August 2009 - Back to School

August was all about returning to school and our regular activities. We spent the first two weeks shopping for clothes and trying to kill time before school actually started. As it was upwards of 115 most of those days, going outside was impossible. We did visit the Hall of Flame museum in Tempe. We'd been wanting to go there, and it's an amazing museum. It was totally lost on the kids. They bypassed most of the history and displays of oldtime engines for the one they could climb on. There was also an actual pole which Charlie kept climbing...little monkey.

The kids started back on the 12th. Charlie is in 4th grade this year, and Lucy is in 2nd. Lucy actually got the same second grade teacher as Charlie had. We like her. I'm getting to do my volunteering in the classrooms again, thanks to Tony and I'm also reading books for their library. I just love that little school. Charlie has moved up into the Advanced Orchestra there at the school. He also auditioned and got into the MYS (Metropolitan Youth Symphony) - the citywide youth orchestra. He's in the bottom orchestra, but it's good for him. He's playing now in a group of 87 instead of just the 15 or so in the school orchestra. It's going to be a challenge for him - just getting him to rehearsal is a challenge for the rest of us. Lucy has started piano lessons. I'm teaching her in the morning before school. It's been good for us. For all the friction between mother and daughter normally, when we're in lessons, we treat each other as teacher/student and so far it's working really nicely.

This was the first year that Charlie has actually celebrated his birthday at school. We celebrated his birthday the Saturday after, with our annual swim party at Aunt Ginny's, then bowling with friends, and finally his favorite dinner (French dip beef) with friends and neighbors that night. It was a great day.

Alex and Florence are still hanging out at home with mom during the day. I'm trying to spend some time with Alex teaching him how to write his name and recognize his letters, but very often we just paint, color or read Curious George books. Oh well, I guess he can learn how to read at school, right?

Florence is an amazing girl. She is resisting potty-training. She's ready, just not interested. She just held it for hours following me around, saying "I want a pamper". Oh well, she's young still. She does like to color and draw as well. In fact, she decorated our entire leather couch in black ballpoint pen. I thought it was gone for good. Fortunately the Queen of Clean led me to rubbing alcohol and while I'm sure I've damaged the finish, for now the leather couch is now white again. She is a stinker with a capital "S". She loves playing with baby dolls and is talking up a storm. It really is such a blessing to be home with her.

Week Four in DC

Our final week of vacation. On Friday, we spent most of the day just recovering from our trip the day before. However, kids are so resilient that for them, it was like nothing had happened. They were up and ready to be entertained as always. So we took our snack trip to Harris Teeter to get some groceries and then mom took the older three kids swimming in the afternoon. That night, Charlie experimented with Poppa on an electronic circuit game/builder set Poppa had bought on his Amazon shopping trip of toys for the kids. It reminded me of the one he and I had played with when I was little, but the connections were almost clearer because you could see where/how they were being made.

Saturday, we impulsively took a trip to National Harbor to see the National Children’s Museum launch center. The museum had closed it’s building for renovations, or perhaps even demolition, and had started up this launch center to collect ideas for their new place. It was free, and they wanted feedback from their activities to help them as they prepared to reopen. We drove down to Alexandria, VA to catch the water taxi to the harbor. Alex was so smart, as he looked around he kept remarking that the town had his name. We got our tickets to the taxi, and as we had a little time to kill, we wandered briefly through the Torpedo factory – a factory that has been revamped to house small artist studios. We played “I Spy” and even bought a few souvenirs/gifts from one artist. The kids (not including Florence) absolutely loved the boat ride over. Even though I’m not a big fan of boats and water, somehow, I felt safe and we all really enjoyed the wind in our face as we took the 20 minute ride from Alexandria to the Gaylord Hotel in National Harbor. Florence’s issues were lunch/nap related, along with some small irritation at being confined in her stroller. She did get to stand on the side of the boat as well, but preferred going in and out the glass doors to the air conditioned sitting area. Once we got to the hotel, we found a kid-friendly place to eat – a sports themed bar/restaurant where we ate the best tasting hamburgers, wraps, hotdogs, ever. While we waited for our food, Grandma took the big kids to ride the 18 story glass elevator so they could ride up and look out over the harbor. After we ate, we got to visit some of the elaborate sand sculptures built around the stores located by the hotel. We tucked Florence tight in her stroller as we left the hotel to walk down to the harbor and she fell asleep before we were even a block away. It was a lovely walk, the boardwalk was full of people, though the shopping was a little beyond my taste and probably affordability as well. But at the end of the block we found the museum. Their theme for the day was ladybugs, and there were puzzles, matching games, an “I spy” challenge, and a build-your-own bug jar kit. There were the requisite building blocks for the little kids and stuffed birds that sang their actual call so that the older kids could try and match them up with their description. They also had sing-a-longs, but we didn’t get to stay for that. After the museum, we wandered down to the waterfront to the beach where they had moved the statue “The Awakening” – the giant man coming up out of the sand. Here the big kids climbed while Florence took her place at the water’s edge, throwing in rocks. We then took our water taxi back to Alexandria to head home for the day. That night, Aunt Susannah came up to visit and Poppa treated us to the latest Harry Potter movie, complete with ginormous bags of popcorn and soda. As always (of late), the movie itself was beautifully and amazingly done, but we missed so much from the books. I’m glad they have decided to make the final book into two movies, though I hope they release them closer together.

