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!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, June 18, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Trip Part One
Greetings. So, Jess and I just (okay, like 4 days ago) got back from an amazing trip. We were gone for 11 days in Nashville, TN, and Greencastle, IN. I think I have blogged before about David Hall. He ran in 2008 for state senate. This year, he is running for US Congress. The Halls are an awesome, homeschooling family, and when Jessica had a break from college this spring, we decided to fly down. Our friends Peter and Stephen were able to come too, and we were able to get quite a bit done.
We left our house around 1630 Friday (the 14th) afternoon. Daddy drove Jess and me up to the airport and we found our gate just fine and hung out there taking pictures until our flight was boarding.
At which point, we took out our boarding passes and observed that we were seated in Row 22. So we walked to the rear of the airplane, only to find that the last row was 21. This presented a rather humorous problem. The head stewardess was trying to figure out what in the world to do with us, and we ended up just picking two other random seats. They were in the exit aisle so we had a lot of leg room. By the way, thunderstorms are WAY cooler from above. We flew by several, and it was so cool to see the lightning in the clouds below us.
Charlotte was our layover airport, and we had about 10 minutes from when we got off our airplane till when the next one started boarding. We hurried through the terminal and made it exactly on time. Then we flew to Nashville. And on that flight I had to sit in the middle seat and some random guy with a weird haircut sat next to me but he didn't talk or anything so it was okay.
We landed in Nashville around 2240 their time (central time) and went down to the baggage claim. We had to wait a little while because luggage was delayed, but it finally came and we drove to the Hall home with Zach and Mr. Hall, who had come to pick us up. It was about almost midnight their time when we got there, so it was almost one my time, and I was really tired.
We went in the back door which opens up into a laundry/computer room, and Allie and Annie came running out and hugged us and said hi. They're really nice girls. Then, just inside the door going from that room into the kitchen, Peter and Stephen were standing, and we greeted them. So we all met, and it was really neat to meet them all, because I felt as if I had known them since I've heard so much about them, but I had really only met Peter.
The next day (Saturday), we were supposed to leave at 0800, so I got up around 7, dressed, and ate. Dymon and Mrs. Hall appeared that morning, and we met them too, naturally. Then we were given David Hall for Congress t-shirts and went out door knocking. We split up into two groups: Jess, Allie, and I were one of them, and Dymon, Peter, and Stephen were the other group. We had sandwiches for lunch. In the afternoon, we were summoned home due to impending bad weather. We did some phone banking and then just stayed home for the evening, playing Monopoly, etc. (Below: random pictures of various people hanging out at home. You will note the large role laptops play in home life :) )
Sunday morning was, of course, church. The teens (that'd be the 4 oldest Hall kids, Jess, Peter, Stephen, and me) went to Sunday School, and then had the regular service. Then the teens went to CiCi'sPizza. (Take a guess at the menu...) It rained in the late afternoon, but before then, we went outside and took pictures...Jess and Annie posed, and we even got some pics of the guys. It took minimal coercion to get them to pose, and I use pose in the sense of "stand within a few meters of each other and face the general area the camera is."
Allie and Annie
Stephen, Dymon, and Peter
Annie and Jess
Sunday evening was cool, because Stephen had a region cadet advisory council teleconference meeting that he needed to call into, and I was allowed to listen to it. It was really interesting, even though I didn't know exactly what they were talking about. I got the basic gist.
Monday was a fun day. Allie, Dymon,Stephen, Annie, Jess, and I went as one group door knocking. Later in the afternoon, we all went together while attempting to locate the hard-to-find roads, such as Coles Ferry Pike. I will never forget Coles Ferry Pike. It didn't have a sign, but finally, between the brilliant geniuses in the car, we found it....that road goes down in door-knocking infamy! We did try to get directions from a small country store, and as an interesting side note, they didn't have a light in their bathroom. But at least they had a bathroom, right? (Actually, I think the guys merely tried to get a map. Asking for directions might've been a good idea because we were on that road right then...we just didn't know it!) Then, after we had located our houses, we went to Sonic for a shake/slushy/other drink, and then home.
Tuesday was more door-knocking. The Halls's friend, Reuben, came with us. He, Dymon, and I went in Mr. Hall's truck as one team; Allie, Stephen, and Jess were another; and the third team was Mrs. Hall, Peter, and Annie. We met up for lunch and then headed back.
Group shot left to right: Peter, Stephen, Reuben, Annie, Allie, Jess, me, Dymon
About mid-afternoon, in the farthest part of Wilson County, my team's truck broke down. It wouldn't shift. So, we had, as Dymon said, "the time of our lives" out waiting for Mr. Hall and his mechanic Billy to come. Never before have I seen two guys in their early twenties laying on their backs in the bed of a pick-up truck, eyes closed, expounding on what they could see in their minds eyes. Reuben saw a factory in a desert in Hong Kong. Dymon asked him what the factory made, and Reuben said, "Small plastic items."
