Eggs galore!

The church where our kids go to Upward basketball had a Road to the Resurrection event a couple of weeks ago that we planned to take the kids to, but ended up skipping. Our church included a similar thing prior to their egg hunt today, but we skipped that one as well. I considered volunteering to be one of the teachers at one of the stations (Last Supper, Garden of Gethsemane, crucifixion, resurrection, etc.), but in the end decided just to go to egg hunts really close to our house. The reason I was tempted was naturally I want my kids to focus on the true meaning of Easter, but I know we've been discussing that every day at home lately. Next  year hopefully it will work out to take them to one of those. This morning our first egg hunt was at 10:00 at our local library (which is not the library we usually visit). The attendance was lower than usual at the event, which meant the kids picked up OODLES of eggs. And by OODLES I mean that my three kids put together picked up more than 250 eggs! Each egg contained a piece of candy, a penny, and a small

paper with a letter on it. The reason I know how many eggs they picked up was because we counted the pennies at home so we could divide them between the three kids equally. There were two eggs with "golden coins" instead of pennies. We didn't pick up either of those prize eggs. Then you could use your letters to spell the words "basket" "candy" and each word earned you an entry. It took us so long to open 250+ eggs that we didn't have time to make many words with the 250 letters. We made a few which earned Nadia and Ian a few entries into the drawings for the prizes. Ian won a prize bucket that contained a coloring book, swimming goggles, a small stuffed animal, and a few other small items.

Our next stop was about 5 minutes from the library (across from where the kids go to AWANA). The younger divisions primarily pick up eggs that have either a ticket (for a prize) or a piece of candy; they don't have very many hard boiled eggs on their fields. Nadia's age group picked up mostly hard boiled eggs, and

their plastic eggs only had prize tickets (no candy for them). Nadia picked up about 9 hard boiled eggs and one prize egg (black knit hat), Oliver picked up 2 hard boiled eggs and a bunch of eggs with candy in them. Ian definitely collected the most eggs of the three kids at this particular egg hunt, but he didn't get any prize eggs. The kids definitely picked up fewer prize eggs this year than most years. At the end of this egg hunt everyone can have a free hot dog. After eating our hot dogs, we came home and ate some fruit and spent some time at home before heading out to the third egg hunt. The third one actually involves hardly any eggs. They lay out lots of candy in the grass (of varying sizes - some are large chocolate bunnies) and just a few prize eggs. The kids picked up a fair amount of candy. Oliver could have picked up a LOT more if had wanted to. While we were at the third egg hunt Paul's parents arrived at our house. They joined the kids and I at the final egg hunt at the playground closest to our house. This egg hunt involves plastic eggs with either a prize number or candy

inside. Nadia was the only one who got a prize egg. She won a really large pen this time that writes in different colors. The weather was so pretty today. It was SUNNY the whole day, and it got up to the high 50's in the afternoon. It was so much nicer out than yesterday.

Paul's parents took Nadia shopping for new shoes, and then we had dinner together before heading to church. So many people come to our church on Easter that they don't all fit in the two services on Sunday morning so they added a third service on Saturday night two years ago. The attendance at the Saturday evening service keeps growing. I was quite amazed at how many were here this evening! Between the three services there have been around 2,700 people in the past. I'm not sure if the bigger attendance tonight means it won't be as crowded tomorrow of if the total will be higher. We shall see tomorrow! The choir is singing in all three services. Paul and his parents were only attending tonight. Paul's parents will go to their church tomorrow. The kids and I will be there again

tomorrow. They'll attend Sunday School one service and choir rehearsal the other. I will attend one worship service and one Sunday School class. He is RISEN! We don't usually have a big orchestra, but we have a much bigger one for Easter (timpanis, cello, violin, French horn, etc.). We're headed to Paul's parents' house after church tomorrow. Aunt Millie is doing most of the cooking. I was asked to provide the dessert so today Nadia and I made lemon bars and brownies. I don't make lemon bars very often, but they are one of my favorites, and it seemed a good choice for Easter.  The fact that I knew we were headed to church tonight for the first Easter service was part of the reason I didn't want to attend our church's Easter walk and egg hunt. Because I figured they'd be getting SO much candy, I didn't buy them any candy or any Easter gifts. I told them on Monday I will take them to the CVS in our town (once everything is at least 50% off) and let them each pick one thing such as some jelly beans or a chocolate bunny or whatever. It's not that they *need* any more candy, but I

think I'd feel guilty if I didn't get them anything. I have fond memories of getting a chocolate bunny or something like that from my parents when I was growing up.

