the season for drum and bugle corps

Summer was here officially on June 21- of course it always feels like summer in Florida! - and the drum and bugle corps competitions are in full swing. Here are some links for you to check out the action around the country. The biggest events are the Southeastern Championships in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 29 and the DCI Eastern Classic in Allentown, PA, on August 1 and 2nd. Then followed by the DCI World Championships in Madison, WI, August 10-12. But there are many other shows around the country leading up to those championships.

The DCI calendar has links to all the events in each city for July and August.

Hop's Blog keeps track of the Cadets of Bergen County, NJ as they travel around the country.

Cadetsmultimedia link has free videos to watch of the members as they travel and prepare.

The Concord, CA, Blue Devils Drum Corps is one of my favorites and you can watch free videos at this BlueView link from bluedevils.org

all good vacations must end

I will never try to play 18 holes of golf again.

On Friday, day eight, the guys were up early to tee off at 7:50 am on the Mountain Ranch Golf course. Since there were five of us, we were sent to the 10th hole to begin. One problem was dodging the sprinkers that were still running. And since we had not played in awhile, we were just beginning our 12th hole at 11:30 am, about three hours later. That was all Carl and I could handle in the heat, so we sat in the golf cart for the remaining holes.


After lunch at the condo, Natalie got to ride on Josh's shoulders one more time.

Carl and Sharon headed back to Texas, and Josh and Janelle left for Pennsylvania, stopping overnight in Murfreesboro, Tenn.






We took a group shot before we had to say "goodbye."

We spent the rest of the day enjoying the swimming pool at the unit. Stephen, Leah and Natalie would be leaving early Saturday morning to drive to Wisconsin, and the rest of us would be driving to Pine Bluff for the evening. For one week, we were all one big, happy family again!



Took this photo of a sticker on a motorcycle helmet for Brandon.

Also some of us picked up new nicknames this week: Big Bird, Chicken Little and Hot Princess One (you will have to figure out who these belong to)

vacation in the Ozarks, day seven

We visited some new places this year and one was the Indian Hill Rock Cave at the resort. This view shows the enormous size of the cave, and you can understand how the indians could live inside this cave, a natural protection from the heat and the cold.


One nice thing about the location of the resort was that the trip to Mountain View, AR, was only about 35 minutes. We visited the Arkansas Folk Center Craft Village in the afternoon. This center is a state park and the "artists" are hired to keep the music and crafts alive, as a connection to our past. The Bryson's gave a 30 minute concert the day we were there.



Listening to the concert also gave us a chance to escape the heat for awhile.




For dinner, we headed to JoJO's Catfish Wharf. As you can see in this photo, Leah and Janelle are talking about babies again! (That's Sharon and Winnie in the background)

We finished the day with the concert at the Folk Center, which was my favorite part of the trip! Dave Smith was the MC and he is a favorite at the center. Other groups included "Up a Creek" and "Here Comes Treble".

more outdoor adventures

Cindy and Winnie hiking up the mountain


Layton enjoyed the hike


Scenic view from the top, Natalie with daddy and mam-ma


Stephen, Brandon and Josh take a break near the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain


A tired Brandon and a happy Natalie back at the ferry











Wednesday, Day 6

Our family loves to go hiking on nature trails and on this year's vacation we took advantage of the many "natural state" activities in Arkansas. Fairfield Bay Resort is located on about 14, ooo acres on the man-made Greers Ferry Lake. In 1962, a dam was built across the Little Red River and the the 40,000 acre lake was formed. By 1966, Fairfield Bay Resort had begun. This location was the first of many Fairfield Resorts around the nation. Sugar Loaf Mountain is in the middle of the lake and we took the hike up to the top. We had about two hours to go up and back down before the ferry would take us back to the marina. Most of us made it to the top, but I must admit, I stopped at the top of the bluffs which were about 150 feet short of the top. Natalie enjoyed a piggy-back ride up and down the mountain with the guys taking turn carrying her.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the resort. Carl grilled steaks for supper and Brandon started a new "family tradition" of playing soccer (instead of softball). That night we even began discussing where to go next summer for the "family reunion".

floating down the Buffalo River

Layton shows Natalie a large tadpole with legs


Carl and Stephen ready to "shove off"

Here's proof, Cindy never lost her hat, even when we flipped (Rhonda and Denton lead the way)

Josh and Janelle on the right, Stephen and Leah and Natalie on the left


"Big Bird" and "Chicken Little" looked "whooped" from rescuing us so many times!






