I yam what I yam!

Now that's a big yam!

OlderSon saw these jumbo yams from North Carolina in the grocery store and just had to get one. We explained that it was going to take a long, long time to cook so he probably couldn't have it tonight but he was content to wait until Thursday.

I can't even imagine how long this sucker will take to cook or what it will taste like but I'm curious now to find out. This picture kind of looks like those old pictures we used to get in the Waynesboro News-Virginian of slightly unusual vegetables.

Ahhh ... memories.

No Kegle this year but we keep the Stinky Shoe

Yesterday we held the 2nd Annual Kegel Challenge which is a bowling tournament that our troop puts on with Troop 799. The idea was to have a fun and friendly competition with another troop in our area to meet new Scouts and to broaden our Scouting horizons. It's actually a lot of fun and is helping to forge some links between the units. Last year, each PLC attended a troop meeting at the other troop and 799 joined us on our annual ski trip to Timberline (as they will this year as well).

The tournament works this way: each Scout and leader bowls a game. The six (this year seven) highest-scoring Scouts from each troop then bowl a second game. The highest combined score of those teams wins the coveted Kegel trophy which is a bowling pin. All other Scouts also get to bowl a second game for fun.

There is also a competition among the adult leaders for an equally-coveted prize: the Stinky Shoe award. This is a size 14 bowling shoe (that's not really stinky at all) that we've fashioned with brass plaques on the bottom. The premise is similar to the Kegel challenge except only the top three adult leaders from each team compete. Plus the boys are a lot better behaved than the adults. There's quite a bit of trash talking down there on that last lane.

The results this year were the same as last year but with bigger margins. The Scouts from Troop 799 retained the Kegel by 52 pins with a score of 632 to 580. Last year they won by four pins. And also like last year, the adult leaders from Troop 737 keep possession of the Stinky Shoe by a whopping 110 pins with a score of 449 to 339. Last year the margin was a mere two pins. But since the ultimate goal was to have fun I think we all won.

OlderSon, YoungerSon, and myself all competed and I think it's safe to say that none of us are destined for the PBA any time soon although after posting a 72 in the first round I hit my stride and got a 146 in the second round which I think is about the best game I've ever bowled.

Saccharide Engineering

So what does an engineering student do with his Halloween candy stash? Start munching down on it as soon as possible? No, you must sort and classify it first as OlderSon has done with his candy haul from Halloween night.

When I was a kid, I ate about half of everything I got Halloween night. I think OlderSon only had a single candy bar Wednesday night and didn't open his bag back up until tonight when he meticulously organized his collection before sealing it up in a more secure container.

For later research of course.

Halloween Wrap Up

Our Halloween setup
Originally uploaded by stepol

Our family always celebrates Halloween in a big way. We have four bins of decorations and two big bags full of pumpkins. We carve elaborate pumpkins and polMom puts together treat bags that combine candy and toys and have our name and address on them. It's usually a big event and this year was no exception.

Of course, this was yet another item on the ever-growing list of "first without CollegeGirl" entries. Our enthusiasm is tempered a little by her absence and we note little things like we don't have a pumpkin out carved by her. We miss her and would like to think she misses us a little too ... that is until we read her Facebook entries like "IT'S HALLLLLLOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YYYYYYYYAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!! :) PS: The statues are da bomb!" and we realize we'll be lucky if she remembers she even has parents or siblings.

Well, enough melancholy. On with the Halloween recap. First let's talk about the pumpkins. In a previous post I talked about how last year we purchased foam pumpkins so we could reuse them year after year instead of trying to carve six or seven fresh pumpkins in the two hours before trick or treaters arrive. This worked remarkably well this year as we reused the five pumpkins we carved last year and added two more that YoungerSon and I carved this year. First time in a dozen years I haven't had to carve the very intricate Cavalier. We got the normal oohs and aahs from the neighbors which is always nice. Lots more UVa fans out this year it seemed.

The picture at the top gives you a little idea of our setup. We put up a shelter that we string with lights, ghosts, and spider webs. We setup a table and chairs underneath along with a stereo playing the Halloween mix CD we made (I'll include that in another post). This is "Halloween Central" for us and is where we meet and greet all the kids and neighbors.

