Hello from Charles Sep 16 2010
So I guess we stayed away too long since it has been June since we last put anything out on the site.
We had a busy summer with Summer Camp, Trip to Ohio, Grandma coming to visit and now everybody is back to school.
Summer Camp went well and I got to teach First Aid, along with Canoeing and Lifesaving. For lifesaving it was a bit of a struggle to get used to swimming down 10 feet to find a rock in a murky lake. S took a few attempts to get it but did in the end. The kids were able to strap their victims in the water to a backboard and float them to the side so that was a good experience. My bed only get wet once from the rain and that was on the first night when it poured in through the mesh screen of the deck. For the remaining nights I stayed dry. Staying cool was not easy. The lake last year was refreshing but this year was hotter than the air surrounding it. At night you see the adults would go swim in the lake before bed to cool off. Still no boys were lost and the biggest complaint was a little too much chlorine in the drinking water. At least as an adult I am allowed power to a electric fan.
S did soccer camp over summer and had fun. B did fencing for the first time and is interested in continuing to pursue I just need to get her setup with a class. She is also interested in learning the violin and we are waiting to see if her school this year will have that as they have in previous years.
Our trip to Ohio was fun and went without a hitch. I had the van fixed up before we left and aside from losing a wheel nut somewhere the van behaved well. We got to see all the family for July 4th and look forward to seeing them all again soon.
Grandma came down for S birthday and the kids and her had a fun time at Stone Mountain for the week. Lots of fish were caught and thrown back in. I also got to see the laser show for the first time and that was fun. We even cycled our bicycles around the bottom of the mountain and the kids had fun with that. S was able to invite a friend for his birthday party at the Mountain and that helped make a great day.
B is now going to a new school and has an early bus ride in the morning. She is managing it well considering that she is first up. S has been lucky in recent weeks as I have been giving him a ride to school since it is on my way to work and I am not leaving so early.
Diane spent the summer sewing and other stuff - not quite sure what. She has just started class again this week and is looking forward to the classes. She did just remind me that she Preached at Sardis and did a good job.
For my birthday we all had a nice time going to Charleston SC. We got to see the Aircraft Carrier Yorktown (S and I slept on it previously) and the Submarine USS Clamagore but the Coastguard ship and Destroyer were no longer there. The Destroyer is in Dry Dock. There is a risk that they will lose the Yorktown as the group that looks after it have been told by the Navy to come up with a $100 million or sink it. I think the group has trouble looking after the boats since the Destroyer Laffey was sinking and they had to give away the Coastguard Cutter Ingham to a place in Florida and pay $250K since it needed lots of work.
We were able to go to the beach while we were in Charleston by going to Sullivan's Island. We tried the Isle of Palms but parking was not an option. The kids had fun playing in the water and I got myself in there too. We also managed at stop at the Aquarium to see all the fish.
A few weeks ago S and I got to go rafting with the Scouts in North Carolina at the Natahala Outdoor Center. It was fun but the water was a little cold so I did not swim in it. S got his Scout promotion to First class and is diligently working on Merit Badgdes so he can get his next rank of Star. He is still a patrol leader and has had most of the new kids join his patrol. They are off to Lake Allatoona this weekend for clean up and winter camping. He will get to try out his new compact sleeping bag since the mornings are cooler. I am staying home to give him some freedom.
B as I mentioned earlier we are still looking for stuff for her to do.
My work is still in the part time mode but I get a little bit of hours here and there.
That is it for just now. I will get onto Diane to write something soon. By the way she has been given permission to start looking for a call.
Charles