Clemson

We spent Sunday morning talking with Jake and Trish while the kids played together. Jake gave us a tour of their neighborhood and we exchanged building and remodeling battle stories.

After lunch, we went back to Clemson. This time the boys had the Mom and Dad tour. This is where we ate, this is where Mom had Chemistry class, this is where Dad had Marketing class, etc. This is the patch of grass that Dad's dorm was on. Both my dad and Chris stayed in Johnstone, so the building was very old. The walls were metal so if someone knocked on one door the whole hall thought someone was knocking at their door and said come in. :)

We also went into the Calhoun house. Chris and I had never been in it. The rumor was if you toured it as an undergrad you would never graduate. So we stayed away. No need to take unnecessary chances. John C Calhoun youngest daughter, Anna Maria, married Thomas Clemson. They were married in the house and lived there. At the time it was Fort Hill plantation. Sadly she and their children died before Thomas Clemson. He willed the house and the land for a state agricultural college.

Next we showed the boys my Dad's name on the sidewalk at Clemson. As a graduate of Clemson, Dad has his name in the sidewalk. Chris said he would pass it everyday as he walked to class. They stopped putting the graduate's names in the sidewalk. Chris' graduating class' names were on a plague at the library but someone vandalized it. So it is no longer there.

The boys standing in front of Dad's name

Dad's name and the boys' shoes :)

Next we went to Tillman Hall. Chris had a class there. I was only there for orientation and for an author speaking. The boys wanted to sit in the chair Chris sat in for class. They were very cute.

Chris, Hunter and Jordan in front of Tilman Hall

We had a great time at Clemson. Thanks to everyone that purchased popcorn from the boys.

Scouts Sport Day at Clemson

The boys worked every hard at selling popcorn for the Boy Scouts this week. Since they filled up an order sheet, they earned the right to go the Sports Day at Clemson or USC. The choice was easy. Clemson won hands down.

The top seller in the state arrived in this Clemson limo. It was complete with a tiger tail. We arrived in our Prius.

Jordan and the Clemson limo

There was about 800 scouts at Clemson for Sports Day. They divided us into 3 groups. First our group tours the locker room. As you would expect, they were very nice. The lockers were built large enough that the largest player could sit comfortably with his full pads on.

Hunter and Jordan at Harper and Spiller's locker

Next we went on the field. The boys were able to play on the field and see Death Valley from a football player point of view. Next was the hill! The boys went to the top of the hill next to Howard's Rock and ran down the hill. They loved this!

The boys running down the hill. Note the Score Board sign.
Hunter is in the center under the Naturally Fresh sign.
Jordan is under the Exxon sign closer to the top of the hill than Hunter.
(You can click on any picture to make it larger.)

Next we went back up the hill to see Howard's Rock. The rock is from Death Valley, CA. The first time Clemson players ran by the rock was in 1966. Howard would tell his players "Give me 110% or keep your filthy hands off of my rock."

The Bristow by The Rock


Jordan on the field

Next we went to the practice field. The boys practice football and soccer with players from the Clemson team. They also got lots of autographs for the hats.

Hunter and Jordan with a Clemson Football player

The path to the practice field is lined with tombstones. A pretty creative way to display wins.

Hunter and Jordan at the USC tombstone

Next the boys practiced basketball with some members of the Clemson team and their coach.

Then we went to lunch. We ended up downtown at TDs. We really enjoyed eating and talking with everyone.

Wells, Jordan, Tyler and Hunter outside of TDs

We went to a Clemson Baseball game next. We managed to get ready good seats. The game was good. Clemson won.

Wells and Hunter

Hunter and Tiger

Jordan and The Tiger

After the game, we went to see Jake and Trish. Jake was one of Chris' best friends in middle and high school. They even roomed together one semester at Clemson. They were nice enough to let us stay at the house. We enjoyed talking and seeing them and their family.

Charleston

We went to Charleston for the Southeastern Wildlife Expo on Sunday. Since the kids were out of school Monday for President's Day, we spent Sunday night.

Saturday night we went to Shem Creek and ate delicious seafood. The boys enjoyed looking at the creek and walking on the dock in front of the restaurant.

Jordan at our favorite Shem Creek Resturant

Monday morning we went to Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island. We had a fun time exploring the fort.

The piece of history that we learned about Fort Moultrie is that nine warships attacked it on June 28, 1776. After a nine-hour battle lead by Commodore Sir Peter Parker , the ships were forced to retire. Charleston was saved from British occupation. So I guess Spiderman saved Charleston from the British.

Jordan at Fort Moultrie (You can see Fort Sumter behind him)

Next we went to Charleston Landing. I think it is one of the best State Parks in SC. We normally bring our bikes with us when we going to Charleston Landing. But we didn't this trip. There are tons of walking paths, an old ship to tour, old houses to tour and a zoo. The governor has a house there also. You can tour it also if he is not visiting.

Hunter and Jordan on the cannons

Hunter front of a Indian Statue

Hunter and Jordan posing again

Jordan and The Harry Potter Birthday Party

Jordan celebrated his 8th birthday Saturday with a Harry Potter themed party.

First the kids were sorted into houses by the Sorting Hat. We put a walkie talkie inside the hat and Chris was upstairs with another walkie talkie so the hat could talk. The kids were divided into Gryfindor or Ravenclaw and given a house crest to wear on their robe or shirt.

Next was Care of Magical Creatures class. Hagrid had brought a dragon egg for the class to watch hatch. When we put the egg in warm water, it fizzed and inside was a toy dragon.

Kids watching the Dragon Egg fizz

Next was Potions classes. I had some of those capsules with sponge animals inside. The kids had to say a spell which included the type of animal that was inside their capsule. If they were correct, they correctly performed their spell and received extra house points. Some of them actually guessed the correct animal.

