1/2 June
Katie and Zack were invited to a friend's Bar Mitzva and I was glad they had a chance to see what they are like and to celebrate that accomplishment with a friend they've known since kindergarten. Zack needed to wear a tie to the ceremony and he wore one that we saved from Grandpa E's collection.
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| Zack gets some tie tips from dad |
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| All Dressed Up |
No pictures but we went to see Wicked at the Kennedy Center. Had to buy the tkts in February and very glad that I did. It was wonderful. Zack didn't love the height of our seats (2nd mezz) but still managed to enjoy the show.
Katie and I braved the opening day of the American Girl store in Tyson's. Mad House. But, I happened to make reservations for lunch at their cafe and that jumped us ahead of the line so we could make our seating. Lucky!
Went to NC to see Grandma E. Discovered a new rainy day option right next to the movie theatre. A game center with laser tag and vid games. Nice, but could have used more kids to do the tag with. Will try 1/2 price night next time.
Was also able to see my dear friend Heatherann and her daughter Noel. So fun!
Great time at the beach and lunch at mom's. (Thanks mom!)
Home for a couple of days before G&G N came to our place for a visit. Careful planning had professional house cleaners come as soon as we got home. Nice!
We took them to the Nat'l Mall for the Folk Life Festival which was great this year!
Katie, Grandma and Pete enjoyed dancing. I did a bit too. Grandpa took pictures and Zack sat and watched while being mortally embarrassed--bonus!
Katie and I braved the opening day of the American Girl store in Tyson's. Mad House. But, I happened to make reservations for lunch at their cafe and that jumped us ahead of the line so we could make our seating. Lucky!
Went to NC to see Grandma E. Discovered a new rainy day option right next to the movie theatre. A game center with laser tag and vid games. Nice, but could have used more kids to do the tag with. Will try 1/2 price night next time.
Was also able to see my dear friend Heatherann and her daughter Noel. So fun!
Great time at the beach and lunch at mom's. (Thanks mom!)
Home for a couple of days before G&G N came to our place for a visit. Careful planning had professional house cleaners come as soon as we got home. Nice!
We took them to the Nat'l Mall for the Folk Life Festival which was great this year!
Katie, Grandma and Pete enjoyed dancing. I did a bit too. Grandpa took pictures and Zack sat and watched while being mortally embarrassed--bonus!
Zack tried his hand at spinning a top under Grandpa's careful watch. He did pretty well.
July
Well, July was rolling out in a mellow fashion UNTIL....
Zack stepped on a needle in the basement. It went all the way into his foot. First a trip to the ER where a completely bone-headed Dr tried to remove it very far from where it went in. Next to the podiatrist who tried to remove it in the right place but couldn't reach it. Next-Fairfax Hospital for out-patient surgery.
THEN-the doctor thought he saw an infection, so we admitted him to the hospital and he stayed for 3 nights (or was it 4?)! It was a pain for us, but ultimately pretty fun for Zack--lots of dvds to watch (we had a LOTR marathon), smoothies, snacks and meals delivered to the room. Not bad, and gave me a lot of gratitude that we had nothing serious going on. It was not the same experience for many other families on the pediatrics floor.
In the meantime, Katie had her very belated birthday party at the American Girl store. She had a lot of fun and the girls came back tot he house for a sleep over and movie night.
The rest of July was taken up with Zack getting to follow up appointments, staying off his feet and getting up on crutches. Boring, but Katie was very good about the fact that we couldn't do much--and also made sure to get all her sewing stuff up off the basement floor!
August
Early in August the kids and Liz headed to LI for a family reunion. We stayed at my cousin's in NJ the first night, but unfortunately didn't get to see her there. Great that she was heading for the reunion too so we had plenty of time to catch up (esp since neither of us really know all the cousins very well). On our way to LI the kids and I stopped off at Coney Island, which the kids had never been to and I hadn't been in about 20 years.
We were short on time, so it seemed the best choice was to get Zack a wheelchair to whip around the aquarium.
Katie enjoyed being chauffeur for the day.
Wish we'd had more time on the boardwalk but we did find time for some dogs from Nathan's.
Originally rain forecast for the reunion, but it turned out to be a fine day. Nice to see Aunt Louise and everyone else. Extra time with the fam at Phil and Carrie's was especially nice too.
Our last day on the Island, I was able to coordinate getting together with my cousin Linda and her kids and dear childhood friend (like how I didn't use the word old) Allison and her son at Oyster Bay. We sat on the beach and chatted while the kids ran around. Allison and Linda hit it off and all the kids got along too. Later we tried kayacking and stand up paddling (SUPing) until a rainstorm cut the day short. So fun though and gave me enough time to get back to NJ for one more night before getting too tired.
Should also mention that Pete's band, The Jet Age, was recording their new album and the songs are great!
Took it easy for the rest of August giving Zack's foot a break in preparation for our hiking trip to Banff and Jasper NP in Alberta Canada. More on that trip in the next post. So, on to....