Beside the egg hunts and worship service today I also cleaned the bathrooms (with some help from Nadia), vacuumed the downstairs, did two loads of laundry (including washing all the sheets and towels), made sure the kids each got a bath or shower, and wrote a letter of recommendation for one of my student teachers. I also took some pictures. Ian hadn't changed into his "Sunday" clothes before I left for church. I left first as I had to be there 45 minutes early to rehearse with the choir. I discovered while taking the picture of Oliver that his size 5 dress shirt was too small for him. Later this evening I tried on a size 6 shirt (long sleeve) and it fit him perfectly. That's what he'll be wearing tomorrow. My baby is growing up so fast!

Field Trip Friday

Aside from our trip three day trip to Philadelphia earlier this month, field trips have been much less common this year than has been the norm for us. In some cases, I decide against a particular field trip just because I'm not a big fan of driving, and I am doing a lot more driving than usual due to supervising student teachers. On my days "off" from that, I don't really want to get in the car and drive to any place farther than 20 minutes from our house. I'm hoping to make up for lost time and take them on more field trips than usual from May through August. Today's field trip involved two hours of driving (round trip), but because we had really enjoyed the program the last two times we went (spring and fall of 2017), I decided to take the kids to Bald Eagle State Park today. The four hour program for homeschoolers is run by students from Penn State University. The forecast had looked almost ideal - high of 58 and sunny, but the reality was that it was around 43 degrees and raining. Thankfully it only rained at the beginning and the end of our time there. We had a few hours that were

dry albeit still cloudy and chilly. The kids didn't seem to mind. I am not a fan of cold weather so I admit I spent some time in the van reading a book I had brought. The kids were divided into groups. Nadia and Ian were in the same group so I spent more time with Oliver's group than theirs. They rotated through six different stations (30 minutes at each) plus had time for eating lunch, playing with Frisbees, etc. Ian and Oliver both agreed that their two favorite stations were the frog pond (where they retrieved animals from a pond with a net, identified them and put them back in the water) and a recycling relay race. In the relay race they had to pick an object from a pile (such a soda can) and put it into one of four bins: compost, repurpose, recycle, or trash.

The most unpleasant part of the day was when I opened the mail this afternoon. Oliver's ER visit plus hospitalization cost us $320.78, which was less than I was anticipating it might be. I paid a $20 co-pay to have his stitches removed at the Pediatrician's office and $45 to see the neurosurgeon four weeks later. I seriously considered cancelling that appointment because I didn't think it was worth $45 and the time to drive there and

back to be asked "does he seem to be back to normal?". As truly that was the extent of the doctor's "examination". Today I learned I absolutely made the wrong decision. If I could go back in time, I would skip the follow-up appointment as today we received a "facility fee" of $147 for that two minute appointment. The insurance paid the rest of the doctor's fee (beyond the $45 we paid as the co-pay) and now the hospital wants an additional $147 for the fact we occupied an exam room for less than five minutes?!?  So we paid $320 for a

visit that lasted about 30 hours and now owe an additional $192 for less than five minutes. My initial estimate when we were sitting in the ER was that it would likely cost us at least $500, and it turns out I was right, as in the end the sledding accident cost us $505.78. I will try to avoid scheduling any appointments at that hospital in the future if at all possible. Part of the issue is because we switched health insurance on March 1. It doesn't help us as a family, but it is saving Paul's company money for the kids and I to be on insurance through the university instead of Paul's job.

I took the one close-up of Nadia today to show that she lost a tooth yesterday. Unfortunately it was a baby tooth that doesn't have a permanent one to replace it. So hopefully the other teeth will shift over and fill in that gap! As usual, the "tooth fairy" was forgetful last night. Thankfully, we have taken care of it today. Our kids are pretty accustomed to the fact that we usually forget. Oliver hasn't lost any teeth yet. Hopefully we won't forget when he loses his first tooth!

Thankful Thursday

1. Nadia and Ian enjoyed seeing the musical Seussical with me on Friday night at our local high school.

2. Nadia and Ian enjoyed attending their Upward awards night program on Saturday night with Paul.

3. They weren't very keen on the egg hunt on Saturday afternoon, but they were thrilled with all the candy they came home with on Sunday afternoon after their second egg hunt.

4. Nadia and Uncle Al enjoyed the Steven Curtis Chapman concert on Sunday night.

5. All three kids enjoyed their swimming lesson at Bucknell on Monday night. Each of them had a 25 minute private lesson. They have three more lessons to go! Oliver has been talking about Garret (his swimming teacher) every single day. All three kids have male swim teachers.

6. I just placed an order on Sears.com for a skirt and cardigan sweater for myself plus a pajama shirt and pants for Nadia, and I paid $5.91 total for

my order. I don't prefer to shop for my clothes online but with so many of the stores going out of business, it's becoming the new normal.