Anyhow, Mr. Hall and Billy came, and Billy fixed the truck in about 30 seconds. Then, Reuben and I were merged to Allie's group, and Dymon and Zach headed off to a meeting that they had to go to. And we all met up at Sonic again.
Then we went home and talked and ate and stuff. The topic of parallel postulates came up, somehow. Peter was excitedly explaining that concept to Stephen and me, who were clueless. Then, suddenly, Stephen got it, and was excitedly trying to explain it to me. "It's simple!!" I was told. I got it his second time through...hey, it takes talent and brains not to be able to understand something until the 4th time through! Reuben was asked what he thought about the parallel postulate. He said that the parallel postulate is where it's at. If he could have anything in the world, it would totally be a parallel postulate. I feel that he will go far in life.
So Wednesday morning we said goodbye to Stephen and he left to go back home. Then those of us who who remained went out door knocking again, in two groups-- guys against girls. Allie didn't feel well, so we went home early and went to the Wednesday evening church service. And Jess, Annie, and I watched the movie Ever After.
Thursday was more door knocking, and we actually ran out of literature (and there was great rejoicing). So we went home and hung out. And then Friday morning, Jess and I left the Halls to drive to our friends the Chambons house. They live in Greencastle, Indiana, and we went for their oldest daughter's graduation party. But that's the story for the next blog post.
We left our house around 1630 Friday (the 14th) afternoon. Daddy drove Jess and me up to the airport and we found our gate just fine and hung out there taking pictures until our flight was boarding.
At which point, we took out our boarding passes and observed that we were seated in Row 22. So we walked to the rear of the airplane, only to find that the last row was 21. This presented a rather humorous problem. The head stewardess was trying to figure out what in the world to do with us, and we ended up just picking two other random seats. They were in the exit aisle so we had a lot of leg room. By the way, thunderstorms are WAY cooler from above. We flew by several, and it was so cool to see the lightning in the clouds below us.
Charlotte was our layover airport, and we had about 10 minutes from when we got off our airplane till when the next one started boarding. We hurried through the terminal and made it exactly on time. Then we flew to Nashville. And on that flight I had to sit in the middle seat and some random guy with a weird haircut sat next to me but he didn't talk or anything so it was okay.
We landed in Nashville around 2240 their time (central time) and went down to the baggage claim. We had to wait a little while because luggage was delayed, but it finally came and we drove to the Hall home with Zach and Mr. Hall, who had come to pick us up. It was about almost midnight their time when we got there, so it was almost one my time, and I was really tired.
We went in the back door which opens up into a laundry/computer room, and Allie and Annie came running out and hugged us and said hi. They're really nice girls. Then, just inside the door going from that room into the kitchen, Peter and Stephen were standing, and we greeted them. So we all met, and it was really neat to meet them all, because I felt as if I had known them since I've heard so much about them, but I had really only met Peter.
The next day (Saturday), we were supposed to leave at 0800, so I got up around 7, dressed, and ate. Dymon and Mrs. Hall appeared that morning, and we met them too, naturally. Then we were given David Hall for Congress t-shirts and went out door knocking. We split up into two groups: Jess, Allie, and I were one of them, and Dymon, Peter, and Stephen were the other group. We had sandwiches for lunch. In the afternoon, we were summoned home due to impending bad weather. We did some phone banking and then just stayed home for the evening, playing Monopoly, etc. (Below: random pictures of various people hanging out at home. You will note the large role laptops play in home life :) )
Sunday morning was, of course, church. The teens (that'd be the 4 oldest Hall kids, Jess, Peter, Stephen, and me) went to Sunday School, and then had the regular service. Then the teens went to CiCi'sPizza. (Take a guess at the menu...) It rained in the late afternoon, but before then, we went outside and took pictures...Jess and Annie posed, and we even got some pics of the guys. It took minimal coercion to get them to pose, and I use pose in the sense of "stand within a few meters of each other and face the general area the camera is."
Allie and Annie
Stephen, Dymon, and Peter
Annie and Jess
Sunday evening was cool, because Stephen had a region cadet advisory council teleconference meeting that he needed to call into, and I was allowed to listen to it. It was really interesting, even though I didn't know exactly what they were talking about. I got the basic gist.Monday was a fun day. Allie, Dymon,Stephen, Annie, Jess, and I went as one group door knocking. Later in the afternoon, we all went together while attempting to locate the hard-to-find roads, such as Coles Ferry Pike. I will never forget Coles Ferry Pike. It didn't have a sign, but finally, between the brilliant geniuses in the car, we found it....that road goes down in door-knocking infamy! We did try to get directions from a small country store, and as an interesting side note, they didn't have a light in their bathroom. But at least they had a bathroom, right? (Actually, I think the guys merely tried to get a map. Asking for directions might've been a good idea because we were on that road right then...we just didn't know it!) Then, after we had located our houses, we went to Sonic for a shake/slushy/other drink, and then home.
Tuesday was more door-knocking. The Halls's friend, Reuben, came with us. He, Dymon, and I went in Mr. Hall's truck as one team; Allie, Stephen, and Jess were another; and the third team was Mrs. Hall, Peter, and Annie. We met up for lunch and then headed back.
