Hart Family Reunion 2014

Our first week back from Egypt was spent in South Carolina, still at sea level and still hot. So when our second week found us in Stanley, Idaho at 6,500 feet elevation with temperatures below freezing, we were not well acclimated. As per the norm for Hart family gatherings, the first night was filled with rain that escaped the forecasters' notice.

Camp activity highlights:

Biking

The first morning, I hit the bike trail with my bike-crazy brothers. I can out run them all I'm pretty sure, but I don't bike. And I don't do anything at this elevation. So about 4 miles into our 5 mile ascent to 8,000 feet, my thighs said, "We're done, thank you." Also, my butt still hurts from the bike seat. Why have they not yet cracked the code for comfortable bike seats? Maddie apparently was a model citizen on a family ride in which I did not participate because my boys were, for reasons I cannot discern, unwilling to partake.

Lip Sync Contest

Video was banned to encourage broad participation.

I serenaded Katie with a heart-felt "I'll Never Let You Go"

Maddie delivered the final note of "Let It Go" with flair.

Then we rocked out a family version of "Everything is Awesome."Note the boys' tee shirts.

The Lake

The cousins established a beach swimming pool building enterprise in which workers were given such titles as "hangover manager." It took me a while to understand that this referred to building what might be better referred to as an over hang. After a few promotions, one could aspire to become "Swimming Pool Lord."

At one point, Caleb became frustrated and declared, "Good bosses don't micromanage." Yes, the lessons of The Lego Movie.

Henry's Birthday

It's Darth Maul

The Campfire

Collectively, I think we can quote every line ever delivered by Will Ferrell in a movie.

Boss Caleb

While eating out at Texas Roadhouse Caleb said, "Look at the girls' table. Girls are so boring. They're just over there talking, talking talking. Look at me. I'm smashing peanuts on the table with my fist like a boss. Boys rule."

Also, some pics from running the Scenic River Classic in Idaho Falls:

A Taste of Charleston

Strange to say, I miss the chaotic traffic of Cairo. I stop at interminable red lights and think, In Cairo I could just drive around this mess. Traffic lights. Sigh.

I also discovered about myself that I have grown more fond of walkability than I had realized. Here in the Charleston suburb of Mt. Pleasant, nothing is walkable. Turns out, I miss being able to get most of what I need within walking distance. I am falling out of love with cars. No, I am not ready to go carless, but I am looking forward to biking in Germany.

Katie and I sleep at the Marriott Courtyard while the kids are sleeping at Papa J's. I drop in each morning around 8:30, get a dose of the always-on Fox News, and then we start the day. Water parks, boating, dolphins, arcade. Papa J introduced the kids to the wonder of dragging behind a boat in an inner tube.

Today, after three full days in the sun, the kids are zapped. Henry is asleep on my lap, Maddie and Caleb are asleep upstairs. I'm watching the World Cup. Traffic lights not withstanding, life is good in the USA.

And A Rock Feels No Pain

Maddie cried a good cry. The sobbing kind. Katie too.

Caleb was stoic, adding "I might see my friends again, so, not really goodbye."

Henry, as ever, played soccer.

For my part, quick emotionless goodbyes. There were a few folks I saw again after having already said goodbye. I pretended not to see them again. That's how islands role.

I cried once, right after Caleb passed his test for blue belt two nights ago (pictured below).

Done Too Soon: Cairo Tour Memorial

In some ways, the end of our Cairo tour comes with a sigh of relief. I won't miss the frequent black outs. I won't miss sand piling up around the windows and doors that are never quite airtight. I am looking forward to showering with normal (not heavily chlorinated) water that stays the same temperature with pressure higher than a trickle.

But in so many other ways, I am sad. Packing out today. See photo below. And the nostalgia has taken hold.

Some highlights registered below. Sadly, we haven't any good pics of some really great friends so not all are adequately represented below.

Packers come in two days. In the meantime, disaster.

Final Wolf Scout den meeting held on a Nile felucca.

A sad reality of the overseas life.

This is from Maddie's student led parent conference at school, right after I sucked an egg out of a flask to discover air pressure.

Maddie (foreground) racing Hilary.

End of season Red Sox party.

Annual (Totally Awesome) Brand Blog Post (That You Won't Like)

This is my quirky thing. Deal with it.

From the May 21 reveal of the 100 most valuable brands of 2014, here are those with which I or our family has regular and/or frequent deliberate interaction. Note the word deliberate, which is why Microsoft is not on the list despite my daily interaction with Windows at work.

