Camping......5 miles from home. Raquay Holland

I just went to an aviation campout. Coming to this campout made me realize that we needed some more Deacons. There were only 3 other Deacons that came to the campout. It took us a bit longer to get to the desired location, because the campsite was different from last year! Anyways, we got there and I got my stuff in the tent. For dinner, we had cheeseburgers, without just heating up some patties. We actually made patties, using ground beef and flattening it. I think we should have gotten more ground beef, since everyone could only have one. It was pretty uneventful, even for a Friday night, so what we basically did was just go to bed. The next morning, as usual, I was the earliest riser. My feet were definitely icicles. (Probably because I just slept ON the sleeping bag, not IN.) We had biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast. We had to walk 3/4 of a mile to go to the flag raising. The first thing we did was a flight simulator. I thought the flight simulator was going to be EPIC. Not really. All we did was just play some boring R/C simulator on a laptop, with an R/C controller. Whoop-de-doo. Anyways, we went to a museum. It was mostly WWII things. I found a real life Thompson sub-machine gun. It's legal to use in the United States, you just need a license. At least, that's what I heard. We took some tours of some planes and a hangar. I walked probably a mile just to "fly" an R/C airplane. I had to wait like, half an hour with my ticket. It was hot, and I didn't feel like waiting in the heat just to fly some scale model of an aircraft. If I really wanted to do that, I would just buy one and fly it outside. Without waiting. All that happened next worth mentioning was that we had our usual lunch (PB&J with Cheese Puffs) and then we went home. 

I'm surprised Matt C. didn't come to this campout. He loves aviation. Matt D. came to this one, though. This was also the first campout I went to where Bro. Hudman didn't come. Tally pretty much took his place. 

How I spent my weekend by Raquay

Finally, I do something on a Friday night, which doesn't involve camping. I went to one of my friends's birthday  party, and I finally got to spend the night! I've been to his house for more than one year, for the same occasion, yet I haven't been able to spend the night, so this was a special opportunity for me.  Traditionally, we ate pizza, played backyard football, and, for my first time, went "startipping" outside. It felt like 1-2 hours before I could actually get some sleep, mainly because I was so excited for the next day. 

During the next morning, we ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and watched Spongebob. You probably heard that Spongebob makes kids dumber, well, the people who made that study more than likely made the kids watch the new Spongebob, which, I will agree, is stupid. Anyway, it was 10:00 when Mom picked me up. I felt like staying for another 2 hours or so, but, what could I do? So, that's how I spent my weekend.

History in the Making, Callings, Mama's Birthday Dinner

Well, let's see. A few things happened this weekend. Saturday I had to be ready at 7 am (talk about sacrifice!) to go with Natalie Potter to help her with the youth activity at the Family History Conference at the Stake Center. At the time I agreed to help her, I didn't realize that I could use that event for a Personal Progress project. She had a chipped bone in her wrist so I'm glad I went to help her unload the things she needed to set up. The blessing from all this was being able to witness the rock being placed over the time capsule, which I didn't know would take place. No youth showed up so they missed out on a wonderful opportunity to help move that huge rock. If I had known about it I would have made Raquay go. He wouldn't have liked it but he would have appreciated it....eventually. Right?

On Sunday, Elwin was called and set apart as the Assistant Deacon's Quorum Adviser. He did not want to be in Young Mens but he accepted the calling anyway. I'm sure he thinks it's better that his previous calling as Elder's Quorum President.

I am excited about completing my Choice and Accountability project. The project was “Making choices that help others.” Helping Natalie was part of this project. Two more projects to go!

Today is Mama's birthday. I asked her where she wanted to go for dinner and she said Applebee's. We get there, sit down to look at menus and she said this wasn't the Applebee's she was talking about. She said, “What's that restaurant with the rockers out front.” I told her Cracker Barrel and she said that's what she meant. Of course, I ate too much and am paying the consequences now. I guess I didn't learn enough about Choice and Accountability. I chose to eat too much and now I'm being held accountable for it. (moan) I need a nap....scratch that...I need to sleep for a few days. I'll never eat again....until tomorrow.

Elwin's back, Raquay's calling

Elwin didn't go to church today. His back is bothering him. He's been putting this stinky stuff called Tiger Balm on his back. The smell is very powerful!