Group shot left to right: Peter, Stephen, Reuben, Annie, Allie, Jess, me, Dymon
About mid-afternoon, in the farthest part of Wilson County, my team's truck broke down. It wouldn't shift. So, we had, as Dymon said, "the time of our lives" out waiting for Mr. Hall and his mechanic Billy to come. Never before have I seen two guys in their early twenties laying on their backs in the bed of a pick-up truck, eyes closed, expounding on what they could see in their minds eyes. Reuben saw a factory in a desert in Hong Kong. Dymon asked him what the factory made, and Reuben said, "Small plastic items."
Anyhow, Mr. Hall and Billy came, and Billy fixed the truck in about 30 seconds. Then, Reuben and I were merged to Allie's group, and Dymon and Zach headed off to a meeting that they had to go to. And we all met up at Sonic again.
Then we went home and talked and ate and stuff. The topic of parallel postulates came up, somehow. Peter was excitedly explaining that concept to Stephen and me, who were clueless. Then, suddenly, Stephen got it, and was excitedly trying to explain it to me. "It's simple!!" I was told. I got it his second time through...hey, it takes talent and brains not to be able to understand something until the 4th time through! Reuben was asked what he thought about the parallel postulate. He said that the parallel postulate is where it's at. If he could have anything in the world, it would totally be a parallel postulate. I feel that he will go far in life.
So Wednesday morning we said goodbye to Stephen and he left to go back home. Then those of us who who remained went out door knocking again, in two groups-- guys against girls. Allie didn't feel well, so we went home early and went to the Wednesday evening church service. And Jess, Annie, and I watched the movie Ever After.
Thursday was more door knocking, and we actually ran out of literature (and there was great rejoicing). So we went home and hung out. And then Friday morning, Jess and I left the Halls to drive to our friends the Chambons house. They live in Greencastle, Indiana, and we went for their oldest daughter's graduation party. But that's the story for the next blog post.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Update
So, Jessica and Erika left. (We still have leftover cake from our party, does anyone want some? And yes, of course we miss them!)
I have been designated official hacker/blogger while Erika is gone, so prepare yourself!
We (the LITTLE kids) had an adventure last night, and since you are all dying to hear about it, I'll be happy to tell you about it. It began when Someone bought a tent. Obviously, since the purpose of a tent is sleeping in it outdoors, we slept in it outdoors.
Wait, I should tell you that this tent is very big. That can be a good thing. Also, have you ever noticed that the bigger a thing is, the more noise it usually makes? (This doesn't apply to Josh and Katrina. I can inform you that Katrina is capable of being as loud or louder than Josh. Yes.)
So, it was windy last night, and we were shocked because it is never windy on the hill. (And yes, that was sarcastic. ) Then it began to Rain. Bucketfuls of water poured into the tent and pretty soon we were floating on three feet of water. Katrina was a little scared, but she learned how to swim fairly quickly. Finally, when the water got to four feet, I heroically ran out into the blinding rain and built a shelter over the tent. Unfortunately the bears were thirsty that night. They had managed to drain the creek dry, (they are big bears), so they decided to tear down the tent.
It was an interesting night. Lydia managed to strangle the bears, and Katrina and Josh were only slightly frightened. (I gave them pom-poms and they became Lydia's cheering team. By the way, do you know how difficult it is to cheer someone on in four feet of water?)
Hosanna and Joanna slept through the whole thing, naturally, and the sun was shining in the morning.
Actually, that was all a lie. Lydia and I decided that since we had nothing really blog worthy, we would stretch the truth only a little.
Okay, so you need to comment and let me know how much of this you believed.
-The Hacker
I have been designated official hacker/blogger while Erika is gone, so prepare yourself!
We (the LITTLE kids) had an adventure last night, and since you are all dying to hear about it, I'll be happy to tell you about it. It began when Someone bought a tent. Obviously, since the purpose of a tent is sleeping in it outdoors, we slept in it outdoors.
Wait, I should tell you that this tent is very big. That can be a good thing. Also, have you ever noticed that the bigger a thing is, the more noise it usually makes? (This doesn't apply to Josh and Katrina. I can inform you that Katrina is capable of being as loud or louder than Josh. Yes.)
So, it was windy last night, and we were shocked because it is never windy on the hill. (And yes, that was sarcastic. ) Then it began to Rain. Bucketfuls of water poured into the tent and pretty soon we were floating on three feet of water. Katrina was a little scared, but she learned how to swim fairly quickly. Finally, when the water got to four feet, I heroically ran out into the blinding rain and built a shelter over the tent. Unfortunately the bears were thirsty that night. They had managed to drain the creek dry, (they are big bears), so they decided to tear down the tent.
It was an interesting night. Lydia managed to strangle the bears, and Katrina and Josh were only slightly frightened. (I gave them pom-poms and they became Lydia's cheering team. By the way, do you know how difficult it is to cheer someone on in four feet of water?)
Hosanna and Joanna slept through the whole thing, naturally, and the sun was shining in the morning.
