Boy Scouts

Yes I have joined the Boy Scouts of America or BSA for short. One day our friends the Woods asked me if I would like to join their new boy scout troop. So I said why not. It is a new troop so I did not miss many meetings. It is an all Christian, homeschool group which was a key factor for me signing up because all of the boys are very nice. The first time I went was when the whole troop went skeet shooting to earn their shotgun shooting merit badge :-D . Dad and I went there early in the morning. They had everything set up on top of a hill. And when we got there they taught us all about gun safety. After that they had lined us up from most experienced to the least experienced, I was at the end :( . So to earn the shotgun shooting merit badge you had to get at least fifteen skeet out of twenty five. There were two rounds for each boy to shoot. I prayed that I would not embarrass myself and be able to hit at least one. They had different types of shotguns they had 20 gauge single barrel shotguns, a 12 gauge semi automatic shotgun, and a 20 gauge pump action shotgun. For my first round I used the 20 gauge pump action shotgun. They let you test fire it before so you know what it feels like. And surprisingly there was not as much kick then I thought there would be. And when I finally hit my first one and saw it obliterate into hundreds of pieces I was so happy. After the first round I hit about 20 or so(I don't remember the specific number) skeet out of 25. And that was my very first time shooting a shotgun! For my second round I tried the single barrel shotgun. It was scary because when you open the barrel to eject the shell you have to point it away from your face because it flies out. And I also wanted to try the 12 gauge semi-auto but it was for right handers. So if I tried to shoot it the shells would have hit my arm when they were ejected. So all in all I got another 20 out of 25 and I earned my first merit badge :) !!!


A couple weeks after that I went to a merit badge weekend at Camp T. Brady Saunders. A merit badge weekend is where you go for a weekend(go figure) and take merit badge classes that allow you to earn them a lot quicker then if you did it on your own. So to make a long story short we got there Friday night, we slept in wooden tepees, we almost froze to death, we went to our classes and earned merit badges, we ate, we played, and we slept. Unfortunately I had all of my basic essentials: toothbrush, pocket knife, etc but I forgot to bring my camera so that is why I don't have any pictures :( .There were about four or five hundred scouts there and the staff had to feed us all. The food was mediocre, it was not great and it was not horrible. But that is probably as good as cafeteria food can get. At one of the meals I ran into Thomas' debate partner's brother and dad. The merit badges I took were fire safety, finger printing, and safety. For fire safety it was held at the Goochland fire department. The (volunteer!) firemen/women were very nice. They let us use their fire extinguisher simulator that was very cool. There was a screen they'd turn on and you took a fake fire extinguisher and shoot it at the sensors at the bottom of the screen. At the end of the class they gave of a tour of the fire truck hanger. They were very patient and answered all of our questions. I found out that those fire trucks cost from 1 MILLION to 1.5 MILLION dollars. Saturday night my troop played cops and robbers(basically tag) in the dark at these cool tunnels they had on the camp. So that was very fun. All of the "cops" had their flashlight(except for the smart ones) on and all of the "robbers" had to sneak around so they would get caught and get sent to "jail". On Sunday night we compiled our money and bought pizza. Then we all watched Up in the dining hall. We came home Monday morning.


A more recent event is that I got my public speaking merit badge finished. this past Monday I had to say a 3-5 minute speech introducing myself, a 3-5 minute speech with visual aids, and a 8-10 minute speech on any topic of your choice. For my 8-10 minute speech I just said my apologetics speech.

Tomorrow I am going to another merit badge weekend. It will only be for Saturday so I should be able to still go to church. If everything works out the way it should I will be doing the first aid merit badge. And instead of sleeping in tepees and cabins it is a campout. so we have to provide our own food and water.

Sadly since baseball is starting up I will not be able to go on as much camping trips because the games and practices will be on Saturdays which is when we would normally do stuff :( .

--Philip