Random Summer Life

You have my consent to yawn, if you so choose, as this post is predominately pictures. In fact, I find myself yawning as I sit here. I feel like apologizing for the non-interesting-ness, but I feel rather smug about getting TWO posts up within days of each other. Yes.

We are shown below hanging out, as only homeschoolers can.




Jessica's friend Alatheia happened to be driving through our area and stopped in. Alatheia is one of Jess's classmates from her online PHC classes.

Wild blueberries...

...and blackberries
the tractor and rake

Graduation Party

So, tonight, I did what I've been not doing all summer, and that is, I sat down and looked at all the pictures that have been taken over this summer, picked out the good ones (also known as the salvageable ones), and am slowly making my way through the editing and publishing stage of things. Anyhow, for those of you who didn't know (that'd be the nonexistent stalkers and lurkers out here), I had a graduation party this summer, on a lovely wet and chilly-ish day the end of August. Obviously, these photographs were not taken by me, and I don't know who to give photo credits to...mostly Annetta and Jessica, I do believe. It was great seeing all my friends and relatives, and despite the weather, it was fun :) Thanks for coming, guys!

Here are pictures...


Reuben and Philip.


Annetta and Elizabeth
Rings :)
Feet :)
I don't really have a caption to do it justice...

Kim and Rachel
Rachel and Epponine
Andrew (or is it Daniel?) and Jonathan
Rachel and Rachel
Rachel and Jess
The boys...some of them
aww... Andrew (or Daniel), Jonathan, and Rachel
Elizabeth and Jennifer
same
Hosanna got WET!
Jennifer
playing Elbow Tag
Some parents
Elizabeth
Sarah
Mr. R
My grandpa on the right, my great-grandma in the middle, and a couple from church on the left
Elizabeth, Jess, Rachel, Arielle, and Kim

Sarah and me
Annetta and Elizabeth
Hosanna putting ice down Logan's shirt.
My mother
Reuben, a headless Hosanna, Josh, and Peter playing chess
My father
:D
Josh calls Reuben his hero...
Peter, Reuben, Katrina, and me
Hosanna, Lydia, Jessica, and me
Daddy
Katrina and Hosanna
Josh and Katrina

Yes...to you astute ones who noticed, the pictures are in reverse order, from the end of the party to the beginning. Thanks for stopping by, and tune in next time for more adventures with Ranger Bill!! I mean, our family and the friends thereof!

NERCA 2010

[As with all CAP blog posts, please note that I'm trying to keep last names off my blog by using first names.]

18 July, Sunday: Sarah, Bronson, and I leave around 6 am, having packed all our stuff in Bronson's car. We go to Angola to pick up Joanna. We cram all her stuff too, and the car sags dangerously low. Mapquest directions on hand, we fearlessly begin our journey. We stop several times at rest areas, and then stop for lunch in Massachusetts, sometime around 1300, I think. While on this journey, I am notified that we have different barracks this year than we did last year. This will play a part in our story later on.

We get off the thruway around 1600, and after driving some distance pull off to figure out where exactly we need to go. After utilizing Bronson's GPS (which begins by telling us we are in Canada), we find the Massachusetts Military Reservation, and then try to find the new barracks. After a 15 minute search (along with another lost senior member), we find the barracks and begin cheering loudly in the parking lot (it has been a long day). At this point, Col T, Maj G, Lt B, and possibly others come forth and greet us. We attempt to figure out what to do. This translates into unpacking, for now. After that, we go up to the chow hall (roughly a mile away) to help Lt R clean the kitchen. We feel as though we are transported back into time, possibly several centuries back. The buildings themselves date back to WW2, never mind the kitchen equipment. By this, I mean that we are pleasantly surprised to find running water, although it is orange. We tell ourselves that a little iron has never hurt anyone.

After we clean the kitchen, we eat supper, and there we meet several other staff people, including Zac (his last name is nearly unpronounceable, so this using first names thing works well in his case!), the RCLs c/cc. He remains a good friend throughout the coming days. In the evening, we unpack, and we (Joanna, Sarah, and I) explore the barracks. While on our exploration expedition, we find a moth of epic proportions and put it in Bronson's room, which he is sharing with Zac. Then, I head downstairs (I roomed on the second floor...that's where the RCLS and academy cadet staff slept. Encampment was 3rd floor, and seniors were first floor. For the first two night, Sarah, Joanna, and I roomed together, then Joanna went upstairs and Sarah and I stayed together, as I was the only cadet on academy staff and she was the only female RCLS cadet. This is like a paragraph in the middle of a sentence. I hope you can follow the train of thought, as this parenthese is about to come to an end.) to figure out the schedule for the next day. The schedule consists of getting up, eating breakfast at 8, and then setting up.

