Arrow Of Light, and Crossing to Scouts

Aidan being presented his certificate w/arrow.

We are so proud of how much cub scouts has ment to Aidan.  He's worked hard through each level, earning his bobcat, wolf, bear, and Webelos awards.  And tonight he's finished this whole journey by earning his Arrow of Light.

lighting the "lights", and learning what they all mean.

 Aidan is the first scout in over a year to have earned this award, and it comes on the heels of earning his compass and three points.

and finally, his pin and patch.

 Cub Scouts has been an amazing experience for Aidan, and since they won't be having a pack meeting in July, he got to cross the bridge to Scouting tonight as well.

farewell cub scouts, hello 11 year old scouts.

And now we'll take a haitus from cub scouts until December, when Davin starts up.  He'll be following a pretty good big brother.

Field Day, or a sleepless night w/o kids

our antenna

The last Saturday in June is a special day around here, and in many other homes.  "Special" is the key word, it's the ARRL field day, where all of us dorky "hams" head outside for some emergency radio practice.  In a real emergency you wouldn't be able to run your rig (radios) off of standard household current, so knowing how to use a generator or battery powered, and how to set up a mobile antennae is crucial.

the boys getting the antenna set up

Eric has always wanted to go and "do field day" properly, and preferable where it was cooler.  He talked with a friend of ours (Maddie's pseudo uncle) at fathers and son's about doing it this year.  And because our friend wanted to learn the radio better (we taught him the prep class for his license), Eric decided to do it this year.  And I, not wanting to be left at home with our children in the heat, went too. 

the station, minus the computer

This is a pitiful as it sounds, but after 13 years (almost) of marriage, this radio-related camping trip was our first EVER overnighter without our children.  I wish it went better than it did.  It might have been better if the tent had been remembered, or the sleeping bags.  So Eric and I slept in the van using the three blankets I brought for padding (we did have pillows at least).  Unfortunately, I had a case of insomnia that night.  And, yes, insomnia can be made much worse when your camping, in a van, without a sleeping bag, or sufficient pads.

testing the signal

The next morning came, eventually.  And after breakfast we got the station all set up and then I took a nap while the boys went for a hike to the repeater tower.  I was more than a little intimidated at first by the radio, but eventually I got the hang of it.  Eric let Kent and I take turns talking and we all took turns recording the contacts.  After a few hours of regular voice operation, the boys wanted to try some digital modes.  And then finally, we had the most fun of the entire time: we called for contacts instead of answering them.  I got to be the "star of radio day" because a woman's voice is easier to hear than a man's.  I called CQ (radio term) for about 45 minutes, and in that time we had 40-50 contacts.  It was fun and crazy when there were pile-ups 5 or more deep.  I know, were nerds, but it was fun!

All in all, the radio day was fantastic, and I'm looking forward to next year.  With a tent of course.

It's Summertime Here (dispite Aidan's reminders that it's still spring)

And here's what we've been up to in our first two + weeks of vacation:

• Swimming: our temps are just over 100, so the pool is our friend.  The kids love the water, and do really well swimming, diving, playing, splashing... well, you get the idea.
• Summer school: we signed Aidan up for two enrichment classes: math strategies and band.  1 hour each, 4 days a week, 4 weeks.  He's enjoying it, and it keeps him productively busy.
• Projects: we've always got one (or two, or four) project(s) going on around here.  I've been set back on finishing up the girl's bunkbeds because of my knee, but I'm determined to get them done w/in the week-it's getting too hot to work outside anymore.  Add to that: Eme's quilt- it still needs a border (which I've finally settled on); I finished cutting Maddie's fabric and will begin sewing that next; I made the girls' new curtains (w/blackout lining) and re-made the old ones into sheers; I will, after sewing, get back to scrapbooking (eh, I'm only, exactly, a year behind); plus the kids have craft days twice a week-things that involve me more than play doh or water colors or coloring.
• My knee: where to begin?  I already mentioned that I took a fall before Eric left for camp.  I was fine from the morning he left until the afternoon after he got home (my blessing for letting him go, I was fine because I HAD to be).  My knee got progressively worse from Saturday afternoon until Monday when I received a call that my super awsome knee brace was ready.  I picked it up on Tuesday, and my knee started to finally feel better!  I began physical therapy once again on Thursday.  I plan on giving it a week and a half (3 sessions), and if I have no improvement in my pain levels (my knee hurts whenever the brace is off), I'll go back early to see my dr.
• Summer movies: I love them, even if the movies are often dumb.  It gets us out of the house, and into someplace cooler.  It keeps the kids attention (and keeps them from fighting) for 2 hours.
• The wii: the boys would play this all day long if I let them.  But we have two rules that keep that from happening: 1) one hour outside for 30 (each) of nintendo, and 2) the room MUST be clean by bedtime the night before in order to play the next day (it also has to be clean before any playing that day).
• Re-discovered toys: they tend to forget how much fun their stuff is during the school year.  But desperation brings about necessity, and they'll spend hours playing games together.

