GimletBlog

Thing Two has been very pleased to watch his plants grow bigger and bigger.  He is less excited about the need to thin the plants, as he hates to lose any of the seeds he has so carefully tended.

The mint starts we received last year from Thing Two’s great-aunt outgrew their pots, so this year we’ve moved the mint into small raised beds:  spearmint on the left, peppermint on the right.  The transplanted mint looks rather dismal; while we keep repeating the promise that “you can’t kill mint”, we’re reminded of Jane Austen’s 1811 letter to her sister:

I will not say that your mulberry-trees are dead, but I am afraid they are not alive.

However, today we were relieved to observe several tiny new shoots in the boxes, so perhaps reports of the mint’s demise are exaggerated after all.

We also added a rosemary shrub to our herb collection.  We have been enjoying its fragrant leaves, and our honeybee neighbors have started collecting water from its drainage holes.

This is the extremely impressive gateway for Thing One’s troop, carved by the parents of two of the scouts in the troop. The thunderbirds at the top represent his troop, and the four animals underneath are the four patrols: Eagle, Bear, Orca, and Elk. The scoutmaster reports that people have been coming to their campsite just to see, touch, and smell the cedar totem poles.

The troop has settled in, set up camp, and are having a wonderful time.  They’re having so much fun that they’re not posting much for now, but the official Jamboree site is full of slide shows and videos so those of us at home can keep up.  Some members of our troop show up in the Day 3 Flickr Gallery!

For fun, the scoutmaster has posted a photo quiz for parents on the troop blog: which messy campsite belongs to your son? Answers will be posted at the end of the jamboree, but we’re not sure we want to know.

Fun fact from the official Jamboree site:

Every day, seven tractor trailers leave a Pennsylvania food facility to deliver 44,000 freshly prepared picnic lunches to feed hungry Scouts and Scouters.

Thing One called earlier this week from the free cell phone kiosk to wish Thing Two a happy birthday, since he won’t be home for the big day.  He has already traded several patches, sampled a few of the activities, and had a ticket to see the Technology Quest exhibit later that day.

This is the set of Jamboree patches from our council, plus the special patches commemorating 100 years of Scouting.  The scouts received the large red halibut patch in the center when they signed up to attend the Jamboree.  Thing One is in the thunderbird troop (red patch).  The other LDS troop from our council is the whale troop (silver patch).  The other troops are represented by other Northwest animals:  seal (blue), salmon (green), heron (yellow) and sea otter (tan).  Above the Jamboree patches are the Order of the Arrow and Chief Seattle Council anniversary patches.

More reports and photos from the Jamboree as we receive them …

Thing One’s troop arrived at the Jamboree on Monday, and after setting up camp they have been exploring all the activities, exhibits, and other fun the Jamboree has to offer.  Before the Jamboree, the scouts enjoyed four days around Washington, D.C., touring several monuments and historic sites.  Again, many thanks to the scoutmasters, troop historian, and webmaster of Troop 749 for sharing their photos and stories.

• Official Jamboree web site
• Thing One’s troop blog, updated daily with photos

On their first day in DC, the troop had tickets to go to the top of the Washington Monument and toured the Capitol Building and National Archives.  With an attorney as scoutmaster, a troop photo at the Supreme Court was in order.  A special Marine Barracks parade that evening was a grand end to the day.

| …continue reading A few more pre-Jamboree photos

Thing Two is not known for being restaurant friendly yet, but we believe that can be accomplished with enough training under appropriate circumstances.  With that in mind, we opted for an early Friday dinner at Ivar’s Salmon House on Lake Union.  We arrived just ahead of the weekend crowds, so the restaurant grew progressively busier (a noisy restaurant is good for hiding children’s activity) and while we were allowed plenty of time to enjoy our meal, service was prompt (also necessary for the impatience-prone Thing Two).  The variety of water traffic just outside our window kept Thing Two entertained, and the menu met with his approval.  Success!

We had so much fun watching the boats during dinner that instead of returning home, we decided to drive to the Ballard Locks.

The tide was fairly high, and the locks opened and closed quickly to let all the waiting boats out of the lake and into Puget Sound.  We saw a great variety of boats, from sleek racing powerboats to beautiful wood cruisers.

The fish ladder was full of sockeye and a few of the immense chinook salmon.