19 July, Monday. That is basically what we did. In the evening, we did staff in processing at the barracks, instead of at the admin building. See, the admin building was near the chow hall, and that is where the offices were. I had my public affairs office there until we were kicked out around Day 6 because the military needed it.

20 July, Tuesday: This is the day the inflights are to arrive. We are still setting up the office area when a van from Pennsylvania comes. I quickly catch a ride to the barracks where I change from civvies to BDUs, and then we all eat lunch. Then, we start in processing. Cadets trickle in for a couple hours. Sarah helps me, and we are bored while waiting for cadets to get to our station (where I take their ID card picture, and she writes down their name, grade, and flight they have been assigned to). By 1500, we are done and head over to a classroom building for what is on the schedule as a "Welcome/get to know you" session. We soon find out that this is code for "Don't be stupid/be scared of us" session. This is only natural. We have dinner and I work on the newsletter for the next day. This involves interviewing the encampment and RCLS cadet commanders.

21 July, Wednesday: [My memory is hazy at this point...I think I missed opening, but I'm not entirely sure how or why. But I would have gotten up to the admin building sometime before 7 to print the newsletter.] After breakfast, the encampment and RCLS had classes, predominately, and I took this time to make a header, start on the next newsletter, and stuff. I think. Then we had drill (photo op!!), and lunch. After that, we were going to do a navigation course. But, something happened, and that caused the encampment to come back and not do the navigation course. It got confusing here because I didn't know what was going on, but we all knew that for some reason the encampment was in trouble. It turned out to be a misunderstanding that escalated (I think it was several misunderstandings, actually). After supper, the encampment and RCLS played volleyball.

And then I was ready to go to the admin building and finish the newsletter for the next day. Only the encampment problem was still going on, and the person with the key for the admin building was rather preoccupied in a very much so do-not-disturb sort of a way. So I hung out, rather out of sorts and mope-ily, with various RCLS people. Keep in mind that my bedtime was set at 2200. At 2130, I headed downstairs to try one last time to figure out the newsletter deal. This time, they were less busy, and between Lt B and the Colonel Cs (there are two and they're married), we determined that I would ask Col T for the admin key (taking Lt B with me for protection), and I would go get my laptop, bring it with me to the barracks and work on it there. And my bedtime would be extended a half our. As we discussed this, Col T walked in and we got the key, and I got my laptop, and finished the newsletter and it all worked out. Not at all confusing, was that?

22 July, Thursday: This was a fun day. It was the Day of the Tadpole. Only there were no tadpoles...just large frogs and little 3-legged froglets with tails. By this, I am referring to the Leadership Reaction Course. The encampment and RCLS went to the LRC in the morning, and the staff with them. And the staff's cameras. And notebook. I documented every sighted frog and froglet. I think the army should pay me for taking a census of their LRC's amphibian population, but will they? No.

After lunch, we drove back to the LRC, and the RCLS stayed and did that while the encampment went to the obstacle course, and the staff with them. And the staff's cameras. And notebook. Sadly, there were no frogs to document. After supper, I worked on the newsletter till bedtime.

23 Jul, Fri: I think this is the morning that we fell into a routine...Sarah and I would get up, and then Lt R would take me to the admin building when she went to the chow hall to make breakfast for us. I'd get there around 6 and would start working n the next day's newsletter, and print the one for that day. Then around 7, I'd head over for breakfast. This morning, the encampment went rappelling, and I had *so* much fun taking pictures! They let me go up on top and attached me to a pole so that I could lay on my stomach at the edge and take pictures of the cadets going down. That was cool. After lunch, the encampment and RCLS were going to switch...RCLS had been at FATS and were now going rappelling while encampment went to FATS. And I was going with the RCLS to photograph them rappelling. However, there was a bomb threat in the rappelling tower area (it wasn't me, promise!!), so the RCLS went to their classroom. And Stefan (the medic) and I had no group. So we stalked down the encampment at FATS and joined them. That was really fun. FATS stands for Fire Arms Training Simulator, and it's basically a rifle with a laser that you point at and shoot targets and a projection screen on the wall. Once I figured out what I was shooting at (and what I was supposed to line up so it was straight), it was pretty cool! After supper, I believe I worked on the newsletter and walked back to the barracks.

