Summer Fun

Aidyn & Anna starting a zip line course
The summer is flying by!  It has been a busy couple of weeks for Anna.  In addition to lots of swimming, the past couple of weeks had some different adventures.

Anna got her first full-day babysitting job last week.  She spent two days watching one 6 and one 8 year old boy while their mom teleworked.  Let's just say she was quite exhausted when she got home.  Both boys are BIG baseball fans.  Anna spent two days playing baseball (or having the boys "teach" her baseball) or watching baseball videos or talking about baseball.  The experience was educational on several fronts.

The boy theme continued when her cousin, Aidyn, came to town for the weekend.  Aidyn enjoyed skateboarding and hanging out at the pool with Anna (or at least hanging around her as he was not quite sure what to make of her friends).  They also enjoyed playing video games and teasing each other...and annoying each other (they were in brother/sister mode).  Uncle Rod & Uncle Tim came to town on Saturday evening and joined in for zip-lining on Sunday.  Who would have thought they would have agreed to such a thing, but agree they did.  Anna even got her uncles on a more advance course (we are not sure, but there is a good chance some advil was required the next day).  It was a fun weekend.   

Rod, Theresa, Tim & Aidyn
This week Anna spent the morning volunteering at vacation bible school along with her friends.  She had a good time coordinating the craft table each day and helping with snacks.  She spent the afternoon at a cooking camp.  Mom & Dad were most excited about this as she came home with some great recipes that she promised to make.  The theme of this week's cooking camp was a tour of the world with each day featuring a different country (Germany, Mexico, Italy, Thailand & France).  It was appropriate that mid-way through the week, Anna and her Dad met Aunt Mary for dinner (she was in town for a conference) at a local German brewpub.  Anna was quite excited about the giant pretzels.  Aunt Mary got to hear all about Anna's culinary adventures for the week.

Giant pretzels with Aunt Mary
Over the last four Saturdays, Anna has been taking an art class with some of her neighborhood friends.  The class is taught by Mr. Mendoza, the father of one of her classmates who happens to be an artist and art teacher at a local Catholic school http://www.hadrianmendozapottery.com/.  Anna took his classes last summer and gave them rave reviews.  This time is even more fun since she has a larger group of friends in class.  They learned how to do watercolors, mosaics, and sculpting.  The added bonus is that Mrs. Mendoza has a different type of homemade bread each week for them to snack on  (this is almost as exciting as the art class).  They just finished their last class, which also featured Mrs. Mendoza's new crepe maker.  This may be Anna's perfect afternoon - art with her friends and good food.  What could be better?

This week Anna is off to girl scout camp. She catches the bus Sunday morning for Camp May Flather, located in George Washington National Forest.  Hopefully Sunday is the last 100 degree day of the summer!
Megan, Julianna, Anna, Corinne & Banaue with their mosaics




 

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