guess who? by Mary

Camping at Cloudland Canyon by Susie

As you may know by now, Zeglen camping trips are most interesting and often rather humorous. This last one was no exception.

On Friday, April 17th, Dad and Susie went to the Cloudland Canyon campground to scout out campsites. They succeeded in securing 2 campsites convenietly located adjacent to one another and only about 20 ft. away from the bath house. Two very important qualities, to be sure. :)

Friday evening the Ruffs arrived. YAY!! We set up camp and explored the campground. We discovered a plastic playground that could fit in our garage. We had a very entertaining time climbing all over it.

On Saturday morning we had eggs, cinnamon rolls, muffins, and coffee for breakfast. Then, as the dads pored over the list of facilities and activities within the campground, they decided to check out the disc golf course. On the map, it appeared to be a short walk up to the course; however, as the scouting party set out, they discovered that it was, in fact, a rather long walk straight uphill. (We later measured it to be about a mile.). When we were almost there (we couldn't tell we were almost there, but we were) Uncle T observed that it may be a while before we actually got there, so he returned down the hill and retrieved the van to carry us the rest of the way. Now, of course, by the time he got back with the van and we had all clambered in, we were only a few yards away from the golf course. Go figure. We checked it out and then returned to our campsites to eat sandwiches and chips for lunch.

Upon second perusal of the brochure, it was discovered that there was a class thingy for disc golf at 6 p.m. We decided we would try that later. We also discovered that there was a (guided) waterfall hike that started in about five minutes. We hurried to the starting place and were only a few minutes late. We proceeded on the hike which involved a lot of rocks and about 500 stairs.

When we returned to the campsite, we decided that we didn't want to wait until 6 o'clock to do disc golf. We set out for the course again (this time in the van) and played the course by ourselves with discs we had borrowed from some friends who went to our church. We had a great time and got lots of sunburn and pollen ingestion.

Back at the campsite, we found out that it was a 100% chance of rain that night. We decided to move into the Zeglen house for the night to avoid the downpour. Aunt and Uncle Ruff stayed with their camper for the night, but everyone else packed up and adjourned to our lovely dwelling. Sunday morning we ate breakfast, packed up again, went to McKays, and felt guilty for missing church. Then we had lunch at Cracker Barrel (somewhat of a camping tradition) and then *sob* said good-bye to the Ruffs. We were crazy, (come on, this is us) and had tons of fun. Here are some pics to prove it.

Disc Golf:

More Disc Golf:

Hike:

Moving into the Zeglens:

Texas trip April 2009 by Mary

April 23-28 we had a very fun trip to Texas to watch Steve graduate from Security Forces training.





Day 1. Driving, driving, and more driving.

Day 2. Go to graduation, eat at Cracker Barrel, crash at the hotel.

Day 3. Driving to Port Aransas (which included taking a ferry to go to the island); looking for a place to spend the night since the hotel we were planning on was booked!

Day 4. Going to the beach and pool, getting sunburned, leaving the beach and staying the night at the Embassy Suites.

Day 5. Seeing the Alamo, watching it rain (which messed up our afternoon plans because we were going to go canoeing and play Peter Pan putt-putt!), going to see "The Race to Witch Mountain," driving to Dallas, and staying at the Hilton Anatole (we got to stay at this fancy hotel because we got a discount rate from Emily Tramuto who went to Peru with Steve and Dad).

Day 6. Driving home

by Mary

a little bit late, but...

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Susie,
Happy Birthday to you!

And many more...

Yes, someone turned 13 on April 1st. We celebrated with burgers and a Dairy Queen chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream cake. Yum! Susie got some fun presents, including birthday money from Mom and Dad that she used to buy a schnazzy camera! Happy Birthday, Susie!

The Silver Certificate by Sarah

Written in November

Last Saturday, after waiting for three painfully long weeks, I received the Silver Certificate for the Congressional Award. The Silver Certificate is the second of six awards given when you have set and completed goals in four different areas. The four different areas are: personal development, voluntary service, physical fitness, and exploration or expedition. For each level you set new goals and put in a certain amount of hours. For the physical fitness goal I trained to run a 10k in less than 60 minutes. On June 14th I successfully reached my goal with a time of 58:14. For the voluntary service I volunteered at the Ooltewah Collegedale library. For the personal development I attended a girls' Civil War camp where I sewed a Civil War era skirt, petticoat, hoopskirt, and slat bonnet. I learned several Civil War period dances. It was a lot of fun. For the Expedition I got to wear my Civil War clothes and assist in the dance exhibition for the 145th anniversary Battle of Chickamauga Reenactment in Chattanooga.

