Encampment

Encampment is a sort-of BootCamp for the Civil Air Patrol, if you want to move up the ranks and fly you must attend at least once.  Titus was a bit apprehensive about going but he wanted the rewards that come with checking it off his list, so he went.  For the first time in many years it was held at Marine Corp. Air Base Cherry Point.  

Not sure who was more worried about the weekend, Titus or I.  They are not allowed to contact home for the entire week, so you have no idea how they are doing.  Thankfully they did send link to a photo gallery each day, which I scoured to find a picture of him to try and ascertain how he was doing, but I rush ahead.

In preparation all I could do was make sure he had everything he needed so they couldn't pick on him about anything tangible.  We spent weeks gathering supplies and a long time packing it just right.  Drop off on Saturday went really quick.  He left the car and I went to parent tent, next thing I knew they had fast tracked him onto a bus to enter the base (His uniform was perfect, he takes great pride in that and it saved him a dressing down other kids were getting before they were allowed on the buses).

Since we were all the way at the coast of North Carolina (for the first time since we moved here) Chris and I decided to make it an all day date adventure.

We drove to New Bern to tour Tyron Palace, the first governor's mansion in North Carolina (pre-revolution).  This property had been on my bucket list for years and it did not disappoint.  We toured the "palace", extensive gardens (ornamental and for cooking).  Our ticket also included the right to tour other historic homes near-by.  Our docents were all top notch and the town was so incredibly peaceful.  We found the best restaurant to have lunch; rubens, rootbeer, banana pudding and chocolate desert.  It was located on the river with a beautiful view.  We instantly decided to take Titus back when we picked him up because we knew he'd be needing a really good big meal.

In the end all my worrying was fairly unnecessary.  Titus did tell us quite a few kids quit by the end of the weekend but I saw him leading drill in the pictures posted on Sunday so I knew he'd found his groove.  After the weekend things calmed down a knotch and they started working in some fun between the testing and drills. Titus earned his NRA marksmanship badge, played flag football, water balloon fights, STEM projects, launched rockets, and got to get up close and touch all kinds of aerial toys on base.

We showed up early for graduation at the parade grounds, and got front row seats.  Titus was so locked in he walked right at us and didn't see us.  

We caught up with him in the parking lot, to gather him and his stuff.  He said he'd had a good time, his roommates were awesome, he was glad he went but he had no interest in going again.

We brought him a change of clothes and took him to our new fav restaurant to fill him up, before heading home so he could go straight to a dance with his brothers.  So thankful for God's presence and blessing upon him all week.  

June 2025

This month started out with Jared working the One Year Anniversary sale at BAM, hard to believe he's already been there over one year.

Next was Jared's Voice recital with Miss Kathy.  Jared has been taking piano and/or voice lessons with Miss Kathy for 12 years and always been one of her star students.  This was a big milestone/transition into adulthood day.  As a special thank you we found a beautiful pitcher to put the LEGO flowers I made last month for her and she screamed in delight on receiving them.  We will miss the contagious laughter and music she's brought to our home for so long.

This is a copy of the suit Lance wore to his first dance 6 years ago.  Tabitha (a friend) has always recollected on the memory of the suit with distain so Lance decided it needed to come back.  Not to be left out of the fun Titus got a "Napoleon Dynamite" suit to add to her ire, Jared stuck the the dress code.  The plan worked beautifully,  Tabitha saw them in the parking lot, looks at Lance and exclaims "Lance!!!!" and slams her trunk,  looks at Titus and says "Titus, What is that?" and then at Jared and calmly says "Jared you look nice".  Boys were laughing hardily at the great success of their plan.

When Amber entered the show her goal was just to give both her and Thor some experience in the show ring, she didn't plan to place.  It was a rather large field of competitors (I believe 15).  Despite the large group of competitors, Amber and Thor shined.  They got a 5th place ribbon in Walk/Trot Equitation and then a 3rd Place ribbon in Cross-rails by keeping such a perfect pace!

Amber and Kimberly have been trying to clear the "Island" in the backyard, with plans to beautify it with native plants.  They have been working hard lately and its really starting to take shape.

White Chinese Geese - This falls under the category of careful what you say.  Long story short, years (and mean years) ago we were at a bird sanctuary and Titus fell in love with some White Chinese Geese.  I looked around but could not find any at the time and told him if I ever did we could get some.  Fast forward to early this month Amber and I are in Tractor Supply when she spots these cuties and remember the promise, we call Titus and he remembers too and is thrilled to get them.  Hoping Lance will be voice of reason, he too is very excited, so basically we were out voted and now own tow Chinese Geese that have been named "Bob and Debbie".  They have quickly imprinted on Amber and Titus, let the adventure in geese ownership begin (just for the record this was not Jared's idea).