(Brand rank) Brand name, nature of relationship; commentary

(1) Google, friends; I'm a little bit afraid Google will become Skynet, but in the meantime, they just make super convenient stuff--Gmail is best email, Google Maps is best map, and I use Google Drive every day.

(2) Apple, BFF; I'm in what marketers call the love group. Apple products work, are easy, look cool, last forever, receive super customer service; the walled garden sometimes makes me a little nervous, but so far I have no reason to want to escape the garden.

(5) McDonalds, frenemies; Why? I don't know? But when we're in strange new cities, it's like home for the kids.

(6) Coca Cola, BFF; It's really all about the Santa cans...I just love the Santa cans.

(7) Visa, we're friendly at parties but never hang out otherwise; They're on all my credit cards, but I really don't care.

(10) Amazon, friends; When you live in crazy places in which it is difficult to find the products you like on the local market, Amazon shopping is super awesome. Plus, I love Audible, but I'm not sure if that is technically a different brand that just happens to be owned by Amazon.

(21) Facebook, like; See how clever I am. Yeah, I like staying in touch with my friends, even the ones who I can't really remember who they are but I'm afraid to be rude, so I accept the friend request anyway.

(23) Disney, love; Disney World totally hooked me up when our family reunited there after my year in Pakistan. Free services. Priority reservations. It will take a lot to undo the loyalty they earned during that week.

(26) Toyota, a regrettable break up; We sold the Sienna. Loved that car. Unlikely to buy another Toyota, however, for totally crazy reasons about the markets for cars in the overseas life.

(34) Nike, BFF; I tried Asics for a week earlier this year and it killed my feet. Nike rules my running life.

(52) Gillette, loyal; They gave me a free razor for my 18th birthday and I was hooked.

(56) Colgate, loyal; I can't explain it. I just really prefer to brush my teeth with Colgate.

(62) Yahoo!, Heathers; If you don't get that, you'll have to watch the movie. I don't like Yahoo!, I just use it.

(71) Twitter, experimental; So, I'm using it a lot lately, but I'm not sure it's going to stick. It's a decent way to get news, but there are lots of ways to get news. I don't use the social networking aspect of it other than by default.

(78) Linked In, experimental; I feel obliged, but I don't really get it.

(94) Bank of America, falling out; They sold one of my accounts and it made my life really complicated for a few weeks around Christmas shopping season, so I kind of hate them now. Likely to switch everything to USAA next time I'm in the USA.

Maddie Wins at Swim Meet and Final Day of Baseball Season

Maddie's Choir Concert

Grossly Unprepared

I am the fourth of five boys. No sisters. Thus, Katie Hart is a mysterious wonder of female-ness. And now I have a pre-teen daughter beginning to exhibit similarly mysterious ways.

The most baffling part is the social drama. Who's in and who's out. Who's invited and who's uninvited. I sort of follow along but quickly find that I cannot identify what the concern is, only that there is a lot of it.

Trying to find common ground, I think back to my childhood. And I recall such social complexities as: I guess I'll football today. Who wants to play? Great. The entire social drama of my youth can be summed up with the question: Do you want to play football?

Sadly, Madeline finds this profoundly unhelpful.

Favorite Place In Cairo So Far (Better Than Pyramids)

So I guess in the 1960's the king of Egypt created "garbage city" as a way of absorbing all the Christians moving from Upper Egypt in search of work. They became the garbage collectors for all of Cairo and lived here near the rock quarries. Now 50,000 people live in garbage city. They still collect all the garbage for 20 million people. They sleep on it and with it. They sort it and sell everything recyclable and have a pretty intense repurposing enterprise.

And they have this stunning church carved into the side of the mountain.

"Favorite" is probably the wrong word since it was a little strange to drive through the garbage part oogling from my comfortable tour van at people living on piles of trash. But seeing them live thus and then coming upon this humble place of worship left quite an impression.

Looking up from midway. Those are the kids at the top.

Looking down from the middle.

The smaller, indoor chapel.

View of garbage city from top of the chapel.

Separate event: Caleb's Cub Scout service project picking up litter in Wadi Degla.

Engaging in important scout activities such as watching other people start a fire.

And swinging pick axes (which they were very pleased to find in the litter they were picking up).

And posing like a rock star while standing on a rock.

Awesome Childhood Sayings, R.I.P.

I mourn the recent loss of these (and so many other) charming misstatements:

Out of balance (out of bounds)
Grabity (as Caleb once explained, "because it grabs you and pulls you to earth")
Annoring (it annoys me when you ignore me)
Drool (as in, "I challenge you to a drool")
The whole white world
Crappin' Crunch-berries