It's also where we have "Frankie" which is just about the oldest Halloween prop we have and polMom's favorite. It's a battery-operated Frankenstein that dips a blower into bubble stuff and really blows bubbles. We gave him a place of honor this year in front of the shelter and rigged a flashlight up as a spotlight. Definitely the biggest hit with the kids both young and old.

Whoever had the house long ago when they were putting in the curbs opted out so we have a shallow ditch between the road and the yard and we always worry about kids tripping in it in the dark so this year we strung pumpkin and slime lights along the street to direct everyone to the driveway. It worked (mostly) and looked really cool from the street. That's something we'll have to add to the tradition list.

YoungerSon and OlderSon were dressed up as a playing card and a superhero. polMom had made two cards, and Ace of spades and a Ten of diamonds, so they could go together as Blackjack but OlderSon would have no part of it. He went upstairs and made aletter for his chest, found a cape-like substance, and put on fuzzy socks and flip flops. I have to say, howver, that it was better than a lot of the costumes we saw on older kids that night. A lot weren't even wearing a costume ... just regular street clothes. Oh well.

Tally for the end of the night was just over 200 kids which is a new record for us. I even had to run out to Walmart after one wave of about 40 kids in a five minute span. polMom had made 180 bags which we thought would see us through but it was not to be.

Now we're putting away all of the Halloween gear into its bins and will soon drive back to the storage place for another year.

Laid-back Scout weekend

Our Boy Scout troop camped out at our local scout reservation this past weekend ... just for the heck of it. We had originally planned to travel over the mountains to Lake Sherando but the group campsite was already booked every weekend in September by the time we got our ducks in a row. In attempting to come up with an alternative we were reminded of desire expressed by some of the boys during summer camp for a campout just for the sake of going camping. No structured activities, no big event, but just camping for the fun of it. So we got a reservation for a campsite in Douglas Fleet and actively engaged in non-planning of activities.

And it was great!

Aside from the rain while we were setting up on Friday night, the weekend couldn't have been much better. On Saturday and Sunday we were blessed with perfect camping weather. Bright sunny skies with highs in the upper 70s and lows at night down around 50. Absolutely beautiful.

Through a reservation quirk we also had the entire reservation to ourselves. Turns out that the council office shouldn't have allowed us to camp as there was a big triathlon taking place on Sunday. The camp director, who I know pretty well, stopped by on Friday night to ask how we managed to get a reservation. After we discussed the circumstances he said we'd be fine as we would be leaving before the activities took place and even though the organizers were setting everything up on Saturday we should be okay using the trails and such.

While no formal activities were planned, the adult leaders (all 3 of us), and the older Scouts all said they'd be happy to help anyone complete rank requirements or teach Scout skills. This worked out extremely well with some motivated youth learning woods tools, fire building, knot tying, lashings, cooking, plant & animal identification, among other topics.

Around 2pm we led the Scouts on a 5-mile hike using the new circumferential trail that goes around the reservation. Again, the weather was perfect and everyone got to see whole sections of the camp that we hadn't been to before. Near the start we stopped by to admire the new shooting area at Brady Saunders before diving into the woods and heading over to the Cub Camp side of the reservation. This was nice because we took "Angelo's Trail" over which is a nature trail dedicated to one of the boys from our Cub Scout pack who died when he was just eight years old.

I think this campout may become a staple for us in September as it doesn't require a lot of pre-planning and was very well received by the boys who went. We do our annual program planning in August so September is always one of the harder campouts to plan because of the short amount of time available to make reservations, secure equipment, line up transportation, etc.

A great way to spend the weekend.

Dude, Where's My Bus?

Another banner day for the transportation department of Henrico County Public Schools.

Pretty much the same story as last week. No bus pick up for OlderSon. Call the transportation office and, sure enough, the shuttle's already left Freeman for Highland Springs. This one has a couple of additional features, however.

"The normal bus didn't run today because it had been vandalized." Okay, where was the substitute? "Oh, he says he drove the whole route, your son must not have been at the bus stop." No, he was at the bus stop for almost an hour. "Well, the driver said he ran the whole route." I guess he was wrong because my son is still here. "No, your son must not have been at the stop." Yes, he was ... for an hour now. "Are you sure he was at the right place?" He was standing under the street sign for Sweetbriar and Woodberry roads ... yes, he was there. The bus was not. "Well the driver said he ran the whole route so we let the bus go to Highland Springs."

