50 Mile Bike Ride

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One of the Eagle Scout required merit badges is a choice between Swimming, Hiking, or Biking. C is not a fan of swimming and the hiking one is surprisingly tough. He chose Biking. One of the biking requirements is to do a 50 mile bike trip within 8 hours. He and J worked together to plan out a route.

C's friend M came along for the first leg. He started at Log Boom Park in Kenmore at 9 am. They biked to Gas Works Park in Seattle which has an incredible view of downtown Seattle. J drove down and met them there to encourage them. J took the photos.

It was a cloudy day, not too hot and not too cold. Perfect for biking 

They biked back to Kenmore and then M left. My son A joined C at this point and they headed east towards Woodinville. I met my boys at Marymoore park in Redmond. I got C's lunch and drink order. A said that he was tired and he had only done about 13 miles at this point while C had done about 30.

J and I met the boys again in Woodinville at Wilmot Park and J brought a sub for A to eat. C didn't want to stop and just carried on. A caught up to C on the trail. J met the boys at the end point in Kenmore. C finished at about 3 pm. He could still smile at the end! 

note our cars in the background

C now has to demonstrate that he knows how to change a bike tire to his merit badge counselor and he will have completed all the requirements. 

I'm so proud of his accomplishment. As well, he did all that biking while wearing a back brace! I bought him a very large strawberry milkshake to reward him.

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Hamlet (One Act)

C's one act was performed on June 7th. C's friend Gavin played Hamlet. C played Claudius the King. Sometimes Shakespeare plays are set in different times or places for variety. This version of Hamlet was set in the 1920s. Since it was a one act play, the play was in abridged format. 

The play was performed in the new middle school building. I loved how well lit this setting was compared to the usual location of the commons in the high school building. The acoustics were better as well. The kids sit on the floor while the adults sit in chairs. 

Here is C with Queen Gertrude

C's character dies at the end, along with pretty much everyone else!

A was unable to attend since he started his summer job that day. There were several fights during the play. J enjoyed those. They were pretty convincing but no one was hurt. G was fantastic as Hamlet. I was surprised that he wasn't nominated for a best actor award. We know G from Scouts.

C enjoys sourcing props. The table used in a few plays was found by C and I at Value Village. I spray painted it brown. I ordered a few props from Amazon and I'll be reimbursed. 

I attended three other one act plays and enjoyed them very much. The quality seems to be getting better every year.  Here is C with his proud parents

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The drama awards were given out on June 10th. C received a director's award. That award is given out by each (student) director of each play to the person who was a servant leader or the most helpful to the cast and director. This award is more meaningful since it is based on character. I don't have a photo of C with that award yet. Here is C with his friend M who was the director.

C has only been in serious plays during his time in Drama. We joke that he is "typecast." A more likely explanation is that he likes working with his friend M who seems to gravitate to serious plays.

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Night of Worship

 

C organized a Night of Worship on Friday June 3rd. 

It was something he decided to do months ago. He struggled with finalizing a date and a location. He had hoped to use a church but was unable to get permission.  The worship team were all students. Some juniors and some younger. There were 4 vocalists  (two guys and two girls) who took turns leading. There was a keyboard player, a box drum player, and 3 guitar players.

C was the organizer. He prayed and spoke briefly.

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It was held in the backyard of the drama teacher (married to the choir teacher). Five canopies protected everyone from the rain which started to fall half way through.  This photo was taken before all the crowd was there.

I would guess that there were about 25 people there, maybe 30. There was only one other parent who attended. The mom of one of the vocalists who is a freshman. Some CPC alumni showed up (3 young men). Word of mouth. Yes, that's A's friend in the top photo. It was over at about 8:30. They had a campfire afterwards but J and I left. 

It started raining quite hard about half way through so those canopies were needed. They sang 10 songs, I believe. How Deep the Father's Love and In Christ Alone were the only hymns.

One small issue was words for the songs. J and I used our phones to look up lyrics. I think a lot of the kids know the songs well. I tried to sing loudly to encourage the kids around me who maybe didn't know the songs. Maybe next time C will ask me to print up "song sheets."

I'm super proud of C and his desire to bring people together to worship God. Last fall J and I were talking with one of the teachers at CPC (just casually) about what C would do in the future. This teacher said I could see him as a pastor. I laughed at the time but now it doesn't seem that much of a stretch. 

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17 Candles, 16 Friends

Note: not all guests are pictured here.

We celebrated C's birthday on Memorial Day. The party was held at his friend Dawson's house since the guest list was so large. D's house is very spacious and has much better parking availability than our house. There were 16 teens at the party including C.