Next time, I'll include pictures of our lazy summer nothings.  Mainly because they make me smile.

Scout Camp Widow, or What a way to ring in your birthday!!

8 May: Eric was asked if he could go up to scout camp as one of the "shadow leaders."  He was told that he didn't really need to do anything, just follow the boys around and make sure his group stayed safe.  All of the "work" had been done already, everything was planned, the ward and stake had everything taken care of.  With that kind of pitch, who wouldn't want to go up to the mountains and camp for 4 days?

15 May: Eric had everything all straightened out with work, and was really looking forward to camping.  He found out that the boys would be using gps to get from one area to another, and he then began "looking" at what kind of gps he would buy, if he were ever going to buy one. 

22 May (week of): After asking for some sort of itinerary for the camp, Eric was asked if he had a bike because he "might want to bring it up".  He has a bike, but it isn't exactly in good working order, so he started to get to work on the bike.  On Tuesday, he got the itinerary for the camp-let's just say, it didn't bode well.  The boys would be doing a 6-12 mile hike (turned out to be 16 miles), up to a 20 mile bike ride, canyoneering, canoeing, rappelling, ... all with their shadow leader.  Yup, Eric was in way over his head.  So he spent all of last week getting the bike ready, while getting in as much riding as he could.  I also surprised him with an early bday gift: a gps of his own.  Not an easy task, he needed one with a serial port, not usb, for radio work.

Which brings us to this week.  On Sunday, I slipped on the stairs and really hurt my knee, not good since I'm already at a level/stage 1 acl sprain.  So I wore a super nice knee brace to church, and spent the 2nd and 3rd hour with my legs up (thankfully it was a 5th Sunday, so I didn't have to move.)  We spent Monday getting things done around the house that had to get done before Eric left Tuesday, my list having been drastically reduced by my knee.  He, of course, decided to start a radio project at 8 pm, only to give up on it at 10 pm because he couldn't get it to work.  Which ment he began packing at 10 pm-it's a good thing I get as much of his stuff together as I did, I made sure all of the shopping items were done earlier.  So, we didn't get to bed until 12:30 (I am NOT a night owl, if I'm not in bed by 10:30, I have trouble sleeping). 

Tuesday morning, after some confusion on when and where to meet (nobody told Eric they were meeting at our building an hour before the stake center check-in to pack up), Eric headed out to (as he puts it) his death.  The kids and I got some crafts and snacks, and have done fairly well so far.  Yes, it is the first week of summer vacation, but at least the kids aren't sick of each other yet.

Eric will be home late Friday night, super smelly and fully exhausted.  Bringing with him lots of dirty stuff for me to clean and put away-yippy!!  Saturday is his 35th birthday, that is if he survives this week.  I plan on keeping it low key for two reasons: 1) he may or may not even be concious; and 2) it's Stake Conference so he's got a meeting at 4 pm and then the adult session is at 7 pm.

(just a quick note, the following is what it took to get the bike up and running: 2 sets of self sealing tubes plus 1 regular tube for a spare, 2 new tires, plus 1 more tube because we couldn't get the self sealing ones to un-inflate to change the tires, a new bike seat, a new bike helmet, a hand pump, and finally, 2 more tubes because he got two flats while practice riding last week.  So it's a good thing that scout camp didn't cost him anything as a leader, since he just spent $150 for the bike stuff.)