My baby is a .... TEEN!!

Well - I could have tried to fight it - or ignore it - or just refuse to think about it. But instead, I decided to celebrate it. Who knows, maybe it won't be so bad. But my baby is a teen! Acutally, not until tomorrow. But he has school, Scouts and a basketball game tomorrow - so no time to celebrate. We are bringing a cake to school - but the evening will be jammed packed. Scouts is the Court of Honor - so can't miss that. And basketball is having the end of season tournament, so can't miss that! But he didn't complain about getting his gifts early - and he had all day to enjoy them.


Then - for dinner - we said he could go out to dinner or have dinner at home. He picked Steak at home. So dad grilled steaks (and chicken for mom) and I fixed the salad, potatoes and dessert. It was all yummy!


Dessert were individual Volcano cakes with ice cream and fudge topping - served on Great Grandma's desert plates. Now we all need to work out!

Halloween preparations....

So I saw these cute candy jars on the Internet and decided it would be fun for Bryce and I to make them for the cousins and the Grandma's. So we found jars at Ikea - and bought candy and sat down and made them yesterday. We had fun making them - and I think they came out cute. They have candy corn on the bottom, Marshmellow ghosts around the sides and wrapped candy in the middle. (Shhh - don't tell the kids or the grandmas!)

ALCS Game 1 - Rays vs Red Sox - buckle up - it's a bumpy ride.

We arrived 2 1/2 hours early - and the parking lot was already hopping. Tailgating everywhere and lots of TV stations set up and recording it all - it was getting exciting.
















Lots to do before the game got started. First we had to check out the line up. Then head to the outfield for batting practice. Always have to try and get a ball. Mission accomplished!






















Now on to the real reason Bryce likes to come to the game - the pasta. After years of coming to the field - about a year ago we discovered a place that makes "made to order" pasta - and Bryce can hardly wait to get there. And he gobbles up every bite. While we were eating - Tim Kurkjian came over and started talking to us. I really think he thought he knew my husband since he walked up all happy to see us. He asked Bryce a bunch of questions about the rays and got a picture taken with him. That was pretty cool http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Kurkjian (Thanks goodness the blue "rally" hair was on the floor)





















OK - now that you know Bryce's real reason for coming to the game - I'll share mine:









Need I say more?








So the game got underway - with all the usual fanfare. Everyone was pumped up and ready to get the game going.


















For all the American Idol fans - David Archuleta sang during the 7th inning stretch. The Rays played well - but just couldnt' get the hits and ended up losing. (They did win the second game in an exciting finish!)
















So we had a good time - but we lost. Did I mention how loud and crazy the fans are? There are some strange fans out there...

I've got the music in me....

So Bryce's school had their "Fall Follies" show this week. They had some really good dance moves - you could tell they had spent a lot of time learning the dances and it was the best part. The songs were good too and it was a fun show. They were in the new SMA theater - it is still "in the works" and was a little impersonal and way too bright. But hopefully when they get it completed it will be a bit more of an intimate setting


.

It is possible they I'm am biased - but I think the boys stole the show. They all looked so handsome and really moved! But they look good as a group too!

Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party - Boo to You!

Bryce and I went to the "Not so Scary" Halloween party at Disney - and it wasn't scary - but it was fun. We got there early and stayed late! We had a room booked at Disney for the night - so no driving home late. We didn't check into our room until 1AM the next morning! Bryce wanted to wear costumes to the party - I wasn't so sure. So we decided basic costumes were best since riding rides was our main goal - we didn't want anything in our way. (and we all know who would end up carring it all!) So we went as Hippies. It was fun - Bryce was dressed up more than I was - and everyone thought he was cute. He was good at staying in character and saying "Far Out" and Peace to everyone. It was fun.

So we hit the rides! Lots of them with short lines.
Then lots of trick or treating. One area - was all of the Alice in Wonderland characters all along the path behind the Gran Prix. Lots of candy there. But the queen - she isn't so happy. People were taking her candy - we finally got her to acknowledge us and get a picture - but it was clear we were a low priority. Isn't Dee cool - he gave us the peace sign. Dum... well... he just didn't get it!

I tried to get my little hippie to wear his "Head" band across his forhead - but hippies just can't handle it the way they did in the 60's. His kept turning into a "Hair" band. It just felt better that way - what's a mom to do?

The fireworks and parade were great - these are ghost dancers fromt he parade.

One of the ghosts tried to keep Bryce - but we took a different ghost home with us instead!

Aviation - not just for the birds!

One of the leaders is a pilot and got the boys working on their Aviation Merit badge. A few volunteer pilots took the boys up for a flight around town. They were in groups of three - Bryce got to sit up front and really like the lady who was their pilot. He was even sweet enough to take along a camera and got lots of great shots for his mom! What a kid! The first picture is Bryce and his group with their pilot - and then a great view of downtown.


This is a view of the coast line - with St Armands circle in the middle - and then a view of
them coming in for a landing. He loved it - and now - of course - wants to take flying lessons.

First Class all the way

After a lot of hard work - and many campouts - Bryce has earned his "First Class" rank in Boy Scouts. He is having a lot of fun. He is already pretty far along for the next rank - "Star". It is good to see him working towards his goals and enjoying it too. We are lucky to have a great troop!

First Day of School

Only two weeks late - but here is the first day of school picture. My baby is growing up!

(My camera must have been on an odd setting - we took them quickly and left. Later I realized they were blurry - this is the best one.)

Wild Adventures

(NOTE - this trip was the first two weeks of August - but I am a slow blogger - so just trying to catch up.)

I had promised Bryce that on the way home, we would stop at Wild Adventures in Valdosta, GA. The eighth graders at his school had gone there on the way home from their 8th grade trip. We had fun - but it wasn't as exciting as we had hoped. (this is about 1/3 of the park - it was pretty big) We loved the water park - but many of the rides were a lot rougher than we are used to (at Busch Gardens) and actually hurt. There needs to be more theming and music and less concrete. But it was a nice day.

I went down these tall slides - once. Can you say "Wedgie!"

Bryce wend down every slide - many times. He met a boy and they ran around for a couple of hours. Gave me a chance to get pictures - then chill in a chair and read!

Heading back to Georgia

We left Huntsville, Alabama - heading for Valdosta, Georgia. It was a long drive - through lots of small towns. Before we left - Bryce ate his first Krystal burgers. When we got into Georgia there was a fun country store where we bought some little pies and other snacks - and got gas. We finally made it to our hotel where we snuggled into our comfy bed and slept. I was exhausted from graduation and driving - it was a long day.

Graduation Day

Our last day of Space camp - I was up early and got a picture of the Habitat before it was full of people. We stayed on the top floor. After breakfast - we had a few last activities with our group before heading over for graduation.





Bryce and Hannah waiting for graduation.

Finally it was time for our team - team Apollo - to go up on stage and graduate. We each got a team photo and a certificate - and our wings. Later we got called back up to get a Shuttle pin since we had won the mission challenges.

At the end of graduation they called up a boy to give him a special award. He was Jim Lovell's grandson. Jim Lovell was the commander of Apollo 13 - the person that Tom Hanks played in the movie. His son was also there - the man in the Apollo 13 hat.