September
We got back from Banff on Sept 10 and then launched into school. By the end of the month, we were set up with our fall schedule:
Monday--Art class for Katie or Science for K&Z
Tuesday--Park Day, which we tend to skip if the weather isn't just right
Wednesday--Skating or Girl Scouts for K
Thursday--Coop for unit studies (currently Eco subjects)
Friday--Teen group--park days, field trips, etc.
Then there's daily Algebra, Italian, writing and whatever else we think of.
Our Thurs group went to the Solar Decathlon where Katie and Zack helped power a house with their foil hats:
And here we are in....
October
Halloween planning is underway and we have hit a corn maze and, tomorrow, Cox Farm with the teens. I thought we were done with Cox but now that a group will be going it should be fun for the kids again. (We stopped going on our own when we went and it was all preschoolers and my two 9 year olds.) The Ren Faire will be this weekend.
Katie and Zack also started their OWL class at UUCA and are bonding with that group again. Zack had a short stint in a Japanese Swordsmanship class but it wasn't for him and I was glad to give up a Sunday night class.
The weather is turning chilly and the leaves are beginning to change and fall. I am hiding my eyes to avoid the Christmas displays already appearing. What's the rush? And I think that is going to be the theme of this school year. Slow down, balance and take it easy.
July
Well, July was rolling out in a mellow fashion UNTIL....
Zack stepped on a needle in the basement. It went all the way into his foot. First a trip to the ER where a completely bone-headed Dr tried to remove it very far from where it went in. Next to the podiatrist who tried to remove it in the right place but couldn't reach it. Next-Fairfax Hospital for out-patient surgery.
THEN-the doctor thought he saw an infection, so we admitted him to the hospital and he stayed for 3 nights (or was it 4?)! It was a pain for us, but ultimately pretty fun for Zack--lots of dvds to watch (we had a LOTR marathon), smoothies, snacks and meals delivered to the room. Not bad, and gave me a lot of gratitude that we had nothing serious going on. It was not the same experience for many other families on the pediatrics floor.
 |
| Loved these little cans of Coke at the hospital! |
In the meantime, Katie had her very belated birthday party at the American Girl store. She had a lot of fun and the girls came back tot he house for a sleep over and movie night.
The rest of July was taken up with Zack getting to follow up appointments, staying off his feet and getting up on crutches. Boring, but Katie was very good about the fact that we couldn't do much--and also made sure to get all her sewing stuff up off the basement floor!
August
Early in August the kids and Liz headed to LI for a family reunion. We stayed at my cousin's in NJ the first night, but unfortunately didn't get to see her there. Great that she was heading for the reunion too so we had plenty of time to catch up (esp since neither of us really know all the cousins very well). On our way to LI the kids and I stopped off at Coney Island, which the kids had never been to and I hadn't been in about 20 years.
We were short on time, so it seemed the best choice was to get Zack a wheelchair to whip around the aquarium.
Originally rain forecast for the reunion, but it turned out to be a fine day. Nice to see Aunt Louise and everyone else. Extra time with the fam at Phil and Carrie's was especially nice too.
Our last day on the Island, I was able to coordinate getting together with my cousin Linda and her kids and dear childhood friend (like how I didn't use the word old) Allison and her son at Oyster Bay. We sat on the beach and chatted while the kids ran around. Allison and Linda hit it off and all the kids got along too. Later we tried kayacking and stand up paddling (SUPing) until a rainstorm cut the day short. So fun though and gave me enough time to get back to NJ for one more night before getting too tired.
Should also mention that Pete's band, The Jet Age, was recording their new album and the songs are great!
Took it easy for the rest of August giving Zack's foot a break in preparation for our hiking trip to Banff and Jasper NP in Alberta Canada. More on that trip in the next post. So, on to....
September
We got back from Banff on Sept 10 and then launched into school. By the end of the month, we were set up with our fall schedule:
Monday--Art class for Katie or Science for K&Z
Tuesday--Park Day, which we tend to skip if the weather isn't just right
Wednesday--Skating or Girl Scouts for K
Thursday--Coop for unit studies (currently Eco subjects)
Friday--Teen group--park days, field trips, etc.
Then there's daily Algebra, Italian, writing and whatever else we think of.
Our Thurs group went to the Solar Decathlon where Katie and Zack helped power a house with their foil hats:
And here we are in....
October
Halloween planning is underway and we have hit a corn maze and, tomorrow, Cox Farm with the teens. I thought we were done with Cox but now that a group will be going it should be fun for the kids again. (We stopped going on our own when we went and it was all preschoolers and my two 9 year olds.) The Ren Faire will be this weekend.
Katie and Zack also started their OWL class at UUCA and are bonding with that group again. Zack had a short stint in a Japanese Swordsmanship class but it wasn't for him and I was glad to give up a Sunday night class.
The weather is turning chilly and the leaves are beginning to change and fall. I am hiding my eyes to avoid the Christmas displays already appearing. What's the rush? And I think that is going to be the theme of this school year. Slow down, balance and take it easy.
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