We brought in BBQ from Carolina Smoke. They were closed on Memorial Day so we had to purchase the food on Sunday and warm it up on Monday It was pulled pork and beef brisket. The brisket disappeared pretty fast. We also had potato salad and coleslaw from Carolina Smoke. I made a fruit salad. We brought soda and flavoured sparkling water. We got an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. I wanted to get a large cake from Costco but they were closed on Monday as well. We would've save some money if the party wasn't on Memorial Day!

C wanted to do blind taste tests with his friends. The first one was chicken sandwiches. A picked them up from KFC, McDonalds, Ezelle's, and Chick Fil A. 

Six of the ten boys did that taste test. Here they are blind folded ready for a sample.

A secretary wrote down their guesses.  The second taste test was water. The girls did this one. No blind folds needed. The boys brought them cups of the various waters: tap, Costco bottled water, Arrowhead spring water, Fuji water and Disani. The girls did very well and most guessed correctly.

We were impressed with the girl whose answers went against the trend. C had intended to do a fries taste test but the kids were hungry at this point so we served the food.

This was the first party of C's where girls were in attendance.

Cake time.

After the cake was served and we did some clean up, J and I left. This was about 6:30 pm.

C was about to open his gifts when we left. The gift bags were funny including ones for baby girl and baby boy and Father's Day. The gifts were mainly gag gifts. One was a t shirt that reads Best Grandpa Ever. He wore that to school the day after.

That's D, the host, next to C.

The party was concluded at about 9 pm since it was a school night. A mishap meant that J had to go back to give a car key to C. Other than that, everything went very well.

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Ascend Prime Anniversary Dinner

We celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary by going to Ascend Prime Steak and Sushi in Bellevue. The restaurant is located on the 31st floor of an office tower in downtown Bellevue.

The view was amazing. We were there during sunset and the skies were pretty clear.

The clientele was a bit strange. J was expecting an older crowd. There were three young Chinese couples. The young ladies were taking selfies most of the time. One of the young men was dressed in a sweatshirt and sweatpants. The service was top notch. We had more than one waiter. We enjoyed chatting with the younger one. 

J had a hamburger and I had salmon. The steak sizes were quite large and the prices were very high. 

My dessert was served with dry ice which was fun and dramatic. 

I have a video of the dry ice but it needs a bit of editing in order to share it. 

Will we go back? I'm not sure. I really loved the view. I wonder if they would allow you to just have dessert?

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This Family Knows How to (Tea) Party

J and I planned and successfully executed an afternoon tea party for moms of Boy Scouts. I think we started planning back in March.

We had several goals for this event. One: for the moms to have a chance to get to know one another. Two: for the scouts to learn how to prepare and serve food and tea. A third motive might have been to demonstrate what an afternoon tea looks like.

We had ten moms and scouts including me and my son. We had one last minute drop out due to sickness and one last minute addition. J and the Scoutmaster were hoping for a larger turn out but I was happy with the size of the group.

I began collecting tea cups back in March. I went to an estate sale where I found about 6. Our photo backdrop was borrowed from C's high school. The event was held at the church were scout meetings are held.  I borrowed four tea pots from friends. The rest were in my collection or were bought recently from thrift stores. I also borrowed a plate stand from a friend. The church where the event was held has some 3 tier plates which we were able to use.

The food was:

- scones baked (using a mix) by the scouts, with jam and Devonshire cream

- cucumber sandwiches made by the scouts

- salmon salad sandwiches prepared by the scouts (I made the mix beforehand)

- cream puff and mini eclairs (purchased)

- macaroons (purchased)

- lemon bars which I made

- cut fruit: pineapple, strawberries, grapes, and blueberries.

We had tea donated by a mom who works for a non-profit tea company. We were able to offer lots of choices. 

The Scouts took orders for tea from their moms using a notepad and paper.

When the moms arrived they were escorted to the table by their son (or sons). 

The table decorations. The church supplied the white table cloths. We used two tables with five moms at each table. I brought 2 of my vintage table cloths to add some colour. The centrepieces were designed by me. Inside the apothecary jars are roses made of paper. 

I did calligraphy on the name cards.

We used paper plates that look like china plates. 

I glued one get to know you question on the back of each name card. I also printed out more questions and they were scattered on the table. I do know that some of the questions were used at my table. My table was was a quieter one with no moms knowing each other before the event. 

The get to know you questions were:

Who at your table has the oldest child?

Who at your table has the youngest child?

Who at your table has two or more Boy Scouts?

