Alex and Matthew's soccer seasons are coming to an end. Despite a couple of losses, their teams still came out on top. Ted and I took the "divide and conquer" approach when it came to bringing the boys to their practices and games. Some of Alex's games took him to Poquoson, Langley AFB, and Ft. Eustis.
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| Matthew dribbles the soccer ball. |
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| Alex scores a goal! |
Sophia only had two Cross Country meets this season. There was supposed to be a total of 5 meets but 3 of them got canceled due to weather. Of course, they probably could have still raced 2 out of the 3 meets that got canceled because the weather wasn't too bad. It was a little discouraging for the team (and the parents) but the school that was hosting the meets had the final say. The good side to this is that the Girls' OLMC X-Country team came in First Place and the Boys' X-Country team came in Third Place at both meets. Overall, I think Sophia enjoyed running and she has greatly improved in her times.
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| Sophia runs at her first X-Country meet. |
I have been soooo BUSY with work, chauffeuring the kids around, running Cub Scout den meetings and Pack Committee Meetings, and being one of the homeroom parents for Matthew's class. I never intended to be a homeroom mother again (I was one when Matt was in kindergarten), but I got suckered into doing it along with another parent. It involves planning 4 class parties and coming up with a class auction project for the kids to do. Thankfully, I have willing parents who are eager to pitch in and help when needed. When I attended a meeting last month for all HR parents, I was amazed to see so many familiar faces, many moms who are also involved in Cub Scouts....it made me feel better that I wasn't the only crazy one!
I have 11 boys in my Cub Scout den which is still quite a handful. In order to make my meetings work, I have to divide them up in smaller groups and have them rotate between different stations. My Asst. Den Leader is great and we have two older siblings of the scouts who help out and make the meetings more manageable. Recently, we went on a tour of the Casement Museum at Fort Monroe. The boys seemed to have enjoyed it but I think they found the pet cemetery located on top of the fort to be the most interesting feature. I've been there a couple of times and never knew it existed. The U.S. ARMY moved out of Fort Monroe (and moved to Fort Eustis) back in September. It was weird to see the place so empty. I'm hoping the National Parks will take it over. It is such a beautiful property along the Chesapeake Bay.
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| My Bear Den in front of a Lincoln Gun at Fort Monroe. |
Speaking of scouts, Alex was recently elected to be the Asst. Senior Patrol Leader for his BSA Troop. He was thrilled, and we are very happy and proud of him. It is amazing to see him grow, step up to more responsibilities, and to be accountable.
One of the cool things we did as a family this month was to go on a Ghost Walk in Colonial Williamsburg. It was a pleasant and cool Friday evening. Our tour guide was great. She had some interesting ghost stories along with some historical facts. The tour lasted about an hour and a half. We treated the kids to some dessert at a local tavern where the servers and minstrels were dressed in Colonial garb.
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| Enjoying the music at Chowning's Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg. |
Ted and I attended the Commissioning of the USS CALIFORNIA (SSN-781) today. The weather did not cooperate so the ceremony was held indoors in a hanger at Norfolk Naval Base. Many thanks to the officers and airmen/women of Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15 (HM-15). I am sure they were quite surprised when a 4-star Admiral "requested" that they host 2000 guests for the commissioning of a submarine! We got a brief glimpse of the submarine from the parking lot. [Ted's comments follow] Ship christenings and commissionings are always moving events, even when the ship isn't present. It would have been a little more moving to have the crew run aboard the ship when the ship's sponsor, Donna Willard, ordered them to "Man the ship and bring it to life." Instead, they ran from the back of the hangar to the front. Attending events such as this are one of the prime perks of my current job (Maybe the only perk). If I recall correctly, there were 3 US Congressmen, an Undersecretary of the Navy, the presidents of Electric Boat and Newport News shipyards, and ~8 admirals in attendance. The speakers were good, and brief. I was glad to see the happy faces on the crew; they have worked very hard and deserve to celebrate their achievement. Unfortunately, the crowd overwhelmed the space available, so it was a crowded and confusing trip to get from the ceremony to the reception. We also had to rapidly choke down our chicken bites, mini-sandwiches and quesadillas because we had to drive my company's General Manager back to his hotel so he could catch a flight back to Albany. I had warned Tricia that we might have to run a shuttle service, but I didn't tell her who our passenger was until we had dropped him off. Tricia and I were both bushed by the time we got home.
With Halloween just around the corner, the kids got to carve pumpkins this weekend. We also got a day in at Busch Gardens for their Howl O Scream event. We wish you and your goblins a safe and Happy Halloween! (Please keep in touch...it is always a pleasure to hear from each and every one of you!!)
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