Hiking by Sarah

The Zeglens have posted!!!!!!!!! Gasps are heard around the world.

This past month Susie, Mary, and Mom accompanied Sarah in doing three separate six to eight hour hikes at the Chickamauga Battlefield. Yes, by the time we got to the last hike we were ready for them to be done. For the first hike we started out at 1:30 on a lovely Friday afternoon. In order to do six hours we had to hike until 7:30. It got dark around 6:00, so we were going to have to hike an hour and a half in the dark. We had counted on it getting dark so we were well prepared with flashlights, pepper spray, whistles, and a very excited Susie. (She was looking forward to hiking in the dark.) Unfortunately we were not totally prepared for the creepiness of walking on a deserted battlefield in the dark. It was not a very pleasant feeling, and I am never planning on hiking in the dark again. On the second hike we got to use a compass which was very exciting until we got lost within the first 15 minutes. Eventually we got our bearings and successfully finished the hike without any more incidents. On the last hike Mom came with us for the last two hours. She was fully equipped with her hot coffee and her very important toilet paper. Unfortunately, she forgot that she was carrying the roll of toilet paper when she waved to some (amused) people walking by. After that she decided to put the toilet paper somewhere less obvious. The hikes were very fun and exciting and the Zeglen girls now know every rock, trail, and monument at the Chickamauga Battlefield.

Here is a sampling of the many pictures taken by Mary

The great map debates

Our Valentine's Day by Mary

We had a great Valentine's Day with Kevin. He came down from Knoxville and went with us to basketball games and Dairy Queen for lunch and blizzards. After lunch he took a nap while some of the kiddos shot hoops outside in our driveway. He got up and played Blokus and then we had a delicious crepe dinner. Our crepe dinner consisted of chicken crepes and dessert crepes (crepes with ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate chips, etc,.). We had fun all day, but unfortunately Kevin had to leave early that night.

Here are some pictures from our Valentine's Day -

The Hike To End All Hikes: by Susie

On Friday, January 23rd, Sarah, Mary, and myself (Susie) went hiking yet again at the Chickamauga Battlefield. It was most interesting. It didn’t get too exciting until near the end when it got dark. But I’m getting ahead of myself. We had had a friend over that morning and once she left we had lunch, packed our bags, and headed out. We got there at approx. 1:30 p.m. At first, it was very windy/blustery and overcast. Once we got in the woods, however, the wind died down. It was kind of creepy because you could hear the wind whistling through the treetops above you and, since it was winter, there weren’t any birds singing and all the trees and grass were dead. Creepy. We went along uneventfully for about 4 hours. The only slightly interesting thing we discovered was that whoever measured the battlefield must have believed in approximation, because there is no way that was only a 10-mile hike. We gauged it to be somewhere between 13.5 and 16.5 miles. Not 10. Anyway, at sunset we emerged from the woods momentarily into a big field. In the middle of the field was a big group of deer having dinner. Mary took some pretty cool pictures. All in all, the 6 hour hike went well. The worst part (for some people, anyway) was having to hike 1 ½ hours in the dark. As I said, I thought it was GREAT!!!!! Here are some pics:

Aren't we cute?

Really confusing directions.

A cornfield inside a battlefield. Hmm....

A post!!! by Mary

We haven't posted in awhile because we have been super busy with life. I am writing now to give you a brief update on things that have happened since we last posted...with pictures, of course:-)

While Stephen was in town Dad, Steve,

Susie, Peter and Kathy went shooting.

Kevin carrying all of the kids except for the photographer ;-).
The Christmas lights at Rock City with friends.

Kidnapping Dad to the Ruffs for the weekend.

Those are a couple of things we did recently. We loved having Stephen for 10 days over the holidays and Kevin for 2! We don't get to see them enough :-(. We will try not to let 2 MONTHS pass before posting again!

Woe to the Zeglens by Sarah

As Thanksgiving approaches, I have suddenly realized what a dismal prospect it is going to be this year. It has taken my slow brain a couple of months to realize that this year one vital member of the Zeglen family will not be joining the rest of us for Thanksgiving. For the first time in 22 years (almost 23) Stephen Zeglen will not be here for Thanksgiving. I don’t know how we will manage without him this year. It will not be nearly as exciting and enjoyable with Stephens’s absence. We will miss him greatly.

