Cute Kid Pix August 2026

More photos that didn't make their own post...

Our son played in his first chess tournament. He was nervous but excited. He wound up with three wins and one loss, so that was encouraging. Since it was his first tournament, he was in the "unranked" group for his age. He is interested in going to another one.

Contemplating his first move

At home, we introduced our godson and his brother to Gizmos, a fun tableau-building game where players are making a Rube Goldberg device to win a science fair. 

Contemplating my next move

We went out to lunch with some visiting friends but forgot to take a picture with them at the restaurant. We exchanged photos via cell phone.

Our half of the photo exchange

Our daughter went to visit her grandparents in Minnesota. They had her working on a deck out in the woods. With enough work, it will be a tree house, though that will require a few more trips.

Working in the projects

Our dance studio, That's Dancing, had a 1980s dance, so we dressed up a bit.

Not too dressed up

Our son had a birthday outing at Urban Air, an indoor trampoline and adventure park. One of their favorite things was the battle pit, with a narrow beam on which competitors fight it out. 

Ready to challenge the champ

Blocking

The climbing area was also very popular.

So many choices

He makes it to the top

A close up so you can see him

Going down is easier

High ropes action

Spider-time

Jump and duck activity

Back home, we had some more celebrating. One of his presents was a Super Mario Chess Set, which was fun to play with. Fortunately the pieces are labeled with which chess piece they are, so you don't accidentally play Peach as a queen. For some reason, Mario is the king and Luigi is the queen, not Peach. Peach is a bishop, which is also weird. At least Yoshi is the knight!

Contemplating his next move

I was running errands and ran in to the BWI Airport to get a virtual geocache. I've been meaning to get it done every time we go to the airport, but we are always in a rush to get through security or to get home. The blue crab is a Maryland mascot and the sculpture has been there for a long time.

Glass sculpture and me

Carrollton Hall, Maryland

To commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776, Carrollton Hall in Ellicott City, Maryland, had an open house and cookout. The Declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776, by the Second Continental Congress but signatures did not go on until August. Charles Carroll of Carrollton was one of the four signers from Maryland. He was also the only Catholic to sign and he lived the longest of any of the signers, dying in 1832.

Carrollton Hall was constructed from 1831 to 1833, so he did not live to see it completed. He did not even plan to live in the house. The area was called Folly Farm, owned by Charles Carroll, who gave it to his granddaughter Emily Caton McTavish in 1831 when she married. Grandpa financed the building of the hall, an extra gift to the young couple. The hall and farm remained in the family until it was sold during the American Civil War to Charles Dougherty. The land went through a number of owners, eventually being sold to the Franciscan Friars Conventual who built the Shrine of Saint Anthony, a friary right next to the hall, in 1928. Only recently has the house been restored enough to be rented out for business meetings or retreats. And for public tours, which we took advantage of.

The day we visited was rainy which made the grilling even more smoky than it otherwise would be. The house looks a bit fog-covered but it's really smoke from the cooks in the back yard.

Carrollton Hall exterior

The house follows the Greek Revival style inside and out, with spacious rooms and amazing views off the "back porch."

Main hall

One of the many fireplaces

A map displays the plan of Folly Farm with the hall taking up only a very small part of the land. 

Plan for Carrollton Hall

The first floor has rooms on each side of the main hall. The pair of left-side rooms have a very wide doorway, allowing larger gatherings. 

Another fireplace

Looking from the front room into the back room

Fancy marble fireplace

View of the back lawn from inside

The back of the house

View from the back porch

The food was supposed to be served outdoors but the rain ruined that plan. We were lucky enough to get in the food line before it became very long. We enjoyed our burgers, fruit salad, and mac and cheese on the back porch. Some people took their food inside.

We saw the food line from the dryness of the porch

Back inside, we were able to go upstairs and see some more rooms. None of the original furnishings are there, resulting in some interesting items that surely were not owned by the McTavishes. 

The stairs

A bit of art

The top of the stairs has a small cupola to let light in.

Two light sources (and a wet camera)

The rest of the room

One room is set up for board meetings, including a monitor.

One of the upstairs rooms

The room's fireplace

A central room overlooking the back lawn is set up for a more causal meeting, decorated with a fancy chess set.

A more casual space

The kind of chess board you want to show off

Hard to get a good close up of the pieces

Yet another fireplace

Our visit was pretty short but enjoyable. 

BSA Summer Camp 2026

My youngest son went on his first summer camp with his Scouting BSA troop. I went as an adult leader to help supervise and keep things organized (and have a little bit of fun too). We went to Broadcreek Memorial Scout Reservation. The reservation is divided into three different camps. Ours was Camp Saffran, also home of one of the lodges for the Order of the Arrow.

