Anna Grows

 It has been an eventful couple of weeks with lots of milestones.  The swim season came to an end with a championship.  Anna got her driver permit.  Theresa took her first work trip since the pandemic began .....and came back with COVID.  Sadly, we lost Joe's cousin, Yolanda, at the age of 101.  More on that in a moment. The big news for the neighborhood was winning the Northern Virginia Swimming League Division 7 title on July 16.  It was an exciting final meet and the toughest one of the season, but the team pulled it out with some strong performances.  Anna has been swimming breaststroke and fly all season and has consistently put points on the board each week in breaststroke.  This is her first year in the 15-18 age group and she had a great season.  The team celebrated with an awards ceremony on Saturday night.  One of the other big milestones of the season was the final Dyson on the Lakevale Swim Team.  The Dyson Dad grew...

The Tech Suits  This week started off with July 4th festivities.  We made it to the Fairfax City parade for the first time in 3 years on what was an absolutely gorgeous day with temperatures around 82 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  The parade is always a good time and features numerous bands, politicians, community groups and of course the librarian drill cart team.  Later in the day, Theresa volunteered at the neighborhood festivities by helping with the deli.  Joe stopped down to see the action and quickly was roped into being the nacho guy at the deli after a run by customers and not enough help (the labor shortage extends to the volunteer deli staff as well).  Anna hung out with her friends for a barbecue and Joe and Theresa hosted Jackie from across the street for some barbecued chicken and corn. July 4th fireworks were actually on July 5 in Fairfax this year, so Tuesday night the family met some friends at a local soccer field to watch the show....

July 2 Swim Meet  July is here!  The last couple of weeks have been filled with work for Anna between babysitting and lifeguarding.  The combination of jobs has her working 30-35 hours a week, which is good for saving up for her school trip next summer to Japan (assuming all pandemic restrictions are lifted).  In between, she is busy with swim team with morning practices and weekend meets.  So far, the team is undefeated.  Each week you never know who is going to be out with COVID - swimmers or parent volunteers.  The pandemic is not over. This weekend is the July 4th holiday which means lots of festivities around Northern Virginia.  This year the festivities will go all week thanks to a shortage of workers that are licensed in pyrotechnics.  That's right - there are not enough professionals to shoot off fireworks.  As a result, you can see fireworks every night for a week at some place in the Greater DC area.  Vienna held their fir...

Happy Father's Day  School is out and the swim season is on!  The season kicked off June 11 with morning time trials and the annual pancake breakfast.  It was an unusually chilly Saturday morning with temperatures hovering around 60 degrees and the threat of downpours (this is not exactly the kind of weather that makes new swimmers want to stay).  Besides the chilly weather, there were a number of swimmers and their families that out due to the latest round of COVID (this will likely be a theme throughout the season).  Theresa joined the pancake crew and found herself making pancakes under an umbrella outside.  Fortunately, the heaviest rain held off until later in the day. The crazy weather continued from 60 degrees on Saturday to 94 degrees on Monday, which was also the first B meet of the season.  There is nothing like standing around the pool in 90 +degree weather with hundreds of kids waiting to swim (Monday night meets are essentially practice me...

A walk in the park with Storm Memorial Day was back to mostly normal this year.  What is mostly normal?  Well, in Vienna is means the Viva Vienna Street festival, complete with carnival rides, fair food, and local street vendors.  There are concerts on the stage, including a performance on Memorial Day by the Vienna Jammers.  It was a great day for an outdoor performance.  Anna was even happier to spend the rest of the day at the festival with her friends followed by an afternoon at the pool. Joe and Theresa enjoyed the concert as well followed by a quiet afternoon at home.  In a normal year, they too would have joined the crowds at the festival, but COVID is still everywhere and has an impact. In other news of the week: Anna essentially finished all of her schoolwork, complete with a presentation on Friday that was attended by her parents.  There was a collective relief among all the parents and teachers present to be done with this school year!...

1st day on the job  It is Memorial Day weekend, which means the swimming pools are open!  This year the Lakevale pool was completely refurbished, including a new baby pool and the entire pool is handicap accessible.  The neighborhood celebrated with a grand opening on Saturday, including two neighborhood bands and a food truck. For Anna, Memorial Day weekend means that swim team begins along with her lifeguard job. Sunday was her first official day on duty.  She was thrilled to have her dad stop by to snap a picture of this big event.  She has two more weeks of school and then will be spending her summer babysitting, lifeguarding, and doing a little bit of junior coaching for the swim team along with swimming herself.  She is very much looking forward to being done with school and NO summer classes. In other news of the week, the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas prompted many conversations at home and school as we try to understand what is happening ...

Lori, Anna & Lori's brother at the Big Jam  After a 2-year hiatus, the Vienna Jammers returned to a live performance!  Not only was it a live performance, but it was at the new Capital One Hall  with special guest Bakithi Kumalo, a Grammy winning bass player.  Anna had a great experience at the venue, including practicing with Bakithi and enjoying the green room for performers.  Theresa even got a moment on the big stage with the adult group, Jammers Gold.  The group only practices once a month and really can only play one song (and that is a struggle), BUT they still had fun playing for the crowd and with Bakithi.  The Vienna Jammers continues to be Anna's favorite activity (with school choir a close second). In other news of the week: Anna had her year-end choir concert on Thursday evening.  The year-end event featured several solos, including by most of the seniors.  Mrs. Latimer joined us for the show.  We didn't realize the fina...