First Day of School

Pete looked great, as always, on the first day of 10^th grade. Sam looks good too, even though the only picture opportunity was in the laundry room before he had put his socks and shoes on.

Knowing How Lebron Feels

Pete and Sam had a fun day with Dad on the last day before the new school year.

It was a blazing hot Sunday afternoon in August. Dad asked Sam if he wanted to go to the pool, but he said he wanted to go to the basketball court at Fincastle Field to do some dunking on the low hoop. Pete joined them to get in on the action.

Pete put down a few dunks and then they started a regular half-court pick-up game of Dad and Sam vs. Pete. The only two rules were "goaltending is allowed" and "no blood, no foul". Early on in the game, Dad got to experience something he never thought he would. First you need to watch Lebron James in this video. Now imagine Pete coming up to the hoop and jamming with two hands, while Dad went up for the block. The only difference in this case was that Dad's arm got jammed pretty hard against the rim. But it wasn't broken, so they continued with the game.

After the game, Pete demonstrated an arms-free fence-jumping technique he had developed during his earlier employment at camp:



That evening, they did all go to the pool to celebrate the last night before school. Dad actually wrote a poem related to this topic. It was a great joy to squeeze out the last little bit of summer on this day.

Below is a picture Sam took of Dad and Pete tossing the football around at 8:29, packing their final minute with good times. (The blue at the bottom of the picture is Sam's juggling beanbag that he tried not to get wet)

Potluck Dinner

Sam had a good time at the Boy Scouts end-of-summer potluck dinner. And reserved himself a nice seat front and center for the “Court of Honor”:

Omphalos Hypothesis

Sam and Dad are reading "1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Science", two items per night.

Item #185 was about a doctrine called "Created Antiquity". After finishing it, Dad said "there is another theory that means the same thing as "Created Antiquity". Sam cried out "Last Thursdayism!". 

All of which led Dad to wonder if this is the sort of conversation that most Dads are having with their 10 year old children.

By the way, the official term for this flawed theory is "The Omphalos Hypothesis".

School Preview Day

Sam attended the preview day for new students at Farmwell. Pictured above is the gym where the parents were to pick up the students. Dad got to play a game of “Where’s Waldo” to try to locate Sam in the crowd of chaos. After that, they went over to Sam’s locker so he could struggle to get his “locker organizer” in place.

Dead Battery

Mom’s car would not start today. It appeared to be a battery issue, and AAA gives free tows, so they towed it over to the shop for a new battery. Fortunately, that's all that was needed. It was quite a sight on Merrywood Court to see Mom’s car up on top of that big tow truck.

Summer Concerts

Mom and Dad took advantage of the great summer weather to attend several of the free Friday evening Herndon concerts, and one in Broadlands. Pete and Sam chose not to join, so they stayed at home.

Chaperone

Dad signed up as volunteer chaperone for one day of band camp. It rained, so they had to play inside. On the plus side, Dad got a good photo of a rainbow above the high school.

Breatheable Sheets

Sam can be in a variety of blanket arrangements when you go to wake him up in the morning. It is a wonder that he can even breathe some of the time. But up until now, he has survived.

Birthday Headphones

Pete turned 15 this year. That means just 6 months before he can get his driving permit. Here is Pete with his birthday present, a new set of Bluetooth headphones (which he got a lot of use of).

Drivers Ed Class

Dad and Pete went to Heritage High School to attend the final seminar for his Drivers Ed class that he took over the summer. They stopped at Arby’s first for a pleasant picnic lunch. 

According to the seminar, apparently texting while driving is a bad thing. After sitting through all of the tedious presentation, they signed in, and Pete earned his certificate for passing the course.

Hidden Valley Trip - Day 2

On Sunday morning of the Hidden Valley trip, Dad rustled the boys out of bed to help finish the jigsaw puzzle and participate in the group photo. Then they stopped by Seven Springs for a quick climb on the tower, followed by the group lunch.

Hidden Valley Trip - Day 1

The Hidden Valley trip this year included a hike in the nearby park. Dad, Pete, and Sam enjoyed bag lunch by the waterfall and then saw quite a few snakes at the top of the hill, peeking out from under the rocks.

Upon returning to the house, they did the Scavenger Hunt. Sam was teamed up with Eric and Emma, while Pete was with Reagan and Colin. 

Later in the day, they did the crossword contest. Dad was the winner. It is not clear whether Pete or Sam did better, since apparently there was a dispute that ended with both of their puzzles becoming torn. 

The day ended with some cornhole and Can Jam.