Moving Up: 6th Grade Adventures - 2006

From February 2006 at Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando . . . to 6th Grade Graduation . . . a second year at Camp Deerwood on Big Squam Lake in New Hampshire . . . to Boston in October and then a quick turn at the NASCAR wheel on Halloween . . . and a bit of Christmas cheer.

Mom and Greg with Shrek, not a bad guy for an ogre, and, right, Greg with the much friendlier Donkey.
	Above, Cinderella's Castle at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, and the Sorceror's Hat at Disney-MGM Studios. Left, Greg with Chip. Below left, Greg and Dad with Mickey Mouse, and, below right, Mom and Greg with Pluto. Below, one of Greg's old favorites at Disney-MGM, Star Tours. And below that, what was a brand-new ride at the time of this trip: Everest at Animal Kingdom. Absolutely fantastic.

Growing Pains, Deerwood, Boston
Above, the imaginary aftermath of Greg's first shave. Right, Greg's 2006 baseball card — he played second base for the Edgemont Yankees.
Above, left, Greg and his friends (from the left) Michael Airo, Ally Martin and Paul Murray, right after their Graduation ceremony from 6th Grade. Above and right, Greg and buddies celebrate his 12th birthday — his last as a pre-teen!

Greg returned to Camp Deerwood for his second year and had a great time. Above, brandishing his own personal oar in a moment of joy. Below left, a scenic interlude on Big Squam Lake, and below right, with his cabin counselors. Below those two photos, are shots of Greg's bunk and cabinmates doing Putting on the Ritz — the Ritz being the hotel their cabin was named after.

Visiting Boston, Greg and his parents took a Duck Tour before doing anything else. In World War II, the Allies needed to unload cargo directly over a beach. But how? The answer was a vehicle that was half boat and half truck that could run on land and water. Code-named DUKW (see where the Tour people get the name?), the first "DUCK" was actually a GMC truck enclosed in a water-tight shell. It wasn't long before DUKWs were playing a crucial role in the allied invasions in Sicily, the Pacific, and the biggest invasion of all, D-Day. In fact, more than 40% of all over-beach supplies in Normandy were transported by DUKWs during the first four months. Boston Duck Tours operates a fleet of restored World War II era DUKWs. When you’re on a Duck Tour, you're riding on a proud part of American history. And, as you can see from the pictures below, it's a great way to see Boston.
Our Duck takes to the water — the Charles River. Below, we passed other Ducks as we moved around town, here in front of the Massachusets State Capitol, historic Faneuil Hall, and along a scenic street in Boston.
Above right, Greg and his cousin Alex in the streets of North Boston, the Italian part of the city. By the looks of these two, you'd think they'd just shared cappucinos with their parents in a nearby cafe. Below left and right, Greg on the deck of the U.S.S. Constitution, known as "Old Ironsides." She is the oldest commissioned warship in the world, having been "owned and operated by the U.S. Navy since 1797." U.S.S. Constitution has a cumulative battle record of 33-0, unmatched by any warship in history. Below, Greg and Mom on the pier in front of "Old Ironsides" — her hull is made of live and white oak, and is up to 24-inches thick — so dense that cannonballs bounced off, giving her the nickname.
Above, Greg at Halloween as Ricky Bobby. Right, the original Ricky Bobby, nowhere near as cool as the G-Man.
Above, on a Christmas tree farm, about to cut down this year's tree.
Below left, at the St. James's Christmas Pageant, Greg as the Angel Gabriel tells Mary the good news that she's pregnant. Below right, Greg's Dad, the pageant director and prompter.
"Trust me, I'm an angel." "What did he say?!"