Sam Spelling Bee Victory

Congratulations to Sam for winning the Dominion Trail spelling bee. Sam and Sarah Jakubowski were clearly the two best spellers. They were the last two remaining after a few rounds, and went a bunch of rounds with just the two of them. Mr. Joseph was the speller, and he did a great job. Unfortunately he did not pronounce the word correctly that Sarah went out on (ultimatum). Otherwise, they both might still be up there spelling. Sam spelled every word correctly that he was given. He will represent his school at the County Bee at Stone Bridge in March. The winner of that will go to the National Spelling Bee (all the way in Washington DC).

Here are the words that Sam spelled correctly:

1. gray
2. ladybug
3. judge
4. chickens
5. hubcap
6. dandelion
7. emporium
8. neigh
9. gainsay
10. celebrate
11. amulet
12. novelist
13. vehicular
14. curator
15. explosive
16. sirloin
17. stalwart (winning word)

Here is the video of Sam and Sarah going many rounds against each other (thanks miss Debbie!)

These were the top finishers:

1. Sam
2. Sarah
3. Matthew
4. Ipsita
5. Dheeman
6. Alex
7. Gabriel
8. Joshua
9. Shril

Also, in this video you can see Sam and Sarah being recognized at 3:45 for the Spelling Bee plaque:

More Band Competitions

Pete went to a few more band competitions in the fall season - including Virginia Beach and South Lakes.

Homecoming

Pete went out with a few of his friends for Homecoming:

Chloe, Alexandra, Chandler, Olivia, and Ryan.

Slenderman

Sam finally got the costume for Halloween this year that he had been trying to get for the last few years. He is Slenderman:

Sam went trick-or-treating this year with William, Moksh, and Evan.

Band Halloween Parade

Pete's band marched in the same Homecoming Parade as Dad and hid Cub Scout Pack. This year it was on Halloween, which made for some fun costumes.

If you look carefully, you can see Pete in his nerd costume near the middle of this photo:

JMU Competition

Pete's band did a great job winning second place at the JMU competition in October:

Also pictured above are Chandler, Jonah, Dennis, David, Drew, Alex, Katie, Jeremy, and Matt.

Loudoun Valley High School Competition

Pete's band played at a local competition at Loudoun Valley High School. Mom, Dad, Sam, Nana, and Poppy went over to the school to see the performance.

Pete is third behind Chandler in the row on the left:

Here, Pete is on the left side of the picture:

Pete and Olivia had some time after their performance to watch some of the other bands:

Pete Brass Group

Above is Pete pictured with his fellow brass members in the band, in front of Broad Run. Pete is in the lower right.

Dominion Trail First Day

Pete joined the Broad Run band really early to play for Dominion Trail students on their first day of school. Pete was a little disappointed that Sam quickly scampered by, as did most of his fellow classmates. But it was a nice gesture nonetheless.

Broad Run Band Camp

Pete finished off the summer of 2014 at Broad Run Band Camp. There were some long hot days but he had a good time and made some new friends. He was off to a good start for his Freshman year of high school.

Raingutter Regatta

Sam raced in his last Raingutter Regatta in August.

First race against Dominik:

Second race, with Mom and Dad looking on:

Waiting for others to race:

Wild Turtle

One of the funnier moments from camp this past week was the "Wild Turtle" incident.  Which oddly did not involve a turtle.

Sam noticed that one of the Scouts from our group looked like the LCS player known as Wild Turtle:

Of course, Dad had to get a picture of him to show Pete.  So Dad pretended to take a picture of Sam and snapped a picture of the rare Wild Turtle lookalike in the wild:

Camp Snyder - Day 4

Sam and Dad left the tent on Thursday morning with the bittersweet knowledge that it would be theiir last day at Camp Snyder.

Thursday's meals were Pancakes for breakfast, Spaghetti for lunch, and various types of Chicken for dinner.  Song time selections were The Birdie Song and The Shark Song.

Sam and Dad did the following activities on Thursday:

• Archery and 3 Gun Range
• More Fishing (with their own rods this time)
• Frisbee
• Pack up everything
• Sam read the book "Loser"
• "Manhood Test" activities (mostly rehash of the earlier activities during the week)
• Wiffle Ball
• Closing Bonfire - Sam, Dad, Alex, and Rex did the "Skittles" skit, which went very well

Pictures:

Station #2 at the 3 Gun Range (wit Svede and Trent):

Possibly the last time Sam will ever shoot a BB Gun:

Almost done packing up the tent at campsite #14:

Ready for the Bonfire:

Camp Snyder 2014 - Day 3

Day 3 at camp was full of promise and optimism, with the rain behind and forecasts in the low 80's for the rest of the week.