Actually, that was all a lie. Lydia and I decided that since we had nothing really blog worthy, we would stretch the truth only a little.
Okay, so you need to comment and let me know how much of this you believed.
-The Hacker
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Spring
It's that Time Of Year where people are prone to turn to one another and exclaim in voices of happy surprise and amazement, "Spring has sprung!! " And my thoughts can be summed up as: "Well, it's not like it does this every year, is it...?" But maybe that's just me.
At any rate, the way you can tell that spring sprunged is by these simple steps:
1) Open your door and step outside.
2) Exhale.
3) See if your breath condenses into a cloud of ice that will then fall down on your toes and shatter.
4) HAHA! Of course it did!! It's May. It will continue to be cold until mid-June.
No, the real way to tell if it is spring is:
1) Google "what is the first day of spring?"
2) Check your calendar to find out if you are past that date.
Simple.
But as to how you can tell if spring has sprung, is in the process of sprunging or has already sprunged...I don't know. It may have something to do with returning birds, flowers appearing, rain instead of snow, etc.
But enough of that. The point is, the snow is gone (even though it snowed a tiny bit yesterday), and we are doing summer-type activities, by which I mean, not wearing coats (in the house, that is). We have been doing schoolwork or college, and I've been working at a local fruit farm, trimming raspberries, blackberries, and black raspberries.
AWANA is done for the year. We had our awards night and wrapped it up.
In other news, Jessica and I are planning a trip to Australia this Friday.
Well, not really. We're actually going to Tennessee to campaign for some friends of ours who are running for political offices out there. Then we'll be going to Indiana for a friend's graduation party before flying home on the 24th. Annetta may update this blog from home while I'm away.
I will close this post with some pictures I took a few days ago.
At any rate, the way you can tell that spring sprunged is by these simple steps:
1) Open your door and step outside.
2) Exhale.
3) See if your breath condenses into a cloud of ice that will then fall down on your toes and shatter.
4) HAHA! Of course it did!! It's May. It will continue to be cold until mid-June.
No, the real way to tell if it is spring is:
1) Google "what is the first day of spring?"
2) Check your calendar to find out if you are past that date.
Simple.
But as to how you can tell if spring has sprung, is in the process of sprunging or has already sprunged...I don't know. It may have something to do with returning birds, flowers appearing, rain instead of snow, etc.
But enough of that. The point is, the snow is gone (even though it snowed a tiny bit yesterday), and we are doing summer-type activities, by which I mean, not wearing coats (in the house, that is). We have been doing schoolwork or college, and I've been working at a local fruit farm, trimming raspberries, blackberries, and black raspberries.
AWANA is done for the year. We had our awards night and wrapped it up.
In other news, Jessica and I are planning a trip to Australia this Friday.
Well, not really. We're actually going to Tennessee to campaign for some friends of ours who are running for political offices out there. Then we'll be going to Indiana for a friend's graduation party before flying home on the 24th. Annetta may update this blog from home while I'm away.
I will close this post with some pictures I took a few days ago.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The Bivouac!
Okay folks...grab a cup of hot cocoa or something and get comfy. This is going to be massive. Quick Note: I'm referring to all cadets by their first names, simply to keep last names of my blog.
Let's start out by defining some terms.
Bivouac: Pronounced "biv-wack" or, "camping," this is where you go out in the woods and live in tent (pronounced "mud puddle") for a couple days.
MRE: This stands for Meal Ready to Eat. You'll find it in the military surplus store with the rest of the cat food.
24-Hour Pack: This holds all the stuff you would need if you were on a ground team mission for 24 hours, and I use "you" in the sense of "Daniel Boone."
Hike: This is what we call it when we go into the woods and walk, either on the trail, off the trail, in the mud, or...in the mud. Pretty much.
CQ: Charge of Quarters. They walk around and keep everyone awake at night, so that we will be alert if any intruders should intrude.
It began Friday afternoon, when 8 cadets and two senior members met up at our squadron's headquarters to ride up to the bivouac. We loaded the van (10 people plus all their stuff...) and headed out.
Once we got there, Sarah and I set up the tent we were sharing. Then we sloshed back through the mud, grabbed our gear, put it in our tent, and found whatever staff members we needed to talk to. I found Joanna (actually, she found me), who was the other public affairs staff member. We found schedules, and I started taking pictures. The cadets continued arriving and setting up. Friday evening pretty much consisted of in-processing, setting up, getting the cadets into flights, and The Building of The Fire. Well, the excitement consisted moreso of The Positioning Of The Grate Legs So The Grate Will Fit On Top, but whatever.
Around 2200, we headed out on a night hike. As our group walked through the woods, we observed several items, such as a vest, that we picked up as we walked on our way to the flashing SOS beacon that we saw. Unfortunately, we weren't supposed to a) pick up the items or b) find the beacon, so when we were informed of this by the second group, we melted into the woods in embarrassment at our prowess, skill, and observational abilities. Melting into the woods (and I use the term "melting" very loosely) meant that we had to rely on our cat-like vision to navigate around puddles, trees, logs, mud, other people, etc. Judging by the sound effects, most of the hikers did not have cat-like vision.
