Back To School Night 2013

Mom dropped Pete off at his rehearsal for Into the Woods and then met Dad at school for Back To School Night while Sam stayed home.

Dad was busy this year - he signed up for a parent/teacher conference, wrote a letter to Sam's teacher (Mrs. Amy Staub, and left a puzzle for Sam per their annual tradition.

This year's puzzle was the following:

Sam solved the puzzle on Friday morning.  He went in with Jackson and his Mom, since Dad had to work the Cub Scouts recruiting table out in front of the school.

Fireworks Trash Pickup

Pete and Sam had a great opportunity to pick up trash around the lake with the Cub Scouts, after the Ashburn Village fireworks.  It was very hot, but no one complained and they picked up a lot of trash.  The neighbors seemed to appreciate the effort as well, as they drove by.

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Everyone also got to see their picture in the Villager newsletter a few weeks later!

Horseback Riding

Pete and Sam had an "interesting" outing for horse riding on July 5th.  

Dad had scored what he thought was a good Groupon deal at Middleburg Polo Academy.  However, the whole thing turned out to be a bit of a nightmare as they all sat out in the sun for about an hour due to a severe lack or organization, personnel, and horses at the Middleburg Polo Academy.  Pete and Sam didn't enjoy the riding much either, which essentially wound around the edges of a few fields for about 45 minutes.

Overall, it was a memorable family bonding experience.  Perhaps the best part of the day was stopping at Giovannis on the way home for some pizza.

Spring 2013 Crossover

In June, Sam crossed over to a Webelos scout and Dad also "crossed over" to Cubmaster.  He also collaborated with Mom to run the Crossover ceremony and picnic lunch.  A good time was had by all.

Pete also chipped in by helping to assemble the bridge for the event:

An August Saturday

Dad took Pete to Algonkian Park for his flag football evaluation.  When he arrived there, Pete was happy to see that Elson and Anthony were playing too.  The evaluation had several stations, including: passing/catching, 40-yard dash, and flag evasion/pulling.  It was a bit like the NFL combine.

The evaluation went until 12:30, and Pete had his "Into The Woods" audition at 1:00, so Mom and Sam brought Wendy's to the Sportsplex and everyone grabbed a quick lunch under the Pavillion.  Mom and Pete went to the audition, and Sam and Dad hung out at the playground for a few hours.  They played some stickball, catch, and did a lot of juggling practice.

Sam is really starting to show some progress with his juggling.  Here is a video that they shot on his iPod and posted to Instagram:

Ice Cream Social

A little rain did not dampen the spirits of Sam, Pickle, Mason, Ethan, Joseph, and Jacob at the annual end-of-year ice cream social.

Cobras Flag Football

Pete played flag football in Spring 2013.  He was on the Cobras with Coach Dre Coffee.  The other people on the team were Kamron (broken finger), Cody Lockhart (speedster), Fionn, Dawson (QB), Nicoy (superstar), Will, Alex (carpooled with Pete a few times), and Austin.  Will quit about half way through the season.  Pete had a fun time and is going to play again in the fall.

Sam 3rd Grade Awards

Mom and Dad went to Sam's awards assembly in June.  Sam received the prestigious 1st place award and medal for WordMasters.  He also received the Math Award for his class and a fitness award.

The time he spent reviewing his words and analogies for Word Masters certainly paid off.

Sam Spring 2013 Ashburn Bandits Lacrosse

Sam did an awesome job at Spring Lacrosse on the Bandits.  His Coach was John Delaney's Dad (John).  Sam was actually one of the better players on the team and really enjoyed the season.

The above pictures are from the last day tournament at Mill Run.  There were supposed to be three games, but they cancelled the third game because it was "too hot".  Anyhow, Sam scored the last goal with seconds left in the second game, the game winner.

The other players on Sam's team (pictured above l-r) are (top row): Harrison Graham, Gavin Sailor, John Delaney, Chase, Ryder, Ethan, (bottom): Ryan, Logan, Brandon, Connor, and Sam.

Farmwell FACS Brunch

Dad pulled Sam out of school for a bit one morning and they hopped over to Farmwell for Pete's FACS Brunch.  Free food!  And pretty good too.  The food included fruit salad, monkey bread, and a few other things.

And they got to sit with Pete, Dongyoon, and Detwaun.

Dad and Pete worked out a special scheme where Pete met them at the side door for convenience.  Dongyoon and Pete volunteered for the job of side door greeter.  "Sadly", no one came to that entrance except for Dad and Sam.

STX Gear

One day Sam got out some paper and started writing a letter.  Apparently it was a letter to STX President Jason Goger, telling them that he could really use some new Lacrosse gear.

Sure enough, a few weeks later a package arrived from STX headquarters with a personal signed letter from Steve Henneman and about 4 shirts and a cool pair of socks.

Here is the picture that Sam took and posted on Instagram:

DC Field Trip

Dad was not selected as a chaperone for the Spring 2013 DC field trip, but Jackson's Mom sent along this picture from the bus ride on the way.  The boys had a good time touring the Capitol and some other DC landmarks.

Cub Scout Webelos Camp

Sam and Dad had a blast at Camp Snyder for 5 days/nights at Webelos Camp.  Joining them were several other members of Sam's Scout Den: Moksh, William, Jackson, and Ethan.

Sam ate a lot of the food, including some new foods such as Beefaroni.

Here he is throwing a tomahawk:

On the way to the boat ramp, they stopped for a group picture in their Day 1 yellow shirts:

Sam made a covered wagon in the craft area:

The group had their banner posted outside the tent:

Everyone had slingshots (and orange shirts on the second day):

They went out every day after lunch to look for critters (in their blue shirts on the third day):

And shot BB guns:

Sam did 40 push ups and 110 sit-ups during the fitness activity:

Notice the cool quiver that the archery leader made for Sam on their third visit to the archery range:

Red shirts on the fourth day:

Flag raising during the Citizen achievement:

One of many fish that Sam caught in the fishing pond:

The giant slingshot / trashcan knockover:

Indian Village rubber band gun course:

All packed up and ready to head home on Friday morning:

Leesburg Parade

Sam and Dad had a great time marching in the Leesburg July 4th Parade.  Sam held the Pack banner with Ben Tanner and Adam Friedenberg.  They marched at the front of the parade, with the American Legion.  Then they met up with Mom and Pete and watched the rest of the parade.

Here is a video of crossing the main intersection of Leesburg at Market and King St:



Preparing for the parade at Ida Lee Park

Marching down King Street:

Mom and Pete look on from near the end of the parade route:

Deep Creek Group Trip 2013

After the Lancaster trip last year, the group trip was moved back to Deep Creek this year.

Sam got to ride by himself this time on the mountain coaster:

They also had a new activity this year: the Spider Monkey Adventure.  Here is Sam enjoying it on his first time:

And the zip line was a relaxing effort for Pete:

The boys and Dads headed out in the afternoon for some mini-golf and a stop at BK for a light lunch:

Pete got to play with Kellen this year:

Saturaday dinner this time was a big hit with the young ones (pizza):

The kids defeated the adults in some capture the flag, and then it was time for some pictures before they headed out.

They stopped on the way home for an epic meal at Santa Fe Grille.