Wednesday's meals were Frech Toast for breakfast, Chicken Finger for lunch, and Hobo Dinner.  Hobo dinner means you cook a hamburger patty directly on the fire without a bun.  Song time selections were Alive Awake Alert Enthusiastic, Cheese Moose Song, and The Button Factory Song.

Sam and Dad did the following activities on Wednesday:

• Forester badge (with Stan)
• Model Rocket building
• Space Derby
• Swimming
• Frisbee
• Wiffle Ball
• Archery
• Staff Hunt

Photos from Day 3 (now that Dad had his camera back and fully operational):

Breakfast:

Working on the Forester badge:

Typical example of Svede not doing what he is supposed to be doing:

Preparing for successful launch of space rocket:

Building the family's 10th Space Derby rocket:

Watching Greg prepare his firepot cobbler:

Having the archery range to himself during the evening open activity (also pictured are Shane, Will, and David):

Camp Snyder 2014 - Day 2

Tuesday started off damp and got wetter and wetter as the day went on and the rain poured down.

Tuesday's meals were Omelettes for breakfast (which meant Berry Colossal Crunch for Sam), soft Tacos for lunch, and Pork BBQ for dinner.  Song time selections were The Rattlin Can, Calamine Lotion, and Singin in the Rain.

Sam, Dad, Alex, and Rex did the following activities on Tuesday:

• Boating in the rain - Sam, Dad, and Alex took out a paddle boat.  Then Alex went to the BB range while Sam and Dad took out a canoe for a sublime (and wet) excursion
• Assembling Dad's new phone (after several trips through the mud back to the campsite and car for Sam's sweatchirt, the car key, etc.)
• Sam finished reading The Giver
• Sam went with Alex and his Dad to see "Guardians of the Galaxy"
• Fishing with Tom (and the omnipresent and omni-annoying Svede)
• Frisbee
• Showers (during the dreaded Dodgeball campwide activity)

Sam and Dad discovered some pools of water that had gathered in the tent, which was a bit distressing but they soldiered on.  A flash flood watch was in effect for Tuesday night, so they hoped for the best.  The good news is that it did not rain again for the rest of the week.

Camp Snyder 2014 - Day 1

Sam and Dad stopped at McDonalds and then arrived Sunday evening for check-in at Camp Snyder.  They met Avelino at the campsite and pitched the enormous tent that would be theiir home for the next 4 days.

The special mystery event this week was to look for little space ducks hidden around the campus.  Whichever group found the most ducks each day got to go up first for dinner.

Monday got off to an early start, as a rather loud group of Scouts in the bunkhouse just outside the tent woke Dad at 6am.  Sam managed to sleep until 7:30, however.  This would be his daily wake up time for the week, including Friday after they got home.

Monday's meals were Eggs/Sausage for breakfast (which meant Berry Colossal Crunch for Sam), Turkey/Ham sandwich for lunch, and Fried Chicken for dinner.  Song time selections were The Rooster Song, Penguin Power Team, and Second Story Window.

Sam, Dad, Alex, and Rex did the following activities on Monday:

• BB Guns (which Dad discovered Sam really does not enjoy)
• Archery
• Fishing - Sam had to use the bamboo rod this time, since Dad was at the Verizon store
• Disc Golf - Each person designed 2 improv holes
• Milk Bottle knockdown
• Swimming test and swimming - Sam and Dad's first encounter with Svede, the Scout who does not listen
• 2 on 2 Soccer
• Cornhole with Avelino
• Indoor Bonfire (due to the rain)
• Lots of Wiffle Ball

At the indoor bonfire, Shane and David did the Space Worm skit, which was quite possibly the funniest skit that Sam and Dad had ever seen.

Back at camp, it rained all through the night but Sam and Dad stayed dry in the trusty tent.  Tuesday, however, would be another story.

Raingutter Regatta and Camp Snyder Preparation

Sam and Dad had a busy day on Sunday.  They packed up the car so they could go directly from the Raingutter Regatta to a week away at Camp Snyder.