So again, polMom has to drive OlderSon to the other side of the county. When they get to the school OlderSon is, of course, late. When they check in at the office with the many, many other students who are also late they try to give him an unexcused tardy.

Pardon me? He didn't get a bus this morning. "Yes, then he's late." No, you don't understand. The bus never came for him. "Uh, huh. He's still late." No, we live on the other side of the county, his bus never came, they released the shuttle when they shouldn't have, and we had to drive all the way out here. "That's a long drive. I'm sorry. He's still late."

Have you ever seen those cartoons where the person's face will get redder and redder and then steam will start to come out of their ears (with a little whistling noise) while their eyes begin to bulge from their sockets? Because that's how I imagine polMom as she stalked back to the car and called the transportation department.

She managed to get a hold of a nice lady who, again, assured us this would never happen again. Plus she said she'd call the school to tell them not to make our boy all tardy.

Can't wait for tomorrow.

A weekend of Cheerful Service

OA Fall Service Weekend
Originally uploaded by stepol

OlderSon and I spent the weekend out at Camp T. Brady Saunders to participate in the Fall Service Weekend for the Nawakwa Order of the Arrow Lodge. The Order of the Arrow, or OA, is the Boy Scout's national honorary society for experienced campers, based on Native American traditions, and dedicated to the ideal of cheerful service. They hold service weekends in the spring, summer, and fall to complete work projects at the camp.

Also, Scouts who were elected to the OA go through an Ordeal after which they are welcomed as full members in the Lodge. For the second session in a row, OlderSon was an enlangomat which is a guide or big brother to the ordeal candidates. OlderSon was in charge of the Eagle Clan group of candidates and once again performed his job well. If he serves again in the spring he receives a special red elangomat sash to keep.

The camp was hit by two pretty brutal storms in August so much of the work to be done involved cutting up fallen trees and dragging brush out of the camping/activity areas and back into the woods. I spent most of the morning doing that but also worked in the administration building at the Cub Camp fixing computers and doing web work that the council wanted done.

Early Saturday afternoon I got to take a break to see a father/son combo from our troop go through the Brotherhood ceremony. After 10 months as an Ordel member, OA members can seal their membership by going through the Brotherhood ceremony which I did just this past June. Going through the Brotherhood process is probably the best way to go through a service weekend. You learn a lot about the customs and goals of the OA program that kind of flew by during your Ordeal weekend. Also, the Brotherhood ceremony is very well done and I really enjoyed even just watching it as a participant.

After dinner, the three of us went back down to the OA circle to see another member of our troop, actually our current SPL, go through the Ordeal ceremony and be inducted as a new member. Again, a great ceremony that's always performed well by our award-winning ceremony team. We had a lot of new members so they actually ran three ceremonies with performance by the Lodge's dance team in between.

The weather was great and OlderSon got to use the Hennessy Hammock tent that he order back in June. He had just missed out on using at the last backpacking trip to Three Ridges (polMom called when we were halfway to the mountains to say that it had arrived). He had glowing reviews about it so I think it will be a staple in his camping experiences from now on.

This weekend also marked the 98th night of Scout camping he has done since joining the troop in March of 2004. The troop's camping again this coming weekend which will be nights 99 and 100 for him. That earns him the cool National Camping Award for 100 Nights and Days of camping. Actually, Scouts may include camping that they've done with their family while they were Boy Scouts so in reality he's well over the number needed. There's a Court of Honor coming up at the end of the month so it'll be cool if he gets it at that ceremony.

School starts with a long and winding road

Heading out to school
Originally uploaded by stepol

School started for both boys on Tuesday. When we got home Monday night, the boys still had a bit of work to get done on their summer assignments to get them ready to turn in the next day. polMom also did the lion's share of the prep work by labeling all of the boys' stuff and filling out the myriad of papers that the schools require ... most requiring the exact same information on each. You'd think with the advances they made with the hcpsLink system they would get this process streamlined. Instead, poor polMom's still recovering from writer's cramp.

YoungerSon is headed back to Tuckahoe Middle School for seventh grade while OlderSon travels to the other side of the county to begin ninth grade at the Center for Engineering at Highland Springs High School.

And thus begins our transportation nightmare.