Tuesday, Day 5

Rhonda, Denton and Layton arrived to spend a couple days with us. They were our "official" Buffalo River tour guides as canoeing the Buffalo is one of their favorite past-times. Everything started off well, as we canoed for about an hour and half before putting in for our first stop. We stayed there awhile as we watched a group of college age students jumping off the bluff into the river. This is not for the faint of heart! Leah and Janelle, our pregnant moms, decided they should stop at this point, so Josh and Stephen stayed with them. Good idea! I think I should have stopped also, because as we were trying to shove off, Cindy and I flipped our canoe three times! And later as we approached some rapids, we ran into Layton in his kayak and flipped again! We made it the rest of the way, a total of six long miles, and really had a good time. (The Buffalo River is about 135 miles long) Denton paid us a compliment, I think, saying "my mom and dad would never canoe this river!"

Arkansas, the natural state

inside the caverns, this looks like a scene from "lord of the rings"



looking for bats, but you better keep your mouth closed!




Just as the state slogan reads, Arkansas in the Ozarks is refreshing in a "back to nature" way. On Monday, Day 4, we traveled to Blanchard Springs Caverns for the afternoon. Some of us went on the "Dripstone Trail" tour of the caverns while the others explored the hiking trails outside the main building. After the tour, we all visited the area where the springs flow out of the side of the mountain, as well as the swimming area. We ended our day with a visit to downtown Mountain View, AR, to listen to the "music on the square". The locals gather here on several blocks of this town and sing and play their guitars, bangos, and fiddles to keep that old mountain music alive.

Arkansas travelers, the sequel

"The Fairways" at Fairfield Bay

Just returned from our 10 day vacation, including a weeklong "family reunion" in Arkansas. We drove to Arkansas on Friday, June 9th, and spent the night in Pine Bluff. Les and Pam dropped by Saturday morning, believe it or not, on their way to Florida for their vacation. By then, Tropical Depression no.1 had formed and would later become Tropical Storm Alberto. Looks like it was heading for North Florida, so we were glad to be out of town! After we stopped for groceries at Sam's and Wal-Mart, we headed for the resort at Fairfield Bay, arriving early for a change! Two of the units were ready to check in so we unloaded our food and suitcases. Josh and Janelle arrived around 4:30 and Stephen and his family came in later Saturday night.

We went to church Sunday and rested a lot for what would become a busy week of vacation (who said we couldn't do it all in one week!) Carl and Sharon drove up from Texas on Sunday, and by Tuesday Rhonda and her family would join us.

We would be one, big happy family for a week!

on a beautiful golf course

on the road again...

I may not have access to my blog while on vacation, but if I do I will post some photos while traveling. I finally purchased a digital camera, a Kodak Easy Share C533 model, and will be learning to use it this week on vacation. We found out today that all three condos will be in the same area called the Fairways. When we checked last week, one condo was about 4 miles away. Cindy called them two weeks in a row, and this week they were able to change the one location. This resort at Fairfield Bay is huge, encompassing about 14000 acres total. We are looking forward to seeing everyone soon! Pray for safety as we all travel.

link to music schedule at the Ozark Folk Center

a little humor

rebuilding memories

We spent the weekend in SC with Mom and Dad, and I am glad to report she is home from rehab as of Tuesday noon. My wife and I took the opportunity to visit Cleveland Park in Spartanburg, SC, on Sunday afternoon, our 29th anniversary. I tried to find the tree where I "carved our initials" when I proposed and gave her a ring many years ago. Of course, we didn't really carve our initials in a tree and the park has been remodeled and modernized and looks great now. The little choo-choo train is still running and they have added paved walking trails around the playground and the pond.

The newly renovated Cleveland Park offers
the finest in leisure amenities,including Picnic Shelters,
a lakeside Promenade and Amphitheater, an Island
Gazebo, Miniature Train, spacious playground, walking trails,
and a 3,400 square foot Event Center. Facilities within
the park are available to rent for the special occasions
in your life such as family reunions, weddings, receptions,
banquets, school parties, and birthday parties.

Natalie's photo album

Leah added more photos recently to Natalie's online album. Check them all out at this link to Summer Fun

Our little cutie pie!!

Natalie is ready for World Cup Soccer

Natalie with Mommy

Who hid my rubber ducky?!?

family news for June

This is always a special time of the year, as the school is out for the summer and even the grown-ups like to "play" during June and July. This year we plan to travel to Arkansas and vacation with as many family as we can shake a stick at! Together, we have rented three condos with enough room to sleep 18 people.

Driving from Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida and Texas, we will converge on what we call the "center of the USA."

Birthdates for June:

Layton Bell, June 4 . . . Brandy McDonald, June 5 . . .
Jonathan Logan, June 7 . . . Jesse Baggett, June 13 . . .
Sam Baggett, June 21 . . . Rhonda Bell, June 23 . . .
Janelle Franklin, June 28

Other special days:

Tim & Cindy Franklin were married on June 4, 1977

Flag Day on Wednesday, June 14

Father's Day on Sunday, June 18

Keep praying for:

Aunt Jo Ann as she recovers from thyroid surgery.

Martha, my mother as she recovers from a mild stroke.