Cascade Falcon - In Progress

I miss my boys!  Tate I don't worry much about - he's done this before, and he's on staff, not under the constant scrutiny of yelling drill sergeants and impossible-to-please flight commanders.  Tate is probably having the time of his life.  I snagged a photo of him a couple days ago that is just adorable.  He's on the logistics crew...

... and was apparently assisting at check-in, on Saturday.

I was happy to find Gunnar in a couple of photos from "Day 0".  They must be studying their "SOPs" - their Standard Operating Procedures.  Gunnar is the short guy, right in the middle.

And here, about to recite the cadet oath, or maybe a special Encampment Oath.  He's in the middle, but all you can see is the top of his hat.  Looks hot to me.

Day 1, up at 5:30 for PT.  Gunnar in the red shirt.

Yah, the short kid in the red shirt.  Hang in there, Gunnar!

In class, right in the middle.  Above the raised hand of the boy in the front row.  Looking hot and tired.

Here, at least, I can tell he's smiling.  I'm guessing he was the first one his team passed through the obstacle, and they're brainstorming about the rest.  He's on the far left.

And - hallelujah - the cool of the night.

Which he's probably longing for, about now, as it's forecast to be 96F today, at JBLM.  That's 35.5 for you metric folks, and TOO DARN HOT by any measurement.  Gunnar absolutely wilts in the heat (took after my Scandinavian side of the family, apparently) so prayers for him are much appreciated.

In Which It Is Friday

Gunnar spent most of the afternoon polishing his shoes and boots, ironing his uniform, and packing for encampment.  He leaves first thing in the morning.  He's a bit anxious, but he'll do fine once he gets there.  Tate has only been gone for two and a half days and I miss him.  Wyatt even admitted missing him, though he'll probably never tell him that.  They occasionally post photos, and I was glad to see this one pop up.

Tate looks relaxed and happy.  I'm sure he's working a lot harder than that picture shows, though!

My sister emailed me these from our family vacation.  I love this bunch :D

Though this is more like our "normal" state.

Good grief, Wyatt, you made Grandpa look like a moose!

Fun memories :D

And Then The Whirlwind Hit...

So, remember me mentioning that we've come to the point of our summer where things accelerate?  Yep.

We got home from the ocean, unloaded, did laundry, restocked, and... they're off again!

Grandpa Grasshopper took the boys fishing, up the Fraser River near Lillooet, British Columbia.  And can you guess what they're fishing for?

Biiiiiiig fish.  Prehistoric-looking fish.

Sturgeon!

There are different types - this is the White Sturgeon.

It's all catch-and-release, and our guys pulled in six - lots of work and lots of fun!

According to Gunnar, Tate caught the longest fish, but he (Gunnar) caught the heaviest - that's his, below.

And they do get BIG.  The largest one on record, from the Fraser River was over a thousand pounds.  That's a big fish.

And here's one that was pulled out of Lake Washington - a very urban lake down in Seattle - in the 1980s.  Crazy!

The boys had a FABULOUS time!

But did you notice one was missing?  We had a bit of a snafu.  Didn't realize until just before the trip that Wyatt is an ADULT now, and therefore needs a passport.  Or an enhanced drivers license.  Both of which take too long to get to make the fishing trip.  Oops.  The other boys are able to travel with their birth certificates and a notarized letter approving Grandpa.

While they were gone, I took Wyatt out to lunch and to apply for his passport.  Doesn't he look excited?  He was a good sport about the whole thing, and Grandpa and Grandma "made it up" to him in other ways.

So they arrived home yesterday, tired, and with dirty laundry (the constant theme of my existence, lately), and we're doing another quick turnaround before the next activity!

But first, Tuesday night, Civil Air Patrol.  The first Tuesday of the month is "Commander's Call", when promotions and awards are given out.  None of our boys were promoting this month so I almost didn't go, but there was a pre-encampment meeting so I did, kind of last minute.  So glad I did, because...

Gunnar's element (sub-group of the Flight, which is a sub-group of the Squadron, which is a sub-group of the Wing - got that?) earned the "Element of the Quarter", which was pretty cool. 

And Gunnar - a surprise to us - received the "Cadet of the Quarter" award!  This is a big honor - based on points earned for things like attendance, proper uniform wear, testing and promoting, drill, customs and courtesies, and then an interview with a board to narrow down the top three.

I didn't have my camera along, so many thanks to another cadet's mom who snapped these with her phone :D

Our squadron just started doing the Cadet of the Quarter program - this is the third award.  Gunnar is one of the younger cadets, so we're really proud of him.  Wyatt had been the previous Cadet of the Quarter, and the time before that, Tate was ONE POINT behind the winning cadet.  We're proud of ALL our boys :D

And speaking of Civil Air Patrol...  it's time for Basic Encampment.  Wyatt and Tate have been before.

It's a week of Boot Camp for Civil Air Patrol cadets, held at JBLM (Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and it's the real deal.  Okay, a scaled down version of the real deal - "just" one week.

They learn, they drill...

... they live in barracks and learn to keep them CLEAN (!!!)...

... they are yelled at by Drill Sergeants until the Drill Sergeants lose their voices...

... and they don't walk.  They march, or they RUN everywhere they go.

