Scuba Diving

Our family recently completed PADI Open Water Diver training and certification. This consisted of some self-study, classroom instruction/testing, confined water dives (pool), and open water dives.  Since we did this in January, our open water dives were in Crystal River, Florida, where we snorkeled with manatees, completed two drift dives in Rainbow River, and two more dives in Weeki Wachi Springs. Grant and Blythe did a fantastic job mastering some very difficult skills.

Riverbanks Roundup

Tonight (May 28th, 2010) at 5PM, Grant will appear on SCETV's Riverbank's Roundup. Grant has been on the Riverbanks Zoo's Kid's Commission this past year where they got to film this episode with Philippe Cousteau, grandson of the famous under-sea explorer, Jacques Couteau.

Movin' on up

Last Thursday night, Grant was awarded his Naturalist Activity Badge and the Super Achiever Award (for earning ALL 20 Webelos Activity Badges). He also received his Arrow of Light badge and crossed-over the ceremonial bridge into Boy Scouts. This was a big night for me, as I watched my son and seven other Webelos that I've worked with for the last 2 years complete their requirements and become Boy Scouts. I am very proud of all of them.

I also personally received an award that I've been working on for over a year. I was awarded Wood Badge, the highest level of Adult Leader Training available to a Scouter. After one more month of working with the remaining Webelos, I too will transfer over to the Troop as an Assistant Scoutmaster.

Fast Cars

Last weekend we had our Cub Scout Pack's 2010 Pine Wood Derby. Grant's car looked great, even if it didn't place. Fortunately it DID make it to the finish line for every heat, and didn't come in last (like last year). Since this is Grant's last Pine Wood Derby, we dropped some serious cash ordering pre-polished axles and lathed/balanced wheels online, from MaximumVelocity.com, in an attempt to do well and go out with a bang. Didn't help. Turned out that one of he axles was slightly bent. At least we had fun.

Downward Basketball

My son is playing on the Guest Team in this Upward Basketball game. There aint no I in Lose!

Walking with Dinosaurs

Earlier this month we went to see Walking with Dinosaurs. It was a surprisingly good show, that I had previously assumed would only be for kids. The actual-sized animatronic dinosaurs were very cool. There was a great "making of..." special on ETV the week prior to the show that really compelled us to go. Highly recommended for the whole family! Here's some scenes:

Fee

We had a great concert at our church last Steptember. Steve Fee and band rocked the house. I was on the concert planning committee and we got to hang out with them a little beforehand. They were a bunch of really great guys. Fee is on tour now with Mercy Me, a great doubleheader if you get a chance to see them.

Upcoming Concerts at Mt Horeb include: Selah (Jan 29, 2010) and Lincoln Brewster (April 25, 2010)

Catching Up

Well, I know I'm as much to blame as anyone, but I really miss the good old days of frequent blogging. Facebook doesn't cut it for me and Twitter makes it too had to be either clever or sincere in 140 characters or less. Therefore, I'm recommitting myself to this blog. Here's what's been going on for me over the past few months:

We sold our house and moved out in August. After only a couple of months of trying FSBO we were about to give up and get an agent when, Lo and Behold we got a contract. We're currently living with my parents and hope to start building on our lot, at Summer Lake, soon.

Cub Scouts has started back. Grant is a Webelos II and I'm back as a Webelos Den Leader. Grant and Jennifer got to go Scuba Diving with the Boy Scouts at the Lexington Country Club pool, a couple of weekends ago. We also went on a Pack mountain biking trip at Harbison State Park for IMBA's "Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day" last weekend. It's going to be a great year for scouting.

The kids and Jennifer are Home Schooling again. It's a little tougher to do without a home. All three are taking Tennis classes on Fridays.

Blythe is taking a Hip Hop class with her new friend, Harper.

Of course, we're still hyperactive in church, with Praise Band, children's ministries, concert committee, Upward Basketball , and Upward Cheer leading. We're also now leading a Wednesday night Small Group discussing the Nooma videos, by Rob Bell. We also had Steve Fee and band in concert last month and it ROCKED!

My work has been crazy busy, with new business proposals, security audits, a HUGE project underway, and other insanity. We're starting to get serious about using Social Networking as a communications media, which is really exciting.

Last week I was in Baltimore for work and ate approximately 20 pounds of crab in 3 days.

Last night we went to see "Walking with Dinosaurs" at Colonial Life Arena. It was excellent and the dinos were very realistic.

So life is good. Still busy, but I'm really blessed. I'm hoping to reconnect with some old blogger pals (and some non-bloggers) and spend more time with my family.

A Busy Bee...Again.

I haven't had a lot of time to blog lately, so I thought I'd take a moment to catch everyone up on my goings on.

Since my last post, Jennifer and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary by sending to kids to Asbury Hills Camp for a week while we spent a night and the following day at the Grove Park Inn and Spa. Then we headed to Montreat for another day and evening before returning home for a couple of busy days of work before returning to get the kids. While we were home we were also negotiating a conter offer for a contract on our house from some very interested potential buyers. At the end of the week we picked up the kids (with their ear infections) and returned home only to pack for North Myrtle Beach. My in-laws had a condo there for several days to celebrate Big Daddy's 60th birthday. Unfortunately, I had a business trip to Baltimore for 4 days, so I only got to stay at the beach for 1 night, which I spent in the Grand Strand Regional Emergency Room with Jennifer and Grant getting staples in Grant's head after a skim board accident.

