Summer Sailin'

Summer is over a month underway already.  And we are having a good time. I have to say this first month just flew by.  This is partly because the first two weeks of the month were occupied by two big trips.

First off, the boys went to Wyoming with the father and stepmother.  By all accounts, they had a wonderful time, saw Yellowstone Park and Old Faithful, hiked, played in "tons of snow," ate some really good food, and went white water rafting.  Wow!

Almost immediately after that they were hustled off to Virginia with Gram and Grandad, so Marty and I could go off on our annual adults-only vacation.  While we were in D.C., the boys enjoyed a few days at the Massanutten water park, then a few days at Gram and Grandad's place in Williamsburg.  They also got to stop in and see their great-grandmother.  They had a good time and were well taken care of, but they were really, really ready to come home when it was all said and done.

Since then, we've been spending summer doing what we normally do.  I admit, a lot of summer is taken up with video games that the boys play online with their school friends.  This is a blessing when whoops of joy and excitement can be heard.  It's a curse when the internet freezes, someone's computer crashes, a download won't work, or someone's feelings get hurt.

Aside from video games, the boys have been relaxing by the TV with their IPads, snacks, and...if you look closely at this photo--their lap-pad/cats.

And of course we've also been enjoying playing with cats and taking lots of pictures.

Aside from that, we watch TV, we fix meals and snacks and try new recipes, we went bowling, we've visited the pizza arcade, we've eaten out several times, gone to a matinee, and last but not least, travelled out to Helen to our favorite little waterpark.

That's Sam on the right and Benny on the left.

It's been a great summer so far despite record-breaking heat.  The one thing that I don't like lately is that the boys really don't want me to take their picture.  Ever.  If I pull out the camera they get upset.  If I take a picture on the sly, they whip around and say "Don't put that on the blog!"  Or "Don't put that on Facebook!"

So. I have a zillion pictures of the cats and not too many of the boys.  But hopefully this is a phase that will pass. Because they are growing up so fast!

Washington D.C.

June is here, and that means our annual adults-only vacation to somewhere fun.  This year we went to Washington DC!

We stayed in a WONDERFUL timeshare that Mom and Dad were able to get us through their vacation club.  It was in old town Alexandria (not far from where I was born) and we enjoyed it very much.  We had a top floor corner room with a view of a very full moon all week, and we were only a few minutes walk from the metro.  We also made use of the free trolley that ran up and down the street every day.  We went to the waterfront several times, out to eat, and even took a nice boat ride one evening.

We visited so many places, it will be impossible to go into lengthy detail here.  But we visited Arlington Cemetary, for starters.  It was a beautiful place but of course, very sobering.  I have a grandfather and an Uncle buried here. 

The Tomb of The Unknown Soldier was a must-see, for many reasons.  We wanted to see if, of course, but also I wanted to see it so I could talk to Benny about it.  Two years ago when Mom and Dad brought him here, this spot made a huge impression on him.  It IS pretty amazing to witness the dedication of the Tomb Guards, who guard the Tomb with great ceremony 24/7...despite cold, rain, storms, heat, night, or day.

Arlington House.

In fact, we were so awed by Arlington that we watched a couple of documentaries about it afterwards.  What an amazing place...one that will really make you stop and think.

From there we went on to all the touristy sites one needs to hit while in DC.  We took a boat ride one night and were treated to a magnificent sunset while cruising past the Washinton Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

We got very comfortable zipping around on the Metro and went to the city every day.  We saw the monuments......

And toured the Capitol.  What a gorgeous building, and so impressive inside, too!

But as amazing as the Capitol was, the Library of Congress was even more stunning inside.  What a gorgeous place!

Over the next several days, we explored many museums....National History, the Art Museum, the Air and Space Museum, and the National Museum of Portraiture.  We saw so many amazing things.  I was most awed and captivated by Linclon's Top Hat, as well as items from the Civil War, such as the chairs that Lee and Grant sat in when they signed the treaty ending the war.  WOW.

But the real Kermit the Frog is fun, too!

The Spirit of St. Louis!

 Museum of Portaitrue.

And lastly, a stop at the Museum of Natural History.  We toured the Butterfly Pavillion and took lots of photos.  We also caught a special exhibit of Nature Photography.  Spectacular!

All in all, a wonderful trip.  The boys spent the week with Mom and Dad and had a good time too.  They were taken to Virginia and spent lots of time at the water park and at the pool.  But even though it was lots of fun, we were all glad to come back home and be together again.  And now we are in the thick of summer.   Let the good times roll!

