Anna Grows

Anna with the new tent It was a hot and humid Memorial Day weekend in Northern Virginia - perfect weather to kick off the unofficial start of summer.  Anna asked numerous times when we could go camping again, so we decided this was the perfect weekend to do it.  It should come as no surprise that it was a memorable trip. First, we decided to get a bigger tent since the 2-person tent was a bit to crowded for the three of us.  A quick visit to Wal-Mart, and we are now the owners of a 5-person tent (Anna was very excited about that).  The plan was to head to one of the local Fairfax County parks for an overnight camping adventure.  Apparently others had the same idea, including the thousands of motorcycle riders that descend on DC for the annual Rolling Thunder ride, thus the campgrounds were booked up.  Not wanting to disappoint Anna, we found a campground in the mountains on the Shenandoah River that fit are requirements (1 hour from home and with bath houses).  When we arrived at

Anna had her first big lesson on the importance of cash last night.  For the past couple of months, Anna has been given an allowance of $1 a week for doing some chores.  Recently, she has failed to do the chores, thus did not receive her allowance.  It did not seem to bother her until she decided she wanted a bracelet maker. One her friends from school has a bracelet maker and Anna has been asking her Mom for weeks to stop at Michaels's to get one.  Last night, Anna finally got to go to Michael's to pick up some items for a school project.  She grabbed her doggie purse and change purse from Grandma in anticipation of a big purchase. When she found the bracelet maker, the price was $20.  After counting her money, she discovered that she had $3.67 with her.  There was a smaller bracelet maker for $13.  After attempting to barter with her Mom and getting no where (Mom told her she had to use her own money for the purchase), she sadly left the store with a plan to talk to Dad w

It was a beautiful weekend to celebrate mother's day.  This year, Theresa decided she wanted to check out the Virginia State Arboretum near Winchester, VA in the Shenandoah valley.  As luck would have it, there was a plant sale this weekend with numerous vendors.  Aunt Gayle joined in for the Virginia road trip as we headed west. The Arboretum was lovely with beautiful views of the mountains.  The weather was warm and Anna got a new hat to keep the sun off her head.  She now has her own  gardening hat.  After enjoying a picnic lunch on the grounds and checking out some of the trails, the next stop was Berryville, Virginia for strawberry picking. Thanks to the warm weather, it was peak time to pick delicious strawberries.  Aunt Gayle declared that she was not bending over to pick the berries (apparently she has something against migrant work), but instead acted as strawberry spotter.  Everyone enjoyed taste-testing the berries.  After picking over 8 pounds of berries, we headed

As most of us know, the world is full of challenges...many of which lead to stress.  Stress is not limited to adults.  Being a kid can be quite stressful, especially with parents training their kids to be Olympic athletes beginning at age 3 or training child prodigies.  It's a lot of pressure.  Apparently Anna's school is seeking to combat stress at an early age, beginning with kindergarten. Anna came home from school today and informed us that the "feeling teacher" visited her class today.  At first we thought she meant someone that had a "touch and feel" exhibit (they are learning about the different animal groups this week), but we quickly learned that is was emotional feelings.  Here is the summary from Anna: Anna:  "The feeling teacher came to talk to us about stress." Mom:  "Oh...what is stress?" Anna:  "Stress is when someone wants you to do something you don't want to do." Dad:  "Really?  What are you sup

Soccer season is in full swing and Anna's team (see team name above) is doing well....or at least as well as a group of 5 and 6 year old girls can do.  They have practices on Friday evening and games on Saturday. You have to be a very patient person to coach this group of girls, and Coach Tom is just the man for the job.  It is not uncommon to hear him shout such phrases at practice as "no cartwheels" or "let's not play with our hair right now."  In between, he and the assistant coaches manage to teach the girls some soccer skills and have a good time. The whole thing is quite entertaining.  One of the other moms on Anna's team wrote a blog about the team name and really captures the fun of the team.  If you need a laugh, check it out:  http://oakton.patch.com/articles/what-is-in-a-name