The Fair!

Friday was a fun-filled day for our family. In the morning, we went blueberry picking at the fruit farm where Jessica worked. After having my digestive tract tourniqueted (?) by a 5 and a half pound pail of blueberries tied around my waist, we went home to prepare for going to the fair, and having some friends over. At around 12:30, all of us except for my dad (who had to go to work), and Jessica (who was working) went down to our county fair. After getting our tickets and getting stamped (see photo), I made a bee line to the Civil Air Patrol booth which was in one of the buildings. I didn't expect anyone to be there, and no one was. So, I walked around several times before meeting back up with my family, who coerced :) me onto the Ferris wheel. I was praying for the guy to stop it several rounds before he actually did. And when he finally let us out, as I maneuvered in the limited space to get off, I managed to, accidentally of course, step on his foot (ha ha).


My National Guard buddies had a booth at the fair, as well as a lone Marine who had an ego problem. He gave me a magnetic Marine ribbon, but the National Guard gave me a t-shirt. Granted, the shirt's a tad bit big because they were out of my size, but nevertheless...! ((Note to Marines everywhere: Just kidding!!!) I also had a neat conversation with a man and his wife, who thought that the Civil Air Patrol had gone extinct years ago. I convinced them that it was still going, as seen by the fact that I'm a cadet staff sergeant. He, as a child, had built model rockets, and because CAP has a model rocketry program, we talked about that for several minutes.


After getting good and sunburned, we went home. It was a good day. I didn't have my camera along, so I don't have any pictures, but I'm sure you can all imagine it just fine. And you, my dear reader, have you gone to a fair yet this year? Leave me a comment and tell me about it. I don't bite, promise!!

Scottish Festival!

Ever since April, 10 (sometimes 13) girls met every week for sewing classes. We made an authentic 1700s-era Scottish outfit. Saturday was the grand finale. We all wore our outfits and had an as-realistic-as-possible Scottish Festival. Several of the adults also wore authentic outfits, but the rest of the attendees were asked to wear (girls) full-length skirts, or (guys) long pants, no jeans. The food was also something like what they might have eaten back then, and the activities were mostly that time period. We had crafts, sword fighting, a log toss, races, music, dancing, and a bonfire. And rain. The rain actually made everything kind of misty and mystical; one could almost imagine traveling in time back to the days of handsome, dashing knights and and fair maidens and romantic endeavors and drafty, moldy castles (something doesn't quite sound right...).


Without further ado, here are pictures, taken with a very unrealistic camera. This picture and the one below are the participants of the Virginia Reel dance. Annetta and I joined in right afterwards.





These last two pictures are of the rope tug that we did, girls against guys. After we managed to get the rope so it didn't keep breaking :), the girls won the first round, and the guys won the second round.



[Photo credits for rope-tug pictures: Kerry B.]

A Photo Shoot With Katrina

A VBS Game Leaders Schedule...

Ever wondered what it'd be like to be a VBS game leader, but were too scared to take the plunge? Well, have I got a post for you!! This schedule, although patterned (almost) exactly after my experiences, can be modified to fit your schedule!!

7:15 Get up now!! Or else you will be late!!
7:30 *okay, okay, I'm gettin' up...*
8:15 Oh man! We need to leave, like, now!! Why, oh why, did I not get up sooner?!
8:17 Leave. (Make sure to put on bicycle helmets to protect yourself against certain doom should the 17-year-old anonymous driver be the cause of a vehicle accident.)
8:28 Arrive at church. Sign in. Nab keys from pastor's wife and unlock game room doors and set up.
9:00 Dash upstairs and turn on sound system ('cause I was the sound techie, 'cause a Certain Other Person wasn't there. Cough. [kidding :)])
9:30 Ruuuuunnnnn down to the game room and arrive before the first group of kids gets there!
9:50 Shoo the 5 and 6 graders to go pig out at snack time, and go hide under the carpet to prepare yourself for the next group.
10:00 Weakly welcome the 3 and 4 graders to game time.
10:20 Announce that it is snack time, and try to stay out of the way of the mad stampede out of the game room. Eat snack yourself to be at your mental best for the next group.
10:30 Stand out of way of door as K, 1, and 2 graders tear into game room. Wait until dust settles and kids are only running around at 35 mph before strapping them down to listen to the rules of the game. Let them loose to play the game(s).
10:32 Isn't it snack time yet for you guys??
10:34 Isn't it snack time yet for you guys??
10:36 Isn't it snack time yet for you guys??
(Et cetera)
10:50 SNACK TIME!!!!
11:00 Dash upstairs to run sound system for the closing hour.
12:00 Leave for home.
12:01 Die.
Next day: Repeat.

Saturday Morning: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

:)

Vacation Bible School

Whew! What a week! Space Mission Bible Adventure is over, but we all have so many memories of it! I was priviledged to be the Game Leader/Sound Techie for all 5 days. It was a stretching experience, as the game books, with the games all planned out for each day, were not available. So I had to plan each day's game, as well as scurry about and gather materials, and set them up in our church's spacious Family Life Center. So that would be the reason why I do not have photos of throughout the week--I was crazy busy! This evening was the closing ceremony, and between pushing buttons on the CD player and turning up and down microphones, I snapped some pictures of the kids singing the songs they had learned throughout the week. They did all the motions, too. See if you can pick my 5 siblings that are up there singing, with an added bonus if you can spot Jessica in the audience in one of the pictures.

Each morning, my "next down" sister, Annetta (12), would don her robot suit and put on a little skit with the one of the leaders, Amber. At the closing ceremony, they did a little repeat for the parents/family/friends/etc. that were attending. Please excuse the audience heads in the foreground.

Independence Day

Last night, we did what millions of our fellow Americans did. We went to our county seat, ate ice cream, and watched the fireworks. Let me elaborate. We left our house at 8:15 PM, or thereabouts. After parking in a field that smelled like sewage, we walked over to Barney's Boxcar for ice cream. Along the way, we passed two sets of people. Daddy knew them both, so we had to stop and talk for a couple minutes. Then we fell into line behind Tim W. and his wife and daughter. We finally got up to the counter and ordered. I ordered a small raspberry in a cup. I got a (gigantic to me, small to them) raspberry in a cone. I had wanted it in a cup so that the pieces of cone wouldn't get stuck underneath my RPE (Rapid Palate Expander; an orthodontic means of torture). It was good anyhow. It would have been better if it had been a warm evening, instead of on the chilly side. Good thing it wasn't raining, though!

We moseyed around until we found a good spot to put down our blanket and watch the 'works. Well, I guess it wasn't really a good spot. There was nobody else there. Maybe that should have been our clue. The ground was really soggy. But the fireworks were beautiful. (I didn't take any pictures, unfortunately.) The drunks behind us certainly enjoyed them. The show lasted about 30 minutes. Then we did a mass exodus home. Actually, there was more of a "mass" than of an "exodus" going on, but we made it home before midnight.

Leave me a comment and tell me what you did on the Fourth!