Eric Liddell Rocks by Sarah

I recently finished reading a great biography on Eric Liddell: Pure Gold. Of all the biographies I have read on him this one surpasses them all. Through the inspirational movie “Chariots of Fire” many people know a little bit about the famous Scottish runner who ran for the gold medal in the 1924 Olympic Games. The movie only provides a small glimpse of the man Eric Liddell really was. In Pure Gold you get to discover the real Eric Liddell, the man who gave up his athletic career to go where God was calling him. I love how this book does not totally focus on Eric’s athletic achievements but rather his mission in China. In all that he did with his life, Eric Liddell strived to honor God with everything he did.

This was one of the best biographies I have read on anyone. I highly recommend it.

Birthday Surprise by Mary

Dad's 29th birthday was November 1st and, for his birthday gift, the 3 oldest girls planned a surprise. The Saturday after Dad's birthday, Mom sent him out to drop Peter off at Lego League and then go to the nearby Wal-Mart. About 1:00 p.m. Dad started shopping, and we planned to surprise him at Wal-Mart around 1:30 p.m. After we arrived at Wal-Mart, Mom called Dad and asked where he was on his shopping list (so that we could find him in the store and kidnap him). We found Dad in the electronics section facing away from us. We snuck up behind him and tapped him on the back. He turned around and he saw 3 girls holding homemade FBI identifications. We asked him to come with us and, after loading mulch into the car, we told him to get on the interstate going toward home. On the way to our destination, Susie played "High School Musical" music in the car. We directed Dad to the Rave movie theater and he dropped me off to purchase our tickets. He was convinced that we were seeing HSM3, but we told him that
we weren't. After we took some pictures in front of the Madagascar 2 posters, we covered his eyes and took him into the movie room. While we were waiting for our feature presentation, Sarah and I bought Raisenets (Dad's favorite candy) at the concession stand. Dad was right about what movie we went to see - High School Musical 3 Senior Year. After the movie, we went over to DQ and got some dinner and blizzards. After we had stuffed ourselves with ice cream, we went to Wal-Mart again to buy the HSM3 soundtrack :-).
The End...until next year

Fireproof Review by Susie

Fireproof: A Must See Movie

Sunday evening, October 26th, we went to see Fireproof at the Rave Theater. It was EXCELLENT!!! We can't recommend it more highly. "Wait," you might be thinking, "Why is this a 'Must See' movie? How can it be that good? Wasn't it a low-budget Christian movie" Even though it was a low-budget Christian movie, it had an exceptional message that was communicated very well.

Book Reviews by Sarah

As the official book reviewer for the Zeglen blog, I’m going to start off with a new favorite author whose books I recently started reading.

In the past few weeks I have gotten Mom hooked on reading Randy Alcorn’s books. Currently we are reading his Ollie Chandler series: Deadline, Dominion, and Deception. Each book has great character development along with ideas about what heaven and hell will be like. In Deadline we meet three men who are in a car accident. One ends up in heaven, the other in hell, and the third wondering why he is alive and what happens after you die. Dominion begins with a senseless murder plunging the main character into a desperate hunt to find answers to this violence and to his own struggles with race and faith. I especially love how each of Randy Alcorn’s books pictures what heaven might be like.

NOTE: I have not read the final book: Deception. I gave it to Mom as her birthday gift and am eagerly waiting to read it.

Randy Alcorn also has two other exceptional fiction books: Lord Foulgrin’s Letters and The Ishbane Conspiracy. Both of these books are like modern day Screwtape Letters. In Lord Foulgrin’s Letters there is a demon writing to another demon telling him how to win a certain man and his family to the demons’ side. Interwoven in the letters there is the story of a man struggling to find answers to what he is supposed to do with his life. The Ishbane Conspiracy is about four teenagers who are being attacked by demons. Both books are incredibly well done.

Randy Alcorn is also well known for his non-fiction books. Currently we are reading through The Treasure Principle in family devotions. The theme of The Treasure Principle is, “You can’t take it with you – but you can send it on ahead.”

All of Randy Alcorn’s books are thought provoking and inspiring. I highly recommend reading them.

The newly appointed book reviewer by "The Committee"

The Zeglens have decided that the blog would benefit from a book reviewer. After some consideration and thought, the committee has nominated Sarah Zeglen to be the official book reviewer for the Zeglen Blog. The committee has found Sarah fully certified for the job as she has read many books in her lifetime. Her job as book reviewer will be to write reviews for our readers on a variety of books that she has read. We hope that you will benefit from these reviews.


Sincerely,
The Committee

Surprises by Sarah

My 16th birthday was the birthday of surprises for me. It was quite fun.

The first surprise was a surprise birthday party while we were camping with our friends the Ruffs. I was sent out on a long walk with Taylor. When we returned everyone else was stuffed into the Ruffs’ little camper singing "Happy Birthday." They all had part of a sign that read “Happy 16th Birthday, Sarah.” I loved celebrating my birthday with such fun friends. It was very special.