Both boys left for their bus stops at about 7:30am, OlderSon slightly before and YoungerSon slightly after. OlderSon is supposed to catch a bus at 7:37am that takes him to the nearby Freeman High School transportation hub where he catches the bus for the long trip to Highland Springs. At 7:45 he calls home to say that the bus hasn't arrived but we're not too concerned as the buses are always late on the first day. Also, the transportation hub ensures that the bus to Highland Springs won't leave until the first bus has arrived.

At 8:00 OlderSon calls again to say that he's still at the bus stop. polMom gets on the phone to the transportation department (a number she is unfortunately well acquainted with). We figure we can haul him over to Freeman but want to make sure the shuttle is still there. After 20 minutes, three disconnects, and many radio calls to bus drivers we find out that the shuttle has left because OlderSon's bus did go to Freeman ... without picking him up. Apparently it was a substitute driver who failed to grab two of his route sheets.

We're very frustrated but we say we'll take him to Highland Springs ourselves. It's now just after 8:30 and school starts at 8:45. We drive up to the bus stop ... and no one is there. We're momentarily flummoxed but are hoping that he simply got on the regular Freeman bus with the other high school students. We double-check the area to make sure he's not there and head over to Freeman.

About halfway there we get a call from OlderSon who is, indeed, at Freeman and is standing with the West Zone transportation director who was very nice and helpful. They were trying to figure out how they were going to get him to Highland Springs but we said we were taking him. He directed us to drive right up the bus ramp and we could pick him up.

We picked him up and polMom dropped me off at work before heading to Highland Springs. She got OlderSon to school finally, made sure he didn't get a tardy, and reassured him that the ride home would go more smoothly because the bus would be starting from a school that it knew it had to go to.

Ha.

I'm still not quite sure of all the details but the net result was that when the dust cleared after bus departures at Highland Springs, John and two other students were left standing alone ... under a tree ... not on a bus. Of course by the time polMom gets a call, the transportation office had closed so she worked her way up the org chart until she got Fred Morton, the Superintendent of Schools for the county (do not tick off polMom).

Eventually, John did make it home with assurances from every level of the transportation chain that it would not happen again. It that seems to be holding as we had no incidents yesterday or this morning.

Nothing could be finer ...

Getting ready to leave the beach
Originally uploaded by stepol

... then to be in Carolina. As long as we're at Sunset Beach, that is! We made our annual Labor Day pilgrimage down to Soft Days, my parents' beach house and now their retirement home from September to May. We're always happy to be there but our happiness was slightly tempered this year by the absence of CollegeGirl who just started at William and Mary and had classes ... even on Saturday! I think this is the first Labor Day weekend in her life that she hasn't been here and her absence was felt.

However, it is Sunset Beach so we did manage to have an excellent time. We had a couple of overcast days but mostly the weather cooperated to provide some quality beach time. The boys covered the four Bs: beach digging, boogie boarding (is that two Bs?), body surfing, and even boating. OlderSon found an inflatable two-man boat in the attic and rigged up a bicycle pump to get it inflated. They gleefully paddled around in the surf, first with a paddle and a shovel and then with two brand new paddles we found up at the new Waves shop just over the bridge.

We thought the parents wouldn't be down until Friday but were pleasantly surprised to see them on Thursday night where they joined us for quiche night. YoungerSon has been asking to have quiche for weeks so we took the opportunity to make it at the beach. We actually had three quiches: a spinach and artichoke quiche that YoungerSon made, a Quiche Lorraine that I threw together, and a single-serve ham & cheese, egg white-only quiche that OlderSon made. We served them up with grapes and some great strawberries we found at the world's most upscale Food Lion.

Dinners are always a big event at the beach and this weekend was no exception. Friday night was our big spaghetti and meatball dinner. Sissy and Peter from next door joined us on Saturday night for gourmet pizzas. We had four to choose from: a BLT pizza, a Margharetta pizza with fresh mozzarella, olive oil, basil, and tomatoes, a taco pizza, and finally a pizza with brie, herbs, onions, and olives. Sunday night finished the weekend up with grilled sirloin and roasted cauliflower. On Saturday night, Peter also brought over his new ice cream maker so the boys could try their hand at homemade ice cream. Unfortunately, we didn't let the chiller chill long enough and we had to settle for (very tasty) milkshakes.