Sunday, I got to attend church on my own without the little ones. I sat in the sanctuary and enjoyed one of the best youth choirs ever. Yes, they were primarily teenagers rather than children, but they had a small orchestra that was very well trained. I embarrassed Charlie by going to talk to their music minister after mass. That afternoon, Grandma and Poppa had opera tickets, so after we helped get the house cleaned, the kids and I took a trip to Target to a)get out of the house and b)gather our snacks for the trip home. That afternoon, Lucy loses yet another tooth – this time on purpose.

Monday, we made our annual trip up to Columbia Maryland to visit Monica’s friends’ Sharon and Greg and their children. Their two kids are the same age as Charlie and Lucy, though because of the boy/girl switch, they tend to be friendly to a child not their own age. Lucy gravitates towards older girls, so she really enjoyed playing with Sydney, especially her hamster and her other big girl toys. Charlie played with Brandon on his Wii – in fact, we didn’t really see them much the whole time we were there. Alex went back and forth between the two, and Florence hung out with the grownups, and tried her hand at the drums. She definitely has some music and rhythm in her, but please God, not the drums. We had our traditional hamburgers and hotdogs from the grill, with chips and fruit and cookies/brownies for dessert. This year, we had the added excitement of finding a tiny mouse with babies living in the storage can for the bounce house. Also, Greg and Sharon had some leftover fireworks from their big July 4 celebration and the kids got a chance to play with sparklers and Greg shot off a few bottle rockets and spinners. Followed by popsicles, it was an amazing summer evening for the kids. It is so much fun to see how, even though they only see each other once a year, they just slide right back into their relationships without thinking about it. It’s nice to have good friends like this to catch up with. Florence did wonderfully despite staying up past her bedtime. She was shy around Greg at first, but eventually played peek-a-boo through the fish tank and rolling ball with him. As always, it was difficult to pack up and leave, but we were full of promises for next year.

Our trip is coming to an end. We have two full days to squeeze in everything we have left to do. Tuesday morning, I get up early and head down to Richmond to see John Rocco one last time. He is now discharged from the hospital and living at home. I missed John Gilbert, unfortunately, but did get to see his renovated kitchen and the nursery. I only got to spend a few hours with Lisa and Rocco, but we did share lunch, she looked at my photo albums, and she got to get a shower while I played with the baby, who by now is smiling up a storm. It was also fun for me to pet their tortoiseshell kitty, who was so sweet. After 5 weeks, I was really missing my kitties, and their cat reminded me so much of my Phantom, who’s been gone for 5 years now.

When I returned, Grandma, Charlie and Lucy had packed all they would need for an overnight camping trip and lined it up in the garage so it could go directly in the car. They compromised on the site since we were running short on time. She usually likes to take them into the mountains, but this time they went to a campground closer to home. It had a lovely “swimming hole” for them to swim, some hiking and fishing, but Grandma thinks the outdoor sky would’ve been more peaceful without the occasional airplane from Dulles Airport. But the kids did get to pitch their tent and roast marshmallows and cook in Grandmas camping pot, so as far as they were concerned, it was a successful trip. Back at the home front, I tucked the young kids into bed early so that Dad and I (and Aunt Susannah) could attempt to watch as many Boston Legal episodes as possible before I left. This has been our tradition for three years now – I’ve watched the show from beginning to end on tv, but I enjoy watching it with him and revisiting some of the more funny episodes. Unfortunately, we didn’t finish, but he has already sent it to me so that I’ll be caught up for Season 4 next summer.

The next day is all about the packing. I get as much done as I can, and when the kids get home from camping, their gear goes directly into the washing machine. Our plane isn’t early on Thursday, so the pressure isn’t too bad, and we are able to take our time searching every corner for lost socks or hats, etc. Of course, Grandma did have to send us a box of stuff we forgot, but that’s always how it is. Thursday was our trip home. Our plane was on time, which was great. The kids had chicken nuggets in the car, so we could make due with snacks on the plane. I sat between Florence and Alexander in one row, and Charlie and Lucy sat behind us. We sat near the bathrooms in the back so that they wouldn’t have to wander too far from me. The trip was a nightmare. Florence took only an hour long nap and screamed for most of the rest of the 5 hour trip. I felt I should buy drinks for the lady in front of us, who was very patient. Alexander was very good, playing his DS or watching a movie on my ipod. He required very little of me, especially since he could see my hands were full with a screaming baby. The trip itself was bumpy and stressful – they would turn off the seatbelt sign only in short increments to accommodate bathroom breaks; of course, it was watching other people moving around that made Florence so dissatisfied in her car seat. But we did arrive safely in Phoenix, and Tony was a sight for sore eyes, waiting for us on the other side of security. Home sweet home!

