At last weekend's ConnJam 2012, Bob Mazzuca, the national BSA Scout Executive played a game of carpetball at our Troop's station.
Watching him is Michael Card in the blue vest who masterfully chaired the entire ConnJam event. It was a great time and the carpetball table now resides in my basement. Anyone up for a challenge?
Sorry I've been so quiet lately. My knitting mojo disappeared after knitting 1,001 miniature snowmen and wreaking havoc on my body. OK - it was really only 13 snowmen, but my body could have sworn I knit an entire regiment of two-inch snowmen. So while giving my knitting muscles a rest, I was very busy with my second biggest passion - Scouting.
This weekend was our triennial ConnJam (Connecticut Jamboree) for our Connecticut Yankee Council at the Orange County fairgrounds. We had thousands and thousands attend - (I heard numbers like 3,000 overnight campers and upwards of 6,000 during the day) - and everyone was very, very busy. I was busy with my Troop and Crew - and we also hosted a carpetball station which the fathers and sons made in 2006-2007 when they were in the Cub Scout Pack. It was a huge hit! I even learned a new skill at ConnJam where I tried my luck at slacklining (I admit, I was double dog dared!). OK - I may or may not be holding the professional's hand from Gibbon Slacklines - but I did manage to balance and even bounce around on the slackline. It was quite an accomplishment and I had such fun! More news to come about this great weekend. I'll post some non-knitting posts for awhile until my knitting mojo reappears. In the meantime, go try a new skill and report back on it. If you try slacklining... let me know how it goes!
P.S. - My friend Jay just sent me THIS LINK. This guy makes me look lazy!
Last week my crafty friends and I went to the 10th Annual Fabrics and Fabrications Quilt Show at the Southport Congregational Church. It was amazing. There were so many wonderful quilts exhibited it was hard to pick a favorite.
There were quilts on every pew in the Church, many showcased on the altar, more in the chapel and even a special Reduce, Reuse, Recycle theme room in the Parish Hall.
I think I'll take you on a tour and let you decide which one you like best. Please click on the pictures to enlarge them. You'll notice that while there are many antique and traditional quilts, my eye tends to go to the young student's first quilt, or a child's t-shirt quilt, or other unusual quilts.
There you have a sampling of some of the more than 120 quilts that were so beautifully displayed.
And this is my very own quilt made for me by one of the Scout moms - Cyndy Moyer. It's absolutely beautiful and I love looking at all the wonderful Boy Scout material - some new, some vintage. It's such a treasure!
I have some more quilts to showcase tomorrow... but I hope you like the tour as much as I did.
Oh, and the frosting on the cake is the wonderful luncheon they serve. My friends and I had a lovely morning viewing the quilts and topped it off with a delicious lunch with good food and good company. Could life get any better than that?
It was a very big week in my family. Both my boys had surgery to remove their bars from repair of pectus excavatum from three years ago. Three years ago was major surgery. This time it was outpatient surgery and much less stressful. I'm so happy to report the boys are doing fantastic! It's such a relief.
Here's Secundogeniture with the bar in...
... and the bar out.
And here's Primogeniture with the bars in...
... and the bars out. Won't these make great souvenirs for boys?
Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. It really helped a lot. I'm so thrilled for my boys and so happy they're recovering nicely.
This afternoon we went skating at the Rink at Longshore so the Scouts could earn the Skating Merit Badge.
We did all the book work (first aid, safety, etiquette, etc) during the past two weekly meetings. All that was left was the actual skating. We had varying levels of skating skills - but no matter if the Scouts were beginners or advanced, they all learned something new.
My friend Cyndy and I had a great time. Unfortunately, we both discovered that we're no longer teenagers. This was so much easier 30 some years ago...
Congratulations to the six boys who came out to earn this merit badge. You did a great job!
I had another fabulous weekend with Scouts. This time I went with the Venturing Crews - and had a blast.
While the teens snowboarded, I stayed in the lodge with my adults friends, knitting, chatting, playing and having fun. I even ran into my knitting friend Laura.
Don't we look knitterly? (That's Michelle's term for when you wear a lot of your handknit items at once. I bet we BOTH had on handknit socks. I know I did!)
In the afternoon, we met the teens at the Waffle Cabin for an afternoon snack.
Mmmmm - with or without (chocolate, that is).
I even got a picture with Primogeniture.
How about you? What did you do this weekend?
*If you're a teen between ages 14 and not yet 21, and in the southern CT area, please drop me a line. We'd LOVE to have you join our Venturing Crew. We do some really cool things.
OK - ready for this? I went camping in a tent this weekend during the great snowstorm of 2012.
In the early morning hours it started to snow. We woke up to about 2-3 inches of snow, and it continued to snow all day until accumulation reached 6-8 inches. We spent the entire day outdoors for our District Klondike Derby and had great fun!
There was a sled race... but also just funning around on sleds.
We ran the ice rescue station (not on a real lake!) - the roped off area was the thin ice and the blue tarp was where the boys fell through the ice and had to be rescued. Here's our Troop making a human chain to rescue THREE boys (because the first two ran out onto the thin ice to rescue their buddy and fell in themselves!)
There was a really fun two-man saw competition - here are some of my adult friends taking a turn at this competition during a break.
Then there was a homemade snowshoe relay race - and two of our Scouts made the most awesome homemade snowshoes! Unfortunately, we didn't know it was a relay race and the attachment mechanisms were really secure... too secure to switch in and out of for a relay race. But they did a fabulous job creating snow shoes!
Finally, we used two of the burners of the six-burner stove in the warming house to heat up our chili for lunch. One of our dads and his Scout made the chili before the trip and we only had to warm it up. Guess what? Dad is a gourmet chef. This was the BEST chili ever!
It was a fabulous campout and I was so worn out I slept for 13 hours last night when I got home. Ahhh - it really only takes a cold winter campout to make you really, truly appreciate your own warm comfortable bed.
After Las Vegas, BF and I flew to Miami for BF's Grandma's 90th birthday party. It was fabulous weather (Las Vegas was COLD!) and we really soaked in the Florida sunshine.
We celebrated at Barton G's in Miami - which is truly a magical place for fun festivities. Everything is presented in an over-the-top manner. Here's the popcorn shrimp appetizer. How funny is that?
The lobster pop-tarts were served in - you guessed it - a toaster!
The chicken dinner was served in a chicken bucket!
The desserts were oversized and fabulously presented. The S'mores (that's a GIANT marshmallow with chocolate sauce in middle - YUM!) came with sparklers. It was such fun.
GiGi is caught peaking through the bushel of apples with apple cobbler and some great candles.
Happy Birthday GiGi! What a way to celebrate!
Last weekend BF and I went to a wedding in Las Vegas. The actual ceremony took place at Valley of Fire state park which was picturesque and the perfect backdrop to the wedding.
The color for the wedding was saffron. Even Mother Nature complied for the ceremony.
The ceremony was beautifully done with incredibly thoughtful vows. I honestly think it was one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever been to.
My favorite part was the cleaning up of the orange colored rose petals after the ceremony. We were all in true "Leave No Trace" mode and everyone chipped in to help clean up.
Best wishes to the happy couple!
What was the best part of Secundogeniture's birthday party and sleepover? I got to rent and drive my dream machine:
My dream vehicle = a 15-passenger van.
BF and the boys all agree: "Mom, it's not gonna happen."
Well, a girl can dream, can't she?
Change is Good
