End of School & The Start of Summer

As usual, I am behind on my blogging.  I think at this point, I can probably stop opening with that--it can just be assumed.

The kids wrapped up the school year.  We had the first grade picnic and the Kindergarten graduation. They received their final report cards and we excitedly started summer break.

The first grade picnic was fun, we got to meet some of the kids' friends and their parents.  Phone numbers were exchanged, promoting the possibility of summer playdates. It was a rough ending for Jack. He thrives on routine and genuinely enjoys school. It is particularly difficult because the majority of his close friends will be going to the new school next year. His best friend is a little girl who was also in his Kindergarten class. They played together at recess, sat next to each other on the carpet, and talked about each other often. In fact, I was mildly relieved to hear from her father that this was not a one-sided affection and that she considers Jack as good a friend as he considers her. As the end of the year got closer and closer, Jack would often comment about how much he was going to miss his friends. It has been a rough year with far too many friends moving away and this school rezoning is only exacerbating the problem. Regardless, the picnic was fun. Unfortunately, it was on an excruciatingly hot day. As we walked up, families were quickly throwing their blankets in the shady yard perimeter. We decided to set up in the large gazebo, which was nice. The kids played and we all ate pizza and snacks. We even pulled Kara out so she could be a part of it.

Kara had her Kindergarten graduation the following week.  She was chosen to read some sentences. They only chose one kid from each class, so I was excited for her.  We practiced her lines and speaking with emphasis and she was fantastic.  She had them memorized and was so cute in her delivery.  Her lines were, "Hollywood is a great place to learn about nature.  This year we learned about many different creatures. Here is a song about some of our favorite ones."  She was the only kid that received applause and I even heard a couple of random comments behind me talking about how well she did. It was so cute! I was actually nervous for her.  Her class went last and I was just holding my breath the whole time. I didn't even know I was a stage mom!

Our little performer

Their report cards were all solid. Everyone is on track and performing well. Their teachers had nice things to say and behavior was overall good. I have been uniformly impressed with their teachers. We have had excellent communication and felt that the teachers genuinely cared about our children. As a result, we tried to get nice end of the year gifts. The kids filled out a teacher's about me sheet (my favorite response was on Jack's, where he responded with "get a kid' when asked what he thought his teacher was going to do this summer); a Target gift card, and a note pad that said "from the desk of" with their name on it. We also wrote detailed thank you notes. The kids were so excited to bring in the gifts and I am happy any time we can get them in the giving mood.

Our cuties on the last day of school (Kara chose to wear the same outfit that she wore on the first day)

We went to Brusters with our some of our bus stop friends right after school

Our summer is off to a good start. The kids spent the week at Vacation Bible School singing the world's catchiest tunes.  I seriously have been singing "We all fall short; we all fall down, God's love is turning our hearts around," about 16 hours out of each day.  They had a great time and it really is a huge gift to the community.  I can't imagine the effort that went into entertaining all those kids for 3 hours a day.  And, it was free!

After their "concert" Friday, we went straight to Kings Dominion. My friend Jennifer's mom came up to celebrate her grandson's first birthday. She is staying with us, because we have more room, and she came with us.  That was awesome because she kept the kids while Thomas and I finally got to ride Volcano (scary!). We tried to ride Flight of Fear, which we have attempted to ride 3 times. As has happened in the past, the ride down right as we got to the front of the line. I am starting to think someone is trying to tell us something. Fortunately, the lines were short. We stayed until closing and finally got to see the fireworks. It was a perfect day to be there, the weather was great and we walked on just about every ride. I asked one of the workers if the crowd was typical of a Friday and she said not at all, but that it was similar to a Wednesday. So, we have decided Thomas needs to take some random Wednesday off this summer so we can try to repeat the experience.

Luke loved the fireworks.  Here he is wide awake at 10pm.  He went all day on a 1-hour nap.  We tried laying him back and he would just pull himself right back up. He didn't want to miss out on any of the fun.  Fortunately, he stayed in a really good mood and caught up on his sleep the next day.

