Band Camp

 lP started band camp this week.  She loves playing in the pit.  All those years of piano, and then not so much piano, and now she's playing the vibraphone.  She's proud to be the only freshman on a board.  The director said she took to double mallets very quickly.  I think that's because of her work crocheting.  She's used to contorting her hands for long periods of time. 

I'm helping with the uniforms.  It's a huge job even as the assistant to the amazing, long serving person.  There is a very detailed series of steps that have to be taken to get the uniforms ready, maintaied, and accounted for.  

DC trip

 We went to DC to visit my dad.  We also sepent a lot of time hanging out with cousins.  

On the 4th of July we attended a breakfast with my childhood homeward and my dad even initiated going.  In the past he declined invitations but he started going a couple of years ago.  That was nice.  After breakfast we took a quick metro trip into the city and the parade was still going on.  We drove over to P's friend M's house and had a BBQ then over to Aunt R's house for more BBQ and pool time followed by fireworks at a local park.

The zoo was fun. Cousins V and X were very sweet and good travelers.  They stayed with my making it really fun and easy to manage.  I carried a camelback with 2 water bags, one for each family, and many bags of snacks.  The weather was surprisingly nice and the crowd was very small.  Having been to the zoo many times, I was very pleasantly surprised.

We were only there for 3 days but it was packed with outings and family time. We went to great falls one night and enjoyed beautiful scenery and a nice long hike with the children.  We stayed until it was dark!

Traveling with just 3 older kids is surprisingly easy.  We drove home on Saturday and had enough time to take a detour along the skyline drive.  I'm grateful for P looking out for little extra moments of beauty for us to enjoy.

I was able to get a lot of studying done. P was listening to youtube videos for his AP computer science certification.  I was listening to youtube lectures of my classes.  LP was reading a book series on the kindle.  B and L took turns playing the switch and on ipads.  So technology and entertained.  We never had this sort of luxury when the 5 kids were taking road trips before.  I'm grateful for each season we've enjoyed with the children.

We are a happy family

 P came home.  Yay!  This has been a busy summer.  M went to be a camp counselor.  We visited Gtowne. lP and B had camps.  L did homeschooling pretty well this summer.  I took 4 classes for grad school.  P took 2 trainings for AP classes where he was gone for a week.  We visited DC.  B's church group hiked/camped the walls of Jerhico.  lP's group went white water rafting.  I got to do a formal observation and see a lot of great therapy sessions.  I just have 2 more finals.  4 more sleeps until I get a month off.  During that month off I'll be helping with uniforms for the band, and studying for my fall courses.  No rest.  

G is going to the ASL FSY next week.  M flies home July 31 and I drop her off for college August 1.  

lP starts band camp in 8 days.  

lP is doing cross country so I have been waking up every weekday and walking 3 miles with a neighbor.  My knees and hip don't ache anymore!

Life is good.

Super Busy week

 P has been at a training for one of the AP classes he will teach in the fall.  B has been going to a daily space camp.  lP has been going to cross country.  L sometimes gets his work done.  I have been going to observations for my clinical experiences.  I have also been trying to finish out the semster.  I have 2 more exams.  Hurray!  I just have Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to get through.  Then I'm done!  I am pretty sure I'll get high Bs for at least 1 of my classes.  I'm OK with that.

DC fun

 We've arrived safely in DC to visit my dad.  I visited last summer with M, but the kids haven't been since Thanksgiving 2023.  We'll be here 3 days and hope to see cousins, and siblings too.  M is at camp just 90 minutes away.  We're going to the zoo today.  M was the major zoo girl but everyone likes it too.  It just feels weird to go without her.  Having kids grow up and move on is strange.

When P and I went to California 3 years ago, it was so strange, and nice, to experience travel without the kids.  So much of what we do has been dictated by the kids for the last 21 years.  L will graduate in 9 years. P has 16 years until retirement.  I hope to be an SLP in 2 years, so I'll have 14 years of experience at that point.  There is something called Travel SLP where you get a 6 month or 1 year contract and they pay really high wages because you are moving to fill a short term contract.  I think that would be a fun way to travel, and still work after P retires.

The years fly by.

Update: We had such a great visit.  We took cousins to the zoo on Wednesday.  Thursday we spent more time with my dad and went to his favorite buffet for lunch.  We had to come back and take a nap!  In the evening we went to 

Thursday night we met up with R at Great Falls.  It was so beautiful and we ended up hiking the trails until it was dark!

On Friday we went to the church breakfast with my dad and sister's family.  We dropped my dad off and took the metro in to town.  The parade was still going on when we got there!

We went to R's house afterwards for dinner, swimming, and local fireworks.  It was a great visit even though it was a bit fast and busy.