We were particularly pleased to see the old pontoon bridge still in operation. The plans for installing the mammoth 65-foot McDonald's arch bridge that will make Sunset Beach just like EveryOtherBeach are currently on hold because even after two rounds of bidding, the prices quoted are still way too high. NC's transportation department estimate is now at about $26M and the lowest bid came in around $32M and they are bound by law to keep the price no greater than 10% over the estimate. So not only is it back to the drawing board but, because of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis, the cost of bridge materials is going up and the state is looking at more critical bridges that should take precedent over this one.

On Monday morning we managed to get up early enough to make a final trip to the beach and it turned out to be the best weather we had all weekend. After soaking up those final rays and getting the last breath of sweet salt air we went back up, got lunch and headed home. It's always sad to leave but we'll look forward to returning in the winter.

Camp Jost's 2007 season ends today

Glimpse into the tent
Originally uploaded by stepol

Not content with just a week or two out camping with the Scouts, the boys setup a big tent in the backyard every summer and sleep out in it almost every night. They call it Camp Jost and it's their personal haven for the summer. And quite a luxurious one at that.

They run an extension cord out from the house to power lights and a fan (there might have been a TV out there at one point). In July they had a hammock and twin bed in there with various tables and chairs. However, there was a remodeling in August that replaced those with a queen-sized air mattress and inflatable sofa (please don't ask me why we have these things ... we just do). Think tour companies invented glamping? These boys pioneered it.

Well we're headed to Sunset Beach tonight (yay!) which means that the Camp Jost season must come to an end (aw!). The boys packed everything up this morning but were in good spirits for two reasons. One was that we're going to the beach through Labor Day which is always a good thing. The second is that when they come back they can put their creative energies into constructing what has been dubed "The Party Room." That would be the room that was until recently occupied by a certain girl who has moved on to new digs in Williamsburg.

Emotional doughnuts

After the movie last night, we also had to stop at Krispy Kreme on the way home so the boys could watch the doughnuts being made. I don't think we'd ever have to buy any except we'd feel guilty standing in the store for 40 minutes and not actually get any. The boys would happily watch the process for an hour and walk out empty-handed.

The only problem is that I think I have the only kids (and wife) that become emotionally attached to pieces of fried dough. They'll watch the newly extruded pieces of dough enter the proofing chamber and proceed to adopt them as they work their way through the doughnut life cycle. They watch them ride their little shelves up and down as they rise to the proper dimensions. They cheer as the shelf tips the rings of dough into the hot oil. They get down low so they can watch the important flipping process. They experience deep anxiety as the cooked pastries have to travel under the eye of the Krispy Kreme worker who checks to ensure there are no defects. We have seen many a doughnut, even those with just the slightest imperfections, quickly snatched off the line, crushed, and mercilessly tossed onto the end of the conveyor belt where they slowly drop off into the doughy abyss of a plastic garbage bin. However, for those lucky enough to survive, they are treated to a coating of hot glaze and a home in an official Krispy Kreme box.

It doesn't seem to bother them that even the ones that are saved will just be eaten by someone. OlderSon told me "that's their job" so I guess it's more a matter of allowing the doughnut to achieve its life's goal. The only rule is that we can't eat one of the adopted doughnuts because that would be cannibalism or something. It's all very strange but I end up with doughnuts at the end of the evening so it's all worth it.

Evan Almighty at the Byrd

The Byrd
Originally uploaded by moonshinerr

After attending an Eagle ceremony for one of the Scouts in our troop we decided to spend part of our evening last night at one of favorite Richmond landmarks: the Byrd Theatre. The theater opened in 1928 and has amazingly managed to survive practically unaltered for almost 80 years. Today, it shows second-run movies for only $1.99 so we try and go down whenever a family-friendly movie is playing during the 7:15 slot.

Normally we'd try and go on Saturday night because that's when Bob Gulledge plays the mighty Wurlitzer organ that rises up out of the orchestra pit. I think we'd pay $2 a piece just to watch Bob play even without the movie. There's many a time we got polMom to go see a movie she was ambivalent about because of that Wurlitzer. However, we were at the Braves game Saturday night with the troop so we came to the organless Sunday showing instead.

Both of the boys thought the movie was funny and polMom liked the family-firendly message (she said it even redeemed Steve Carell in her mind a bit). I thought it was worth $2 ... everything is better when played at the Byrd. I think the movie could have been a lot funnier as what few jokes there were fell pretty flat. The kids loved the slapstick stuff that went on during the ark construction but I really wanted something more substantial to happen. But again, a nice evening out for about 20 bucks.