After a midnight staff meeting, we headed to bed (and I am also using the term "bed" loosely). A train roared by every so often, it was freezing cold, and the ground was bumpy. I was on the verge of sleep when my tent buddy said, "Would it be a bad time to say that I have to go to the bathroom?" We escaped CQ and went off (at least the girls were allowed to use the bathroom in the house...finding that out was a story all to itself, involving awkwardness and near-hysterical giggling after the incident occurred). Then, after we had gotten back to our tent...the cadet in the tent a couple inches away from ours started snoring. I'm glad to know that at least one person slept fairly well, I'm sure.
Finally, in the morning, around 0630 or so, Sarah and I rousted ourselves out of our tent. We bemoaned our one hour of sleep as we stalked to the bathroom to prepare for what we knew would be a long day. We both had a hatred for the birds, who chirped loudly, cheerfully, and incessantly. They had gotten a full night of sleep, so why couldn't they just shut up and let us be tired and grumpy, we reasoned. After breakfast and getting wood for the fire, Bravo Flight went on a hike to identify safety hazard. My camera and I attached ourselves to Bravo. After the hike, one of the cadet officers, Matthew, taught us a class on shelter building. After going over some basics, he had each pair of cadets build a shelter. Then, he walked around and identified what he liked, or what he saw that could be problems, with each shelter.
Next, Alpha and Bravo flights had a class on fire building. Then they set fire to the cadet commander's tent. NO! Then they split up into four groups and built fires. Then they tried to light them. Some had better success than others, by which I mean, they all got them lit -- it's just that some went out after about ten seconds. Then we had lunch.
After lunch, the cadets were taken out to the woods where there was a very large log laying on the ground. Each flight was given a cross-cut saw and instructions, and the competition was on! The flights were motivated, and they were really close. It took close to an hour to saw through, and at the end they used a log as a lever to break the bark on the underside of the log. After that, we moved the log to camp, put it next to the fire, and used it to sit on. Of course.
Okay...have you ever wondered how you transport people from a plane crash out in the woods to an ambulance on the road? It's called a litter, and the next thing we learned how to do was using one. Basically, you put the victim (but never call them that -- you make up a name for them and call them by that name if necessary) in the litter, strap them in, and off you go. Random Bit of Trivia: You can tip the person upside down and they won't fall out of the litter. So our motto is: We may drop you, but you won't fall out! Comforting words to calm the quaking soul... I personally was carried in the litter for about half of a half of a journey -- it was interesting, and by that, I mean the treetops were pretty, but it was a little scary listening to the commentary, which centered on warnings of obstacles and near-drops.
The rest of Saturday was a few more classes, supper, closing formation, and a night hike with the litter (and its occupants). Saturday night, even though the same cadet snored again, I slept much better. Maybe exhaustion level is related to the ability to fall asleep.
Sunday morning was it...the exercise. Somewhere out there was a (simulated) plane crash, and its pilot. We had to find him and get him out. My camera and I headed out with Alpha Flight, and we marched around in brush for quite some time, and then struck out through some wood. It was raining slightly, fairly chilly, and muddy. We came across an open area -- I couldn't quite call it a field, but it was fairly open. Bravo Flight had arrived before we had and was already scouring the area. We found pieces from the airplane, and when I arrived, the medics were already tending to the victim, named Dan. His legs were duct taped together, and he was loaded into the litter and we headed out. We all met up at camp and had closing formation. Okay, here's the funny part: During closing formation, the sky turned from completely gray to completely blue. Go figure.
We packed up...and...left. Pretty much. It was sad. And I have mentioned pictures...they are all on facebook. If you don't know how to see them, contact me and I'll send you the link. I frankly was too lazy to upload a hundred here when they're just a couple clicks away :)
Thanks for reading!
Let's start out by defining some terms.
Bivouac: Pronounced "biv-wack" or, "camping," this is where you go out in the woods and live in tent (pronounced "mud puddle") for a couple days.
MRE: This stands for Meal Ready to Eat. You'll find it in the military surplus store with the rest of the cat food.
24-Hour Pack: This holds all the stuff you would need if you were on a ground team mission for 24 hours, and I use "you" in the sense of "Daniel Boone."
Hike: This is what we call it when we go into the woods and walk, either on the trail, off the trail, in the mud, or...in the mud. Pretty much.
CQ: Charge of Quarters. They walk around and keep everyone awake at night, so that we will be alert if any intruders should intrude.
It began Friday afternoon, when 8 cadets and two senior members met up at our squadron's headquarters to ride up to the bivouac. We loaded the van (10 people plus all their stuff...) and headed out.
Once we got there, Sarah and I set up the tent we were sharing. Then we sloshed back through the mud, grabbed our gear, put it in our tent, and found whatever staff members we needed to talk to. I found Joanna (actually, she found me), who was the other public affairs staff member. We found schedules, and I started taking pictures. The cadets continued arriving and setting up. Friday evening pretty much consisted of in-processing, setting up, getting the cadets into flights, and The Building of The Fire. Well, the excitement consisted moreso of The Positioning Of The Grate Legs So The Grate Will Fit On Top, but whatever.