Week Three in DC

So I decided that in order to finish up the blog, I really needed to talk less and keep it short. However, this is NOT the week to do that. This week is our mini-vacation within a vacation.

Thursday, we get up early and head out to Connecticut where my sister Kathleen lives with her family which includes 5 children, three of which are very close to the age of Lucy and Alex. We wanted to leave early enough to avoid rush hour traffic. As it was, there was hardly any on the Beltway heading to Baltimore. Or heading to Philadelphia. Or on the New Jersey Turnpike. Or even really heading into New York. It was such a blessedly smooth ride, we couldn’t believe it. Just a few stops for bathroom breaks, coffee and lunch; we made excellent time.

Kathleen had been in charge of music for their Vacation Bible School program at church. So Friday was their closing ceremony. Her accompanist had a family emergency and was not going to be able to make it, so I went with her to read through their chosen songs and play for the program. I had always escaped doing our VBS at church by being on vacation, but it found me, even in another state. It was fun, and Lucy got to come hang out with the girls for a bit as well.

Saturday, we drove to Greenwich Beach and spent the day there. This was a smaller beach off the sound, so while it did get pretty crowded, it was a little calmer than you might have expected at the coast. It had fantastic “shelters” under which you could set up your blankets. The kids had a wonderful time building a “shell-o-saurus” with grandma. This was Florence’s first trip to the beach – unless you count the time we went to Chincoteaque Island when she was in utero. The kids all really enjoyed playing with each other in the sand and in the waves. We ate lunch there, spending most of the afternoon. We drove through KFC on the way home, fed the exhausted kiddos (the young ones didn’t get their nap) and put them to bed early. Really, the adults didn’t last so long either.

Sunday, I played at Kathleen’s church for the VBS service as well. That afternoon, we celebrated Kinneely’s 6th birthday with a Pet Shop cake and presents that included a pogo stick like Charlie’s and some girly fingernail polish, etc.
On Monday, Kathleen had to go into the city to run a dance rehearsal, so I loaded up Charlie and took him with us. We took the subway from her rehearsal site to FAO Schwartz, then walked to Central Park. Here, we took a horse and carriage ride around the park. It felt amazing to be in the midst of all the lush greenness and to see all the old buildings. Our driver told us stories about which tall buildings had been in which movies. We even bought a hotdog and a pretzel from a vendor and ate it next to all the people selling photographs, tin etchings, and old-fashioned posters. A woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty afforded me a chance to explain about performance art – in NY of all places. Then we went back to FAO Schwartz so that Charlie could dance on the big keyboard from the movie “Big”. We kept looking for the perfect toy souvenir to buy; however they sell toys, not video games, and Charlie couldn’t really find anything he truly wanted that would’ve been worth the effort to carry home. We did enjoy seeing the larger than life-size lego constructions of Batman, Harry Potter and Chewbacca. After that, to complete our NY experience, we caught a cab back to Aunt Kathleen’s rehearsal site. This wasn’t Charlie’s first trip to the big city –he had been there as a baby when I worked with Kathleen on one of her dance programs; however, he is more likely to remember this one.

All in all, it was a wonderful chance for all the cousins to be together and play together. It’s amazing how even though they don’t see each other very often, they just slip into playing together like no time has passed. And every year it gets easier. I enjoyed getting to know little Aislinn Patricia, who was born in December. She was such a super chunk and so good-natured. I guess you have to be when you’re that far down the line. We did the traditional “dress all the girls alike” pictures and all the cousins together, though Kathleen got to really make use of her photoshop skills because getting that many kids to cooperate all at the same time…well, it’s pretty impossible.

