Gettysburg

We traveled to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania last week to visit with Bethany's China travel group. Wow, Gettysburg is fantastic! They have a new visitor center and it is sweet! We arrived on Thursday and chose to do an audio tour so we could focus on visiting with the travel group on Friday. We also had reservations at a restaurant in an old Gettysburg home. They had the best pumpkin fritters we have ever tasted. Yummy!

An EXPLOSIVE Birthday!!

We celebrated my birthday by having Bojangles fried chicken and sweet tea. I asked Dan and the kids to make me a volcano cake. The lava is made with dry ice. I thought I'd be helpful and save Dan some time by buying the dry ice a couple of days in advance. Note to self: dry ice melts and disappears within a couple of days if it is not in a freezer that is at least negative 109 degrees Fahrenheit. Christian pulled the dry ice bag out of the freezer and all that was left was some air. We all had a good laugh over it. Dan and Christian had to go out and buy some more dry ice. It delayed the cake eating for a bit, but allowed us all to digest some of our Bojangles.

We were all pleasantly surprised when the Schmidt family dropped by with William's home made Chocolate Gelato and a home made angel food cake. Let me tell you that William's Gelato is by far the best, to die for, creamy, chocolate piece of cold heaven dessert I have ever had. Lady Godiva has nothing on this rich treat. I wish I could share some with all of you. What a great birthday treat!! Thanks Schmidt family.

The Ballet Bun

Well, it ain't easy to get luxurious, thick, Asian hair up into a pretty ballet-style bun. Our neighbors, Paula and Gigi, were kind enough to take pity on us and show us how to do it. First, you need to find this nifty hair device called the Hairagami. You flatten the device out and place the hair between it. You then roll the hair around it and allow the hairagami to roll up. Finally, you cover the entire bun with a nifty, sparkle-covered hair net. Voila--the perfect ballet bun is born. Thank you Paula and Gigi for teaching us how to get our dance hair on and for giving us those pretty hair covers.

Busted Swim Meet

Well, the last swim meet of our season ended in a bust. It was an away meet at Abbington. Some of our friends swim for them so we were really looking forward to seeing them.

It started to cloud up about an hour before we needed to get to the meet. There was a flash of light just as the first relay was about to start. I asked Dan if it was a camera flash. Wishful thinking on my part. The weather did not clear up in time to have the meet. It was decided not to try again the next day.

Miriam did get a chance to warm up in the water with the team. She was going to swim freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke. We had told her if she swam in a meet she could have a hula hoop. Her warm up looked good so she earned her hula hoop. Christian was disappointed not to get a chance to swim the meet.

We were all thankful it was not a late night.

Today we are going to a free movie. Regal movies offers free family movies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the summer.

http://www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/familyfilmfestivalschedule.aspx

Our movie theatre even has dollar drinks and popcorn for this event.

Beware the Pool Playground

It may seem like an innocent playground, but beware, beware, beware!

On Thursday, June 5th Miriam was thrown off this seesaw. The result: the infamous broken arm .

On Tuesday, July 15th Bethany Colglazier was innocently playing on the swings. When out of nowhere the other swing attacked her; hitting her numerous times. It left a swollen, bruised mark on the right hand side of her face.

While it may appear that this very playground is a dangerous threat to the Colglazier family, there is one other factor involved in both events. This factor is a person: Carl Colglazier. He was on the seesaw when Miriam fell off. He was also on the swing next to Bethany just moments prior to when it attacked her.

So is this a case of a play ground with a vendetta for the Colglazier girls? Or is this the plot of a brother whose secret desire is to be an only child? He may look innocent with that sweet smile and intellectual visage, but could this face be one of a schemer working on assuring his place as an only child in the family? Christian better be on the look out. He may be the next victim of the River Rock Playground attacker.

Only kidding. Carl helped me write this.

We have one more swim meet left for the season. Miriam is doing so well after recovering from the broken arm that she is agreeing to swim three strokes for the meet.

Back From Camp

The boys are safely back from camp. They both has a fantastic time. Someone asked them what the cabins were like at camp. To set the record straight there are no cabins at camp. They camp in tents all week. Christian really enjoyed earning the cycling merit badge. He also earned environmental and geology merit badges.

Carl enjoyed earning his wilderness survival merit badge. He had to spend one night out in the elements in his own home made shelter to earn it. Thankfully it did not rain that night. He also earned the first aid merit badge managed to do so without passing out.

We asked Carl what he missed most while at camp: indoor plumbing.