Was anyone at your table born in a faraway place?

Who at your table has been married the longest?

Who at your table has the oldest living mother?

Do you have a hobby?

Do you have a secret talent?

If you went to college, what was your major?

If you work outside the home, what is your job?

All time favorite movie? Two is OK.

Have you had an unusual job (even a short term one)?

What do you like to do with your son? Favorite shared activity.

Do you like to camp? 

Have you attended a Scout event that you enjoyed? Tell us about it.

Have you travelled to an interesting place?

What book are you currently reading?

A took photos of each mom with her son. He also helped cut fruit.

no C didn't dye his hair. there is some strange reflection/lighting.

The Scoutmaster took a group photo at the end of the event and a photo of the tea family.

Are you wondering if anything went wrong? We forgot to bring the cucumbers for the sandwiches. C was sent to the grocery store to replace. I forgot the salmon salad mix at home so A was sent home to get that. We had two cars which was good. Another mishap was during clean up. A scout was carrying a three tier stand (the only one with china plates) a little too carelessly and one of my china plates hit the floor and broke. That plate was a recent find at a thrift store so not too valuable. We didn't plan ahead for lunch for the scouts. We had them come at 11:30 am and the tea was at 2 pm. C was sent to get pizza from Costco but that took much longer than anticipated.

The title of this blog post is because all members of our family helped pull the event off.

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College Visits in California

C now has two college visits under his belt. I'm relieved and grateful. We only managed one real college visit for A which was Trinity Western before the pandemic. His other college visit was a drive thru tour of Biola in April 2021.

C and I flew from SeaTac into Santa Ana on Monday night. Monday April 18th was the day that a federal judge ruled that the mask mandate for air travel was struck down. It was announced on the plane that masks were optional. A lot of people clapped.

The first night we stayed at a hotel not far from the airport in Santa Ana. In retrospect, this was a mistake. I wish we had stayed near Santa Clarita. In the morning I had to drive 2 hours north to the Master's University. When I looked up the time before it gave me an estimate of one hour. 

This billboard helped us find the school. 

TMU's motto is For Christ and Scripture

We missed our scheduled tour of 9 am but they were able to accommodate us. That's the advantage of a small school. We had a personal tour riding around campus on a golf cart. Our guide was very enthusiastic. She is local to the area and a communications major. We saw the library, the cafeteria, the bookstore, the gym which also serves as the location for chapel, the fitness centre, and a dorm room.

We got free coffee/tea at the coffee shop. I saw this and thought it was funny. 

John McArthur is the chancellor of The Master's University. C was able to attend a class. He got a free meal in the cafeteria. He could've attended a 2nd class but that one would have been an hour and twenty minutes long and he declined. He met with an admissions counsellor.

While C was in the class, I went to nearby Santa Clarita to get lunch then I did some shopping. When C and I were ready to leave, I was taking a photo of C by a sign. A nice young man offered to take our photo together. Very kind of him.

C really likes TMU and can see himself going there. It is smaller (900 on campus students vs. 3000 on campus students) and more conservative than Biola. 

The drive back to La Mirada was an hour and a half. We met up with A and got pizza and wings from Dominoes. We went to a picnic table to eat on campus. C and A played one on one beach volleyball.

On Wednesday morning we came back to Biola and C had an official tour of campus which started with a visit to chapel and then a tour. C was the only teen on the tour without a parent. I didn't think I needed to come for the tour and I wanted to spend time with A. I took him to get some boxes for his dorm move out. 

C was given some vouchers for lunch. We ate outside in the perfect temperature. About 70 degrees. 

The flowers were definitely showing off at Biola.

I don't know what this flower is.

C and I went to In and Out burger to get him a t shirt. A has lots of homework and editing work so he didn't have much time to spend with us.

C and I did some investigating regarding shipping A's computer (and other things he wants for the summer) back home. We went to greyhound package express and took a box of something I ordered for A (back in the fall) that he doesn't need. Unfortunately they gave us a quote of 57 dollars. Too much for something we don't want or need. We came back to Biola via a scenic route. I was amazed at the view from Whittier Heights on a hill where you can see the expanse of the L.A. area.

Back at Biola, C did some volleyball practice and I relaxed in the shade by the coffee shop. C posed for a photo.

We left for the airport and filled up the rental with gas along the way. Gas prices are about 599 a gallon.

Our return flight was about 60 percent full. It was Wayne to Paine which is the best option. John Wayne (Santa Ana) to Paine Field in Everett. 

The sun was setting as we left. 

It sure felt cold when we came out of the airport back home!

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