Julia and Nathan had their reception a few weeks after their wedding.  This was a much larger event, Jared broke the ice and got everyone to start telling stories on the mic.  Afterward, all three boys went together to a swing dance.

Brick Universe came to Raleigh this year and all the kids went with Jared to go check it out.  There were some seriously talented artists.

Our oldest family friends in North Carolina's oldest son Connor got married this month.  It was an outdoor wedding and the rain came down, then as soon as the ceremony was over it instantly cleared up and a rainbow appeared.  I figure that's a good omen for the happy couple.  My major contribution to the night was introducing his new Indian family to the glass clanging = kissing tradition; much to Connor's amusement.

May 2025

FIAR had the best field trip this month.  We got to see some cute animals on display then went kayaking and fishing in a old quarry.  The best part is the park rangers just set the kids up and told them to have fun and left, no micro-managing; and fun they had!  We want to take the whole family there some day with the dogs, since its old quarry its not nasty and mucky lake its really clear and clean.

Lyon's had another game night, the kids love going; they play games, dance a little, eat a little and talk a lot.

May the Forth was huge success at Jared's work, the cosplayers were epic.

Mother's Day was a day of flowers both real and LEGO.  I hadn't built LEGOs in forever but I wanted to make a LEGO bouquet for Miss Kathy for Jared's final recital next month.  I did pretty good only got confused a few times where I needed to consult the expert.

FIAR went to field trip at Art Space this month.  We had gone here once before with CC years ago.  As the artists in resident change frequently it was a totally different experience.  I even got to join Amber in making some art myself.  Great day of seeing different art and expressing ourselves in our own art.

Then came the busiest weekend in a long time.

Chris, Amber and I took Titus to Statesville for CAP Airmen School.  As it was a long drive, it seemed prudent to just stay over than drive home.  Statesville is a very historic town and I found a recently renovated 1911 B&B for us to stay in, walking distance from downtown and just a few miles from airport where Titus was camping out for the weekend.

The B&B was just lovely, so authentic with a charming backyard to hang out in and much to my joy had two resident whistle pigs.  We spent a lot of our time reading aloud a new book I had brought.  In addition, to exploring downtown for shops and eats we went to Ft. Dobbs State park on Saturday.  This is a recreation of the original fort built for the French and Indian War.  Docents were incredible on our tour and there was a nice hiking trail as a bonus.  We three had a marvelous weekend.

Titus' weekend was a lot less posh.  Soon as Titus got out of the car they started yelling at him, but he was smart he ran where they told him so they left him alone and picked on the kids that were daddling.  My mama's heart was a little worried but in the end he had a good weekend.  The first night was rough, storm came through with high winds that sent tents flying some with people in them but no one was injured.  Then they had a visit from a large snake but those were asides to the main events.  In addition, PT and to class room training they mixed in a bit of fun.  Titus excelled at capture the flag and they did a number of team building exercises; carrying dead weight and moving wood across a void.  Additionally, they had a local show them all about his gyrocopter.  This weekend was suppose to help prepare students for the more intense Encampment later this year; I think he's ready.

While we were off and about, Lance and Jared were not idle.  They had a young adult dance Friday night then they spent Saturday selling Jared's line of WW2 ships and tanks.  I am so impressed with his designs and apparently so were others, they sold enough to definitely make it worth their time.  Jared's boss is also now carrying some of his models at BAM for sale.  So amazed with his entrepreneurial pursuits.

Titus also competed in two Level 7 Tennis tournaments this month, it was great to experience the higher level of competition.  Fun for him to play and fun for us to watch.

Another of the boys friends took the leap this month as well, Nathan and Julia got married.  Nathan is one of Lance's oldest friends and I taught both of them science at co-ops over the years.  I think they will be very happy.  Right after the wedding boys had to rush to Caden's graduation, so another crazy busy day.

Amongst all the planned activities, there was still normal fun, golfing, riding horses and bird watching; this is a new visitor we had this month.  The funniest aside was our battle with the raccoons for our bird feeders.  We tried all kinds of contraptions then Chris came up with his own and I think it worked.  Either that or Oliver did scare the raccoon to death.  We caught it on backyard camera, but it was like hillbillies live.  We saw the raccoons in backyard, let the dogs out, Khan came first but Oliver (old boy) overtook him and got hold of raccoon for a minute before he treeed it (Khan stood back confused and excited).  Then out the door runs Chris barefoot, Lance dressed-up (just home from swing dance) and Titus comes next and grabs a stick.  The video is hysterical.  We could see the raccoon huffing and puffing on branch outside Titus' window, we thought we'd find him dead in morning but we didn't.  In fact our nightly visitors have never returned again.

