink without clutching onto the sides.I am always amazed at how fast kids pick up on things. It probably helps that they have little fear and even less common sense about safety.Josh happily declared that he went around the rink 12 times. Way to go!
The Jackson clan with Trey's scout leader Brother Coolbear and his son Tyler.
After we exited the ice at 8 PM and grabbed a cup of steaming hot chocolate we found out why we could only skate for one hour. Two local high schools were going to have a hockey game. The boys had never seen one live so we stayed to watch. The boys were giddy with anticipation. They loved watching the Zamboni clean the ice. The boys were very impressed with how easy the skaters made it look. Matt exclaimed, "I can't believe I'm watching a real hockey game with my own eyes!"It really was fun. Dunbar was playing LaFayette and it was a good match up. Each time the player got hit hard the crowd would all yell and the boys would squeal with delight. Josh was rooting for Dunbar, Matt wanted LaFayette to win. We stayed until Dunbar scored and then we knew Trey's spelling and bed were calling to us. It was the perfect end to a very fun night. What a memorable first scouting experience for Trey. When we got home he begged for me to find his scout shirt. My mom had given me my younger brothers' gear years ago when they moved on to Boy Scouts. He was so excited that he slept with the shirt in his bed. Yes, it has begun but it was time and I'm sure many wonderful memories will happen because of it.