London Trip - Pete

Pete enjoyed his trip to London with the band. He did not see Mom, Dad, or Sam during the week, other than glancing over for just a moment when he played in front of them at the parade.

He was in the group chaperoned by Mrs. Robinson:
1. Natalie Braxton-Porter
2. Alexandra Joyce
3. Olivia Robinson
4. Elson Hsia
5. Chloe Young
6. Katie Allen
7. Betsy Dunn
8. Chandler Turpin
9. Lauren Nunley

They did not get much sleep, and it was pretty cold, but they managed to survive the week.

London Trip - Day 8

It was the final day of the London trip. Mom, Dad, and Sam bid farewell to Susan and Jack and headed off one last time to the tube. They went to the Paddington station and caught the Heathrow Express to the airport.

It was a trip they will remember fondly for many years to come.

London Trip - Day 7

The last full day of the London Trip was a bittersweet one.

The bus for Stonehenge left right on time from Charing Cross. But after sitting for hours in traffic, everyone was starting to wonder if they would ever make it. The answer came when the driver made the announcement that no one wanted to hear: "I'm terribly sorry folks, but we can't make it to Stonehenge before they close for the day. We will have a mandatory stop at the next rest area, and then turn around to go back to London."



Sam was not too upset, and they all made the most of it and enjoyed a snack and (ultimately) a refund. At least they got to listen to the London walking tour MP3 on the bus ride. And Sam got to read more of his "What If..." book that he had enjoyed throughout the week.

They went ahead and stopped at Fortnum & Mason on the way home, to get some cookies as a gift for the Haleys. They also stopped at the Waterstones bookstore where Sam found a cool book called "1,411 Qi Facts to Knock You Sideways".

Dad grabbed a quick photo at 221B Baker Street, just across from the tube stop where they had come many times throughout the week.



After returning home, Dad headed back out for about an hour to finally find a Geocache and sign the log before the end of the trip.

London Trip - Day 6

Mon and Dad started Friday in London with a stroll along the canal to Regent's Park.



After Sam was ready to go, they returned to Westminster Abbey for the full walking tour. There was a mass that took place while they were there.

Lunch was at a local shop near the London Eye. It was too cold and the line was too long for the Eye, so they headed over to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. They went up to the top of the bridge and got some great views of the city.

With the remaining time before dinner, they walked around St. Paul's Cathedral and across the Millennium Bridge.



They caught a bus to the Butler's Wharf area and walked the rest of the way to Martin's flat.





Everyone grabbed a glass of champagne at the flat and then headed out to a lovely dinner with Martin and Marian at the Chop House.

After another long day, the bus and tube brought them back to the flat.

London Trip - Day 5

Thursday was New Year's Day, the day of Broad Run marching in the big parade.

Mom and Dad went off in the morning on a walk up to Abbey Road and to look for a few Geocaches.



There was time for a quick lunch at McDonalds on Baker Street and then they caught the tube to Charing Cross. Although the viewing situation looked bleak, they skillfully walked through a few tube tunnels to get to a most excellent viewing location for the parade.

After the parade, they did the "Westminster Walk" audio tour. Unfortunately, when they got to Westminster Abbey it was unexpectedly closed for the day.





Changing plans - they took the tube to Hyde Park, grabbed dinner at the Spaghetti House, and then walked out to the Hyde Park festival and rode the Big Wheel. Dad also took advantage of this popular location to capture a few Munzees.

London Trip - Day 4

On Wednesday, Mom and Dad took a morning excursion to the British Museum. Sam stayed home with Jack.

The tube and bus let them off within a short walk to the museum.





On the return trip, they stopped at the Edgeware station and grabbed some Domino's Pizza to bring back for Sam and Jack. The walk from Domino's went through some international markets and diverse neighborhoods.

After lunch, everyone headed back out on the tube from Baker Street to the National Gallery.





Preparing for tomorrow's parade route, thry took a stroll through Trafalgar Square and stopped at the Admiralty Arch. They did not quite make it down to Buckingham Palace. This will be the goal for the next trip.



They met Jack and Susan for dinner at a local pub called the Duke of York. It was a fun evening enjoyed by all. They split up on the walk home - Mom going off with Susan toward Abbey Road and Dad going with Sam and Jack.

London Trip - Day 3

Tuesday of the London trip was the farthest the group would venture out of town.

They caught the train to Watford Junction and then the shuttle bus to Harry Potter Studios. After grabbing a snack at the cafe, they did the Harry Potter tour. Sam picked up a Voldemort wand in the gift shop, and a glass for Pete.

Then it was time to zip off to Cadogan Hall. Unfortunately, the group missed the final bus by a few seconds. They caught the next bus to Cadogan Hall, ran up the 62 steps to the mezzanine, and arrived just as Broad Run was playing their second song. The exhausted Broad Run students were struggling to stay awake in the balcony as they watched the subsequent three schools perform.

Having spotted Pete sitting in the rafters at Cadogan Hall, Mom and Dad had achieved confirmation that Pete, in fact, had arrived in London.

London Trip - Day 2

After landing at Heathrow airport, and making it through customs, they met their driver and headed off to the flat at 22 St. John's Wood Court St. NW8 8QT.

Upon arrival, they discovered that Jack and Susan both had the flu. So everyone gathered their things and headed back out to safety.

