Pensacola Air Show with the Boy Scouts

Our last boy scout air show campout was scheduled for April of 2020, and that never happened, so the boys were very excited to finally get to go to an airshow, and especially as this would be the homecoming show in Pensacola for the Blue Angels.  Sam's friend Brandon has taken him to some air shows before, but I think this was a first for me and Davis.  As friday of this weekend was Veterans Day, and the kids were already out of school, we were able to leave with some daylight left, and arrive at the campsite before midnight.   Apparently Sam got his BREAL (I think this is the app the kids like right now) picture with Cole and Brandon in the car.  

When we arrived to the campsite, we found that there were also 300 other scouts there, including some girl scouts and cub scouts in a large field.  So the adults scattered trying to find enough room for our group of 45 people and tents.  And we found a large area that worked, but it was not part of the scout area, so we decided to pitch the tents anyway and deal with it in the morning.  Seeing as this was a military campground, that may not have been the best choice but it worked out.  Setting up a tent in the dark is now the norm, so that was not an issues, and the weather was in the 50s, so the temperature was amazing as well.  Davis was picking on me for making him bring his cold weather gear for the nights, but he was not picking on me the following night.  

The next morning we had eggs in a bag for breakfast, which is easy cooking with hardly any cleanup.  Davis found out that it took a little more time to get his hard boiled eggs than originally thought, as his runny boiled egg had to be dropped back into the water.  I don't know why all the boys decided to stand on the blue tarp, apparently that was a Foster thing.  

The campground welcome center was closed when we left to get into the long line onto the base for the air show, so I left a message that we had camped in one of the primitive spots, hope that was ok, we will pay whatever the fee is for those areas.  Then as soon as we arrived at the parking area, they called back that we were not supposed to camp there, it is only for military ID.   With some back and forth, and as much charm as I could muster, I finally convinced them to let us stay for another night without breaking down our camp...maybe it helped that we had Army and Navy veterans as part of our dads there.   So again, another case of asking for forgiveness sometimes beats asking for permission.  

The parking lot was a LONG WALK from the airshow, but I had read where wagons were allowed, so I brought our fold up wagon, and immediately had about 20 folding chairs from the boys in it.  The air show did not allow any outside food or drink...which made for an expensive lunch, but since the airshow was free, I guess it was not a big deal.  My plan was to go over to the museum on base, but it was a bus ride away, and I figured I should probably just enjoy the airshow since it was my first one.  

I did find out that plane and air shows are really great...but it is very similar to jazz music...it is really cool for the first few minutes, but then it all just seems to run together and be the same.  I did enjoy the show, and getting to periodically hang out with the boys.  I did not capture a picture of the lines for food that day, but it was ridiculous.   There had to be about 40,000 people there, so the food tents were probably a little over whelmed.   So, yes, I did wait about 45 minutes for a hot dog, but got extras so that Sam could have one without waiting.   Davis did not want one so he had his own wait.   

Prior to the Blue Angels show as the highlight, they had some World War 2 song singers provide a show...and yes, Davis has a picture of me completely asleep during that portion.   I did not have that pic, but perhaps his whole montage of dad sleeping pics will one day be its own blog.   We also all cracked up at Cason sitting on the handle of our folding chair and it completely falling apart.  It was already falling apart, but was pretty funny seeing him falling to the ground in it.  Our seats were also directly behind a set of porta potties, but ones we could not use, as they were in a roped off area for paid ticket areas.   Oh well.  The Blue Angels show was well worth it, they were amazing flying together.   A couple of my favorite pictures of them flying are below.  As the airshow ended, the wind was picking up, and cold coming in.  Our long walk back to the car was through a fierce chilly wind that stung as we all only had on t-shirts.   And apparently the base is not equipped to get 40,000 people out of the parking lot (one of the runways)...we waited at our car for over an hour before cars finally started moving.   We also found out later, that our friend Timmy from church was at the air show and saw us walk by his car, but we never connected while down there.  

Back at camp, we began plans for dinner.   The boys had some pretty good meals.  Davis helped his patrol cook pasta and meatballs (this was a first for their patrol).   Sam and the leadership patrol grilled some chicken and had some amazing chicken quesadillas.   But Bob Brown was with the adults and when the treasurer is the adult grubmaster, the food is pretty good.   He brought both steak and chicken and shrimp kabobs...and we had some cheesy rice and bread on the side.   One of the other dads is a chef at Alexanders, and he cooked everything perfectly.   It was cold that night, but a meal like that certainly helps.   

The next morning, we woke up to a 35 degree chill, and Davis thanked me for reminding him to bring his cold gear.  Hot Hands in the bottom of a sleeping bag do wonders.  Davis showed me his knife injury from the night before...hopefully nothing was tainted in the meal he was preparing.  Max gave a really short devotion.   We asked him later, and he said he prepped a longer one, but the cold made him call an audible.  Sam and I wished we had some discs for this golf course that ran right next to our campground.  Davis rode home with the Kirbys, but my car has a tendency to always pull off at Priester's Pecans on the way back from Florida.  But this time, I had Brandon Brown in my car, who is very allergic to all nuts.   We got a picture of Sam and Cole standing over his dead body.   And last time I was here, it was me and Davis only, so I grabbed a pic of me and Sam at the Priesters truck.   Inside, we made sure Brandon walked away from all the nuts to the restroom, and kept him away from any of the samples.   His dad later asked "YOU TOOK HIM WHERE?"  All made it home safe.   It was a really cool campout, as I have heard from many of these young guys telling me about it in their Board of Reviews.   