24 July, Saturday: This morning, the RCLS went rappelling, and once again, I tagged along to take pictures. This time, I went down the tower. After lunch, I worked on the newsletter and then went and watched Star Wars with the RCLS...they watched one episode and I had never seen Star Wars, so Lt B and I integrated with RCLS for a couple hours. Then there was more newsletter, supper, and newsletter.

25 July, Sunday: The encampment did something special in the morning...they went swimming in the base swimming pool! I went along and took pictures of them and dangled my feet in the water. It felt good. Then we had lunch. In the afternoon, the encampment went to PAVE PAWS, and I went along and took notes for the newsletter. The one AF guy took a group picture of us at the end...he said he felt bad because there were no cameras allowed inside the building! After supper, I worked on the newsletter in the admin building, and walked back to the barracks. I figured out that I could save 5 or 10 minutes by taking a shortcut...only thing was, the shortcut led behind other barracks that some people (contractors, I believe) were working on. So it was a little scary walking there myself, but I only did that once.

26 July, Monday: To the great chagrin of my RCLS buddies (read: Sarah), I spent the day with the encampment, touring the Coast Guard station in the morning, and then the UTES facility in the afternoon. I would tell you what UTES stands for, but I've forgotten. Something-Training-Equipment-

Something, I think...it's a bunch of big trucks and tanks and stuff that you look at and crawl all over, except for the bored PAO who did it last year and would like to go to sleep now, thank you. Also that afternoon, I moved out of the admin building because we had to give it back to the Army since they needed it. (At least I think it was that afternoon. No, maybe it was Tuesday...I'm not exactly sure.) But anyhow, after supper, the Academy did Pass in Review Practice, and I did Pas In Review Picture Taking Practice, and then took my laptop outside and worked on the newsletter while I watched the proceedings. That was an important newsletter that tackled the Tough Issues, namely, Winnie the Pooh. Nuff said.

27 July, Tuesday: This was a fun day. In the morning, the encampment and I went on a tour of Camp Kelly and the Colaris (not sure about spelling...too lazy to look it up :P ) Post, which is there on base. Then we went back to the chow hall for a quick lunch, because we were supposed to be at the Blackhawk place by noon. We went in and sat down, and a man gave a short briefing. Then we were split up into 4 flights of about 9 each. I was assigned to the fourth one, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to go up. I mean, I'm the kid who doesn't even like the Farris Wheel! Nomes was in the first flight, and she cam in saying how awesome it was and how smooth it was, so I decided I might as well try it. And I am glad I did. It was awesome. I got to sit next to the door (it was open), and we zoomed around really fast for about a half an hour. They tilted it some, and for part of it we got pretty close to the trees. About 10 minutes before we were done, I started feeling sick, but we landed and I was fine. Then we loaded back up into the bus and went back to the barracks. I worked on the newsletter and slideshow stuff, and then worked on the newsletter and slideshow stuff. We had a picnic supper with the local squadron, and then Lt R and I worked on the slideshow. We finished it around 3 and went to bed.

28 July, Wednesday: So this was it...last day. We dragged ourselves out of bed and were happy to learn that the uniform (at least for staff and RCLS) was PT gear. We had opening, I printed the newsletter, and we learned the sad news that Lt B was sick with a cold (or something). The senior members sent him breakfast, but we skipped Pass in Review because he was the person who ran the music part. And the music part is pretty important. So instead of practicing Pass in Review we walked over to the base theater to practice for the graduation ceremony. While I was walking over, I was stopped by Col T, who asked me if I had the laptop. He reminded me that I would need that to play the slideshow for the ceremony, the slideshow that we had worked on until 3 am. So I walked back and grabbed it...nice to have people like that! The ceremony went fine...Bronson got the Eagle Award, and everyone liked the slideshow. Afterward, we went up to the chow hall for lunch.

Following lunch, it was time to go back to the barracks and clean them so we could leave. I think we were done by 2:30 or so. We mournfully bid our friends farewell. Joanna's sister, Abby, had come for the graduation (she had just got on leave from Okinawa...she's in the Marines), so Joanna didn't ride back with us. It was just Sarah, Bronson, and me. We got home around one o' clock and went our separate ways.

NERCA was awesome. I can't wait till next year! Hopefully we'll have more people...this year we had a total of 41 attendees. Including seniors. Yeah.

NERCA

I'm excited because I get to go here again :) I'm leaving Sunday morning, at roughly 0600 and won't be back until late on the 28th. This year, I get to be on public affairs staff, which means that I will have my camera with me. And I'll be writing a newsletter each day, which hopefully I can post here as well, for your enjoyment :P

So anyhow...prayers appreciated much, and I'll be back within a couple weeks!