The kids have swim lessons for the next two weeks, then a week at St John's Summer Camp. Then, I think we have a couple of weeks with no plans followed by one more week at St. John's. We are hoping for a busy, fun summer.  Although, I don't want the kids to feel like they have to be entertained. There is plenty of free time where I expect them to play and find something to do without me having to structure some activity.

3 Paintings with Wine and Design (aka:To Hell and Back)

I heard about a place several months ago where you could go and paint a fool-proof picture in a couple of hours.  I was immediately intrigued and really excited about trying it out.  There were several fun Christmas designs that I was interested in, but the timing never worked out.  Finally, in late March, Thomas and I decided to attend one of their date nights.  For the date night, you paint complementary pictures that you can hang up side-by-side.  We went to the Front Porch for dinner and walked around a bit before it was time for our session to start.  We chose a dandelion design, which was our favorite of the date nights offered in March.  It was a very simple design and we had a good time.  It was relaxing to be there with Thomas and nice to do something a bit different together.  We both really liked it and hope to go back. The next morning, when we showed the kids, the girls were very excited. They wistfully remarked how they wish they were big enough to go to the painting place.  So, I signed us all up for one of the Mommy and Me sessions in May.

I never told them what we were doing.  When the day came, I simply told them I had a surprise for them and that we were going to do something special.  When we got to the studio, they were VERY excited.  Unfortunately, the excitement quickly waned, at least for Kara. She was very frustrated that her owl was not coming out like the instructor's owl.  She also didn't like them telling her what colors to use.  It was way too formulaic for her artistic tendencies. Kara is not one to keep her feelings to herself, so she protested, rather loudly at times. If it had been just her and me, I would have left. But, I had Anna with me (we'll get to her in a minute).  At one point, Kara loudly proclaimed that this was the worst surprise ever.  She hated it and wanted to know "why did you bring me here?" Every stroke of the brush brought a groan, sign or cry. It. Was. AWFUL! That seriously went on for about 40 minutes. It was in a very small place and there wasn't much I could do. I did manage to make her quiet down so it was really just me that got the brunt of her frustrations. The instructor even tried to talk to her a couple of times and Kara just (literally) turned her nose up at her. Finally, she heard me when I said to just paint the owl any darn way she wanted in whatever dang colors she liked.  I had told her from the start that the finished product didn't really matter, to just have fun and enjoy herself. Although she is sweet and loving, she is also obstinate and stubborn and it took a while before she would just accept that the painting was not going to look exactly how she wanted it to look.

Anna, on the other hand, was pleased to be there.  She tried her best to follow the instructions, but went with the flow if things didn't go exactly as planned.  However, she was her typical energetic self. She got paint everywhere.  On her clothes. On my clothes. On her body. On my body. In her hair. She went to the bathroom at least 3 times. With Kara on one side and Anna on the other, I was in my own private hell. But, at least Anna was cheerful and happy, for which I was very grateful.

Somehow, we managed to make it through the 2 hour session. When all was said and done, both girls said they loooovvved it and wanted to know when we could go back?!?!?!  I told Kara in about 10 years. They also wanted me to take them for ice cream. And, perceptive Anna piped up from the backseat, "Mommy, you aren't acting like you had a good time."  My little Sherlock. Ahhh, the joys of motherhood. The pictures now hang proudly in their bedroom and I chuckle frequently at the memory of my misery

You would never know the anguish these guys caused...

My final foray with Wine and Design (there has never been any wine involved with me, not much design really either) took place on Friday. One of my neighbors decided to host a party at her house. She is moving soon and wanted to have one last celebration with her friends. She chose a Solomon's bridge design, which was my most complicated yet (still relatively fool proof). She had 6 friends from the neighborhood there and 6 from outside the neighborhood. There was tons of fantastic food and I had a great time.  When they go to someone's house, the pace is much more relaxed. I think it ended up taking about 3 hours before we finished.  It was fun to be with a group where we basically all knew each other, lots of joking and commentary, as opposed to being in the studio with strangers. We took silly pictures, made fun of each other's work, complimented each other's skill, took lots of food and drink breaks, and just generally had a good time. It was a very nice way to spend an evening. I just wish we weren't getting together because one of us is leaving.

