Time with friends...

Friday night was Game Night. This is the part of the show where a lot of homeschooled teens in the area get together and, well, socialize, in a good way. Last night we had a water fight to end all water fights. Naturally, it was guys against girls, and even though we had more girls, I think it was still fair because they were almost all taller than us, most of them significantly taller. (Well, not to mention that almost all the girls were taller than me, too...) And height is kind of a big deal in a water fight, because being taller means you can hit from above. We had rules about that, though, since it wasn't fair to do that, because the girls were disadvantaged on that point. As Aaron pointed out, it was rather a G-rated water fight. Which was fine with me. Did I mention the water was ice cold, and the air was a little on the cool side to begin with? (It's gonna be fall soon...noooooo!!)

We had had supper before the water fight, so after we had changed out of our wet clothes, we played Sardines. For those of you who may not know what Sardines is, it is like backwards hide and seek, where one person hides and everyone else has to find them. Hence the name, because you do feel squished if one hides under a truck or some other "limited space" area. Anyhow, here are some lovely pictures of us standing around, waiting to eat.

Blackberries!

This year has been a great year for blackberries! A couple days ago (okay, several, I've just been too lazy to post anything...) we went picking out back.

Talking about it

We rode out to the picking spot on the tractor/brush hog. That was interesting :)



Actually picking. If you look close, you can see Katrina hiding down in front of a blackberry bush, eating her heart out...

The fruit of our labor!

Republican Picnic

Last Wednesday, my family and I attended our county's annual Republican pinic. There was about 70 attendees, including several elected officials. Our state senator was there too, which was very cool. Jessica and a friend had made four pies to bring, and we arrived early enough to help set up. My sisters and I also provided some entertainment by singing, which they loved. Here are some pictures of that evening.

(This is Jess with State Sen. Cathy Young)

SkyFest 2008

Well, last weekend (or the 1, 2, and 3 of August), I was gone. I was miles and miles away from home. I was miles away from the internet, or a good telephone. A functional bathroom (that means a mirror, running hot and cold water, and flush toilet, in that order) was only accessible for about three hours out of 24. I can hear the questions flying, the sympathetic looks being sent my way, the reporters clamoring for my story, so I shall tell you all that occured.
One word: SkyFest. But wait, there's more. That was just the tantalizer--the one-word attention-getter. What follows is one cadet's experience at SkyFest 2008, and it is a doozie of a story!

Friday: I got to "our" airport around 10:30 AM, and unloaded my gear (that sounds better than junk, or worthless snivel gear, doesn't it?), and then hopped into the CAP van to ride to where the SkyFest festivities were to occur, on the other side of the airport. About the driving...Captain M. never learned the finer arts of, say, curving non-jerkily, and stopping slowly and cautiously. Therefore, since we almost always had the upwards of 4 or 5 cadets sitting on the floor in the back, it led to very interesting rides. (Uh, yeah, to my law enforcement friends...you didn't read that, did you...) Especially when you are the one wedged up against the back door--and your fellow cadets can see outside, through the crack in the door. Back on topic, though. So we got to the tarmac where our food booth was, and started getting set up. Even though the gates for the public didn't open until late afternoon, there were still other vendors who would buy food. We also helped with odd jobs that the SkyFest organizers asked us to do.

Once the gates opened, we were on parking. There were several of other parking volunteers, so sometimes (think: not very often) cadets were not needed out in parking, but when we weren't we were usually walking around throughout the area, just being available. Being on parking gave me empathy for any other parking people I should ever encounter. Parking was one of my more favored jobs. Since it rained several times during SkyFest, it was a game of how to park people where they wouldn't get stuck. We utilized our radios while parking, and people drove around in four wheelers, supplying us with water. We made sure to stay hydrated. My record was on Saturday, when I drank, I believe, seven bottles of water. I also made sure to keep sunscreen on.
Anyhow, besides parking, the cadets (there were about 11 in all) were supposed to help out in the food booth, along with the seniors. However, because we were all 18 or younger, about the most we could do was fish drinks out of the ice in the coolers, and look cool. (Relax, food inspectors and child labor people, relax...) So "food booth duty" was also translated as "break time" or "sit in the shade time" or "eating time."

So basically, that's what my Friday, Saturday, and Sunday looked like: parking, food booth, parking, odd jobs, parking, walking around, parking, and taking photographs. Add in extreme heat, two *very* bad storms, unique people, noise, crowds, a minimum of food, and a minimum of sleep, and you have it. By the time we finally went back to our camping site at day's end, I was so tired I could have slept through a storm. Oh, wait, I did... The first night, a tornado touched down in the city we were in, and so it was pretty stormy. We had to evacuate our tents and go to the quansit hut that was right there. The second night, I believe that it also rained (but I slept like a little log, so I don't know), and so we didn't even bother with tents. We all crashed in the quansit hut. Guys and girls were seperate, thank you very much (because I saw those shocked, horrified, kids-these-days looks)! Side note about tents: Why in the world do they vacuum pack those things, and then not sell vacuum-sealers with them?

We packed up our stuff Sunday afternoon/evening, and I got home around 7:00 PM. Here are some photos I took while there.



Parking...both above and below.





These two are of the stunt plane and wing walker that buzzed around a couple of times. The pictures don't show how loud it was. The noise level got very irritating.





Above is the black Corsair, and below is the C-130H that was there the whole time. The Corsair did some stunts and flying, and we saw the C-130H leave Sunday afternoon. Oh, yes, you can see the Air Force trailor parked near the C-130. The recruiter was there almost the whole time with an engine on display.

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!

Dad and Mom

Names: Dad and Mom :)
Ages: That's a little known fact.
Little known fact: Their ages.

Jessica

Name: Jessica Lanae
Age: 17
Little Known Fact: She likes Crest toothpaste the best.