Tuesday morning, we headed out to visit a friend of the family: Elmer McDowell. He lives in a small town called Wurtsboro in New York, living on the edge of Wolf Lake in what we came to call his “Log Castle”. He used to live in the neighborhood of my parents in Northern Virginia, and they are still really good friends, but when he retired, he built this place on the lake. Once again, I was so overwhelmed, in a good way, by the lushness of it all. Our trip was relatively smooth, though it pretty much rained the whole way. We found this a little discouraging as we were going only for two days, and we were going to kayak and fish, neither of which would be fun in the rain. Once we got there, after a nice lunch, the sun showed its face long enough for Elmer to take Charlie out on the lake. In the meantime, his girlfriend Marie, took mom to Walmart to pick out jackets for the kids because the rain had brought cooler temperatures. That evening, Elmer cooked out on the grill for us some glorious steaks and hamburgers and probably the most delicious hotdog I’ve ever had. Something about meat cooked outside makes it taste better. While there, Marie gave us the tour of the 5 bedroom, 4 ½ bathroom, 2 story with a loft log cabin, Elmer showed us his complicated computerized system of how the lights work with automatic dimmers. It was funny as we would sit and visit in the evening talking after the kids went to bed, at one point the lights would dim, or one evening, they even went completely out: “Time for bed”. The first night, they took us for a walk on the ‘dam’ of their man-made lake. It was a good chance for the kids to run off some energy after being in the car. The next day proved to be much clearer and the kids got to fish, kayak, and swim at the “beach” to their heart’s content. Even Florence got into a kayak with both mom and me. She didn’t really enjoy it, though I think that was as much due to her impatience at being suited up in a life jacket when we couldn’t figure out how to put it on. Alex caught fish with grandma on the pier while Charlie and Lucy went out in the boat with Elmer. It really was such a beautiful area and setting – I wish our camera could truly capture everything, such as the deer which were comfortable coming right up to the house, or all the birds around his birdfeeders. That night, mom wanted to go to dinner at a local place to eat and Elmer and Marie found the perfect restaurant for us. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the name, but it was a place that had been around in some form or other since the building of the canals. I had the best onion rings since we left Alabama, and probably my first tap beer since I left college. Their grilled cheese was even amazing. That evening, we sat around, programming Grandma and Elmer’s new blackberrys…or would it still be blackberries? They both had the same one, and he was able to help her feel more comfortable and less confused about using it. I also taught it how to pick up her email, but then we spent the rest of our trip hearing beeps as each ad from “Plow and Hearth” or “Amazon” came in. It was insane.

The following morning, we had to head back to Grandma’s house. She had tickets to see Carmina Burana at Wolftrap with Poppa and some friends of theirs. We had planned on leaving at 10, and we were pulling out of the driveway at 10:01. Perfect. Or so we thought. Our first rest stop for lunch was at a gas station in the middle of nowhere. We had hoped to find some tables, but had to make due with laying our beach towels on a grassy patch. They only had one working bathroom, which wouldn’t have been a big deal, except that as we were waiting to go, a church van pulled up with no less than 18 people that needed to go. We laughed as a few of the men made use of some local bushes. We already knew from driving around that there was NOWHERE else to go at this exit, and one of the kids really had to go, so we waited our turn. This made our first stop over an hour. Oh well, we can make it up on the road.

Not gonna happen. As we made our turn onto the interstate, we were immediately pulled into a traffic jam as three lanes took 2 miles to turn into one lane. For many miles, we drove at 5-10 mph, while we looked at empty lanes where there was occasionally a truck or two doing construction. At this point, I’ve taken over driving so mom can “rest” a bit for her concert tonight because we now know we won’t get home in time for her nap, though she should still have time for a shower and fixing her hair. At several points, we get some rain, but overall, it’s just slow going. At one point, someone has to go to the bathroom, so we try to choose a busy exit. Well there were plenty of places to go, but first, the exit off the highway puts us in the wrong lane to go to the closest gas station. The next place we pull over is closed. In the meantime, the kid in the back is getting more desperate, and the GPS is cursing us as we move farther and farther from our exit. Finally, we pull over and make everyone go. We have a few more stops and we’re making ok time now. Grandma is likely going to skip her shower, but will probably be able to fix her hair. We stop about 1 ½ hours out for another potty break and decide (wisely as it turns out) to feed the kids some chicken nuggets and Grandma and mom some coffee. I crawl into the backseat with Florence who has had enough of the carseat and will not quiet down for ANY movie, even Elmo in Grouchland for the umpteenth time. As we get closer, we feel the DC area rush hour traffic pick up. We watch as our GPS puts our arrival time closer and closer to the time Grandma and Poppa are supposed to meet their friends for dinner. We have called Poppa several times to let him know what is going on. We’re moving slow, but we’re moving. All the sudden, the sky opens and monsoon rains fall on us, bringing us to a standstill. We have to laugh at all this because, what else can we do. Stopping is not an option. Finally, it stops as quickly as it started and we feel like we’re making some progress. Grandma’s not going to have time to do her hair, but can maybe change clothes before dinner. Poppa will wait for her to arrive. Now another kid has to go to the potty. So we pull out of traffic and stop. While I take Alex to the bathroom, grandma changes clothes in the car. We have to get back into rush hour traffic, but our exit has actually put us ahead of where we might have been. We keep touching base with Poppa, who has decided to go ahead to dinner and order for mom and I will drop her off. We have to tell stories to the over-protective traffic cops at Wolftrap to be able to drop her off, but she makes it in plenty of time. When I arrive home with the kids, the sky opens again, right as we’re trying to unload the car. I give them a snack and a bath and put them to bed. At this point, the excitements of the day and the McDonald’s espresso have given me too much energy, so I set about doing laundry and unpacking. It was a gift from evening Monica to morning Monica, knowing it would be difficult to face it the next morning. So much for a shorter story.