After a brisk walk to the Baker St. tube station, they grabbed their Oyster transit cards for the week. Next, after a bit of scrambling, they met the Anderson Tours van to Windsor Castle. Sam grabbed a quick nap on the short van ride to Windsor. They took the audio tour at Windsor Castle. Sam was rather frigid, so they got some hot chocolate at McDonalds. Unfortunately the hot chocolate was too hot to drink, and it was soon time to walk back to the van.

After considering several local options, they grabbed a late lunch at a crowded Pizza Hut. Then they rode atop a double-decker bus for a bit.

They took the tube back to the St. John's station, grabbed some money at Barclay's bank, and then took the long walk home past the cricket stadium.

It had been a long 2 days, so everyone was quite ready for bed.

London Trip - Day 1

Pete went to London over New Year's break in December 2014 to play in the London New Year's Day Parade with his marching band from Broad Run High School. He stayed in the hotel with his fellow bandmates.

Mom, Dad, and Sam decided to make the trip on their own to watch the parade. They stayed in a flat with Pete's friend Jack and his parents.

The first day of the trip (Sunday), Pete got dropped off at school and then the rest of the crew got a ride to the airport from Tom. They met up with Pete at the airport to give him some British Pounds to spend on the trip. After grabbing some pizza, it was time to board the flight.

Sam enjoyed the British Airways flight, which included unlimited video games and movies on a personal screen. Dad watched "Boyhood", mom watched "Transformers: Age of Extinction" and Sam watched "Home Alone and The Simpsons Movie".

Everyone also tried to grab a little sleep to prepare for the long week ahead.

Escape the Room with a Zombie

The family tried something very new and different on the day after Christmas, with Brian and Patti. It was called “Trapped in a Room with a Zombie”.

Yes, they were locked in a room with a zombie and had to solve a series of puzzles to figure out how to escape – all the while avoiding being touched by the zombie.

Sam quickly realized that he was not too thrilled with this situation. He left the room for a while, then came back in and kept at a safe distance.

The group solved almost all of the puzzles. The last thing was a mechanical crane device that they could not quite get to work to extricate a critical final piece of the puzzle. It was a good effort.

They certainly with a lot of “good” memories from the event.

A Fudd’s Christmas

In case you were wondering how crowded it is at Fuddruckers on Christmas Day, the answer is “not very”.

Christmas 2014

This year’s Christmas presents were an eclectic mix.

Sam really liked his new pillow. He would realize even more how much he liked it when it would later get left in Virginia Beach for a few long weeks in July and August.

The giant slinky was also a big hit.

Christmas Beards

Everyone enjoyed a bountiful Christmas dinner with Nana and Poppy. This was a bit of a “last dinner”, as soon they would be moving to their new house in Myrtle Beach, not to be seen much after that.

If you look closely you can see that Sam and Poppy are both sporting their Christmas beards.

Meadowlark Gardens

It was a chilly but fun night at the Meadowlark Gardens light show. Sam put on his warmest “jacket” (aka sweatshirt) and everyone headed out.

The experience was a unique and enjoyable one. Mom also got a chance to take some pictures with her new Samsung Galaxy s4 phone.

Dad and Pete snagged a few Munzees in the parking lot on the way back to the car.

Philly Pops

Grandma and Grandpa invited everyone to come up for the “Philly Pops” Christmas concert. Unfortunately, Grandma fell and broke her hip so she would not be able to go to the concert. On Friday evening, they got to the hospital in time to stop by for visiting hours. They gave Grandma a book for Hanukkah, to help her pass the time in the hospital. And some bookmarks that they cut from a Cocoa Pebbles box, which she would forget where she got them from and mail them back as gifts for the boys about a year later.

Then on Saturday they were off to the concert. It was fun, although they were very close to the stage so it was hard to see some of the instruments in the back (like the trumpets).

OH OH JO

Pete took some liberties with the Christmas decorations this year. His task was to put HO HO HO and a candy cane on the sliding glass door in the kitchen. Somehow this ended up as OH OH JO. Dad notified Aunt Jo of this. She didn’t respond, so presumably she must have been pretty upset about it.

Erosion

Here is Sam’s "Erosion, Deposition, and Weathering" poster.

Sam learned something working on this project. (No, it was not about erosion, deposition, or weathering.) Most of the people in his class Googled “erosion, deposition, and weathering” and selected the first pictures in the results. Sam realized that he could get some more unique pictures by selecting some lower down in the search results. I guess you’re never too old to learn something new.

LINK Food Bank

It had been a few years since Pete and Dad had volunteered at the LINK food bank. So Dad signed them up for a Saturday shift at Christ the Redeemer Church in Sterling.

Although Pete prefers to stock the shelves, the biggest need this time was for people to walk around and help the needy with their “shopping” selections.

It was nice to see the results of the process, all the way from Sam's “Scouting For Food” with his Cub Scout Pack, up to seeing the people receiving the food and helping them load it into their car.

Perfect Sandwich

Sam goes through brief periods where he will eat sandwiches. Some of these phases will last for a few weeks, and some for only a few hours.

One such period occurred in December 2014.

Above, Sam can be seen admiring the “perfect” toasted turkey and cheese sandwich.

A few months later he had the brief “ham sandwich” period of April 2015.

Birthdays

Sam had several birthday celebrations this year. First Grandma and Grandpa came to visit. Cake was enjoyed by all.

The next week was the sleepover party with Jackson, Jaylan, EthanW, and William. Cookie cake was enjoyed by all.

And then the gun fighting.