Anna Grows

 The title of this blog has been "Anna Grows" for the past 18 years.  It started out as a way for Theresa to share photos and events with family members about Anna since everyone lives in different places.  It has turned out to be the equivalent of an electronic "baby book" (some of you will remember those) for Anna, including a detailed account of the pandemic weeks.  It may be time to re-evaluate how to manage the blog going forward as Anna can certainly write herself.  The past couple of months may be more of a theme of Theresa's retirement (or work sabbatical as she is calling it) from the Federal Government.  Stay tuned for future iterations (maybe Anna can write some posts - always popular with the family in the past).  Maybe Theresa needs her own blog.  Maybe the name of the blog should really be something else.  Who knows.  For today, here is what Anna, and her family, have been up to in June. Metro to DC Anna is taking a summer ...

Eagle Falls It took 5 years, but at last Anna and Theresa made it to Glacier National Park.  This trip was planned back in 2020 but was postponed indefinitely due to the pandemic. What better way to take a break from college and work than the beautiful scenery of Glacier? Anna and Theresa headed out bright and early on Mother's Day for their week-long adventure.  Since they were early in the season, it was definitely quieter.  The weather is always unpredictable and ranged from 70 degrees the first day to 40 degrees the last day.  There is no doubt the park lived up to expectations and was gorgeous.  You can check out the Glacier National Park Photos . Highlights from the trip included: Lots of hiking & waterfalls thanks to the melting snow.  Monday was a hike to Avalanche Lake.  The rain mostly held off, with the exception of a brief hailstorm (in Glacier you hike unless there are thunderstorms). A horseback riding trip at the adjacent Nation...

Final meal at the dining hall  Anna is officially done with her first year at Virginia Commonwealth University.  Joe and Theresa made the trip to Richmond May 7 to move her home.  They were hopeful that Anna would have her stuff ready to go when they arrived.  That was not the case.  A few notes about moving home from college: You always have more stuff than you initially brought. Brings some things home with you in advance that you don't need (e.g. winter clothes). Be clear about expectations at "pick up" time. There was much packing to do when Joe and Theresa arrived with extra packing bags in tow (Joe even brought rope just in case the roof rack with needed).  After 4 hours and a stop in the cafeteria to use remaining meal swipes (also noting there are very limited options in the cafeteria during the last week), they managed to get everything packed into the car (no roof rack required) and headed back to Northern Virginia.  No trip up I-95 would be ...

Easter dinner with Fefzi & Klara  We kept our Easter tradition this year, which is every year is different. After past years with various spring break location, this year we enjoyed a warm spring day on the deck with friends (thank you Klara and Fefzi for hosting) and a delicious lamb dinner.  Anna was home for the weekend and made the Easter bread and Theresa made lamb cake.  It was also Klara's birthday on Sunday, so there was also a regular birthday cake and ice cream to celebrate. A note on making the Easter bread.  This is a labor-intensive, all-day effort.  Aunt Mary is the master of the Easter bread.  Anna took on the challenge, albeit on a teenager schedule.  This meant not starting the process until about 2 PM when she woke up.  It is unclear when she finished, but it was likely around midnight (Joe and Theresa had long sense gone to bed).  It was ready on Easter morning. In other news: Joe found a new lecture season at George Ma...

 The week of March 9 was spring break for Anna.  It was a wild week that included things like applying for her college program, coloring her hair and going to the dentist.  She did hang out with friends and got to do an overnight road trip to Busch Gardens followed by a stop to see her friend's brother perform in Jesus Christ Superstar  in Fredericksburg (Anna will give you her review of that musical).  Time flew by and she is back at school for the final 8 weeks. Theresa headed to Ohio March 14 to celebrate Grandpa's birthday.  This included a surprise visit from Uncle Rod and Tim, so it was a full house (the first question from the neighbors was where everyone slept).  The family enjoyed breakfast out on Saturday morning.  They managed to get a few chores done, including getting the porch furniture out and hanging Grandma's bird houses.  It was a weekend of weather extremes that included 80-degree weather, storms, lots of wind, and 30-degre...

Flowers are Helpful  Anna returned home President's Day weekend for a visit.  She came home to dog sit Benny as her parents had plans to go to Ohio to visit Grandma and Grandpa for their 52nd wedding anniversary.  After a delayed train on Valentine's morning, she arrived with a very red hair color (matching the Valentine's Day theme).  There are no photos due to other distractions over the weekend (details in a moment).  Like many things, the best laid plans do not always materialize. It was a memorable Valentine's Day for all the wrong reasons for Theresa.  Rather than a trip to Ohio, she canceled to go to the office for what is now known as the Federal Valentine's Day massacre, the firing of thousands of Federal employees who were in their 1-year probationary period.  Theresa lost 8 staff members (80 for her agency) - all new, talented employees.  It has truly been a challenging time to work as a federal employee.  Despite all of the chaos,...