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