Family Reunion

17 June: Grandma Suzy arrives. Grandma Olson's house (where she's staying) has been cleaned and is prepared. It is about the only thing that is.

23 June: The rest of the Florida relatives (namely, Uncle Victor, Aunt Joanne, Julia, and Grandpa Bob) arrive. Jessica and I appear on the scene rather late as they were working. We feel rather grungy.

24 June: Jessica and I stay up late waiting for Frannie and her two kids to arrive. Their plane is delayed, so they don't get to our house until 1 am. Jessica has fallen asleep, but my subconscious alerts me and I drag my half-asleep self off the couch, arouse Jess, and let them in. Then we go to bed, because tomorrow is a Big Day.

25 June: We wake up at various points and go through our various morning-time routines. These consist mostly of preparing to be presentable in public and eating. Then, all relatives congregate at our house while we prepare to head on up to Niagara Falls. ("All relatives" consists of: my entire family, Grandpa Bob, Grandma Suzy, Aunt Joanne, Uncle Victor, Julia, Uncle Wayne, Aunt Valerie, Nolan, Justin, Frannie, Ben, and Elsa.) Estimated time of departure is 0800. [We shall now break down into greater detail.]

0800: We are still preparing for liftoff.

0810: We are still preparing for liftoff.

0820: We are still preparing for liftoff.

0825: We have liftoff. We split up betwixt 4 vehicles. I land in Grandpa Bob and Grandma Suzy's car. With me are my sister Annetta and my cousin Nolan, who's 13.

0900: We are still driving. Nolan and Annetta are prank calling their cousins and organizing other prank callings of their cousins, and being prank called by their cousins. It is an amusing saga of our journey.

0930: We are still driving.

1000: We arrive, and as is customary procedure for all travelers throughout the ages (including Christopher Columbus), we swarm to the public restrooms.

1015: We acquire tickets, and by acquire, I of course mean that we grabbed other tourists's tickets when they weren't looking.

1020: And thus our Niagara Falls adventure begins. We stroll over to where the Maid of the Mist takes off and don our light blue ponchos. These ponchos are, in fact, a deliberate ploy on the part of the Niagara Falls Department of Ways To Make People Look Absolutely Goofy Without Realizing it.

1030: We are on the Maid of the Mist. This is actually a misnomer -- it would correctly be called the Maid of the Drench. Its namer was apparently a water-dweller, such as a duck or manatee.

1100: We slosh off the Maid of the "Mist" and discard our ponchos. Then, the insane among us decide to climb a staircase that is built very close to the Falls. There should be a sign posted about halfway up that says: "Warning: Fish Only!" As we see, there is no sign, and we take our waterlogged selves back down to where the wetness is much less intrusive.

1200: We find ourselves in need of lunch, and head back to where our picnic foods are calling us. We take our coolers to a flat, grassy area and commence consuming eatables such as turkey subs, yogurt, cookies, and juice. Then revived, we are ready to continue with the proceedings.

1330: We start off on a walk that takes us along side the Niagara River. Along the way, we see a smooth, flat place near the water's edge. Naturally, we dangle our feet in. Then we were informed by a park ranger that we are about five seconds upstream from the falls. So we get out.

1430: At this point, there are some of our number who need to get back to our house to get ready for work/sleep/prepare for the reunion, so we split up and a vehicle heads back. The rest of us hold a meeting in which we decide that some of us wish to go onto the Cave of the Winds deck (and when I say "we" and "us" I really mean "them.")

1500: We take a hike to Horseshoe Falls, gaze at it for a while, and then hike back to our vehicles. Once there, we split back up into our vehicles and head for home.

2000: This is our estimated time of departure for going down to Uncle Emery's for supper.

2015: This is when we actually leave. We sit around a campfire, talking, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows.

2215: We get home, talk for a bit about the next day, and then go to bed.

26 June

0800: It's safe to say that at this point, most of us are cognizant and eating breakfast, because today is another Big Day.

1200: At this time, we are hastily putting together the last little things, because the reunion starts in an hour.

1300: Folks arrive. We eat. We talk. We take photographs. They leave. We clean up.

2100: We have a bonfire for the ones who are staying here, and the close relatives. Then we go to bed.

Our Sunday basically consists of saying goodbye to Frannie and Ben and Elsa, and then church. Then we hung out at home. Monday was VBS, and Tuesday (today) the rest of the relatives left. It was great seeing everyone, and I hope we can see them all again! Oh, pictures...yes, I took a lot. I debated for about 3 seconds with myself: should I blog with pictures, or do a separate blog post with pictures? Th answer should be obvious: choice B. So I leave you with this wordy post, with a promise to get some pictures up at a later date!