Around 2200, we headed out on a night hike. As our group walked through the woods, we observed several items, such as a vest, that we picked up as we walked on our way to the flashing SOS beacon that we saw. Unfortunately, we weren't supposed to a) pick up the items or b) find the beacon, so when we were informed of this by the second group, we melted into the woods in embarrassment at our prowess, skill, and observational abilities. Melting into the woods (and I use the term "melting" very loosely) meant that we had to rely on our cat-like vision to navigate around puddles, trees, logs, mud, other people, etc. Judging by the sound effects, most of the hikers did not have cat-like vision.
After a midnight staff meeting, we headed to bed (and I am also using the term "bed" loosely). A train roared by every so often, it was freezing cold, and the ground was bumpy. I was on the verge of sleep when my tent buddy said, "Would it be a bad time to say that I have to go to the bathroom?" We escaped CQ and went off (at least the girls were allowed to use the bathroom in the house...finding that out was a story all to itself, involving awkwardness and near-hysterical giggling after the incident occurred). Then, after we had gotten back to our tent...the cadet in the tent a couple inches away from ours started snoring. I'm glad to know that at least one person slept fairly well, I'm sure.
Finally, in the morning, around 0630 or so, Sarah and I rousted ourselves out of our tent. We bemoaned our one hour of sleep as we stalked to the bathroom to prepare for what we knew would be a long day. We both had a hatred for the birds, who chirped loudly, cheerfully, and incessantly. They had gotten a full night of sleep, so why couldn't they just shut up and let us be tired and grumpy, we reasoned. After breakfast and getting wood for the fire, Bravo Flight went on a hike to identify safety hazard. My camera and I attached ourselves to Bravo. After the hike, one of the cadet officers, Matthew, taught us a class on shelter building. After going over some basics, he had each pair of cadets build a shelter. Then, he walked around and identified what he liked, or what he saw that could be problems, with each shelter.
Next, Alpha and Bravo flights had a class on fire building. Then they set fire to the cadet commander's tent. NO! Then they split up into four groups and built fires. Then they tried to light them. Some had better success than others, by which I mean, they all got them lit -- it's just that some went out after about ten seconds. Then we had lunch.
After lunch, the cadets were taken out to the woods where there was a very large log laying on the ground. Each flight was given a cross-cut saw and instructions, and the competition was on! The flights were motivated, and they were really close. It took close to an hour to saw through, and at the end they used a log as a lever to break the bark on the underside of the log. After that, we moved the log to camp, put it next to the fire, and used it to sit on. Of course.
Okay...have you ever wondered how you transport people from a plane crash out in the woods to an ambulance on the road? It's called a litter, and the next thing we learned how to do was using one. Basically, you put the victim (but never call them that -- you make up a name for them and call them by that name if necessary) in the litter, strap them in, and off you go. Random Bit of Trivia: You can tip the person upside down and they won't fall out of the litter. So our motto is: We may drop you, but you won't fall out! Comforting words to calm the quaking soul... I personally was carried in the litter for about half of a half of a journey -- it was interesting, and by that, I mean the treetops were pretty, but it was a little scary listening to the commentary, which centered on warnings of obstacles and near-drops.
The rest of Saturday was a few more classes, supper, closing formation, and a night hike with the litter (and its occupants). Saturday night, even though the same cadet snored again, I slept much better. Maybe exhaustion level is related to the ability to fall asleep.
Sunday morning was it...the exercise. Somewhere out there was a (simulated) plane crash, and its pilot. We had to find him and get him out. My camera and I headed out with Alpha Flight, and we marched around in brush for quite some time, and then struck out through some wood. It was raining slightly, fairly chilly, and muddy. We came across an open area -- I couldn't quite call it a field, but it was fairly open. Bravo Flight had arrived before we had and was already scouring the area. We found pieces from the airplane, and when I arrived, the medics were already tending to the victim, named Dan. His legs were duct taped together, and he was loaded into the litter and we headed out. We all met up at camp and had closing formation. Okay, here's the funny part: During closing formation, the sky turned from completely gray to completely blue. Go figure.
We packed up...and...left. Pretty much. It was sad. And I have mentioned pictures...they are all on facebook. If you don't know how to see them, contact me and I'll send you the link. I frankly was too lazy to upload a hundred here when they're just a couple clicks away :)
Thanks for reading!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
A Blog Post
I'm starting to get a compulsive-blogging feeling, brought on mainly by the fact that I haven't blogged in 16 days. So here is an update, with promises to blog again. Next week. With pictures. Yep :)
I ought to put something, like a paragraph, in here about Easter, mostly because it happened and this blog documents happenings for those of you who arefortunate unfortunate enough not to be here with us. We had some of my mom's relatives over, and had a nice time visiting with them. We also did some church things, namely, a church breakfast, and a cantata by the choir (said cantata involved several of us who sang in the choir, did sign language along with one of the songs for a special effect, and ran the sound system and videotaping).