A harbor seal pup under the bridge attracted a lot of attention.  Judging from the large and frequent splashes in the bay, we think the pup’s mother was not too far away, busily catching salmon.

Regardless of the weather, the Ballard Locks never disappoint:  always relaxing, always interesting.  And on a warm summer evening filled with salmon and boats, who could ask for more?

While Thing One is away at the National Jamboree, Thing Two could use a little cheering up.  We were glad to be invited by some friends to spend a day at the zoo.

One of our friends’ favorite places at the zoo is the Willawong Station.  During the summer, one can purchase a seed stick for $1 to feed the birds.

We discovered that height is a definite advantage when trying to attract a bird, so perhaps we can convince Uncle Q to join us at the zoo when he visits next month.

The snow leopards and the tiger were sleeping (not surprising to those of us who own cats) but climbing on the snow leopard sculpture, and the other animal sculptures around the zoo, is fun.

Thing Two’s favorite animals were the Gila monsters and the Komodo dragons.

He was also fascinated to watch the snakes during their feeding time.  Sorry, no photos, but rest assured it was quite exciting!  In all our years visiting the zoo, we have never seen the snakes so lively.  However, Thing Two avoided the pond turtle next to the snake exhibits because, in his words, “The pond turtle is kind of creepy.”  Would the pond turtle have seemed less creepy to Thing Two if it had been swallowing mice?

A few exhibits are all these four year-olds can handle, so after visiting the penguins, it was time to take our very tired little friends home.

Thing One’s jamboree troop is posting daily journal entries and photos on their web site!  We’re enjoying the opportunity to follow along with Thing One and learn about what he’s seeing and doing.  The troop’s webmaster granted permission for us to share some of the troop photos on GimletBlog.  View a larger image by clicking on it.  We hope you’ll visit the troop’s web site too and read the great stories that go along with the pictures.

On Tuesday the troop had the opportunity to visit LDS Church historic sites around Palmyra, New York.  They toured the Joseph Smith farm, the Sacred Grove and Hill Cumorah, and the grounds of the Palmyra Temple.  They also visited the E.B. Grandin Press, where the Book of Mormon was first published, and the Peter Whitmer farm, where Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon from the plates and the LDS Church was organized on April 6, 1830.  These photos were taken just before a special devotional in the Sacred Grove, and later at the Palmyra Temple.

The troop also visited a Civil War battlefield site, and took pictures of the patrols.  Looks like this cannon needs a little Blue Steel, courtesy of Thing One.

All this, and we’re not even at the National Jamboree yet.  More adventures to come!

After a year of preparation, pre-jamboree campouts and shakedowns, and long evenings sewing countless patches on the new jamboree uniforms, the big day is finally here!

This morning The Gimlet took Thing One to the airport, where he met up with his National Jamboree troop.  Two members of our troop are attending the Jamboree.

The two LDS troops from our council will spend a week touring LDS historic sites as well as Gettysburg and Washington, DC before settling in at for nine days of fun at the jamboree.  Thing One is looking forward to meeting up with his friends around the country from last year’s Philmont trek and NAYLE.

The Gimlet has very fond memories of his National Jamboree and dearly wishes he could go, too.  Maybe when it’s Thing Two’s turn.

• Follow along with the troop blog!
  Daily (or near-daily) journal entries will be posted on the troop’s web site.
• Gimlet Gallery Jamboree album
• Official BSA National Jamboree web site
• Chief Seattle Council LDS Jamboree troops web site

Our week of sunny, hot weather did the trick and Thing Two’s seeds are flourishing, much to his satisfaction.

This year we have increased the amount of basil and chives, and Thing Two chose to add carrots, cucumbers, and pumpkins to his crop.  One tomato plant has two tiny green tomatoes on it and we hope more will follow.

Our neighbor’s honeybees have provided much to observe this week as well.

Every day they cluster in the drainage holes of our peppermint and lemon mint pots. (but not the spearmint; we wonder why?)  An internet search revealed that the bees are most likely collecting water from the mint pots and taking it to their nearby hive, where the water evaporates and cools down the hive.

Sure enough, if we watch closely, we can track the bees flying back and forth between the hive and our potted plants.  We assume the water is minty and lemony fresh, and wonder what effect this will have on our neighbor’s honey.

It has been fascinating to watch our friendly little apian neighbors find a way to stay cool.