Here is a picture of Sam's boat:

Here is the packing list for camp:

Large Tent
2 Sleeping Bags
2 pillows
Lantern
GPS
Headlamps
2 Medical Forms
Slingshot
Batteries - Headlamps, GPS, flashlight, lantern
Tools - small tool kit, multi-tool, small hammer, nails
First aid kit
Knife
Board Games - Uno, Blink, Make 'n Break, Apples 2 Apples Jr, Crazy Old Fish War
Scavenger Hunt baggie and list
Backpack
Water bottle
2 Uniform shirts
Webelos hat
Webelos neckerchief
Slide
2 bathing suits
Clothes - 5 days in ziploc bags (shirt, boxers, shorts, socks)
2 extra pair shoes
2 pairs flip flops / boat shoes
Planner
Marshmallows
Cell Phone
Cell Phone 2 wall chargers
Cell phone 3 charging blocks
3 ponchos
2 sweatshirts
Matches
3 Books - Giver, Loser, Brain Trust
Wallet
2 towels
Sunscreen
Bug Spray
2 Flashlights
2 toothbrushes
Toothpaste
Webelos Book
List of completed achievements for Sam and Alex
List of activities / electives for break times
Football
Wiffle Ball
Wiffle Ball Bat
Baseball glove
Baseball
1 blue golf disc
1 regular frisbee
Twin air mattresses
Coleman air mattress
Telescoping skewers

The only item they forgot was Sam's sunglasses.

Within about an hour of arriving at camp, Dad's phone had a catastrophic failure.  Dad missed a little bit of archery and fishing on Monday morning for a brief excursion to the Verizon store.

Bike Ride WOD Trail

Mom, Dad, and Sam took a nice bike ride on the WOD Trail up to Trailside Park.

They played in the Park for a while, which was pretty empty, and then headed home.

National Night Out

Dad and Pete walked over to National Night Out at the Lakes Recreation Center for some free ice cream.  Sam was sick, so he stayed home with Mom.

Dad mentioned to Pete on the way there that they were going to have police cars available for the kids to look at.  This led to the following conversation.

Dad: I bet you've always wondered what it would be like to sit in the back seat of a police car
Pete: [Pausing] Yeah... wondered

Family Portrait

You are probably wondering how the above photo is a family portrait.  However, take a closer look to see if you can figure it out.

Stone Bridge Basketball Camp

Sam had fun at Stone Bridge Basketball Camp this week.  This was his second basketball camp this summer, the earlier one being at Broad Run.

Sam was pleased to be on the team that won the camp championship.  The other players on his team were:
Ashton
Caylem
Jeremy
Jack
Naren
Colin
Collin
Ben

As his championship prize, Sam received a Blow Pop and Capri Sun.

Given the size of his team, perhaps it would have been easier to list the campers who were not on the team.

Chicago Trip 2014 - Final Day

The last day of the July 2014 Chicago vacation started in Heath, Ohio.  At breakfast, Dad's phone recommended a trip to Dawes Arboretum.  So they headed there before the drive home.  It did not disappoint.

Once again, the recommendation was spot on for dinner at Da Vinci's Pizza in Cumberland, MD.

They got back into town just in time to go to Broad Run Band spirit night at Sweet Swirls.

Chicago Trip 2014 - Day 7

Monday began with a visit to Navy Pier.  The rain did not dampen anyone's spirits.  They were used to it, as it had rained off and on for most of the time in Chicago.

After getting off the bus, they did a walking tour of the Navy Pier area.

The Funhouse was enjoyed by all, followed by spirited games of Time Freak and Atomic Rush (which could also be called "Button Push Freak" and "Atomic Button Push").

Pete bought a "jumper", and Sam some Chicago pajama pants.  Dad found an indoor geocache.

The car needed to be moved from the miraculous parking space by 4pm, so it was time to leave Chicago and begin the long trip home.  Dinner was Chipotle in Indianapolis, and the evening's lodging was in Heath, Ohio.

Chicago Trip 2014 - Day 6

Today the group headed out to the beach.  Specifically 41.9139092,-87.6238724.  Lake Michigan.  Probably the first beach anyone had been to that was not on the Atlantic Ocean.

The water was frigid.  Sam went out with Uncle Steve to do the "Polar Plunge".  Then he convinced Dad and Pete to do it as well.  It was a sensation they will not soon forget.

After grabbing some lunch at Castaways, the boys played in the sand.  Sam built a castle and helped to bury Pete.  Dad made a ball tunnel roundabout and a beach ball golf hole.

On the way home, they stopped again at Taste of Chicago (after walking through what seemed like half of the city).  Sam played some Madden in the video game booth, while everyone got tickets and ate some tasty Chicago foods.

Chicago Trip 2014 - Day 5

Everyone enjoyed some waffles at a restaurant called "Waffles".  Then they hopped on a series of buses to the Lincoln Park Zoo.  They found a few geocaches at the zoo and then one more in Roosevelt Park on the way home.  The evening included babysitting for Payton and having dinner at the condo, followed by some fireworks on the Navy Pier, visible from Shedd Aquarium.

Mom, Dad, and Pete went to the fireworks.  It was raining pretty hard as they walked to the Shedd aquarium, so they turned back.  Sure enough, the fireworks started so they watched them from the 11th Street bridge.