Two for Tuesday in Connecticut- part 1 Coast Guard Academy Museum

There are two blogs for Tuesday, this is the first one.   Mark and Grammalyn had somethings to do, so Lon and I did some fun things on our own.

The museum is located in the library and admission office building.  It is not very big, but Lon was loving it. Looking at the models at the entrance

A panel about the Princendam disaster.  My Dad flew rescue on that sinking, and helped out with co-ordinating between Coast Guard and Civilian.  Lon thought that was pretty cool.

Taking it all in. Learning some of the history

maybe someday

The figurehead from the Eagle!

Reading about Hurricane Katrina

Now off to find Grandpa's brick

Found it. It was clean and bright.

We were off to the next part of our day!

Monday ! In Connecticut

The boys went one way and the girls went the other way.  The boys went fishing and to the beach, Grammalyn and I went shopping. I went to my favorite antique store, I did find a few things, then we went to Goodwill, there I found a real treasure, a porcelain patch box from the 1770s  (no really!). We went to lunch at a fun place called the Log Cabin, big portions!  I am happy Mark took some pictures of his day.

Lon is showing Godfather his tackle box.

A few pointers on how to cast.

Having a great time, even though Lon did not catch a thing this time

Trying a different spot

Using Godfather's kayak.  still no fish.

Beach time!
Lon had a really fun day

 After a dinner at Dad's of fried clams, we decided it would be fun to take a drive

A deer running though the neighborhood!

This beautiful barn is all that is left of a U-pick farm. The rest of the land was subdivided for homes.

Bunny!

First Day in Connecticut

We left the house on Saturday the 15th of June for a trip to Niantic. Our original plan was to stop in Hazleton, PA and spend the night. It did not work out like that. There was a huge car show in the Hazleton/Wilkes-Barre area and there were no hotel rooms to be found.  We decided to keep going, by the time we got to the New York border it was only a few more hours to Niantic. No sense in getting a hotel room if we were only 3 hours or so away.  It was a good drive.
That left us a full extra day in Connecticut!
Our first stop on Sunday was, of course, the Book Barn!

The Goats! We love the goats!

Lon loves feeding them

What a great idea to have a games table and chairs, so the family could relax while i was looking through all the books.
We went to all FOUR book barns, the main one, then the travel barn, and the two downtown.  The last one Lon found most of his books. That one has maritime books and cookbooks. I found a cookbook I had been looking for, Renoir's Table.  It is a beautiful book to look at, but I have not made anything out of it yet.

Then it was time for lunch. We went to Charlies.  We had read the headlines in the newspaper saying there was a major clam shortage, but Lon was able to get fried clams.

Godfather invited us out for dinner at the Beach Club. Since my foot was just healing from my previous beach injury I opted to soak up the sun on the deck and read one of my new to me books.  The boys were having a great time in the water!

Out to the raft!

The deck was not a bad place to hang out!

Lon and Daddy getting his kite in the air

It was not very breezy, Lon was determined to make that kite fly!

And he did! He had a blast flying it all over the beach.

We had a wonderful time at the Beach Club, dinner was wonderful.  The company was good too.

A Visit for the Fourth!

We had a wonderful visit for the Fourth of July. Mark's brother, Josh, and his family stopped by on their way home!

Cousins.  For Lon's birthday they got him a matchin shirt.  Boston is almost the same age as Lon! They had such a good time playing together.

Fireworks for the Fourth!

It was a nice, relaxing day, burgers on the grill.  

Mark helping Lon light off a big Saturn V firework. Lon had to get that one!

All the kids got to play with sparklers.
Lon is asking to light off a whirling flower.

Family. Except Becky and I.

 We are so happy they stopped to see us! It was wonderful meeting them.

Eagle Court of Honor

This afternoon, we had the honor of going to an Eagle Scout Ceremony.

Lon was tired, but he had a good attitude, and had a good time!

Lon was asked to carry the Troop Colors for the Posting of the Colors.   (yay Lon! )

It was a very emotional ceremony, and then some yummy barbeque.

Thank you for inviting us.

Now He is TWELVE

Tweleve.
I am going to let that sink in.
Tweleve.
I am going to try to enjoy each and every day and not think of the very short amount of time I have left to have him living at home.

On his own he went and found his Birthday shirt and put it on.  That made me happy. He could have continued to wear his t shirt and I would not have said anything.  My sweet boy.

This  year he wanted to have a sleep over with a few friends instead of a big party.

As soon as his friends arrived for the sleepover, he wanted to open presents. So he did.

His big present from Mom and Dad.  I told him that even though I ordered it, it was back ordered and then canceled. I would try to re order it, but I was not sure I could since it was such a popular toy.
The Saturn V rocket. The same type rocket as the one we slept under when we went to Kennedy Space Center.  The lego has 1969  pieces.  How cool is that?

Pizza! Lots of pizza!

He wanted to help put in the candles in his cake.

He wanted a glaxay cake. That is what I made, the inside was chocolate with a cherry filling.

The boys had eaten a lot of pizza so cake and ice cream waited till closer to  "bed time" .  Bed time really did not happen.

Blowing out the candles.  12 color flame candles, and a 12.  

The sleepover was a success, all the boys had a great time.  It was fun.  Slightly weird for Lon's mother, not to plan a big party, but it was okay.

Last Haircut for age 11

Lon got a hair cut on the 29th, after seeing how shaggy he looked at camp!  The last haircut of age 11.  

iTeams >>Xtreme Next Generation Camp!

That is a mouthful for a camp. Lon found this robotics camp. It is part of the Governor's School for Science and Mathmatics summer outreach camps.  Lon had to apply for the camp. He was accepted for the four day camp! I was proud of him.
On the last day the parents were invited to see what the kids were working on all week.

The Governor's School for Science and Mathmatics is a boarding school for STEM.

The kids all got T shirts on the last day.
We listened to the remarks.  It was good to see all the hard work recognized.  Lon did not get any extra recognition.
He did have lots of fun!

Lon at his work station, he did have a partner.  They had mostly fun together.

They had to make a poster for their group.  Lon and his partner. They named themselves the Iron Kittens.

They even had a flag

Lon's and his partner's project. A light that is adjustable.  they also made a photo sensative light project. A light that goes on when it gets dark, but that one would not show up very well.

Lon had lots of fun, he was learning to work with a partner, and he learned ! It was a great camp!

Golfing in Myrtle Beach

June 19, Monday, Lon and I went up to Myrtle Beach to do a little mini golf!

We were able to meet up with some friends.  We drove through Myrtle Beach looking for the mini golf we had seen before, we could not find it, but we did find this one that looked cool.
Mt. Atlanticus! They had two courses, one that went over the lakes near the road and one that made it's way through caves. I chose the one that was through the caves.  It looked like it was going to rain, that was the reason.

After a rough start and a little attitude adjustment, Lon went from last place to actually winning by two.
We found a pizza place for lunch, Lon got a pizza and I got a Gyro. I should have had the pizza

We had a ton of fun in Myrtle Beach.
But my foot was giving me fits, still. I called the Dr. on the way home. They said they could not see me for at least a week and I should go to the Urgent Care.  Which is what we did.  All our plans for the next week were put on hold while my foot rests.   I am trying to be good about staying off my foot so it does not get worse.   Lon has been a great sport about hanging out at the house.