Week Two in DC

Grandma had signed Charlie and Lucy up for a Summer book club. The book for the first week we were there was “Recycle this book” – a book with short chapters on small things you can do to make a difference: recycling, composting, reusing, avoiding Styrofoam, etc. Grandma had gotten Charlie a small notebook in which he could make notes on each chapter. One of the ideas was composting. For Mother’s Day, my brother John had built Grandma a compost pile. She had spent two months contributing garbage to it and let Charlie and Lucy flip the compost. In those two months, the pile had turned into dirt good enough to provide a home to many, many worms, which Lucy began collecting for her fishing trips.



Grandma has bay windows off the kitchen which show off nicely her bird sanctuary in her back yard. Grandma’s backyard isn’t necessarily the ideal for a bunch of kids in that there’s no room for a swingset or pickup baseball game. However, the window gives a perfect view of “God’s TV” where the kids learned to recognize the native birds, especially the ones that liked to frequent the birdfeeders Grandma keeps next to the windows. Alex took to asking for his “bird map” every time he sat down for breakfast so he could learn the names of the birds. They also enjoyed watching the squirrels and chipmunks dangle from the feeder where dried corncobs were strung up. Occasionally, we would see a deer wander through the backyard on his way to eat the tops off Grandmas lilies. One night, grandma even found a raccoon on the back porch getting into the birdseed. She overheard it trying to break into the metal garbage can where she had put it to protect it from the squirrels. That was when she decided that the extra expense for chili pepper laced birdseed was worth it.



To further expand and enhance their appreciation of nature, Grandma took us to Rockville Nature Center up in Rockville, MD. As we drove through there, I recognized some of the roads we had taken to visit Tony’s childhood home last year. Anyhow, they have a lovely little center that has real animal pelts for the children to feel, turtles, snakes, and even an owl in cages/tanks for the kids to look at, and a live honeybee hive where we actually were able to find the queen. They had binoculars aimed out into the fields and a computer that played local bird calls. And of course there were the educational puzzles, the “touchables” like rocks and shells, and various books to look at about the local wildlife. It was quite enjoyable. Even outside the nature center they had beautiful flowers where you could see the giant bees at work collecting pollen. We had packed some Lunchables (the cracker/cheese/ham collection) to eat as a picnic. They had a small picnic area available that we shared briefly with some campers next to the tennis courts. The kids had a little fun running around the field. Grandma had planned to take the older three hiking in the woods there while Florence and I hung out in the nature center, but as it was approaching naptime, Florence was not going to have ANY of that. So we gave it up and headed home. My only requirement for calling an outing with kids successful is that the outing itself lasts longer than it took to get there. We were cutting it close on this one as we had to cross state lines, but a draw can still be considered a win in some cases. Grandma did take the kids hiking through the woods at Wolftrap once we got home in order to make up for the lost hike. She’s a good sport!



Thursday morning, Grandma and I took turns going to church to pray for good blessings and a watchful eye over John Rocco as he, at 4 weeks, underwent the first of what will be three surgeries. At this point, we didn’t know if he would be able to get the double ventricle heart we were hoping and praying for. While he was constantly in our thoughts, we distracted ourselves by visiting Meadowlark Gardens in the morning. We took over crackers/bread to feed the geese and the fish and wandered through the beautiful flowers, trees and hills. It was good exercise for the kids and kept Grandma and I busy so we didn’t overly worry. It was there, while photographing a bird’s nest with new baby birds in it, that we got the call that Rocco had gone to surgery. I took the baby birds as a sign from God that he would be ok. That afternoon, grandma took the older three swimming at Springhill, her rec center, to again keep herself distracted while I stayed home and watched Elmo with Florence. That night, we occupied ourselves with episodes of Boston Legal until we finally heard, around 9:00, that he had made it well through surgery, though with only a single ventricle heart which would mean two more surgeries. We still were so relieved to hear that he had done well.