The second surprise came the day after my birthday. While I was out shopping with Grandma everyone at home was busy preparing a WHITE birthday dinner for me. The meal consisted of chicken fettuccine, white rice, potatoes, and breadsticks. For dessert they prepared a Krispy Kreme doughnut cake. It was my dream birthday meal.

The final surprise came the next morning. Three of the girls had orthodontist appointments in Atlanta. The plan was to have all of the girls go down and make it a girl date by hitting the clothing outlets in Calhoun. After the appointment I thought we were proceeding to the outlets. Instead I was pleasantly surprised when we stopped at a tea room in Atlanta. This was the same tea room Mom took me to last year for my 15th birthday. It was very fun going back.


That ended the surprises for my 16th Birthday. I will have to be on the lookout for next year.

High School Musical by Mary

Recently, the three oldest girls and Dad went to see High School Musical at the Chattanooga Theatre Center. We went mainly to see two of our friends who were acting in it. The show was very fun and we got discount tickets from our friends. Here is a picture of us with Cara (left) and Jamie (right)

.

Camping with buds by Mary

Since I never write posts without pictures, here are some pics from when we went camping with the Ruffs -

We had a great time, especially with Sarah's surprise, coke bottle experiments and other fun stuff. I am sure you will hear many other stories from other Zeglen bloggers, but I would like to tell you about a couple things that I found quite memorable. The first night we were there, Sarah and Taylor had some fun with the flashlights. What kind of fun? Well, how does swallowing and throwing up light sound? I have videos from this trick, but I cannot figure out how to load videos on here. Very sad, I know. Another fun event is when we went to the overlook at the park and took a gazillion pictures! Over all in this entire trip, I took approx. 1000 pictures!!!! I know that sounds a bit ridiculous. Taylor and I are both making slideshows with pictures from the trip, and I may (if I figure out how) post my slideshow on the blog!!

Mentos by Susie

On Saturday, while we were camping with the Ruffs, Taylor suggested the brilliant plan of blowing up a 2-liter of Diet Coke with a package of Mentos. Everyone thought it was a great plan, and when we went to Wal-Mart later we bought Diet Coke and looked all over for Mentos. They had Mentos gum, but that wouldn't work, so we high-tailed it over to a gas station and found Mentos there. Upon our return to the campsite, we put the Diet Coke in place and got ready to do our wonderful experiment. However, when we put the Mentos in, the bottle didn't blow up like we thought it would. None of us had ever done it before, so we didn't know exactly what to expect. Instead of "blowing up", it just spewed all the Diet Coke straight in the air in a foamy fountain form. After some debate, we decided that the reason it didn't really "blow up" was because we hadn't screwed the lid on all the way. So we went down to the camp store and bought two (expensive) 20 oz. bottles of Diet Coke. We still had enough Mentos to "blow up" both of them. Back at the campsite we tried it again, this time screwing the lid on all the way. We watched the foam build up, but it didn't blow up. Then we had to unscrew the lid, and it did it again. We tried one more time with the last Diet Coke bottle with similar results. Then the dads stepped in and said they could do it better. Uncle Theron put the last 2 Mentos in a Diet Pepsi bottle. (Since it wasn't Diet Coke, everyone doubted it would work.) However, it spewed the Diet Pepsi out just fine. It was really fun, and we ended up wishing Stephen and Kevin had been there to help us make more (somewhat destructive) experiments. We're looking forward to a potato gun next year. ;-)

The 145th Chickamauga National Reenactment by Sarah

The 145th Chickamauga National Reenactment took place near Chattanooga this weekend. The reenactment did not actually take place at the Chickamauga Battlefield. Instead it was held in Walker County on an 849 acre piece of historical land. The reenactment did not officially open to the public until Friday morning. I had the opportunity of being a volunteer for the dance exhibition for the two school days: Wednesday and Thursday. Being a volunteer meant I was in full Civil War period clothing. The volunteers' jobs were to take kids from the audience and demonstrate authentic period dances. We had about 15 minutes to teach school kids how to dance a Virginia Reel or a Pat-A-Cake Polka. It was quite an experience.
On Friday when the reenactment was opened to the public Vice President Dick Cheney came and spoke. The Vice President's Great Grandfather, Samuel Fletcher Cheney, fought in the battle of Chickamauga. Samuel Cheney was a Union lieutenant with the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry throughout the Civil War. During the Battle of Chickamauga Lt. Samuel Cheney was an aide to Third Brigade Commander Col. William Sirwell.
It was a small national reenactment, but still very exciting. I had a great time being there.