Blue and Gold Banquet

Tonight was the Blue and Gold Banquet for our Cub Scout Pack.  We had a nice dinner, handed out lots of awards to the boys (Joseph got his Bear award, yeah!), and were treated to US Marines preforming the flag ceremony.  It was very impressive.  There is something extra special about having an armed color guard.

		Blue and Gold Banquet VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Trip to Bali

For spring break this year, we decided to go to Bali.  Julia’s friend, Faith, joined us as well.  We went snorkeling, hung out at the beach, ate a nice seafood dinner at Jimbaron beach, and rode elephants at Taman Safari.  As always, Bali is a great place to hang out!

		Bali VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Gong

A couple weeks ago, we got a gong. Julia has been wanting one for a while and so during her recent visit to the gong factory, she ordered one.  It is hand made out of brass with a teak frame.  The workers pour the molten metal into a mold in the ground and then after it hardened, several men worked the metal into shape.  It has a deep ring due to its thick shape and the kids don’t seem to get tired of ringing it at meals!

 

Scout hike

The Bear Den went on a hike today up in the mountainous area near Bogor.  We hike for about 5 miles up and down and through the mud.  The boys did great, and I am sure we’ll all sleep well tonight.

Scout campout

The cub scouts had a campout last weekend up in the mountainous area near Bandung.  We just stayed for the day, but Joseph had a great time shooting archery, slingshots, orienteering, knot tying, and more.

3 years in Indonesia

The other day, we celebrated three years living in Indonesia.  We decided to have lunch at Din Tai Fung which is a Taiwanese style dumpling restaurant.  The food was good as always but the kids were a bit awnry.  Oh well.

Anyway, the time has really flown by, and we feel very much at home here.  But we know that we will be leaving within the next year as Indonesia has now implemented a 4 year maximum stay for expats.  We have mixed feelings about having to move in the near future. 

I know already that I will miss Indonesia dearly, but certainly will not miss Jakarta traffic!  I'll definitely miss the friends we've made here, the people, and amazing vacations in places like Bali and Lombok.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see where the wind blows us next.

Pinewood derby

 

The Bear den had spent the last two den meetings cutting, sanding, adding lead weight, and painting to prepare for the event. We had to pool resources as none of us individually had all the tools needed to build the cars, and everyone was pleased with the finished cars.

Today was the Cub Scout pinewood derby in Pack 3455. Most of the boys attended with their cars ready for racing and judging. All we needed with a quick puff of graphite in each wheel and we were ready to race! The pack has an amazing track made of aluminum and equipped with timing sensors that feed car race times directly into software on a laptop. It was an truly an impressive setup.

In the end, Joseph finished 2nd in the Bear den and 7th overall. He very much enjoyed the experience and is looking forward to racing again next year.