Insanity

Rosemary: What's a bibbidy bobbidy boo?
Cecily: I don't know.
Rosemary: Is it a kind of bibbidy bobbidy boo?
Cecily: No, it's a kind of bibbidy bobbidy BEE. It's like a bibbidy bobbidy boo, but it's really a bibbidy bobbidy boo.
Rosemary: Grandpa says it's a bibbidy bobbidy boo.

Rosemary: I got married 1 minute ago and then the bad guys took my husband away to jail.

Thor: Then they saw a dot in the distance...
Cecily: It's a flaming chicken!

Cecily: Rosemary, how about you eat your food in silence.
Rosemary: But I don't HAVE socks on!

Thor: Don't talk with your mouth open! Don't eat with your mouth full!

Mom: We're going to have more food for the trip than we can fit in the car!
Sylvia: Then we can stick the extra stuff in the freezer. I haven't cooked in almost a month!
Knut: Uh-oh...
Sylvia: What??
Knut: You've forgotten how.
Sylvia: I have NOT! Just taste a doughnut.
Knut: Mwahaha! It worked! *grabs a doughnut and runs away*
Sylvia: ...I think that was a compliment!

Cecily: The Great Sylvia made a mistake? :O

Cecily: I like to simultaneously burst into song and dance.
Sylvia: ...Okay...
Cecily: Wait, what does simultaneously mean? Just making sure...
Sylvia: Not what you're using it for.
Cecily: Wait, WHY did I say that!? That was dumb; I meant spontaneously...

Cecily: I was going to laugh at something, but then I forgot what it was...

In Florida...

John: So if the house was flipped over...
Camryn: We would fall to our deaths on the ceiling. 

Sloan: I feel like a banana.
Cecily: Well, I feel like a European Marshmallow. 

Cecily: I FOUND MY BRAIN!!!

Mom: So... beginning on day 1 of school, I'm messing up my lovely schedule because of that field trip tomorrow.

Sylvia: It's the second day of school and I'm already two weeks behind- figure that out for me!

Sylvia: I hope you're not running with a knife in your hand.
Knut: Well... yes I was. But it was a very blunt knife, only good for cutting bread. Except in case of emergencies.

Mom: See these little verbals? They're very cute, aren't they?

Grandma: So did anybody learn anything today?
Knut: I did! I learned that an electric chair takes 1,500 volts of electricity.
(A long time and lots of discussion later...)
Knut: The things we talk about over the  dinner table...
Grandpa: Who started this discussion, anyway?
Grandma: I did; I asked if anyone learned anything today.

Knut: I went into FLL to play with Legos and came out a lawyer!

Mom: Je ne parle pas. I don't speak. *stares at Cecily and Thor* Je ne parle rien. I say nothing. Je ne parle jamais. I never speak.

Florida Vacation, Day 6 (Everyone)

Uncle Travis had things perfectly planned out on Friday morning! The dads would leave at 6:30, go pick up the TeenPacters, and be back in time to meet the ladies and kids at the river where we were going to go tubing at 12:45. The ladies would leave later in the morning, pick up a couple tire rims for the van from a junkyard, and meet the dads and TeenPacters at the tubing place at 11:45.  Uncle Travis was quite insistent that they not be late; he really didn't want to have to wait around for them! 

No one saw any problem with this plan... 

The TeenPacters spent the morning taking pictures...

Thanking staffers...

Eating breakfast...

Taking more pictures...

Playing Four-Square...

Watching the washing of watermelons...

Signing t-shirts...

Dodging the staffers' volleys of water balloons...

Being greatly entertained by the staffers chasing each other with water balloons...

Watching broomstick sword fighting...

Playing Four-Square with the president...

The dads left at 6:30 to pick up the TeenPacters, arrived at the camp and picked up the four teens, and were back on the road by about 10:00.  Everything was going just fine!

Papa telling one of the staff moms about a Constitution video series we've been watching that ties in really well with TeenPact's mission

In the meantime, the ladies' day wasn't going quite so smoothly.  They loaded up all the kids/towels/swimsuits/lunch/etc and went to pick up the tire rims.  They had some trouble finding the place, but eventually they accomplished their mission and were on the road... the one problem was that they had the wrong address entered into the GPS.  They soon figured out that something was wrong when they were on a tiny back road with a 30 mph speed limit.  Mom called Papa.  As she was on the phone with him, he suddenly heard, "Uh-oh; I have to go... we're getting pulled over by the police."  Needless to say, this wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear!

The ladies had quite some adventures. Mom, distracted by trying to call Papa and figure out where she was going, had been driving over 30 mph.  However, the policeman had noticed the maps, GPS's, etc. and was very understanding.  He tried giving them directions, but when that failed, he told them to follow him, and led them right to their destination in time to meet the dads and TeenPacters at 11:45.  They were even there two minutes early, and high-fived each other at their punctuality, thinking how pleased the dads would be with them.

As for the dads and TeenPacters, they arrived right on time: 12:45 on the dot! 

...That's when they realized that 12:45 and 11:45 aren't at the same time. 

Oops... ;) 

:)

Bjorn with his tube

After tubing, we went to swim at a place about 10 minutes away.  The water was COLD, so several of us played Ninja instead.

Camryn and Sloan

Margaret and her littles

Camryn

After swimming, we went to get pizza...

And then most of the gang went to Wal Mart to get the rims put on the van while the other car with the TeenPacters, Uncle Travis, Ethan, and Isaac went home.

The gang spent a LOONNGG time at Wal Mart... 

When they finally returned home, it was time for games and ice cream!

