Rainy Date

Since it was pouring rain, Sam and Dad had to find some indoor activities for their date on the Virginia Beach vacation.

First they went to play 3D indoor mini-golf

Then it was off to Chuck E. Cheese's for some Basket Fever

Beach Football

Pete, Sam, and Dad enjoyed playing football this year on the beach.

In the picture, you can see Pete (orange) running back to catch a pass from Dad. The building in the left of the picture is the Ocean Beach Club, one of the nicest resorts in Virginia Beach. Dad had a friend staying there the same week, and they all went up to visit him and his family later in the day.

In Case of Separation

We took the above picture of Pete and Sam upon arriving at Busch Gardens. The purpose of the picture is for handing to the police for identification purposes after the inevitable moment when Pete and Sam run off into the crowd 11 minutes after we walk into the park.

For those of you who haven't seen Pete for a while, this is the first picture of Pete on this blog with his short haircut that he got on 8/2/09. This was just in time for two of the hottest excursions of the year - golf and Busch Gardens.

Poppy's Boat

Pete and Sam had a fun time this year on Poppy's boat, although Sam did start to get a little groggy toward the end of the trip.

This year they did a little bit of fishing off of the boat, but found that to catch any fish they will probably need some heavier sinkers or to find a way to stop the boat from moving.

Traffic Jam

On the way to Poppy's boat in Hampton, Mom and Dad were careful to listen to the traffic report and go around the long way to avoid the 5 mile backup at the Chesabeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. However, a last minute accident before they entered the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel left them sitting in traffic anyhow.

Pete and Sam were not too happy cooped up in the car.

Pete got out and put his skates on, but just then the traffic started moving again. Our neighbor car suggested that Pete hang on to the rear bumper and skate through the tunnel.

Fishing in Hampton

After returning to the dock from a nice trip on Poppy's boat, Pete, Sam, and Dad walked down to the edge of the dock at Salt Pond Marina and fished for quite a long time.

They did catch one small fish, which you may or may not be able to see Pete holding in the following picture:

Dad told Pete and Sam to be very careful not to fall in, as this is what awaited any unfortunate soul who ended up in the water:

Forty Two and a Half

The best part about this year's trip to Busch Gardens was that Sam was 42.5 inches tall. A lot of the cooler rides have a 42 inch minimum, so he was able to ride them. The above picture was taken outside of the "Flying Machine". Sam also used his new eligibility to ride "Big Bad Wolf" (gone after this year), "Curse of DarKastle", "Escape From Pompeii", and "Flying Machine.

Unfortunately, Pete was still an inch and a half short of the 54 inch minimum for the Griffon and Alpinegeist, so he will have to wait to ride them next year.

Beach Ball Tragedy

As we walked back to the car from a day at the beach (Virginia Beach Oceanfront area), we came upon an exhibit of some concrete spheres that were painted as beach balls.

Pete immediately came up with the idea for the following photo sequence:

Note Sam sitting on ball in the background of the second picture.

Virginia Beach Vacation 2009

Pete and Sam had a fun second 2009 vacation at Virginia Beach. They left on Friday night with Mom and Nana, and Dad joined them on Wednesday for the following activities:

Tuesday - Skate Park ($0)

Wednesday - Chesapeake City Park Fun Forest ($0)

Thursday - Beach at Oceanfront / North End Pizza / Visit Doug at Ocean Beach Club / Jungle Golf / Dinner out ($181)

Friday - Ocean Breeze ($70)

Saturday - Sailing on Poppy's boat / Fishing ($3)

Sunday - Pete - Golfing on first real course; Sam - 3D Mini-Golf / Chuck E. Cheese's / Rita's ($39)

Monday - Beach at Sandbridge ($5)

Tuesday - Busch Gardens ($250)

Here are some activities they didn't get to, and will have to try to squeeze in next year:

Tennis

Baseball Game

Krendl show at Oceanfront

Fireworks

See movie

Motor World

Botanical Gardens

Parasailing

Aquarium

Bowling

Bounce House

Children's Museum

Laser Tag

Sam Crazy Hair Day

Sam chose a blue/green mohawk for crazy hair day at school.

By the way, that shirt is called his "plain... DARK... blue... shirt". Hard to explain, but it is one of his favorites and you need to pronounce it a certain way. And the pants are his red "happy pants".

Take Your Kid To Work Day

Pete had a good day at the office on Take Your Kid To Work Day.

He brought school work to do at his desk, and also helped Dad with several projects and proofreading some documents.

He joined Dad and his friends/colleagues for lunch:

And took a short break in the afternoon to play some football in the vacant office next door:

Cub Scout Spring 2009 Campout

Pete and Dad had a fun campout with his Cub Scout pack at Prince William Forest Park.