Camp Saffran welcomes you!

We had a typical camp site with a bunch of tents. The site (called "Conowingo") also has a cabin with a kitchen, tables, and bunk beds. The scouts all slept in tents. The adults had the choice of tent or cabin. I opted for the cabin. 

View of tents from cabin

The cabin had a little more temperature control than the tents. The first night's temperatures fell into the 50s so the tent people woke up cold. The cabin didn't get as chilly. Later in the week the daytime temperatures skyrocketed into the high 90s and low 100s, turn the tents and cabin into ovens. The tents cooled off more quickly at night. I never slept inside my sleeping bag (on the bunk bed) after the first night. The cabin retained too much heat! One ceiling fan and open windows did not provide enough circulation to make it comfortable for sleeping.

The camp ran the usual schedule. Morning and evening flag ceremonies were followed by breakfast and dinner, respectively. Announcements were made after the flag ceremonies and after lunch. Our scouts participated in one of the evening flag ceremonies, retiring the colors for the night. That happened later in the week, so the scouts were not required to wear Class A uniforms--the brown shirts and green pants that can get warm. Class B involves wearing a more casual Scout shirt, typically a t-shirt with the troop information or from a summer camp or other Scout activity. 

Refreshing on what to do for the flags

About to lower the flags

The flags were at half-mast while we were there to commemorate the death of U. S. Senator Lindsey Graham. 

The troop usually brought its own flag to the ceremonies. A scout then had to carry it to the meal. Hopefully someone would remember to take it back to the camp site at night.

My son with his troop flag

The camp director presided at the flag ceremonies, though she was open enough to allow for troops to do silly things when they reported their status. The typical report would be, "Troop 1250, Conwingo, reporting all present and accounted for, ma'am." A humorous one would substitute something, like "...reporting all present and happy as ducks," with the scouts quacking like ducks. Once, our Senior Patrol Leader (the scout in charge of the troop) traded duties with the camp director, leaving the director holding our flag while the SPL finished the roll call.

Promotion or demotion?

One of the big things at summer camp is working on merit badges. My son took the classes for First Aid, Communications, and Camping. The Communications badge requires participation in a debate, which happened after dinner one night, so I attended. They debated whether the water front or the pool was a better location for aquatic activities.

My son makes a point in favor of the water front

The camp grounds includes a climbing tower, a rifle range, an archery range, and a shotgun range so scouts can work on badges which they may not have the resources for back at the troop's sponsoring organization.

Climbing tower

Those locations also had "open hours" during the week where anybody could come, though priority was given to scouts working on merit badges who needed to make certain achievements that they didn't have time or the practice to complete during class. I went to the archery range to try it out. Archery is fun but not a core skill of mine. 

Bow and quiver of arrows

My first set five arrows (only 4 hit the target)

My second set of arrows (still only 4 in the target!)

I also did the "polar plunge" at the pool. A couple of mornings the pool was open before breakfast for early risers. Morning flags were at 7:45 and the pool was open from 6 to 7 a.m. The pool water was already quite warm, like high 70s or low 80s, so the morning air temperature the first morning was colder than the water! Maybe it was more of a "safari swim" than a "polar plunge."

The food was typical for camp. That's not the focus of the week, so they provided just the basics. The camp counselors would form up by the lines of waiting diners (sometimes long lines) and sing camp songs while the campers waited to get their food. 

Pasta and meatballs with sauce only on the meatballs!

Pulled pork sandwich with 4 fries (but also ice cream)

The camp didn't restrict its activities to the scouts. Some classes were offered for adults. I took IOLS, Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills. First Aid was also available. Two social events happened too. First was a "beer and brats" afternoon gathering where the chief executive for Broadcreek gave us a pitch to come help out or donate. He also asked for feedback on the campgrounds and the program. 

The beer they served with the brats

Later in the week, they had an root beer float social which was supposed to be followed by a belly flop contest at the pool. By that point the temperature had gotten too high and the smoke from Canadian wildfires had come too far south for the contest to be held.

The other beer on offer

Thursday, the smoke from Canada descended on the camp, making the sky hazy and the air less than ideal. The early sun looked red in the sky, almost as if we were camping on Krypton. A lot of scouts left early to avoid the hazardous heat and air, including about half our troop.

The haze over another campground

I was lucky enough (or vigilant enough with bug spray) not to get any ticks on me. I did catch one crawling up my leg before it put the bite on me. I plucked it off and tossed it away. I guess I should have killed it. Our campground had a lot of insect visitors, including this lunar moth. 

On the white board

The campout was a great experience and I would definitely go again, though the troop tends to rotate through other campgrounds. Look forward to a report from next year, dear reader!