Friday evening, Charlie, Poppa and I attended a concert called Video Games Live at Wolftrap park. Now, Wolftrap is a large outdoor amphitheatre that hosts groups ranging from the National Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra to Barry Manilow and Josh Grobin to Pilobolus and Martha Graham. I’ve been fortunate to attend a variety of events there over the years. I couldn’t believe that THE ONE concert I was going to go to was “Video Games Live!” We were of course attending to feed Charlie’s interest (obsession) with video games. Now my exposure to the various sounds coming from the DS, or the Nintendo 64, or the arcade has made me aware of how music has progressed from the bleeps and blips of Frogger and Pacman to relevant scores almost level with movie soundtracks. That doesn’t mean that I wanted to spend a Friday evening listening to it, even if it was performed by the National Symphony Orchestra. We arrived a little early to catch the costume contest, and to cheer on a yellow posterboard Pacman as the winner. There were three Links (Charlie’s favorite video game character), though only one made it to the final three. The costumes were amazing, and even though I had my camera, I didn’t think to get it out. The best I did was a fuzzy Link after they turned out the spot lights. Anyhow, even though this was only a week after the passing of Michael Jackson, they had already prepared a video “eulogy” of his character from MoonWalker kicking bootie through other traditional (Donkey Kong, Mario) and more recent games (Call of Duty, Zelda). It was hysterical, and it just goes to show what creativity can be found in the technical world. I was also, despite myself, swept away by the enthusiasm of the (young) audience as we watched videos from various games accompanied by the Symphony playing the scores from those games. It was a little like watching movie trailers for 2 ½ hours, but very effective, nonetheless. They also had a few promotional contests. The first one was where a beer gut bearing 22 year old donned a black tshirt with the Space Invader guy on his back (for computer tracking), then tried to beat the…..invaders in the traditional game displayed on the screen while the NSO plucked out a live action accompaniment to his game. He stunk and lost. The second one involved a kid, a long haired sloppy teenager, who had gotten the highest score on the pre-concert Guitar Hero contest. He then came up to attempt a score of 200,000 to win a computer. Well, he got over 300,000 and a 99% accuracy rating (which probably would’ve been 100% had the host not bootie bumped him to do that guitar thing band guys do). Everyone was so excited and cheering – it was impossible not to get caught up. Poppa commented that his parents must be horrified at how good he might be at a real instrument if he had spent as much time practicing that. Along with the NSO, they had a live choir, with a few featured soloists. I told Poppa, after it was over, that this was why live concerts were never going to die, no matter how good recording technology got. Because no matter how “uninterested” you might be in the material, it’s impossible to dismiss a well done performance. You could tell the nature of the concert at intermission when I was able to zip in and out of the ladies’ room while Charlie had to stand in a rather lengthy line to use the mens’ room. Talk about a switch. Charlie, of course, thoroughly enjoyed it and while I had to remind him a bit that he couldn’t just comment out loud every time he wanted, it was a great way to introduce him to a concert performance. Showing his age and his boyness, I think one of his favorite parts of the evening was running willy-nilly through the great grassy dip between the parking lots.

One of the kids favorite things to do with grandma is to go kayaking and fishing. She has several places she likes to carry them, but on this day, we ventured to a new place called Accotink Lake. It’s a man-made lake that serves to collect the run-off from the surrounding area. It has the lake, complete with “beach” to put in the boats, rental kayaks/paddleboats, a hiking trail through the woods, a carousel, and a playground for young kids. Florence and I hung out either in the woods where it was nice and shady, and at the playground. The other kids took turns kayaking with Grandma, Lucy riding with Grandma while Charlie expertly boated Alexander through the water. Florence and I got to call to them through the trees in the woods. We had planned to do some fishing, but as is Florence’s way, lunch brought on her fits for a nap, so we loaded up and headed home.

Later that evening, we attended church with my parents. They belong to a gospel choir that sings on Saturday evenings twice a month. It’s a good chance to hear a different type of music during mass, and both the leader and the pianist are very talented. Unfortunately, I usually have to enjoy it in the cry room with my noisy ones as well as half a dozen others. But it does feel a little good to be able to just be there and not have to worry about which song comes when. Afterwards, we returned home to celelbrate Poppa’s birthday, complete with French dip beef, pecan pie, and a nice bottle of red wine – his Chateauneuf du Pape. He made us sing between every present, as usual. He’ll no doubt send out a complete list of all he received; but I can tell you he received lots of books, including World Without End, a 1000+ page historical fiction novel by Ken Follett that I had just finished the week before vacation. He also got from us a new birdhouse decorated teapot, one that matched the bird canisters I had gotten Mom for her birthday. Susannah brought him a new bottle of Makers Mark, which he enjoyed as part of his after dinner celebration.

Sunday was a relaxing day. We had already been to church so we didn’t have any of that run around that morning. We did our best to put together one of dad’s other gifts, a floor to ceiling bike rack to hold some of the umpteen bikes that were housed in the garage now that Grandma is trying to keep bikes to fit every age of grandchild, God bless her. Charlie did help, and Poppa tried to, but ultimately Grandma figured out how to suspend the durn thing and actually get the child-size bikes on it. Before dinner, we took a short trip to Clemy-John Tree Park to run the kids a bit. It was overwhelmingly hot and humid, so we didn’t last too long, but Florence did get to ride the merry-go-round. It speaks to the ages of the kids that we pretty much didn’t see Charlie the whole time we were there, but didn’t really worry about it until it was time to go.

