Erica's Wedding Shower

Erica was one of our primary babysitters for a couple of years during the time when she was the Aquatic Director at the UVA pool.  It was during those years that she met and fell in love with Chris, and now they are engaged to be married.  They live in a new town, and with the wedding only a few weeks away, the girls and I took a two-hour drive to help shower Erica with goods to stock their new kitchen.  The girls had never been to a shower before, and they were thrilled to see Erica and watch her open her gifts.

Final Photos from Wallop's Island

Snapshots here include washing the equipment after the Marsh trip and our trip to the Ice Cream store in Chincoteague (?) Friday night. Friday after dinner, we went for a walk on the beach, and played flashlight tag. The ice cream store offered home-made ice cream and really gave you a lot for your money. Later we went back to the lab for an impromptu talent show and final thoughts and reflections.

Saturday I was up at 6, got the boys up at 7, for packing before breakfast at 8,

We finished loading the bus and cleaning the dorms by 9:30.

We went to the Assateague Lighthouse for about an hour and a half before the rains came again while we were at another Visitor's Center.

We started for home around 12:15. At exactly 1:58 pm, for the FIRST TIME since TUESDAY, we actually saw some SUNSHINE !

We stopped for lunch/dinner at a Wendy's around 2:45 pm. We stayed there for a little over an hour, and then made several bathroom/pit stops on the way home.

We arrived back at Burley, right on time, at 7:30 pm Saturday night.

P. S.   The school bus was a 1996 model, same as most of the kids on the trip.  :0)

To everyone who has been faithfully looking at this blog for over a month now, with nothing to show for it, I am sorry. It is all my fault. There were so many photos from this trip, and I wasn't exactly sure how (or if) we were going to present them. The magnitude of the project made me keep putting it off. I hope to do better now in the next few weeks before Thanksgiving -- we have lots more photos to share from football games, Round Hill Farm, the Halloween Dance, Erica's wedding, Sydney's trip to the concert, Cal and Bailey's Field Trip to Pittsburgh, Halloween and more . . .

Still More from the Marsh and Muck #3

Still more great shots from the Marsh and Muck . . .

More from the Marsh and Muck #2

More great shots from the Marsh and Muck . . .

More from Wallop's Island/Marsh #1

Friday afternoon was the highly anticipated trip to the Marsh/Mud/Muck. This was the best photo opportunity of the whole trip.

There are really too many photos to look at here, especially if you don't know the kids. I am only going to publish less than half of the shots I took. If you don't have time to look at them all, we understand.

The beginning of this slide show includes the group shots at the bus before entering the Marsh, and some of the lab type experiments they did before getting muddy. Notice the (4') red/white pole that Mr. Kruger has stuck into the Marsh, almost up to the end. The footing here was very treacherous, with lots of unexpected slips and slides.

Lindsey was one of our two instructors from the Consortium.

Slide.com limits me to 50 photos per slide show.

Wallop's Island

Calvin and 34 other 7th graders, another Dad and I, and two teachers went to Wallops Island on a 7th Grade field trip, September 24-25-26-27.

We left from Burley on a Wednesday morning a little after 8:00. The gifted teacher drove the school bus. The other teacher drove his pickup truck with many of the suitcases and duffels. The rest of us squeezed into the school bus. Many of the kids were three to a seat. We arrived at a Visitor's Center around noon and stayed there for lunch, a movie, a hike, and to see the salt marsh and the WWII bunkers. We were there until almost 3pm. We arrived at the Marine Science Consortium campus around 4:20 pm. We quickly unpacked, had dinner and then had a lab from 6:00-9:15 pm. Lights were out at 11:00.

Thursday morning we took a trip to the Dunes. Rain and wind were awful, precluding any photos. Thursday afternoon was the trip to the Intertidal Waterway. Weather was the same, once again precluding any photos.

Friday morning was the Research Vessel Boat Trip. Weather here was great, but forecast was lousy and I wasn't sure about the parameters of the boat, so there were no photos from the boat, either.

The slide show below has 38 photos. It takes a minute or two to see them all.

All of these are from the bus ride down, the lab, and general outside shots of the buildings we used. Cal and I stayed with six other boys in Port Hall, the first maroon door beyond the tree in one of the photos. Other photos include the dining hall, and the class/lab building.

Camping for Bailey

It was Bailey's turn to go camping -- not the whole sixth grade but about 30 kids in our school's Gateway program.  They drove out there directly after school on Monday, spent the night and following day, and then arrived back at school in the afternoon in time to take the bus back home with the other kids.  The purpose of this trip is less about studying the river and environment out there and more about bonding and working together as a group.  They had to play a game where they bent down on one knee and said, "Honey, if you love me, give me a smile" and the person to whom they were speaking had to respond "honey, I love you, but I just can't smile" all without smiling.  They had to carry each other, and sit on each other in a big circle without falling over and get their individual groups all situated on a small towel -- stuff like that.  The day's fun was capped off with a dip in the river.

Brooks & Dunn

We had the pleasure of going to see Rodney Atkins, Brooks & Dunn, and ZZ Top tonight.  We took part in some of the festivities before the show started and made it in just as Rodney began the show.  We were surprised when Brooks & Dunn performed next - I thought they were the feature performers.  ZZ Top went last, and at that point the kids couldn't take any more.  I was able to hear about 4 songs before I gave in and agreed to go home.  (I tried to text a couple of friends to hitch a ride home with them, but nothing worked out.  I never even heard "Legs" or "Sharp-Dressed Man"!)  I just found the link to the Brooks & Dunn website to add this photo you could have taken before the concert.

Middle School Dance

The first dance of the year was directly after school (and "fresh" off of camping for the seventh graders - yuk!)   Mark played his usual role of hall monitor interspersed with event photographer.  Bailey and her friends were more than happy to pose, but Cal made himself scarce - caught on film just one time.

Camping in Seventh Grade

The entire seventh grade spent the night at the local 4H Camp last night.  Mark headed out there the night before to help erect many tents because there were more campers than cabin bunks.  The kids arrived Thursday and even had a dance on Thursday evening.  Mark went back out there this morning to help make and serve breakfast (!)