Since he didn't go to church, I had to carry my own bag! Can you imagine? That bag is heavy! Hmmm....I wonder if that bag has contributed to the back problems. Hopefully he will be better tomorrow.

Raquay was called and set apart today as 1st Counselor in the Deacon's Quorum Presidency. The kid can be too serious sometimes. He didn't crack a smile.

Transformers: War for Cybertron review by Raquay Holland

Transformers: War for Cybertron review by Raquay Holland

Transformers: War for Cybertron is a third person shooter game made by High Moon Studios released for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC. The game features a somewhat “prequel” story that happened before the movies, as this is probably the first game released for the franchise not based on a movie. As expected, you can play as Autobots, or Decepticons in all phases of the game.

The game has 3 features: a campaign mode in which you can play solo, or cooperatively over the Internet, a multiplayer mode which has modes like Team Deathmatch, Domination, or Free-for-all, and Escalation, which is like Zombies from World at War and Black Ops.

First, the campaign. It pretty much seems similar to a lot of shooters released in recent times. You kill a lot of enemies, and you move to an objective point. Oh, and you'll encounter tons of bosses along the way. Your arsenal of weapons include machine guns, snipers, shotguns, grenades, melee attacks including swords and hammers, rifles, and your vehicle weapons. Your robot can transform into a car, truck, tank, or plane. All this in 10 chapters, 5 for both factions. Once you beat the game, you might still be occupied, as the game offers 3 difficulty levels. Yet, it may seem a bit repetitive, and bosses are really daunting.

Next, multiplayer. You will get a variety of modes. All the modes include Team Deathmatch, Free-for-all, Domination, a somewhat unique mode called Countdown to Extinction, where you try to place a bomb into the enemy's base, King of the Hill, and Code of Power, where you fight for a giant melee weapon. You are offered 4 classes, each with their own weapons, perks, abilities, and even health amounts. The four classes are Leader, Scout, Soldier, and Scientist. You can level up, and get new weapons, just like Modern Warfare.

Finally, there's Escalation mode, or Zombies if you prefer. You can play as any official Autobot or Decepticon, depending on the map you're playing on. You can get more maps and characters with the DLC that has been released. No more explanation needed here, really. You get points for killing enemies, and can have up to 4 players cooperatively playing. Sound familiar? Also, you can spend your points on health, ammo, other guns, or more passageways. Once you've taken a lot of hits, you can be revived by other players.

All in all, Cybertron is definitely a great game if you're a Transformers fan. If your a shooter fan, though, don't shy away just because it's third person. It's actually a good shooter, and has some good multiplayer options. The campaign can deliver quite a challenge, but isn't that what it's supposed to do? Really, my regrets are that it doesn't have any local capabilities for multiplayer, which can bite in the butt for anyone that doesn't have an Xbox Live or PSN. Connection issues might be a problem, but it might just be my router. If you have a working network connection, like shooters in the third person, and like games that may have a lasting appeal, then this is the game for you.

The good: solid campaign, multiplayer is fun, especially Escalation, you blow stuff up, great story for transformers fans, good controls, great graphics, replay value.

The bad: no local capabilities, can be VERY hard.

Score:

8.5

Not a typical Saturday

Well, Raquay just got home from his campout. He can barely walk. And he is dirtier than dirt. Thank goodness for hot water! He failed to mention that this was a 2-day campout. I didn't find out until we were at the pool party ( they were leaving right after the party).

Merrinth has been asleep all morning. I think he stayed up all night playing video games. He starts his full time job on the 14th.

Elwin discovered that the air conditioner is leaking ON THE INSIDE! It's right above his computer. He had to clear everything off the shelf. Now it's all on the kitchen table. Cables everywhere!

Novice, again

Ok. I'm new at this blog stuff (as if you haven't noticed). I tried to post earlier but it came up blank. So...I'm trying again, hence the title "Novice, again".

Raquay has a campout tonight. But before that he has a youth activity at the North Vernon pool. I really don't want to go but I'm one of the Youth Leaders so I'm obligated. I'm sure I'll have plenty of fun once I get there. We have wonderful youth in our ward.