Geography Bee

This was in early May, I am sorry for not posting it sooner

Lon tried out for the Geography Bee again this year.  Only this time, he WON the school ! He was one of about 100 or so kids from all over the state going to the capital, Columbia, to compete to go to Nationals. ! 

 We all filed into a big ballroom, got some photos and waited. Then they called the kids out by the color on their badges. 

The parents waited. 

Lon was a runner up, he did not advance to nationals. And we are more than okay with this! SO PROUD of him!  The questions he missed were tough. Who is the vice president of Zimbabwe ? The second question was This town on a river (which the proctor could not pronounce) in southern Mexico just recently banned single use plastic bags.    If he ever qualifies again we are going to read every National Geographic Magazine from the last two years.

We went to lunch at a great place called Nicks. Everyone got a wonderful meal,  Lon had a pizza, Mark got a grinder and I had one of the best gyros ever!    Since it was still early and we had the whole day off, we went to the zoo!   We had not been to the River Bank Zoo before, it was a lot of fun.  Lon was happy with his effort, so it was a good day!

8th Grade Dance

It is a big deal at Alston Middle School. The 8th grade dance.  They said NO LIMOS. I wonder how that got to be a thing. 

Lon wanted a bow tie. So I made him a bow tie

We had to buy him a new sport coat. Yes, I bought it much bigger than it needed to be, I wanted it to last a little while.

The kids waiting for the doors to open. All the 8th grade teachers were chaperones. No parents.  The kids outfits ran the gamet from casual, to holiday barbie type dresses. Most kids were at least semi formal.

Lon said he had fun, even though he refused to dance. He enjoyed the Chic Fi A.

Spring Court of Honor

*again, I have to find the paper with the list of merit badges Lon earned. (and I need to edit the photo)

Lon earned 5 merit badges! 

Very proud of him.

Lon's mini golf adventure

Lon's birthday adventure for mini golf was a little early this year as Autzen was leaving for some summer fun a few days later

Jurassic Mini Golf in Myrtle Beach

The boys got done with the holes much faster than their mothers.  It was very fun that Autzen's mom got to join us !

They had a lot of fun, we all did.

Then it was time for Friendly's.  It took us a while to find the Friendly's we usually go to for lunch.  I did not know there were three of them in Myrtle Beach.    But we did find it. I am not sure our waitress liked us too much as we were pretty goofy, we did leave a good tip and not a huge mess.

We passed a store called Sugar Life.  It is a giant candy store.
I cut the Myrtle Beach off the bottom of the decal. For my first car sticker on this car, it is a good one.   Yes, Lon bought lots of fun candy.   We stopped at a Brasilian cafe and deli and took home some tasty things for later.

It was a good day in Myrtle Beach.

8th Grade Awards Ceremony

The last awards ceremony of middle school.  Lon got 8 awards!  (I will insert his awards soon)

Many handshakes as he crossed the stage

The program

A Couple of Camping Photos!

Lon and Dad went up to Kings Mountain for a Memorial Day Boy Scout Campout.  Dad stayed in Base Camp and Lon, and a whole group of backpackers,  went on a  two day 17 mile hike, before re-joining the guys at Base Camp for the 5 mile hike from Base Camp to the National Park.   The National Park was hosting reenactors from the Revolution, the Civil war and the Vietnam war.  There were not a lot of pictures taken

Lon was chillin at Base Camp on a tiny hammock he made out of rope and knots.

Lon got to hold a Thompson machine gun. He did not fire it. 

Lon had a great time at the campout. 

Some highlights of things we have done this past school year

I am feeling overwhelmed every time I try to go back and blog. I am SO far behind, so I am just going to post a picture or two, a few words so we remember the highlights of this year and hope to start keeping up better as time goes by.

Lon went to Lake Moultrie and did a little sailing last summer

Lon and his friend met an American Hero aborad the USS Yorktown. He was on the crew in World War II.  This was in August. Just before the accident

We had a fun time at the Boeing Halloween Party

On our way back to the car we came across a baby snake. He was very fierce. He wanted to attack, but we kept our distance. Baby snakes can have more venom than adult snakes. we were not taking the chance

annual pumpkin picture.

He was a dr. from Jurassic Park

We saw the Oscar Myer Weiner Mobile!  Free hot dogs and stickers!

Lon helped stack pumpkins for a church pumpkin sale. It was a boy scout volunteer thing

Fair time! Lon loves the kyaks. He went and pulled in some wayward boats. He got to stay out as long as he wanted and when he went out again, he was gifted his time.  Nice guys who run this!

Not all our time was spent watching Lon paddle a kyak, we saw everything. Including the selling spaces, we like rocks

Not the best lighting

Nice night for a paddle

His last year in the Jr. Lego League.  The Alston Tigers did as well as they did last year.

Watching the awards for Jr. Lego

Christmas. ! I need to find more photos of our Christmas

In January we went up to Ceaser's head to look around.
This is the view from a Pretty Place

Bald Head. People seem to like to spray paint the rock.  I have no idea why

Early Spring!

Lon's science class had an assignment to make a 3d model of something. Edible was given more credit. So we made a glacier cake.

Lon earned a spot in the National Jr. Honor Society

I can not find the pictures right now, but Lon won the geography bee for Alston. He then took the test for state and qualified!  So we took a day off school and went to Columbia! Lon was up against some very bright kids from around the state.  Lon was good, but other kids were better.  Lon got two questions he remembers he could not answer, one Who is the vice president of Zimbabwe, and the second one was This southern Mexican town on this river (Lon said it was pronounced badly) just recently banned single use plastic bags. We were so over the moon proud of him. He did great.  After the event, we went to a great greek place, called Nicks. I want to go back. It was gyros, pizza and grinders. Something good for all of us.  Then we went to the zoo.  The zoo was so much fun
I do have pictues but I need to find those as well.

Easter was wonderful and we are still eating leftovers.

Now I hope to not be so overwhelmed I can keep up.

Why I have not posted in almost 6 months

I was a little behind over the summer, I had plans to catch up.
Then

I was driving, doing the speed limit. Lon was in the passenger seat.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a gun metal colored bumper and my last thought before the airbags deployed was this sob is going to HIT us.    This was not fun. Lon got out of the car easily. My door was stuck. I could not get it open.  The interior of the car was filled with smoke from the airbags, but I was not sure where the smoke was coming from.  Out of all the businesses on the street where the wreck occured only one man from Swift Auto Tinting and Stereo, came out to help me. He had to pull on my door with both hands to get it open. He was not a small man.I am forever grateful and if you ever need window tinting or a stereo installed, please go to him.   My Ford called 911 without me doing anything.  I heard Your Airbags have deployed, calling emergency services. The next voice was This is 911 we have a report that your airbags have deployed are you okay? No, no I am not. Sending help right away.  That was a very nice feature to have on the car. I do not pay a monthly fee for that.

The deployed airbags


It took a while to get back to normal.  Then we were trying to get their insurance to do their part and that took months.

SO now I am trying to get caught up from summer and fall, and all the holidays till this new year.  It might take a little while and may not be in order. Lon asked me to make it happen, so I am making it happen.  Mark too.