Monday was again a slow day. We planted flowers in the backyard, another favorite thing to do at Grandmas. Poppa had also bought a few games to share with the grandkids. One was an expanded version of a marble tower (where you fit plastic pieces together to form ramps and tunnels and marbles run from top to bottom). Charlie had been seriously enjoying for years the version we had gotten for $4 from a Toys R Us clearance table. The one dad bought came complete with a battery operated chain link “marble raiser” so that you no longer had to put the marbles at the top yourself – when they hit bottom, they were “speared” and carried back to the top. It was cool. The three older kids worked together with Poppa to get it put together and were pretty proud of themselves when it was finished. In between these two activities, we took one of our favorite fieldtrips over to Harris Teeter to “snack up” on the available samples they put out, including cantaloupe, cheese, lunch meat, and bread (and not your run-of-the-mill sandwich bread) and muffins. Grandma and I would split up so that they hopefully wouldn’t notice we were all together, but no doubt after 3 weeks of lunching at the sample cases, they probably recognized us.

On Tuesday, I traveled down to Charlottesville again to visit John Rocco and Lisa. John Gilbert had to work that day (someone had to earn a paycheck to pay for Rocco’s “fancy digs”…his words) so I went to keep Lisa company. I had brought along some games and photo albums to look at because when I arrived, Rocco was still attached to many monitors, IVs, feeding tubes, drains, etc. from his surgery. But by the time I left that evening, he had been disconnected from everything but the feeding tube and maybe one IV for the meds. And Lisa, who hadn’t held her son in days, couldn’t be distracted from holding him. She graciously let me have a turn as well. He was snuggly as ever.

While I was down there, Grandma had gotten tickets to Children’s Theatre in the Woods so that she and the kids could walk over. Florence would only tolerate one performance, partially because she was wearing Alex’s shoes, which bothered her and Grandma (thankfully) wouldn’t let her run around barefoot. But when she indicated it was time to go, it was time to go. Grandma also put out the slip and slide and the sprinkler for the little kids while her friend Lamar came to pick up Charlie and Lucy for a swim lesson. After the lesson, Charlie and Lucy took turns walking Lamar’s dog (part of Charlie’s assignment for this week’s book, Marley and Me, ), and then brought the dog back to the house. Lamar had envisioned sitting and visiting with the kids and Grandma while the kids played in the water and with the dog. She didn’t know Florence well enough to know that you’re not allowed to sit at all if she’s around, and when she’s tired and hungry, which she is in the evening, she rules the world, and there will be no activity that doesn’t focus on her.

That night, in an attempt to keep things “even” with the grandkids, Poppa took Lucy to Wolftrap to see a modern dance performance by a troupe of Merce Cunningham. She probably enjoyed the “single child” outing as much (if not more) than the actual performance. Interestingly, Merce Cunningham died that following weekend.

Wednesday, we played with the water slide some more, while Grandma blew bubbles for Florence. This time, Lucy followed a little too closely and lost a tooth as her mouth made contact with Charlie’s elbow. Grandma actually found the tooth in the “pool” of the water slide, but as we tried to pose for a picture next to the slide, Charlie elbowed it out of her hand and it was lost forever in the grass. Fortunately, the tooth fairy left her a note “I found your tooth outside in the yard. Next time, leave it under your pillow”. That tooth fairy is such a smart mouth! That evening we watched Marley and Me. It was interesting to hear Charlie comment on the differences between the book and the movie. I thought they had hammed it up a little bit too much from the book as well. It wasn’t until later that I realized the book Charlie had read was a kid’s version of the original book. So maybe the differences were closer to the original – that’s ok I suppose.

Tomorrow, week 3, begins our vacation within our vacation.

Week One in DC

We arrived from Tuscaloosa on Thursday, July 2. Tony flew up with us from Alabama and will be with us until Tuesday. Thursday was mostly spent unpacking and setting up pac-n-plays, finding the beds, etc. The kids also reaquainted themselves with Poppa's electronics, especially his 500+ channels on the tv. They revisited old shows such as Wonderpets and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and discovered new ones like Phineas and Ferb.

Friday, we all (without Poppa) visited Cub Run, an indoor swimming pool/recreation center in Chantilly, VA, about 30 minutes from Grandma's house. It has a kids area that includes a zero-depth entrance with various sprays, and a slide with just about two feet of water for the little kids, a deeper area to play in - around 4 feet - with a lazy river and whirlpool for the middle kids, and two water slides (one of which travels outside the building) for the bigger kids. It also has a lap pool and a hot tub for the biggest kids (i.e., the adults.) This was the first year I actually got to sit in the hot tub since Tony was there to help take care of the kids. Mom had come with us, but when we were getting dressed in the locker room, she had discovered that she had only brought the top half of her swimsuit, tee-hee. So while we got started, she used her best friend, the GPS, to find the nearest KMart to invest in a complete suit so she could join us. After swimming for a couple hours, the kids were a nice shade of blue and we decided it was time for lunch. We had packed our lunch and, after showering everyone, ate upstairs overlooking the swimming area before heading back home for naps. I don't have any pics from this trip because when I got my camera out, it kept asking me to reformat the card. Well, this would've deleted all my pictures from our AL trip, so I let it go. Fortunately, my tech-savvy husband was able to rescue my pictures off the card, though I think the card is dead, and we're holding out little hope for the camera.

