Scout Campout at Normandy

I know both Matthew and I had a wonderful time touring Normandy with the troop. Memories from the whole experience will truly be inspiring for the rest of our lives. I've chronicled the sites as we were touring through history, and I've included a few links below. The link on the text takes you to the set, while the thumbnail takes you to that photo's page. The photos are also geo-tagged, or mapped, so you can see where they were taken.

The overall collection

And the Video:

Memorial ceremony at Omaha Beach


At the Beach


St Mere Eglise


Pointe Du Hoc


Ceremony at Veteran's Cemetary


Closing Ceremony


On the Move


At the Camp

Matthew's Crossover to Boyscouts

Matthew completed his year of hard work in Boy Scouts by completing his Arrow of Light, and completing the necessary acheivements to make the transition from Webelows to be a full-fledged Boy Scout! Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate to have the ceremony at the campsite, so we had it in a Gym on post. Naturally, Matt's stoked! I'm glad to see that he's really enjoying this so much! I'm looking forward to the chances in the near future for going camping around Europe this summer, and I think he is too!

Blue and Gold Banquet

BSA troop 324 here at Patch Barracks hosted their annual Blue and Gold banquet 25 Feb. It was my first Blue and Gold banquet, so I'm not sure what was tradition or new. One thing for sure though was that the boys ate it up!

First, Mr. Larry knighted all the squires from Daniel's bear pack. After which they boys led a procession around the "royal court" with their protected princesses. :)

The dinner that followed was a grand potluck, after which we were able to enjoy beautiful and wonderfully crafted castle cakes in the midst of midevil-themed table decorations.

The remainder of the banquet was filled with presentations, and a few other ceremonies.

One ceremony was the application of the Bear Rank war paint. Daniel was especially happy to get marked up like a little Indian!