For each design, they start you with an outline.  

At the neighborhood table

It was going so well, until my bridge got wider and wider. 

Highlighting our friend Isabelle who is leaving us for more mountainous pastures.

When Thomas and I left active-duty, we were so excited about establishing roots.  We pictured the kids making friends and growing up with those friends. Now, it seems as if the people we like keep leaving. Three of our favorite neighborhood families have left with another going soon. It is awful! The perils of living in a military town, I suppose. I have decided not to befriend anyone who is on active-duty, a contractor or unable to commit to 5 or more years here.  :)

Fort Necessity and the Flight 93 Memorial

As Kori has indicated in previous entries, our family enjoys American history.  One of the benefits of living in southern Maryland is the close proximity we have to so many historical places.  One such place is Fort Necessity.  I have wanted to visit for a while so I was very excited to finally get out there. The drive out took about four hours and the kids all did very well.   It still amazes me how good of a traveler Luke is.  When they were Luke’s age, the other kids (Kara especially) did not like being in the car for an extended period of time.  And for Kara, an extended period of time was anything longer than five minutes.  We are very fortunate that Luke (so far) has taken to traveling so well.  Anyway, getting back to the trip, we arrived at the Fort Necessity National Battlefield Visitors' Center at 1:19pm. Thanks to Kara's detailed record keeping, we know when we arrived and departed from all of our stops. Kara has been reading the Magic Tree House books, and so she decided to keep a journal during our trip, just like the characters in those books.  That was very cool. 

The first thing we did at the visitor’s center was watch a short (about 15 minutes) movie on the French and Indian War.  Everyone agreed that it was really good and were excited to get out and explore.  Following a quick tour through a small display area, we headed outside.  They had a play area for the kids, complete with a small “Fort Necessity” to play in.  Although I was eager to head out to Great Meadows (the site of the actual battle) the kids needed to work off some energy after the long car ride, so we let them play for a little while.   The weather was perfect and spirits were high.  Little did we know of the chaos and tragedy that would soon hit our family.

Just kidding-nothing bad happened.  It just seemed like the blog needed some drama.   So, once the kids had enough of the play area (or should I say, once the parents had enough of it), we headed down the trail to the reconstructed fort.  We were walking through a heavily wooded area that suddenly opened up into a very large and lush clearing.  In fact, one might describe it as a great meadow.   

Jack and Luke in the play area.

I have seen many pictures of it but seeing the fort in person I was struck by how small it was.  I had always envisioned a fort large enough to accommodate the 400 men George Washington had under his command but I can’t imagine getting more than 100 in there.  I guess the fort wasn’t made to accommodate the soldiers, but rather the supplies, ammunition, and livestock. It seemed rather strange since the fort was in the middle of this large meadow, surrounded by forest.  One would think the fort would be used to help defend the soldiers since they were otherwise sitting targets to any approaching enemy.  The French and their Native American allies agreed—they soon surrounded the fort from the protection of the forest and opened fire with Washington’s surrender soon following. 

We spent a little bit of time in the fort (not too long because, again, it was really small) and surveyed the area.  Jack manned the cannon and picked off a few imaginary French soldiers who dared to leave the protection of their trees.

At the entrance to the fort.

In 1754 George Washington stood here and thought--"wow, that wide open field would be a great place to make a defensive stand."  Fortunately for all future Americans, Washington learned from his mistakes.

We then followed the trail up to the Mount Washington Tavern.  It was a bit of a hike up a really steep hill, but everyone agreed it was worth the extra effort.  It was an original building from 1839.  How did we know it was built in 1839?  Well, because the sign and the brochure all said it.  But that’s not the cool part.  During a recent renovation, wallpaper was removed and underneath it was the original walls with “graffiti” (their signatures and the date-July 1839) left by the men who built the structure.  It was really awesome to see those signatures and imagine the men writing them. What would they say if they knew that people would be standing in their building, reading their handwriting 176 years after they left it?

