Anna Grows

Anna swimming fly in the relay  This weekend was extraordinary in that it was ordinary.  It was almost a flashback to what seemed like a long time ago, but it wasn't.  What was so special about it?   Friday night, we attended the first summer concert series on the Vienna Town Green (featuring the very awesome Navy Cruisers band, which you can check out HERE ).  We got take out for dinner.  We picnicked.  Anna hung out with her friends.  This was a Friday night summer tradition pre-pandemic. Saturday was a home swim meet.  There was lots of cheering.  The deli was open.  Joe & Theresa volunteered.  Saturday night we went out for ice cream, also a summer tradition.   Sunday Anna sang in the youth choir at church.  We hung out at the pool (no sign-up sheet for time slots needed).  Anna played laser tag with the swim team (previously a tradition).  Our neighbor Jackie joined us for dinner.  Again, all very normal. It was nice to enjoy these things again, all with a greater apprecia

Father's Day at the National Arboretum  After a glorious first week of summer vacation with temperatures in the upper 70s, we celebrated Father's Day in a typical DC summer way - hot, humid and temperatures in the 90s.  Joe enjoyed a grilled chicken dinner on Saturday night (we had plans for Sunday), a trip to the National Arboretum, some gifts, and the grand finale of Ms. Be's 75th birthday party.    We enjoyed a huge buffet of Vietnamese food in her backyard, which she has turned into a garden paradise.  It looked like  a garden café setting.  As always, Ms. Be out-did herself for her own party.  In addition to celebrating, other events of the week included the following: Anna had her first day of babysitting last Monday (an 8-year old boy and a 5-year old girl).  She declared herself exhausted after day 1. Theresa  got an unexpected day off on Friday when the new Juneteenth Federal holiday was signed into law on Thursday.  It caused quite a scramble at work as everyone t

Anna & her 13-14 (vaccinated) teammates  Anna if officially a rising sophomore!  She finished her freshman year on June 11.  It was a memorable one with a good finish thanks to a return to in-person school.  She met a lot of people and has a core group of friends.  She auditioned and made it into one of the competitive choirs.  She finished with decent grades. There is lots to celebrate.   Unfortunately the weather on Friday was rainy, so Anna and her friends could not do their regular trip to the town green.  Instead, they did what many teenage girls do - they went to the mall.  This was a big event as it wasn't that long ago that wasn't even an option.    A big thanks goes to some brave parents who drove about 8 girls to the mall. It was a great first weekend of summer for several reasons.  In addition to the last day of school, Anna got her second vaccine on Saturday morning.  She was feeling tired and achy on Sunday (this could also have something to do with the fact th

Anna's Silver Award  Today was the awards ceremony for Anna's troop.  It has been six months since the girls got together so they were thrilled to see each other at the local girl scout property (Camp Crowell) for a small celebration.  The big award was their 10 year award as Girl Scouts.  Mrs. Crishock, their troop leader, brought hundreds of photos for them to make scrap book pages out of.  They had a great time looking at all of the activities over the past 10 years (as did the moms who also participated in a lot of outings).  Anna also received her Silver Awards for completing her project in the fall (that would be the Halloween candy launch project).  Of course the best part of the night was making s'mores.  Thanks to all of the cidadas, they opted to have the event in the lodge and light a fire in the fireplace.  There were no bugs, BUT it was 90 degrees in the room, according to the thermometer.  Now that most of the girls are vaccinated, they are looking forward to