USC/Orangeburg

For my 49th birthday, I wanted our whole family to be together.  We all met up in Columbia to see Luke.  

This semester has been really busy for him with pledging the business fraternity and joining Army ROTC.  

He gave us a tour of his unit...

Then he let us try on his ruck sack.  This is a backpack weighing 45 lbs they have to carry for 4, 6, and sometimes 12 miles on their morning walks.

We stayed at Embassy Suites and played Connect 4 on their extra-large game set

And competed against each other...the youngest won.

Evening drinks and appetizers meant lots of Shirly Temples!

While in Columbia, we decided to all run up a huge hill, Barnhill.  It's deceiving in the picture, as the moped can't even make it up.

During the weekend, Ashlyn found out she got her rotation assignment at the hospital in Orangeburg, just 40 miles south of Columbia.  We took a family drive there to scope out the area for housing options, find the Catholic church, and see the hospital.

She's excited about going (minus the pictures I keep taking)!

Mathcounts

One of the middle school programs offered is Mathcounts, a competitive math class that goes regional, state, and national.

Our 7th grader was the only one to represent her grade and the only girl to represent her school.  They took the top 6 individuals.  Each student going received this t-shirt.  We thought it was hillarious since we honestly don't see anything wrong in our family with buying that much fruit!

There were 15 schools represented, and hers came in 10th.  Although she didn't place, she did receive a certificate of accomplishment and got a picture with the event coordinator, my board chair for 2020!  Both of us were surprised to see the other there.

As we headed home, snow had fallen which made our little one smile!

Last of the Kolaches

Our 2nd year to have free kolaches every day has come to an end.  We sure enjoyed them, developed friendships with the staff, and introduced quite a few people to this great bakery over the years.

Our little one was ready for breakfasts at home.  Her first meal request was homemade waffles, McConnell style, with blueberries, chocolate chips, pecans, and butterscotch chips.

 This face says it all.