I did not intend to be this long in writing. The last two weeks have been busy for us.
I’ve been watching a lot of activity out in the fields. Now that most of the rain has tapered off farmers have been able to plant their corn, set their tobacco, and cut their hay. At any time you can top a hill or round a corner and meet a tractor that takes up three quarters of the road. They’re rushing to get all this done in time to cut their wheat.
WARSHINGTON, DC. I have intentionally misspelled that because one of the people that went on the trip with Vicki and Jenna has a serious Southern accent and kept mispronouncing the name of the city as I have spelled in just now. This has become an inside joke with us.
As I mentioned last time, Vicki and Jenna had just left for a tour of DC with a group of about 50 people, parents and students, from our school. Vicki played mom to two other girls, Meagan and Victoria, while they were gone. From the sound of it they had a great time. Vicki said that having the bus take them everywhere they were scheduled to go was especially nice. I think the only drawback to this was that they felt a bit rushed in a few places. Here’s a quick rundown of their trip highlights:
Monday (June 1) -- Upon arrival in Baltimore they were bussed to DC for a photo stop in front of the White House. They had dinner in Union Station and then saw the FDR and Jefferson Memorials.
Tuesday -- They got an early start from their hotel and spent the morning at Mt. Vernon. After lunch they took a walking tour of Arlington Cemetery. Later then saw other memorials such at Iwo Jima, Lincoln, Washington, World War II, Korean War, and the Vietnam Wall.
Wednesday -- This day started with a tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Then they saw the Daniel’s Story exhibit at the Holocaust Museum and the Smithsonian’s Air and Space and Natural History Museums. That evening they went to the Medieval Times Tournament dinner show.
Thursday -- This morning they packed in a trip to the National Cathedral, the National Zoo, and the Library of Congress before flying back home.
Their tour guide also worked in visit’s to the Capitol, the Archives, Ford’s Theater, Peterson House, etc. which weren’t on their original itinerary.
CUB SCOUT DAY CAMP. While the girls were gone I had to work and Ben had Cub Scout Day Camp all week in Springfield. Nate stayed with Pauline all week.
Ben’s Day Camp sounded pretty fun although he is not the type to ever admit he was having a good time. All the activities are geared toward helping the boys earn belt loops and such as well as work toward their next level in Scouting. They played sports (including soccer, baseball, kickball, and volleyball), had craft time (he brought home a picture frame and a bird house), and, his favorite, got to use the firing range (archery and BB guns). He also came home singing the following song (sung like an Army marching song).
Cub Scouts don't wear no socks.
Saw them when they took them off.
Threw them in the washing machine.
That's how the laundry all turned green.
Cub Scouts don't wear no socks.
Saw them when they took them off.
Threw them in the garbage can.
Killed three rats and the garbageman.
Cub Scouts don't wear no socks.
Saw them when they took them off.
Threw them up into the air.
That's why the birds need Medicare.
MISCELLANEA. Last time I reported on Operation Ethan that happened back on May 30. I had mentioned then that the total collected was over $50,000. Last Sunday at church we had an update as they thanked everyone for all their help. The total collected has now topped $70,000! Ethan and his family also got to come to church to thank everyone. It was good to see them all together. Unfortunately, Ethan didn’t get to come to his own benefit on the 30th because he was in the hospital.
Since Operation Ethan and the trip to DC Vicki has been busy trying to catch up at work. Next month she is taking a group of kids to camp (Centri-Kid) and then we have Vacation Bible School. All this is going to be here before we know it.
FAMILY VISIT. The Jones family has been on vacation this past week. They spent the first half of the week in Gatlinburg and then came here Wednesday night. Vicki and I both had to work while they were here, but we had a really good time visiting together in spite of that. I have no idea how the Scrabble games went, but we got in a little croquet competition in the evenings after supper. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time for a tiebreaker match so we don’t know which couple, the Jones or the Swanns, are the better players. Given our lack of experience and the condition of the court it was a pretty comedic experience anyway.
Cameron helped me relive my college days to some extent. He saw my old Axis & Allies game sitting on the shelf and asked about playing it. Don’t be surprised if you aren’t familiar with this game, you’d have to be pretty serious into board games and the like to know about it. This game simulates the global battle strategies of World War II. You can think of it as Risk on steroids. Back in college several friends and I would play this and similar games until the wee hours of the morning on winter weekends. Cameron tried his hand at commanding the Allied forces but lost the war Friday night as I used the German army to eat his lunch.
Joe