I got a call from the buyer's realtor before my flight left letting us know that tehy accepted our counter offer and our contract was final. After a nightmare return trip from Baltimore last Thursday morning, we had to start planning our move out before the end of the month. We've also had a few repairs to attend to, thanks to a very thorough home inspector. Meanwhile, we haven't had a chance to work with any builder about building our new house yet. In the interim we are preparing to move into the vacant wing of my parents home. Yes, at age 41 I'm moving back in with my parents. Maybe I should have the next 6-8 months filmed for some kind of reality show. Now, I'm off to pack another box.

Band Reunion at the Lake 2009

Last weekend my old Children at Heart band mates and our families got together at the Mynatt' Lake house just outside of Atlanta. Greg was there with his new bride and their now-expanding family, so we had a little belated wedding shower for them. Mike and his family couldn't make it because he's been on two back to back youth mission trips lately with his new job. We missed them. However, the weather was beautiful and it was a great chance to catch up with everyone and just chill out. A good time was had by all. Here's some pics.

Birthday Wishes Online-Style

Yesterday was my birthday. 41. Not a big deal like last year. No band reunions or anything. However, throughout the day I received emails, mostly from Facebook, with birthday wishes from various people. In fact, I had 35 different people leave birthday comments on my "Wall" plus several nice personal emails, text messages, and calls from blogger friends.

Returning to Nashville

Last weekend we traveled up to Nashville to attend Monica and Gabe's wedding. They were high schoolers back when we helped with the church's youth group and Sonshine choir. It was great to see so many former youth all grown up and married and all. The wedding was at our old church. Blythe caught the bouquet.

On the way up we stopped at Chickamauga Battlefield and made our way to the marker where our ancestor, George Schumpert, most likely fell in battle. This was the same spot where we took my grandfather in August 2007.

Our pal, Greg, and his daughter, Noel, were gracious hosts and competitive Wii players. We also got to have dinner with the Linney family and catch up just like old times. Sadly we didn't get to see all our old friends, but it was a busy weekend and perhaps too close to Christmas to see everyone.

Our old house looked terrible, which was sad, but Nashville has grown and changed alot. Nevertheless, within less than a day I was ready to be home, back in good old SC. Not sure when THAT happened, but it was a comforting realization.

Sleep over on the USS Yorktown

December has been a really busy month for us and I haven't had a chance to blog much, but I intend to make up for it.


A couple of weekends ago we spent two nights aboard the USS Yorktown, in Charleston, SC, with Grant's Cub Scout Pack. It was cold and the quarters were crowded, but it was a fun experience for the whole family. We took a boat over to Fort Sumter where we got to help raise a historical flag and then tour the fort. Here are some pictures:

Cub Scout Camping Weekend

Over Columbus Day weekend we went camping with Grant's Cub Scout Troop at Morrow Mountain State Park, in NC. It was a long drive (about an hour east of Charlotte), but worth it. They had a great group camping area, a river, hiking trails, historical buildings to tour, and the ranger gave an interesting lecture on wildlife. Also, the kids seems to find at least half a dozen snakes to harass. A good time was had by all (except the snakes).

Sea Lions and Conga Lines

This year the SC State Fair featured a trained Sea Lion act. It was great and we even got to have our photo made with the stars (for a fee, of course.) The best part was when the Sea Lions joined in a Conga Line with the trainers.

Followers?

If you haven't noticed, there's a little Blogger Widget on the side of my blog that says "Follow this Blog". So far only may pal, Paul, is following me. If you're like me, and follow everyone's blogs via Google Reader, you hardly ever look at the actual blogs to notice things like this or poles/surveys, or other little gizmo's. Anyway, come to my blog and click on that little thing, so your profile photo will show up on my blog. I want to see all of your tiny faces there.

Thanks,
The Management

Scout's Honor

This year Grant moved up to Webelos and I became a registered Adult Scout Leader. I've completed my training and got all uniformed up too. Grant received four badges and several other awards at the pack meeting on Thursday, mostly for stuff he did at camps over the Summer. Don't we look cute?

By request...

Click here to hear The Lightning Rockers.

Happy Birthday, Blythe!

Today, my baby girl turns 8. I'm very proud that she is growing into such a beautiful and talented young lady. I just wish she wouldn't do it so fast.

Above: Blythe commentating from Beijing.

Weekend in NC

Last weekend we went up to Cary, NC to visit with the Greens and to attend Malana's and Eric's wedding. Below are the highlights (or "low lights"):

Above: Alan and Leslie hang out by their fire pit on a brisk August evening.

Above: Grant and Jenna create toy water crafts at Marbles science museum, in Raleigh.

Above: Blythe and Meredith make floating junk of their own.

Above: Alan in front of a section of the Berlin Wall (West Berlin side).

Above: George on the other side of the section of the Berlin Wall (East Berlin side).

Above (clockwise): Meredith, Grant, Blythe, and Jenna at Marbles (or inside the Death Star. It's hard to tell.

Above: Jennifer and Blythe broiling at the outdoor wedding. It was beautiful though.

Above: Grant enjoys one of many non-alcoholic Mojitos at the wedding reception.

Above: The happy couple and their posse.

Above: Michael in the middle, with Grant and Blythe. We stopped in Fayetteville to visit our former neighbors and let the kids reunite with their old pal.

Above: George reunited with his old friend, Pedro.