On Saturday, July 4, we began the day by participating in the Bike Parade in my parents' neighborhood. We decorated the bikes and Florence's stroller and headed up to the top of the hill where everyone was gathering. There were lots of kids with varieties of decoration: streamers, flags, balloons, etc. After the quick "parade" where the kids rode (or were pulled in wagons or pushed in strollers) down a predetermined path, everyone gathered in the backyard of one of the neighbors for fruit, cake, jello, even monkeybread, much of it tinted or arranged in red, white, and blue colors. They had a swingset/slide and a trampoline in case the kids had any energy left after bike riding the hills. They also had crafts and treats for the kids to bring home. All in all, the kids had a great time, even though they didn't really know any of the other kids. It's amazing to see how kids know no strangers in other kids. After that, Tony, Poppa, Charlie and Alex all headed into DC for a Nationals Baseball game. This was Alex's first live game, though Charlie has been before to see the Diamondbacks. They did head home after the game, against all the traffic heading into town for the fireworks. That evening, because it gets dark so late, the older kids watched the DC fireworks show on tv. It's sad, I know, but it was High-Def on a big widescreen, so it could've been worse, I suppose.

Sunday, I headed down, with my sister Susannah, to see John Rocco (and John Gilbert and Lisa). They were in the hospital still in Charlottesville, and this was before any of his surgeries. He was beautiful and John and Lisa were obviously so proud. While I was gone, Tony and Grandma took the kids to Chinatown, the Building Museum and the Portrait Gallery in DC. They ate lunch at a nice restraunt in Chinatown. At the Building Museum, they spent some time in the Discovery Zone, one of our favorite "play areas" that has collections of bricks, legos, tinkertoys, all for building your own creations. I think this was Tony's first time visiting there after hearing about it for years. There, Tony discovered that Pokemon is the international language of children after Charlie bonded with a brother and sister over a character named "Zabadus". After that, they had a quick trip through the Portrait Gallery before Florence had had enough of being in the stroller and encouraged everyone to go home. She did very well up until the last minute and I heard wonderful stories of the antics and songs sung in the car to keep her awake (if not happy) in the car on the way home.

That Monday, we travelled to the Natural History Museum. Grandma kept Florence so that we could take our time without having to worry about her schedule. (She must've had a different baby, because she kept talking about how good and well-behaved she was). There was a new Ocean's exhibit that we wanted to see. They also had labeled some of the exhibits so you could find them from the "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" movie. I've always been fascinated by the ocean, which is confusing since I hate going into the water... It was a beautiful exhibit, though going with young children, I didn't get to read as much about everything as I would've liked as they kept running ahead. And the most fascinating part, a live saltwater tank, was so crowded by people trying to see the colorful fish, that it was hard to get close enough. The kids also enjoyed the bug exhibit, they were fascinated by the working beehive that had a tunnel that led to the outside. You could see the bees hovering right outside the window, waiting to take their turn to get into the tunnel. Charlie's favorite exhibit was a special exhibition on the study of bones. They had many skeletons to look at as well as plaques that explained how they decided someone might have died based on what they read in their bones. Lucy and I found some broken arms to look at to see what her broken arm might've looked like. And of course, what visit is complete with a visit to the dinosaur hall or standing in line to glimpse the Hope Diamond. Grandma had driven us down into the city, but we took the subway back home, so this was another treat for the kids - riding the metro at the beginning of rush hour...woohoo!

Tuesday morning, before Tony left, mom took him and the three older kids on the bike trail into Vienna. Florence and I dropped them off near her house (back around near Meadowlark Gardens) and they biked into Vienna. Florence and I drove in, parked at the Vienna Inn where we would have lunch, and walked around the area while we waited for them. There was a small museum (which we didn't go into) that had a lovely "park" area. No playground so to speak, unless you count the numerous pebble size rocks from the rock path that were perfect for throwing, or the little slab steps that were perfect for marching up and down, or the concrete stage area that was ripe for a little dancing. It happened to bump into the bike path, so we were able to meet the kids when they finally showed up. At that point, we had a most fabulous lunch (it always tastes better when you've "worked" for it, doesn't it) at a quirky place. They're supposedly known for their chili dogs, but no one was brave enough to try this out. But they did have the most incredible onion rings - almost as good as the wedding bands from Johnny Rays in Alabama. The kids enjoyed it, even Florence was pretty good for it. After lunch, grandma and I took the younger kids home while Tony and Charlie raced back on the bike path. It was cute to see them smack-talking each other in the resteraunt about who was going to win. As it turned out, Charlie officially won the race as Tony got stuck behind a group of bikers right at the finish line...so he says.

Before Tony had to leave on Tuesday afternoon to go back to work, he was able to help Poppa get his new computer set up and connected to all the printers, and fortunately didn't run into the problem of the blue screen of death as he did last year. With him gone, that left me and the kids at Grandmas for the remainder of the month. We were sad to see him go, but we were glad he got to spend as much time with us as he did.