Alex Fallot woke up on New Year's Day and thought, "You do not want to do this."
However, the 9-year-old ignored his intuition.  He got up, got dressed, and headed to the Tacoma Country Club with his mother and younger brother.

Upon arriving, Alex, and 15 other Pack 472 Cub Scouts, and their families donned bathing suits, did a few warm-up exercises, listened to a safety briefing, and then headed down to the dock by American Lake to participate in a time-honored tradition - a polar bear swim.

"As soon as I saw that water, I knew I should have stayed home," Alex said, shaking his head from side to side to reinforce his doubts. "I just did not want to do it."

But he and his fellow Cub Scouts did do it.  The whole thing took just a few seconds.

About 30 people, including the 16 Scouts, lined both sides of the boat dock. Ken Swarner, the Cub Scout pack leader, told the boys and their family members when to jump.  Water splashed as people plunged feet first into the water.  A flurry of gasps, deep breaths, giggles, little screams, and chattering flooded the water.  The shivering swimmers quickly made their way to shore, to the warmth of their robes and towels.

Although the boys had mixed emotions about the jump, Swarner, offered the activity to give them something different to do.

"I think it's important to give the boys things to do that they do not do in their everyday lives," said Swarner, who started the activity last year with five participants. "I am always impressed and amazed at the kids who come out and do our activities.  You hear about boys who do nothing but sit in front of a television and play video games, but if given the opportunity, boys really do still like to do things outdoors.  One third of the boys in our troop, when asked to jump into a really cold lake in January, came out and did it.  I think that's really cool."

Swathed in towels, some of the boys shared their thoughts on taking the plunge.

"When I hit the water, my jaw dropped," said Alex, the son of Lt. Col. Andre Fallot, a pediatric pulmonologist at Madigan Army Medical Center. "I couldn't speak.  It felt like I had just stuck my whole body into a bucket of ice cubes.  If you went to the Arctic, you would know what I am talking about.  I am never going to do that again. 

It was freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezing."

Alex's brother, Connor Fallot, age 6, concurred.

"I knew it would be very, very, very, very cold," Connor said. "But I didn't think it would be that cold.  It was so cold I felt like I would never get warm again."

Christopher Reed, age 9, the son of 1st Sgt. Michael Reed, didn't care for the activity, but he was glad he did it, he said as he ate pancakes and drank hot chocolate that was served after the swim.

"I hated it," he said with a deep sigh. "I just hated it! When I was swimming to shore, I could not breathe.  It was so cold.  No one is ever talking me into doing it again!  I think it's cool I did it though.  A lot of my friends never did this."

The experience was unforgettable for Carson Todd, the son of 1st Sgt. David Todd, who works in Military Intelligence.  Like Alex, Carson wanted to stay in bed not jump into icy cold water.

"When I felt the water, I thought that I was going to die," Carson, age 10, said. "It was suicide. I could've frozen to death. I'm just glad I didn't."

His mother, Debbie Todd, participated in the polar bear swim with her son.  She was excited when she learned they were doing it.

"They did not do things like this where we lived before," she said. "This could be my only opportunity to ever do this.  I think it's awesome."

Jonathan Coronado, the son of Maj. Elvis Coronado, the 5th Brigade Rear Detachment commander, went against the consensus and thought it was fun - with a couple of exceptions.

"The water was deeper and colder than I thought it would be," Jonathan, age 8, said. "The water felt like it was about thirty degrees or something low like that."

Jonathan's father made the plunge with him.  He saw it as an opportunity to bond with his son, he said.

"We held hands when we jumped in," Coronado said. "It will be a great memory for us.  I am deployed a lot, so I don't get to do as much as I would like with my son. This type of activity is something we can do together and never forget."