Next they were given a powder and told to put 2 spoonfuls in their cup. I told them it was grounded up snake bones. Then they were given a clear liquid to pour into their cup and say a spell. If it foamed, they did the spell correctly. If not, they had to try again. The larger the foam, the more house points. The powder was baking soda and some of the clear liquid was water, some was water and vinegar and some was straight vinegar. I was waiting on the kids to comment on the smell (like this smells like Easter) but no one did.

Then it was time for Divinations class. Each child was given a mug with loose tea leaves in them. Then we poured some hot water into it. Next the children had to stir their tea, 3 times clockwise and 4 times counterclockwise. This was very important because if it was done incorrectly the tea leaves could not tell the future. Then the kids poured out the liquid so only the tea leaves were left and I read them.

Divination Class

Transfiguration class was next. The kids had to draw an animal name out of a bag and act it out. When someone guessed their animal, they were transfigured back into themselves. They did great acting out the animals and guessing them.

Then it was time to drink the polyjuice potion which was brewing in a pot. I had just put in the last ingredient, some hair from Harry Potter. After they drank some, they went to the guest bathroom where Chris gave them a pair of Harry Potter glasses and a lighting bolt tattoo.

The group of Harry Potters

Then we ate cake, ice cream and treats from Honeydews Sweet Shoppe. While the kids were eating Jordan's stuffed owl delivered a screecher letter. When Jordan opened the padded envelope, it started talking. It wished him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Jordan and his cake

The kids and I had a great time at Jordan's party. And most importantly, Jordan loved it.

Pinewood Derby Race 2009

The boys have been very excited about their Pinewood Derby car race. They were given a block of wood and 4 wheels to make their cars. There is a listing of requirements that a car must met. One of the most important one is that the cars had to be under 5 ounces. In general, the heavier the car is the faster it will go so we tried to make the cars as close to 5 ounces as possible without going over. The cars were weighed in by officials making sure they meet all the requirements. Then the cars were impounded until the race.

Jordan and Hunter with their cars

Cub Scouts are divided in packs. The pack is the large group of scouts in an area. The pack is divided into dens. Your den is based on your age. The cars from the same den race first. The top three winners were named and then the winner from each den raced for the pack winner.

The Competition

The cars are divided by dens. The first group on the left is Jordan's den. His car is the third one of the first row. Hunter's den is the last group of cars. His car is the third car on the second row.

The car that won for the whole pack was from Hunter's group. The car was shaped like a tear drop. It is the car in front of Hunter's (the third car and the third row). You can click on any picture to make it larger.

Jordan getting ready to race

For each race, there were two matches (one for each lane). If their was a tie, then they would flip a coin and the winner would choose the lane. The winner of the tie breaker race won the race. It is a double elimination completion. So each boys got to race at least twice.

You can click on the arrow and see one of Jordan's races. His car did great! His car came in second place in the his den. If one of his weighs had not fallen off, he probably would had won. He also got an award for the car with the best paint job.

One of Hunter's races

This is a video of one of Hunter's races. His car did great also. He unofficially came in fourth in his den and remember he was competing against the pack winner. Hunter received a certificate for most colorful paint job.

The boys had a great time making, painting and racing their cars. I think this is their favorite parts of cub scouts.

Party Invitations

Jordan delivering his party invitations

Jordan is having a Harry Potter birthday party this year. The invitations that we could hand deliver were send by owl with a little help for Jordan.

Happy Birthday, Jordan!

We woke Jordan up on his birthday singing happy birthday with a lit birthday cake. He had a slice of birthday cake before school. (I'm sure his teacher appreciated this.) Then Chris and I met him at school for lunch. As a surprise we let Hunter and Jordan come home with us after lunch. Jordan wanted to go bowling on his birthday so that is what we did.

Jordan preparing to bowl

He did great bowling and certainly has a lot of style when he bowls.

Hunter bowling

After bowling, he visited with Grandmom and Granddad Poole and then we head to the home we are remodeling. Jordan picked the local China restaurant for supper. Then we went home for cake and presents.

Happy 8th Birthday Jordan!

Snow Day in Columbia

Hunter and Jordan watching the snow fall

It snowed Tuesday in Columbia. I know it is hard to believe. We got enough snow to cover the ground and then it all melted by 4pm. But there was snow and no school. Unfortunately, I still had to work. Now I know how Dad felt all those years when Mom and I were home from school but he still had to work.

Hunter and a giant snowball

Jordan, Hunter and snow

I like this picture because it shows the amount of snow that fell.

The boys has a blast in the snow! They played with the neighborhood kids and then came in a drank hot chocolate. Hot chocolate tastes best after playing in the snow.

Snow falling on the lake

If you click on the picture (or any picture of the blog for that matter), it will enlarge it. In the larger picture, you can really see the snow falling.

Christmas Day

We went to the Bristow's house on Christmas Day. We arrived at their house at the same time as Cole and his family. Jane was busy in the kitchen cooking. The kids had lots of fun playing together. They counted all of Thom and Jane's Santa Clauses, which took some time.

The Bristow's

We were able to get a group shot. Unfortunately, someone had to take the picture, so Thom is missing from the picture.

The Bristow boys

The kids all had a great time playing together. The house was full of motion with four kids. Kate hung right in there as the lone girl.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas at Our House

After we got home from Mom and Dad's Christmas Eve, we exchanged gifts as a family. The boys have been wondering what was in these packages for weeks now.

Hunter and Jordan

They were very excited to finally get to open them. Inside was a gaming chair for each of them. I'm glad they both liked them since they had been wondering about them for so long. They would have been so let down if the boxes were full of socks and underwear.