Thankful Thursday

1. We had a great trip to Lancaster last Wednesday to ride Thomas the Train, see Moses at Sight and Sound, and have dinner at IHOP with Paul's parents, my brother, and my parents.

2. Nadia and Ian enjoyed their last two horse back riding lessons last Thursday and Friday.

3. We enjoyed making four trips to the swimming pool last week, and I appreciated that the water temperature went up five degrees over the first six days. It was very special that one of the life guards played with Nadia on Friday night in the swimming pool the whole time we were there.

4. I got some really great bargains at the yard sales on Saturday.

5. It was great to see my friend, Laura, on Sunday afternoon.

6. The weather was really nice on Monday for our trip to the zoo. It was a lovely day!

7. I forgot to mention previously that I am thankful for the picnic table we bought a couple of weeks ago. The kids enjoy eating lunch on our deck.

8. Nadia and Ian really enjoyed the three nights of VBS they were able to attend, and Paul and I had a short shopping trip to the mall with Oliver during their last night of VBS. Paul got himself two new pairs of shorts, I got Oliver a pair of sandals as he had outgrown the hand-me-down pair from Ian, I got a haircut, and I got myself a new swimsuit cover-up since I left mine in the Poconos last month.

9. Paul and I enjoyed attending a 2 hour ballroom dancing class on the waltz on Friday night. We will miss the next three classes, but we plan to return once we're back from Florida. He also announced on Friday night that he won't be teaching classes in our town in August, but he will be teaching again from September through May!

10. It's been great to spend time with my parents, Wendy and her family, and my brother the past five days!

11. My dad and I took Susie, Rachel, Ian, and Nadia to Six Flags America on Tuesday. The park is very close to their house (which was a relief to not have to drive far or deal with DC traffic), the weather was perfect, and the crowds were very low. Susie and I just walked on to several roller coasters, and we were able to stay on and ride rides a second or third time without getting off of them, ifwe wanted to! The height requirements are much stricter here than at Knoebels, DelGrosso's, Sesame Place, etc. so Nadia wasn't able to ride the water slides, swings, roller coasters (other than the kiddie one), but still we all had a great time. You really need to be 48 inches or taller to ride many of the rides at this park. We were at the park for nine hours! I rode more roller coasters than I had ridden in a day in more than 10 years.

12. Nadia and Ian saw their first movie in a theater yesterday. I took them plus Susie and Rachel to see Despicable Me 2. It cost $5 for the 5 of us to see the movie. My nieces have seen movies in an IMAX theater at a science museum in Chicago, but they hadn't been in a regular theater before. My kids hadn't seen anything on a large screen before. Nadia was confused, as she was expecting there to be actors. We do take them regularly to see plays at a theater. Next week Paul is going to take Ian to see the Lego movie in a theater for $1.