Pete and Christopher had plenty of time to just hang around:

Pete's den showed how to light a camp fire:

Too bad there is no branchless tree climbing merit badge:

Ice Cream Social 2009

The annual Merrywood-Court-last-day-of-school-ice-cream-social was once again enjoyed by all. The gang of five sat together on the bridge in front of Pete and Sam's house:

Pete barely made it in time for the picture, as he was busy creating this masterpiece:

Third Grade Awards Assembly

Mom, Dad, and Sam went to Pete's awards assembly at Dominion Trail Elementary School.

Congratulations to Pete for receiving the medal for 1st place in Word Masters for the 3rd grade. The person behind the podium giving him the award is his teacher, Miss Carly Mullinix.

Pete was also recognized for serving on the Student Leadership Council.

Trampoline #2

Sam and Pete briefly had two trampolines, as the old (left) was being replaced by the new (right). This was an inevitable result of the great tornado of '08.

Speech Rehearsal

For his last speech of the school year, Pete selected the topic of "How To Make Banana Bread". He worked with Dad on Saturday to prepare his structure and outline. Here, he is rehearsing his speech for Mom, Dad, and Sam in the usual place above the family room.

The shirt he is wearing is his new one from the family cruise to Bermuda.

Note, in case you're not sure what kind of hat it is, for your convenience they wrote "CHEF" on it in big red letters.

Pete received the following results for his speech:

Fishing

Sam and Dad had a great time fishing by the Lakes pool one Sunday afternoon in July. They walked uphill all the way to the pool, which Sam was not thrilled about in the 90 degree heat. They fished for a bit before Sam slipped into the water and called for Mom to come pick him up. Dad stayed for another hour or so after that.

Having their fishing license, they also fished from the Pavillion dock one afternoon with Mom and Pete. And again from Poppy's boat on August 1, and caught their first fish off of the dock by the Marina later that afternoon.

The above picture is Dad's favorite from the summer of 2009.

Limited Face Paint Options

At the Dulles Golf family golf event, Pete had trouble finding a suitable object for the face painting lady to paint on his arm.

First he asked for a devil, but she couldn't do that. Then he asked for a dog on fire, but she wouldn't do that. So they settled on a dragon. It is partially complete in the below picture.

Rabbit Wants Cake

Pete and Sam enjoyed completing the flash game Rabbit Wants Cake.

Rocknoceros

Sam enjoyed watching Rocknoceros perform at his pre-school.

Note, Sam is the one hoping to get up on stage and show them a thing or two with his recorder. To date, his only performances for live crowds have been playing "Happy Birthday" at parties.

Correction - Skating Photo

It has come to our attention that this family pictured in a previous post is not Pete, Sam, or any relative thereof. The following is the actual photo of Pete, Sam, and Dad skating.

Pete's Basketball Team

Pete played basketball last Winter. He was on the Heat, and the team went undefeated in the regular season. They lost in the semi-finals of the playoffs.

Woohoo

Today is the 4th anniversary of this blog.

Let's celebrate with a 2 foot tube of pure sugar.

9th Birthday Invitations

Invitations are going out tomorrow for Pete's 9th birthday party on August 15. Blog readers get the following free preview:

Amelia Bedelia and the Lion's Mouth

Pete, Sam, and Dad came up with some titles for new Amelia Bedelia books.

1. Amelia Bedelia Punches a Cop

2. Don't Eat That, Amelia Bedelia

3. Amelia Bedelia Goes to the Bathroom

4. Put Your Underpants Back On, Amelia Bedelia

5. Amelia Bedelia and the Pizza

6. Amelia Bedelia Sticks Her Head in a Lion's Mouth

7. Amelia Bedelia Needs Bail (Pete said this is the sequel to #1)

8. Amelia Bedelia Eats a Dog and Their DNA Gets Mixed and Amelia Bedelia Grows a Tail and Starts Chasing It

9. Amelia Bedelia Misinterprets a Colloquial Figure of Speech

10. Amelia Bedelia Lives In Her Car

Skateboarding Camp - Minor Injuries

Pete sustained some injuries at skateboarding camp. Nothing major, but we had to be careful for the next few days when playing Ship Attack.

Skateboarding Camp

Pete had a good time at skateboarding camp.

He will be going to inline skating camp later in the summer.

Come back tomorrow to see some of his skateboarding injuries.

Tunnel Cache

Pete, Sam, and Dad found a fun cache in Sterling last weekend. It was a large ammo can located in a drainage tunnel. They proceeded to the playground near Horse Pen Run for a spirited game of "find the stick" and a walk around the local neighborhood.

Subtraction

Mom: Sam, are you ready to work on your subtraction work?

Sam: I'd prefer to put it in the sub-trash-can.