Work and Family Reunion

It's beginning. The relatives are arriving, and pretty soon, they'll all be here and it will culminate in a large family reunion. Grandma Suzy came last week, and the rest of the Florida relatives acme today. They were here when Jessica and I came home from work. Even though Jessica got another job at a restaurant, she was off today so she came with me to tie blueberries at the local fruit farm. A couple weeks ago, I got called to go to work and weed the raspberries. After working a few days, I made some calculations and decided that if I were working alone, it would take me until roughly Labor Day to finish. So I recruited Jessica, and we continued weeding raspberries. After a couple days, we did some calculations and concluded that it would take us until roughly mid-August to finish. So we called our friends, Rachel and her brother Aaron, and they came. After a few days, we did some calculations and concluded that it would take us until roughly the Fourth of July to finish. So we called our other friends, Logan and Clayton, and between all of us, we finished tying the blueberries today. Having friends along turned it into something fun, with the fellowship, talking, laughing, motivation, and competition, even in the 80 degree, muggy weather!

At any rate, that was a tangent about work. Tomorrow night, the rest of the out-of-state relatives (those that are staying longer than just for the party) will be arriving. On Friday, a horde of us are heading up to Niagara Falls, and then Saturday we'll be having the reunion.

To go back to ancient history, on Sunday (Father's Day), we went mini-golfing. It was really fun. To close, here are some pictures! And I need to get up and clean up the kitchen/clean my room/do laundry/do schoolwork/etc.

The bloggie crickets are keeping me awake, so here I am :)

So, what's been going on with you? Life? School? Work? Family and/or friends? Yeah, me too. You know it's bad when you have to look at your own blog because you can't remember what you blogged about. *looks at blog* Oh...that was titled Trip Part One, implying that I should blog an indefinite number of Trip Follow-up posts. Here, how's this: I wrap the trip up really fast and then zip through random life stuff till we get caught up, 'k? 'K!

Last time, the exciting adventurers had just left their friends home and were heading to IN to be with their friend at her graduation party. We rode to her house with her grandparents, who live in Nashville, and stayed with Emily's family until Monday morning. We went to her graduation ceremony, which was the state-wide homeschool graduation ceremony and was really cool because there were tons of homeschoolers all in one place and the parking lot was full of 15 passenger vans! The next day, after church, she had her open house, and we enjoyed playing volleyball with her friends. I had fun taking pictures too...Emily has a way cool camera and let me play with it :)

Then, Monday morning, we arose at some very early point in the morning to head to the airport. Our flights back home went smoothly, and we were picked up by Daddy and Joanna.

Now we get to the part where I try to think of what it has been that's been keeping me so busy that this blog post has been in drafts for days. I could start with two weekends ago...the Hamburg airshow. only it wasn't an airshow...it was a pancake breakfast. Another squadron was hosting it, and we went up to lend a helping hand. A contingent of 6 of us went up Friday evening, set up our tents, and hung out with the other cadets. We watched a movie, and when I say "watched" I mean watched, not listened to. I think that between downpours of rain, I was able to catch the basic gist of the movie Mr. Holland's Opus. The downpour didn't end with the movie, unfortunately; it kept up pretty steadily throughout the night. I'm glad for waterproof tents. I slept a couple hours, all comfy atop the large rock that my tent was positioned above (that was sarcasm for those of you who actually thought that I might have been comfy sleeping on a rock). In the morning, we arose bright and early (more of the early than of the bright) and commenced setting up for the pancake breakfast. We parked cars, took pictures, made food, served food, cleaned tables, unparked cars, and cleaned up.

After that excitement, I was picked up by my family and we went to Matt's graduation party. He just graduated from highschool and is heading into the Army. We enjoyed being with friends there, and playing an awesome game of kickball. At first, the kickball game only had about six kids. But Jordan the optimist kept saying, "If we play, they will come!" and sure enough, kids trickled in and we had a fun game. Of course, what really made it fun was the fact that my team won...

So since then, I've basically been doing schoolwork, work at a local fruit farm, CAP, friends, and other random stuff. Grandma Suzy flew up today from FL. the rest of the FL relatives are coming up next week, as well as a bunch of other relatives, and we'll be having a family reunion next weekend. So that'll be busy and fun. But in order to enjoy all these doings properly, I must have sleep, so I regret to say that I must sign off here and I'll see you all later!