Last weekend, our friend Kim had a birthday party :) About 8 girls went over to her house for a sleepover. We had a fun time playing some games and talking. The next day, our Awana club had its 2nd annual in-house olympics. We've been practicing the games for it for several weeks, and all the clubbers did well. I was the line leader for the Green Team. We came in fourth place, but we still had fun. The Blue Team came in first, and that was the team with Hosanna and Josh, with Jessica as a leader.
A few evenings ago, Jessica and I headed to town. She had a political meeting, and then she was going to the college library to do some research and read a book that she has to read for college. I went along because I wanted a change of pace. We parked at the White Inn, which is where the political meeting was, and then walked down to the ATM machine that was at the drive-through bank. Jessica hopped from sidewalk crack to sidewalk crack. I considered walking the opposite direction. After the bank, she headed back to the White Inn, and I strolled down to the park and sat on a bench and did my math. After I started getting goosebumps (why did I not bring a jacket? I asked myself), I headed into the library. Then I did several more lessons of math.
(Okay, okay, okay...the last sentence is a total lie. I didn't even open my math book. I have a book at the library that I read every time I go there -- it's taken me several months and I'm not even halfway -- so I read that instead. Sigh. Doing several lessons of math sounds a lot better, though...)
The library closes at 8:00. Jessica was supposed to drive down and get me before then, but I could tell the librarians were ready to close, so I put my book back, grabbed my math, and walked back to the White Inn (which was an adventure all to itself...however, since I don't feel like posting *that* on my blog for the world to see, if you're interested, just contact me somehow). I got to the van before Jessica did. So of course there was only one thing to do: hide in the back and say "Hello, ma'am," in a low voice, to scare her. I need to work on my guy-voice...
Next stop....the college library. I figure that I'm the only person ever to do Algebra 1 there. It was interesting to see the college kids. Jessica made the observation that college students are not nearly as mature as she thought they would be (I guess she would know). That explains why she was hopping on sidewalk cracks again. But I still had to act like a mature highschooler. :P
And then, McDonalds. We were hungry, and Starbucks was too expensive. So we got some food and located a table and sat there and did our respective school work. I felt much better about doing my Algebra 1 there, as opposed to a college. Colleges seem to have a pervading atmosphere of intellectual things, like trigonometry. In McDonald's, however, the pervading atmosphere is one such that Algebra 1 ranks quite near the top -- possibly above the top-- of intellectual-ness. It made me feel better about myself, is what I think I'm trying to say.
Several tables away from us (and on the other side of a wall) was a table at which Bill, Jane, Doris, and Mark were sitting. I am pretty sure that is what their names were. They had several very interesting (and somewhat loud) conversations, on politics, space, health, and so on. Finally, toward the end, we hard on of them say, "How do we get out?" We could only assume that these four people (and they were all the "senior citizen" age) had been sitting in McDonald's for quite some time; days, even; potentially weeks, unable to locate the exit. At that point, it had gotten fairly late, so we went home.
So that about brings us up to speed. Add in school work and the sundry activities that we're involved in, and you've pretty much got it. And I think that wraps up the post for today, folks!
I ought to put something, like a paragraph, in here about Easter, mostly because it happened and this blog documents happenings for those of you who are
Last weekend, our friend Kim had a birthday party :) About 8 girls went over to her house for a sleepover. We had a fun time playing some games and talking. The next day, our Awana club had its 2nd annual in-house olympics. We've been practicing the games for it for several weeks, and all the clubbers did well. I was the line leader for the Green Team. We came in fourth place, but we still had fun. The Blue Team came in first, and that was the team with Hosanna and Josh, with Jessica as a leader.
A few evenings ago, Jessica and I headed to town. She had a political meeting, and then she was going to the college library to do some research and read a book that she has to read for college. I went along because I wanted a change of pace. We parked at the White Inn, which is where the political meeting was, and then walked down to the ATM machine that was at the drive-through bank. Jessica hopped from sidewalk crack to sidewalk crack. I considered walking the opposite direction. After the bank, she headed back to the White Inn, and I strolled down to the park and sat on a bench and did my math. After I started getting goosebumps (why did I not bring a jacket? I asked myself), I headed into the library. Then I did several more lessons of math.
(Okay, okay, okay...the last sentence is a total lie. I didn't even open my math book. I have a book at the library that I read every time I go there -- it's taken me several months and I'm not even halfway -- so I read that instead. Sigh. Doing several lessons of math sounds a lot better, though...)
The library closes at 8:00. Jessica was supposed to drive down and get me before then, but I could tell the librarians were ready to close, so I put my book back, grabbed my math, and walked back to the White Inn (which was an adventure all to itself...however, since I don't feel like posting *that* on my blog for the world to see, if you're interested, just contact me somehow). I got to the van before Jessica did. So of course there was only one thing to do: hide in the back and say "Hello, ma'am," in a low voice, to scare her. I need to work on my guy-voice...