 And don't forget the 5 or 5:30am wake up for PT.

Doesn't that sound like a fabulous vacation?!

Tate left this morning to go work as staff - or "Cadre", as they call it.  He'll be on the Logistics team.  Not sure exactly what he'll be doing, but lots of behind-the-scenes stuff.

And Gunnar leaves on Saturday to participate as a cadet.  Prayers much appreciated!  It's a really tough week - physically and emotionally.  The cadets are constantly on the move and it is HOT.  And they are under constant pressure to improve everything they do - from marching to bed-making.  It's all very demanding.

Fortunately for Gunnar, there's a large group going from our squadron.  At encampment, they divide the cadets up into six Flights and deliberately separate family members and kids from the same group.  Well, with fourteen cadets from our squadron, Gunnar will definitely know at least one or two of the other cadets in his group - hope that will be an encouragement to him.

He WANTS to go.  Not so much that he's looking forward to doing it, but he's looking forward to having done it.  It's a big deal among the cadets, and opens doors to lots of other (more fun) activities, like the Flight Encampment Wyatt attended last summer.

Wyatt is staying home and looking for a job.  Not a summer/seasonal job, but one he can keep through the school year.

Is your head spinning yet?  Mine is.  We'll pick up the boys - attend the Pass-In-Review graduation ceremony - on Saturday the 16th.  Then we get a little breathing space before school starts.

WHEW!

Whew.

After some lazy summer not-much-on-the-agenda weeks, here's where things accelerate for us.  First, we shipped Wyatt off to Worldview Academy.  He had an amazing time - so glad it worked out for him to go!  I'm looking forward to going through his notebook with him and talking about the different sessions, because when I ask him about it... it's kind of overwhelming.  Sort of a drinking-from-the-fire-hydrant kind of week.

And though he'd never admit it, I think he kind of missed his brothers.  Sure is good to see them all together again :D

The way the timing worked out, we picked him up in Seattle and headed on south for vacation in...

Oregon!  Grandpa and Grandma Grasshopper rented a big beach house and invited us all (two of them, five of us, my bro/SIL/niece, my sister, and my cousin/husband/two girls = FIFTEEN) to join them in Lincoln City.  It would be better for all of us if we don't speak of the traffic in Tacoma, around JBLM, Olympia, and Portland.  Oh, Portland, your freeway system is completely inadequate at the best of times, and on a Friday afternoon in the summer?  Arrrrgh.  And for a city that prides itself on being eco-conscious, why is there no HOV lane on southbound I-5?  Whyyyyy?

Once we got through that mess, it was all good :D  Stopped for a quick dinner in Salem and headed west through farmland...

... past familiar landmarks...

... until we finally made it to Lincoln City (the lighthouse marks the end of town).

Past the politically-incorrect Sambo's...

... turn right at the Viking who seems to be having an issue with his pants...

... and find somebody reeeeeaaalllly happy to see us!

And we made it just in time for sunset AND the green flash.

We've stayed in lots of different rental houses, all unique.  This one had a nice fire pit - that's me, holding Naomi.  And boy did we hold onto her because, can you tell we're up on a pretty high bluff above the beach?  No?

Well, here's a pic from the next morning, looking back up at the house.  Ours is in the center, on the left - the green house.

Look closer...

The guys are actually standing up on the second floor deck.  The yard is pretty small, and... overhanging.  You really don't want to walk out to the edge!

But the beach, on the other hand, was fabulous!

We found some little tide pools with anemones - fun to touch and watch them close.

And guess who loved the water?  Even as cold as it is, she would have plunged right in!

This is not exactly a tropical beach, you know?  A warm day is low 70s, and the water temp is about 55.

The only catch to the "high bluff" part of the equation is this:

the stairs.

One hundred thirty-two of them, to be exact.

So we spent a lot of time hanging around at the house, just enjoying being together :D

And OH MY.  Some rental houses are just that... houses.  Which is just fine.  But this house was kid heaven.  Ping pong.  Foosball.  Pool table.  Air hockey.  Plus the games and books and movies that we brought with us!  Plenty to do for everyone :D

And as long as we were all going to be together anyway, we combined our July and August birthdays and had a party!  Since that was my night for dinner, Wyatt got to choose the menu - chili!  (Or as the boys say, "Chili for dinner; musical program to follow." *ahem*)

We celebrated Kerry's 51st - that's some kind of chocolate that has potato chips AND bacon in it, apparently.

Mike's (my cousin's husband) birthday... can you guess what he's holding?

And Wyatt's birthday.  He needed a new razor :D

Naomi wanted to wrap a gift too... maybe it's for her?

Wyatt's brothers sent him on a wild goose chase treasure hunt, which ended up with the gift being under the chair he was sitting on.  Because, you know, we are awesome like that ;D

And Kerry got his favorite treat - Fiesta Cake.  Never mind that it looks kind of like a giant cow pie, it's actually sort of a chemistry reaction in dessert form.

So there were many movies watched (Fletch, anyone?  The Three Amigos?), books read, walks on the beach, runs to the outlet mall (tax free!), and cut-throat Scrabble games.

And of course, there was lots of this, because vacation is hard work, people.

And another one of these...

And I'm tellin' ya, we saw the green flash, even if you can't tell in the photo.