Hanover Living History Weekend 2006

We spent the hot and humid weekend in Hanover, Pa with the 1st Maryland Cavalry reenacting the battle of Hanover which actually occurred before Gettysburg and delayed General J.E.B Stuart from reaching Gettysburg until the 2nd day of the battle there. The Hospital in Hanover has begun this now annual weekend to benefit its programs. The Cavalry, Troopers and Artillery of our unit performed the battle for quite a lot of spectators on both Saturday and Sunday, and the Army Old Guard's Fife and Drum Corps performed twice on Saturday which was a fantastic treat. The city had a ladies tea for us as well as a dinner Saturday. Jon had to wear his hat all weekend because of his green hair until "one of the Moms" scalped him Sunday morning and now the green mohawk resides in a ziplock bag. The spectators also toured our camp and were treated to a mock trial for treason along with a mock execution after the trial, and the ladies put on a sketch for them as well prior to a night firing of 3 of the Mountain Howitzers. Mark was the one who was "Framed" for the event and I hear from our Chief of staff that there has been an appeal to President Davis that I get a widow's pension since he was the victim of the mock-execution. He ended up dying in battle both Saturday and Sunday and once during the execution so we think it would be a good idea to keep an eye on him so he breaks the habit in the coming days!
I had to add the pictures after the post was done as there were problems on the blogspot server today.
This one is me in front of the Revolving Battery Gun on Sunday after my migraine had gotten a bit better. Mark picked out the fabric for my skirt which goes so well with the red Garibaldi blouse that I made. I am in the colors of the artillary just like the red shirts that they wear.

My unexpectedly emotional weekend

In true Jonathan style, my baby boy called me Friday afternoon to say "guess what?". By 4pm on Saturday I took this picture at the Military Entrance Processing Center, he'd decided to join the Army. While I know that going into the military is what he wants, and he did get a great job which should keep him behind harm's way at least a little bit (Aircraft electronics and electrical), I'm still a Mom, so I've been emotional on and off since it sunk in. I'd known since High School that he was thinking of it, he'd gone to a Millitary program to finish High School and really enjoyed it, and he had talked to my Father-in-Law who's a retired Lt. Col. about it, so it wasn't a complete surprise. I had just said to him last week that I wanted to get a picture of his Green Mohawk before it faded or got shaved for my blog, I just didn't realize that I was going to be sharing this picture of it! Mark and I took Jon's girlfriend, Laura, and his Scoutmaster, Mr. Charlie with us to the center to wait for 5 hours so we could see him sworn in. It was worth every minute to be able to share in this momentus moment in his (and our) life.

The 2006 Bix7 Race

These are just a few of the pictures I took of the race in Davenport, Iowa that Mark ran in. Jon and I were there to cheer him on and enjoy the folks that had participated n Costumes! We're planning on going next year. Mark finished really well, and survived the 2 big hills on this 7 mile course with no problems at all! We had a fantastic time and a great weekend visiting. :)

Half-Thanksgiving Visit.

Our family used to celebrate "Half-Birthdays" because both kids' B-days were right around the holiday season. We always said Happy Half Birthday to them. So this visit to Hubby's Mom and Dad's was our Half-Thanksgiving. We plan on trying to make it an annual journey because going home once a year just isn't enough. :)We had a wonderful dinner on Saturday night with even more loved relatives, it was fantastic and worth every moment of the drive!Here's Nanny making Mark's favorite Potato Salad in her new kitchen at the New House. Of course, it has NO eggs in it because although he loves the potato salad (it is truly the best I've ever had), Mark doesn't like eggs.
Here's Poppa sitting in the Kitchen at the Breakfast Bar in the new house. The house is beautiful and they've done a fantastic job decorating it and making it feel like home.
Jonathan was able to fly in Friday night as he had to work Thursday and Friday while Mark and I were driving in. His very kind Auntie Lisa picked him up from Ohare and brought him all the way to Moline with her as he wouldn't have gotten on the flights to MLI due to some weather problems the day before. That's Jon still in his suit from the flight and Aunt Lisa sitting next to him with Ellen on her other side.
These are my two very favorite nieces from Chicago, Sarah and Ellen. I don't know for sure, but I hear that Sarah had something to do with Jon's newly green hair, and I'm sure that Ellen helped, or at least urged him on. :)
Here's Allison, who has made the Alleman High Freshman/Sophomore cheerleading squad. She was so kind to put on her uniform so that I could take pictures of her. She had cheerleading camp last week so she had her uniform with her when Poppa picked her up. I didn't get a picture of her sister and brother, we'll leave it for another blog entry.
And here is the real King of the house, Bandit. He's asleep on a chair waiting for Nanny and Poppa to come home so he'll get extra loving. We plan on making the running of the Bix an annual trek for at least Mark and me. I'll have pictures of the race up shortly.