AHG Veterans Day Event

Lots of fun adventures with AHG this month, but the biggest was the Veterans Day event at Sommersby.   The girls take cards and sing for the local senior residents there.   They also had some grommets from recent flag ceremonies to provide to veterans.   The weather was nice this year, and allowed them to visit after some challenging years with COVID in 2020 and rain in 2021.   The girls from our church got to visit Mrs. Elanor and Mrs. Virginia that attend with us.   

But when I asked Ruby and Belle what they remembered most, it was Mr. George.   He was funny and would tell us funny jokes.   He was an Army Veteran that would cut other residents hair if needed.   He told them he charges his customers 50 cents, and always cleaned up his mess.   He was apparently bald and made some jokes about cutting his hair too short.  I love that these girls can make these connections, and have so many opportunities to serve others.  

 

Visit to King's Chair

 I will learn one day that I am not a good judge of leading others on hiking trips.   I really tried to pace myself when alone on this same hike and try and judge the distance and difficulty.   It was not bad, I went very slow can made it in about 58 minutes to the top.  Bad knees and all.   But somehow that does not transition well to others.   They seriously underestimated the amount of water needed, and how does someone drink a whole bottle of water before we are halfway up.   Anyway, not calling any names, just glad I carried some extra.  

It was supposed to be a big youth hike, but Sam and Davis had work on this Sunday,  Cohen got in trouble, Larkyn and Lauren had something else, others said that they don't like hiking...and thus we had Anabelle, Savannah, and Cash.   But it was a fun day, and while a little warm, nice time after church to get to the top of Double Oak Mountain.  

No snakes were seen on this journey, and all were happy to reach the top and jump into the sandwiches and snacks.  After our meal we walked up to Kings Chair a few steps away, and tried to figure out everything we could see.   We saw Chelsea High School.   We saw the Wilsonville power plant.   And we think we saw some portions of Chelsea.   I pulled out a frisbee for the way down, and we had a game where each person would throw it and try to keep it along the trail.   Then I threw one really good, but it went directly into a tree, like most of my disc golf days...but this was not a disc golf disc...it was one of the cheap ones that was given to us at an event...and it immediately shattered into 5 pieces.   So our game was over.  

We took the shortcut down, and Anabelle had a very hard fall on her knee.  I am continually amazed at the toughness of our kids.   I could tell right away by looking at her face that it hurt VERY BAD.   She did not cry, just hobbled down to a bench and we put on a bandaid to a spot with a really bad gash.  I hated that she got hurt because her being there made me so happy.   Hiking is probably not on the top of her list, but she wanted to go as now part of the youth, and I think she likes being with her dad a bit too.   But it was fun to watch her and Savannah connect a bit more on this day.  Time to connect with cash, who is my new mentee, for a bit.   And always fun with Mr. Jonathan.  

Campus visit to the University of Alabama

 Well, I somewhat had to talk Sam into this tour, but he was definitely in for another day off school.   Alabama just has a stigma of non-engineering and greek-life that I remember thinking as a biased Auburn fan, but that same stigma seems to still persist as NONE of Sam's friends would even think about going to Alabama.   Strange to me, as age has told me a diploma is a diploma.   And after this tour, the engineering program seemed very top notch.   Altho our tour guide did not say the word engineering the whole day, which can be a good indicator.  

Another amazing thing was the number of out-of-state students.   Out of all 20 kids on our tour bus, Sam was the only one from the state of Alabama.  I asked some of the parents what is the deal?   One said his daughter has always just wanted to come to Alabama...no real reason, just saw them on TV and fell in love.   Another wanted his daughter out of California and away from them liberals.   And one plump little gal with tassles on her boots, high pitched voice, and three layers of make-up, just screamed Crimsonette stalker.  

After all of our scouting games, we know the campus well, and enjoyed the tour of this College Football powerhouse.   Took our time looking at all the MVPs of over the years that have their prints cemented near Denny Chimes.  We also ran into the national champion robotics team, which was really cool, and while potentially not swaying Sam UA, we both walked away pumped for robotics.  The mechanical engineer that worked for the campus tour was also an extremely awesome advocate for her school.   I have really enjoyed these days with Sam.  Good time to just hang out and chat.   We hit Chick-Fil-A and then Auntie Annies before heading back to the house.  

They also had a discussion with faculty set up for later that afternoon, but we were ready to get back home, so we cancelled that meeting.   So, I guess we will wait and see.  They already have offered about a 40% tuition scholarship, we just got to see what comes back from the general application.  But I don't think Sam would be upset to be a part of the tide.  

CTEC Open House

 This year at the CTEC open house, Sam got to be one of the student hosts.   He also showed off his 3D printed name plate "Mr. President".   He was elected President of the SkillsUSA group that will compete later in the year in Mobile.   Sam has hand another fun year in CTEC, but this first part, he basically became the instructor as they were learning different 3D printers.   His teacher Mr. Hill told the kids that Sam can help if they have any problems.  He is excited about the new semester, as they will finally get to learn PLCs.  This program has been amazing for Sam, and given him a break from the books.   He is in the poster for CTEC below as well.  

Davis was excited to speak with the Automotive Technician teacher, and he has already signed up to begin CTEC next year.  Davis has a friend down the street that will also be in the class, and they both seem to talk all about modifications to their vehicles.  I don't understand what him or Logan or saying, I just nod and whistle periodically.   I am trying to get Belle and Ruby interested, but so far there are no bites.   I really need a nurse in our home, so that is the goal.   But there is also a culinary class and a wood working class...so I still have some time to push them towards a skill.