5th Grade Picnic

Yep, it's here already.  The end of the school year!

I have to say this year went exceptionally fast. (For me.)  It really does seem like a few months ago we were selecting backpacks, filling them with supplies, and the boys were climbing into bed, excited for their first day of school the next day and seeing all their friends again.

But now it's all behind them and they both worked very hard this year.  There was a LOT of reading. Lots of testing. (TONS.)  Lots and lots of vocabulary memorizing.  Every Friday both boys had to memorize a huge list of fancy words.  There were poster projects and field trips and CRCT's and sicknesses and rain and cold and heat and lots and lots of early mornings in the dark in the car, waiting for the bus to arrive.

But that's all over with now and it's SUMMER TIME!

But first we had one last school party.  Benny's school had a 5th grade awards ceremony on Thursday, followed by a schoolwide picnic and mass kickball game.  First came the awards ceremony.

Benny made Honor Roll! 

Then came the picnic.

During the picnic, Benny's teacher told me that this year the class had been "Truly exceptional and wonderful...a great group of kids."  I couldn't agree more, based on what I've seen.

And next year, Benny will be in BAND.  He is very excited.

Along with the picnic came some horsing around.

Lots of horsing around.

Then kickball!

Though it was blazing hot, everyone had a blast, and more than one child was bouncing off the walls with energy and excitement.  They worked hard all year, and now they get to play hard for a few months of summer bliss.

Congratulations, Benny!

Two Weeks of Illness

Remember how I mentioned everyone had so much fun on their cruise?  Well, everyone sure paid for that fun in a big way.  Everybody got sick on the very last day of the cruise.  When they came home, Benny and Gram were both in the midst of bad colds.  Sam felt fine, he said....then hours after arriving back home, he suddenly erupted in full blown pink-eye.

Off to the doctor we went, and both boys missed their first day back at school.  Benny had a sinus infection and ear infection.  Sam had pink-eye.

The next day Gram took a turn for the worse and got pneumonia!!

Benny had a rough week and felt lousy, but was able to return to school for three of the days.

Poor Sam stayed home ALL WEEK with a red, red eye that itched, ached, hurt, oozed, and blurred.  He was so miserable. 

At the end of the week he came down with a very painful throat infection.

So...our house was a house full of antibiotics and eye drops and cartoons, and I tried my best to keep Sam company while he laid around feeling awful.

Fortunately Sam was able to return to school the following week, after nine long days of being sick and being unsightly.

Gram needed a full two weeks to recover, but she is almost all better now.

So maybe I DON'T want to come on the cruise next time, after all?  Who knows.  But it sure sounds like the family shared some big ugly germs.

When the boys finally both felt better, we had a long, long afternoon of extremely rowdy behavior and tons of NOISE.  Though it bugged me, it was also music to my ears. So glad to see everyone feeling beter at last.

Let's hope that was the worst of it...for a while, anyway.

Cruising On Spring Break!

Is it possible?  Yes, it is!  The boys went on another cruise for spring break!!  This makes two years in a row, and their third cruise overall.  (Last year we all went on the ALLURE OF THE SEAS.)

This time, Gram packed up the boys and whisked them off to the Caribbean for seven days!  They joined Bass, Cory, Mikey, and Eydie on the CARNIVAL FREEDOM.  And they had a GREAT TIME.

Yep, that's my fearless eleven year-old, parasailing with Eydie and Mikey in the Florida Keys, on their first day of the trip.  Wow!!  Was I ever surprised to get the phone call afterwards and find out what they did!

And of course, Sam went too--with Cory!

They also visited an alligator farm (ranch?) while there.  They had Key Lime Pie.  They road the Conch Train.

And they saw the very end of Route 1!

The ship was beautiful (Mom said) and they had lots to do.

Everybody (but Mom, who took the picture,) pepares to board

Water slide on ship!

Sam, Mom, Benny at dinner

Eydie and Mikey

Aunt Louise and Cory

Various outings.....

And let's not forget going Ziplining while in Jamaica!  That sounded very FUN.

That's just a sampling of photos, and not much detail, but you get the picture.  The boys had a blast and we are definitely going to make a photo book from their trip!

Benny says he has noticed "a pattern" for his spring breaks, and is already wondering if Gram will take him on a cruise next year, too?

If so, this Mom's going to go along, too!

Bon Voyage!