Then of course this month always ends with a stellar birthday week for Jared.  Boys went to see Mission Impossible in the theaters. Then we all went on an all day Lego Adventure.  We hit the downtown BAM, north raleigh BAM and finished out at the LEGO store in the mall were we got sweet treats in the food court.  Jared didn't quite break the bank either with new finds for his growing collection.

Jared is now an adult.  He's gone from loving Mo Willems and Amelia Bedilia books, re-writing the endings to books he didn't like (Stuart Little) to a working man, writing full length motion pictures scripts, reading Thunder Below and seeing a mini-series in the making and calling English Country Dances for fun and profit on the side.  I can't wait to see what my incredible young man does next.

Ironically, on his actual birthday this year he was at a Swing Dance event with friends, where for some reason people suddenly realized he was younger than Lance.  Apparently because he's bigger and more reserved they assumed he was older and more mature.  At the dance the whole group sang him "Happy Birthday".  It was  fitting end to his birthday week.

April 2025

Boys started this month going to a ropes course with a group of friends.  It's a rather involved course that they'd wanted to try out for a while and were not disappointed.

FIAR went to Sugg Farm for some Archery and play.  Amber was of course a natural.

Amber and I went to a local nursery to find some shade loving plants that flower to add color to the backyard.  We had so much fun talking with employees and shoppers to pick out a great variety of plants.

Cardinals Baseball in full swing every Sunday.  Jared is the official social media manager and the guys are thrilled; they say they it makes them feel like professionals.

Lance went to his first bachelor party for his mate Nathan, which involved; go-cart racing, skeet shooting and singing Veggietales songs late into the night.  

In other shenanigans, Lance got himself hooked up in an ice bucket challenge trend.  The girls doing it were much more entertaining, he didn't squeal.

This month was the ECD Literary Ball, Jared joined a large group of friends who all dressed up as "Things".  The other boys stayed casual.

We went to Easter Services with our dear friends the Lyons and had a wonderful BBQ at their house with friends afterward.  It was my first time hearing Tabitha play the harp, I think I have a new favorite instrument as it can take the place of so many at once.  Fellowship at their home was actually enjoyable for everyone.  A perfect way to celebrate that He is risen.

The final event of April was GP Frank B-Day celebration.  Always a great excuse to hang out, and eat lasagna and spice cake.

March 2025

The weather has turned just right again for the kids to start golfing together.  They play after the older boys are done with work at a 3 Par course just around the corner, get snackies and have fun.

Amber and her friend Vali had a lot of fun with Thor this month, both riding and braiding his mane and tail (much to his chagrin).

We've been trying to par down a whole room of crafts given to us by an elderly neighbor that asked us to re-home the contents.  We gave away a lot, saved some for future use but we still had quite a bit.  Then I heard of a place called the Scrap Exchange that is a central place for artsy people to get all kinds of supplies.  It happened to be near a new BAM that recently opened and Jared wanted to check out.  Therefore, he and Amber decided to go on a date to do both.  It was an interesting adventure but they enjoyed their time together and survived.

Titus and I were at WF when he saw this Jack fruit, Titus who loves all things new wanted to try it out.  Wow!  What an experiment that was, but I think we'll stick to the dried version in the future.

Jared's dance calling business has really taken flight this year, he had another private calling this month.  It's a nice source of extra income.

Due to a lack of pre-season catchers, Lance was invited to catch for the High-Point Rockers.  He was recommended by some players that have trained with him for years.  He drives over one to two times a week.

We kicked off Lance's B-Day Week with a trip to Charlotte.  

Titus was there for CAP STEM event at the Aviation Institute of Maintenance to learn about aviation electronics.

While he was in class I dropped Lance and Jared off at the Nascar Museum.  It was more hands on than they expected.  They were overjoyed to learn that the "Pit Stop" challenge was free so they could do it as many times as they wanted and started up a fun rivalry with some other visitors.

After dropping off the boys I decided to go the Billy Graham museum.  It was different than expected, they literally walk you Disney style through his life and spread the gospel message along the way.  It was a very peaceful place.

The rest of Lance's B-Day week revolved around his favorite dishes for dinner and movies of his choice.  Finishing of course with Spice cake and Lasagna.  He also started working on the train room again, a project that had been dormant for a while.

The month finished out with Titus going to his first CAP Ranger Training Week, where they learn the skills necessary to participate in real life Search and Rescue missions.  This first week was getting the foundation down.  Before this week Titus attended a number of online classes and did a lot of studying to make sure he passed his first level exams.  This was his first time ever camping; quite the change for my traditionally country club kid.

In the end he had a great time, passed all his tests (field, physical and paper) and is looking forward to the fall session where he can be one of the cool kids with the orange cap.