Next stop....the college library. I figure that I'm the only person ever to do Algebra 1 there. It was interesting to see the college kids. Jessica made the observation that college students are not nearly as mature as she thought they would be (I guess she would know). That explains why she was hopping on sidewalk cracks again. But I still had to act like a mature highschooler. :P
And then, McDonalds. We were hungry, and Starbucks was too expensive. So we got some food and located a table and sat there and did our respective school work. I felt much better about doing my Algebra 1 there, as opposed to a college. Colleges seem to have a pervading atmosphere of intellectual things, like trigonometry. In McDonald's, however, the pervading atmosphere is one such that Algebra 1 ranks quite near the top -- possibly above the top-- of intellectual-ness. It made me feel better about myself, is what I think I'm trying to say.
Several tables away from us (and on the other side of a wall) was a table at which Bill, Jane, Doris, and Mark were sitting. I am pretty sure that is what their names were. They had several very interesting (and somewhat loud) conversations, on politics, space, health, and so on. Finally, toward the end, we hard on of them say, "How do we get out?" We could only assume that these four people (and they were all the "senior citizen" age) had been sitting in McDonald's for quite some time; days, even; potentially weeks, unable to locate the exit. At that point, it had gotten fairly late, so we went home.
So that about brings us up to speed. Add in school work and the sundry activities that we're involved in, and you've pretty much got it. And I think that wraps up the post for today, folks!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Ethan and Ashley's Wedding, and Signature Sound
Last Saturday our family attended the wedding and reception for Ethan and Ashely, a sweet couple that we've known for many years. The wedding was really nice, and...blue! Yes, the favorite color for both of them is blue, and there were blue lights and decorations.
There was low lighting, which presented some problems for taking pictures! This is the bridal party.
And again...it's a clearer picture.
The bridesmaids were so pretty! Rachel, Jordan, and Shiloh made their dresses.
After the ceremony, everyone filed outside. (Below are Reuben, Elizabeth, and their dad.)
We all waited outside for the couple so we could throw birdseed at them.
You can really see the birdseed against Mr. Crook's suit.
Then we waited at the reception hall. These next three pics are the reception hall.
We had these cool, blue, glow-in-the-dark bracelets so we wouldn't get lost :)
As we waited, we decided to go outside and take pictures of us girls.
This is the cake.
But that wasn't the end of the day! We left the reception at shortly before 6:00 because Ernie Haase and Signature Sound was coming to town!
The pics are a little blurry too...but I think you can get the basic idea. I am hoping to regain my hearing by fall, however.
There were a lot of people.
And then!! We got a picture of our family with Ernie Haase himself :)
Okay, this is too funny not to put in. After we put this picture on facebook, our friend James wrote out what he thought we were each thinking. So without his permission (please?), I shall put it here for everyone to enjoy and go into hysterics over :)
The End :)
There was low lighting, which presented some problems for taking pictures! This is the bridal party.
And again...it's a clearer picture.
The bridesmaids were so pretty! Rachel, Jordan, and Shiloh made their dresses.
After the ceremony, everyone filed outside. (Below are Reuben, Elizabeth, and their dad.)
We all waited outside for the couple so we could throw birdseed at them.
You can really see the birdseed against Mr. Crook's suit.
Then we waited at the reception hall. These next three pics are the reception hall.
We had these cool, blue, glow-in-the-dark bracelets so we wouldn't get lost :)
As we waited, we decided to go outside and take pictures of us girls.
This is the cake.
But that wasn't the end of the day! We left the reception at shortly before 6:00 because Ernie Haase and Signature Sound was coming to town!
The pics are a little blurry too...but I think you can get the basic idea. I am hoping to regain my hearing by fall, however.
There were a lot of people.
And then!! We got a picture of our family with Ernie Haase himself :)
Okay, this is too funny not to put in. After we put this picture on facebook, our friend James wrote out what he thought we were each thinking. So withThe End :)
Thursday, March 18, 2010
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Mom: "I have SO much stuff to do when I get home. Enough already."
Jessica: "This is so great! This is SO GREAT!!!! THIS IS LIKE GREAT! LIKE GREEEEEEEAAAAAAAATTTTT! Can I touch him? It's really him? ITS REALLY ERNIE HAASE!!!!!!"
Erika: "Let me model appropriately..."
Annetta: "Oh, such good times with dad! Oh, and Ernie Haase made it....that's nice."
Lydia: "My knees are locked...I'm gonna....topple over......but wait--don't forget to smile!"
Hosanna: "This is pretty cool. Ernie almost looks as good as me."
Joanna: "Oh, there's a camera--here, I'll smile."
Katrina: "Zzzzzzzz"
Josh: "I wonder if anyone notices it's past my bedtime?"
And of course, Jessica had one more thought....
"I can't wait to post this on FB! I CANT WAIT!!!!!!!!!! I am going to be SO COOL!!!! I'm not even going to use Ernie's last name...we'll be on a first name basis, like Bart and Ernie in Sesame Street!""