The rest of the building was also interesting.  It had served as a tavern along the national road.  People traveling out west to the Ohio valley would stop off and have a meal or if they could afford it they’d actually stay the night, although most people apparently just continued on their journey, sleeping under the stars.  A couple of facts the kids found interesting—although it was a “restaurant” there was not menu from which to choose the food.  Patrons just sat at the table and the host brought out whatever meal they were making in the kitchen that day.  Talk about a bad business model!  The other thing the kids were fascinated by were the sleeping arrangements.  Men and women were not allowed to sleep in the same room, even if they were married.  So all the men would sleep together in one room and all the women in another.   They also shared the same bed.  So if you stayed the night, you most likely found yourself sharing a bed with total strangers. It’s not hard to see why these types of “accommodations” went the way of the dodo bird. 

From there we headed back to the car and drove to Braddock’s grave.  General Edward Braddock was Commander-in-Chief of military forces in America in 1755 and led the expedition to take Fort Duquesne. Unfortunately for poor General Braddock, they were ambushed by the French and Native Americans.  Routed by their enemy, with General Braddock mortally wounded, young George Washington took over and led the British on an organized retreat thereby saving the day for the British army.  Once again, in defeat, Washington’s legacy grew.  He was recognized throughout the colonies and mother England as the man who saved the day during the Battle of the Monongahela.

Following our brief stop at the grave, we drove the 8 miles to Jumonville Glen, finishing the Fort Necessity National Park trifecta.  Jumonville Glen was the site of the skirmish that actually started the French and Indian war and was George Washington’s first exposure to warfare. The amazing thing about Jumonville Glen was how preserved the entire area is.  We all talked about how if George Washington were somehow transported there in present day, he would find that it looked nearly identical to how it was that fateful morning in 1754. I don’t imagine there are many places you can say that about.  It was very cool.

When finally checked into our cabin at Jellystone, Kori was looking through the book at local attractions and noticed that the Flight 93 memorial was fairly close by.  We decided to head out there on our way home on Sunday.  I’m glad we did, because it was an amazing experience.  The memorial is seemingly in the middle of nowhere so it’s generally not something that one will simply stumble upon, so it made us feel good to see so many cars in the parking lot.  Clearly the impact of the 9/11 attacks still resonates with people.

 

Parts of the memorial were still under construction, with the main visitors’ center and the walking trail are scheduled to be finished by the end of the year.  Even without those areas being open yet, the memorial was really nice.  There’s no doubt it’s a sad place to visit.  It was so horrific to read all of the accounts of the hijacking and the subsequent crash (along with everything that occurred between those events).  But I also found it very inspiring.  These were people who refused to accept their fate.  They fought back and very nearly overcame the odds.  And although they were not successful in taking back the plane, their efforts unquestionably saved the lives of hundreds of other (would-be) innocent victims.  They refused to give up, and kept fighting until the very end.  Their actions were truly inspiring.  I know that I will think of those brave souls the next time I am faced with seemingly impossible odds.  When the easy road would be to simply give in, I’m going to stand up, look that challenge directly in the face and say, “let’s roll!”  

Jack and Anna reading the names on the memorial wall.  The dark ground they are walking on represents the flight pattern the plane took.  It crashed on the other side of the gate. 

Another view of the memorial wall.  

Jellystone

Thomas has been wanting to see Fort Necessity since we moved here.  With no big trips on the horizon, it seemed like a good time to do a mini-vacation.  I found out there was a Jellystone Campground nearby and the plans all fell into place.  Thomas is going to do a blog focusing on the historical stuff, including a side trip to the United 93 Memorial.  So, I am going to write about the Jellystone.

Before our neighbors went last year, I had never heard of Jellystone.  And, even if I had, I probably would have assumed you needed a camper or tents at the minimum.  But, they took their family of 6 and stayed in a cabin and we did the same.

We left after breakfast on Friday and drove straight to Fort Necessity (with a brief stop at a Chick-Fil-A).  Fort Necessity and the other sites were about 40 minutes from Jellystone.  It was a mountainous road, which was fun and different.  We passed a lot of whitewater rafting places, one will let kids as young as 4 go (more rafting than whitewater), so I am hoping we can go back in 3 years and give it a try.  I have always wanted to try rafting.