Bjorn and Freda

Chess and Pinochle

We left at about 8:00 the next morning and arrived home late last night. Praise God for safe travels and a stupendous vacation!

Florida Vacation, Day 5 (the Family)

All I know about this day is what I can figure out from the pictures... :P 

Playing at the community playground

Rosemary and Isaac "playing Risk"

The boys in the game room

Sloan and Gloria "sleeping" in their fort

Gloria in the fort

The TeenPacters' Day

Florida Vacation, Day 5 (TeenPact Congress)

The dining hall was really empty at 5:30 a.m...

Sunrise

The majority and minority leaders called a caucus meeting at the beginning of the day to let us know which bills the leaders of our respective parties wanted to pass. The Justice party wanted to push the "Iran bill"... one that would put sanctions on Iran and support Israel in any measures they might take against Iran. 

Anna Leigh speaking on her bill 

Reporters 

In the afternoon, we had to adjourn sine die. :(  *sigh* The travesty of it... :(

However, we did have a bill signing ceremony by the president!  Nine bills passed out of both the House and the Senate:
ECC002, The Immigration Reform Act (more border security)
ECC004, The Cellular Communication Protection Act (prevented wireless providers from giving information to government agencies without proper warrants)
ECC007, the Ammunition Management for More Obtainability Act (prevented government agencies from buying excessive amounts of ammo, keeping them from exercising indirect gun control)
ECC015, the National Debt Relief Act (abolished several unconstitutional, expensive, and unnecessary federal departments, required a balanced budget, required 50% of federal spending to go toward paying off the national debt, and stopped several other unnecessary government expenditures)
FBC009, the Freedom to Fish Act (abolished the restriction of fishing areas)
FBC011, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (stopped federal funding of abortion or healthcare that includes abortion)
WMC002, the Military Construction Act (granted money to the Dept. of Defense to meet its needs)
WMC008, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act (required "an audit of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System")
WMC009, the Federal Reserve Independence Act (amended to dissolve the Federal Reserve within 10 years)

All nine were signed by the president.

President Campbell spoke on each bill, explaining briefly why he felt it was important and so was willing to sign it. Then he called the sponsors up to his desk, shook their hands and congratulated then, and signed the bill into law. 

After the bill signing ceremony, there was another press conference.

The president answering questions

That evening, the staffers prepared a banquet in the dining hall.  Everyone was banned from entering until they had decorated the room. 

Random photos from waiting outside the dining hall...

The evening session that night was... awesome.


The rest of the family's day

Florida Vacation, Day 4 (TeenPact Congress)

Wednesday was a half day at the Capitol; we went back to camp for lunch and remained at camp for the rest of the day.

Loading the buses

Anna and Camryn reading the morning newspaper: one of the duties of the team of reporters was to write and print a newspaper each day. It included articles on specific bills that were coming up in the House and/or Senate, a "thought of the day," an "um count" for the Speaker of the House and President of Senate, happenings of the previous day, etc. The reporters did a great job!

In the bus on the way to the Capitol 

The entire House of Representatives, plus random Senators in the back seats, gathered for morning worship

Sarah, a girl that Camryn and I met at the Illinois state class

Camryn and Ally

Camryn's and my ideas for the photo caption contest... lots of inside jokes from TeenPact state classes and earlier in the week of Congress. ;) 

The lobbyists hosted an "Advocacy Hour" after the legislative sessions that morning. It was a time for senators and representatives to talk to the lobbyists, clarify points of confusion about specific bills, and discuss the good and bad points of the pieces of legislation.

One of the invitations that were on each desk that morning

The lunch room set up for Advocacy Hour

Many of the lobbyists had made posters either before coming or during the week, and these were posted all over the room. 

Staffers serving punch

Discussions

One of the posters...

Skylar really worked hard and did a LOT of preparation! She had posters, business cards, and was very well researched in everything she was lobbying. 

Skylar talking to a legislator

Representative Cockroft speaking at Advocacy Hour

By the time we got on the buses to head back to camp for lunch, it had started raining.  The staffers had planned an outdoor activity, and since there was lightning along with the rain, their plans were somewhat messed up.  However, they, being the stupendous people that they were, quickly came up with a backup plan: a giant game of "Do You Love Your Neighbor" in the dining hall!  Later in the afternoon, the lightning stopped, so we were able to go outside and play as the staffers had originally intended.

It was a relay race: we were split into eight teams and had to run, 2-3 people at a time, across the Ultimate Frisbee field, position ourselves to make one letter/number to spell out "TeenPact Congress 2013," and run back.  Camryn's and my team was either first or second; we're not sure which.  Anyway, the top four teams then had to choose one member to compete for them in the next competition... however, we weren't told what exactly that competition was until we had chosen.  When the four team representatives were picked, their challenge was announced: the classic "dig through the whipped cream in the pie pan to find as many gummy worms as possible and move them to the plate using only your mouth."  The results, along with a photo, appeared in the next day's paper:

After that utterly exciting and entertaining competition, we were released for free time before dinner.

Cara swinging on the monkey bars

Ultimate Frisbee

Talking

Volleyball

Cara, Camryn, Jacquelin, and Lillie Ann

That evening, we had a surprise... the TeenPact President, McBryde Campbell, (elected at National Convention earlier this year) had driven out just to be present at the final day of TeenPact Congress!

After the evening session, we were honored to observe a flag retirement ceremony.  The staffers had prepared a worn American flag, a campfire, and everything else that was needed.  It was really amazing to be a part of, and very thought-provoking...


The rest of the family's day