Anyway, by the time we got to Jellystone Mill Run, it was around 4:30, we checked into our cabin, then went back out to get dinner.  The closest shopping area was about 30 minutes away, which we weren't expecting.  More mountain driving.  There was a Subway much closer, but we needed some stuff at Walmart.  We got back around 7 and did the "Snowless Snow Tubing" on their 400 foot hill. We also checked out the pools, which were packed!  The tubing was fun.  We all tried, even Luke, but he wasn't a fan and I learned I wasn't supposed to have gone with him on my lap anyway. I think the other kids went down 5 or 6 times.  Then, they played on the playground for a while before we decided to call it a night around 9pm.

The hill doesn't look too steep here, but it was (especially pulling multiple tubes behind you)

Everyone was exhausted, but it took us all a while to fall asleep.  Luke was not happy to be in the pack-n-play.  He was also overtired.  As a result, he cried for about 45 minutes and refused all attempts at consolation that didn't involve removing him from the bed.

Despite the rough night, everyone was up at 6am and ready to go the next morning.  The forecast called for rain in the afternoon, so our plan was to get to the pool as soon as it opened at 9.  We had breakfast on our screened-in porch and then went for a walk to see the other side of the campground. They had an upper and lower area, our cabin was on the upper, which had the bigger pool and splash area, restaurant and tubing hill.  The lower area had mini golf, a smaller pool, waterslides and a very small carousel (toddler sized).  We picked a busy weekend--there were very few empty campsites. I was also surprised to see that many of the campsites appeared permanent.  People had built stone walls and decorated around their campers.  I was very curious about the people who call it home, but I never got any answers.

Fun photo opportunity

At 9 I took the older 3 to the pool while Thomas stayed behind with Luke, to ensure he got his morning nap.  By 10, the place was packed!  I think everyone had the same idea we did, because it wasn't really pool weather.  I think it was barely 70 degrees. Jack was cold and left around 1045.  The slides and bounce houses opened at 11, so the girls and I stayed entertained. We finally left around 1230 to get lunch at Subway.  Then, we came home and all 6 of us went back to the pool until dinner. We had dinner at the campground's restaurant.

They loved this slide

Unfortunately, I didn't get one of Jack

Overview of the pool area.  You can't really see the pirate ship, which was Luke's favorite.  He would slowly climb the stairs, then go down one of the two little slides.  Over and over and over.

After dinner, we told the kids to decide if they wanted to do a firetruck ride before going back to the tubing hill. Only Kara wanted to go, so Thomas took her. Although, Jack and Anna had some definite regrets when they saw Kara and Thomas go riding by on the big firetruck. After a few slides down the hill, we decided to call it a night.  The girls had spent about 6 hours in the pool, Jack only a little less, and we wanted to make sure everyone got a good night's sleep and wasn't cranky on the drive home.

All in all, it was a good stay.  We wished we had done more "camping" type activities, like smores, or sitting around the campfire, but with all of Luke's stuff, and the requirement to bring your own bedding and towels, we didn't have room to pack camping gear.  We would definitely try another Jellystone.  The kids had a blast and are already asking when we can go back.  I hope that we are building lots of good memories for them.

Our little cabin

Bunkbeds filled the hallway right off the kitchen

There were two beds in the loft.  The ceiling was so low, only Luke could stand up.

The drive home was long.  We took the scenic route, so we could see the United 93 Memorial.  On the way, we saw a cute little covered bridge, originally built in 1802!  Of course, we needed to stop and take pictures.  We also enjoyed seeing the giant windmills.  It was funny to the kids how small they looked until we got close to them.  Those things are massive!

Thomas is going to write about the Memorial.  I just want to share a couple of my thoughts.  First, I was surprised at how sad it still makes me.  I couldn't even talk about it with the kids without crying. Second, I was glad to see that even 14 years after it happened, there were a lot of visitors.  The Memorial is not on the way to anything (that I know of), but there were dozens of cars in the parking lot with license plates representing many diverse states.  That made me happy to see. I was glad we had the opportunity to visit and to talk with our kids about that fateful day "when the world stopped turning."