7. The babysitter took the kids to the Children's Museum on Wednesday afternoon. I was trying to figure out how to get them to the Homeschool Hangout and get my work done. Problem solved! It helps that we both have a membership there for our families.

8. I am feeling a *little* less overwhelmed lately. I think it's in

part due to the fact that I now know my way around each of the 9 school buildings where my 15 student teachers are located as well as how to drive to each of the schools. Also, I have been trying to build a little more cushion time in between each visit. I had things scheduled so tightly the first several weeks it was leading to me being more frazzled than necessary. I only have five weeks left! I will still have grading and such to do at home, but I believe my last day at the university or in a school district will be May 4. We can do this!

9. I am starting to feel better. I actually sound worse in terms of my cough, but I didn't go to bed until 10:00pm last night, and of the previous 6 nights I had gone to bed between 7:45-8:30pm five of the six nights (would have been six of six if it hadn't been for the Seussical musical on Friday night). I'm thankful to have a bit more energy. Lecturing was very painful (due to sore throat) on Tuesday, but it didn't hurt today. Singing at choir rehearsal on Wednesday night was very painful. I didn't stay for the whole thing. Hoping I can sing in

the 3 Easter services on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

10. I'm thankful for my new dryer.

11. We're excited about our upcoming vacation! We now have our airline tickets as well as tickets to many of the places we plan to visit such as the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, LEGOLAND, etc.

12. I received my bonus this month for being on overload this semester (overtime).

Wonder

When we were with my family in Maryland around New Year's, everyone (except for my Dad and Margie) went to see a movie. The plan had been for about half of the group to see the new Star Wars movie, but the tickets were all sold out. Those of us who were either too young or not interested in Star Wars planned to see either Coco or Wonder. We ended up picking Coco because we weren't sure if Oliver and Grace were too young for Wonder. When we watch dvds, we usually get them from the public library. The downside of requesting new releases is that you don't know when your turn will come up, and they want you to come pick it up within three days. At this time Monday is the day we usually go to the library, and with how precious time is for me these days, I don't like needing to make another trip just to pick up a DVD. So at the beginning of the semester I stopped requesting any DVDs that have been recently released. I had a coupon for a DVD kiosk at our grocery store, and I decided to use it to rent Wonder for one night. It was the first movie I had watched this year. Usually if the kids and/or Paul are watching something, I am getting work done. I decided to splurge and actually watch the movie without multitasking. The kids appreciated that I truly watched it with them, and I liked the movie for a host of reasons. One reason was that my brother has dealt with some (less severe) craniofacial issues. I remember when he was a preschooler how he would hide his face in my skirt when we were in public to avoid the stares and comments. Usually adults have the sense not to make unkind comments, but because his condition was less severe, adults would often misinterpret his facial expressions and think he was mad when he wasn't. Also since the movie featured a boy who was homeschooled from grades K-4, that caught my attention because homeschooling isn't often mentioned in movies. Nadia wants to read the book now.

Speaking of my brother, I am extremely proud of him. He applied to four schools for his PhD (Brown, NYU, Penn, and Austin), and he has received two acceptances (with generous offers as to free tuition, free health insurance, stipend for 5 years, etc.) thus far and has been told he will receive a third. The only rejection he got was from Brown, and he was told that was because they didn't have a professor available in his area of research to be his mentor. The acceptance rate at these schools is VERY tiny. We had been praying that Penn would make him an offer, and they did a few days ago! He was the first one on their waiting list so after one person rejected their offer, they were able to make an offer to Maurice. Penn was #1 on Maurice's list, and I am thrilled because it means my brother will most likely be moving to Philadelphia in August! Woohoo!!! I moved to Pennsylvania in 1996, and this will be the first time in 22 years that I'll have someone from my immediate family (of origin) living in the same state. We live 2.5-3 hours (depending on traffic) from Philly, but that's a lot closer than Brazil and Texas (two places he's lived over the past 6 years). For years my mom and I had talked about the day she and my dad would move to PA to live closer to us, but those plans were dashed when she was diagnosed with cancer the end of 2015. Considering my mom is in Heaven and my dad has moved farther away, it is very exciting to think that my brother will be living closer to me for probably five years.

My first two appliance purchases when I moved to Pennsylvania in 1996 were a washer and a dryer. A few days ago I noticed a burning smell when the dryer was being used. It had already been showing other signs that it was giving up the ghost, but that was the final straw. I certainly didn't want to have a fire from waiting too long to replace the dryer. I don't recall exactly how much I spent, but I am certain I got my money's worth out of the dryer, and sadly I am pretty sure the one I just bought won't last nearly as long. When I placed the order on Lowe's website on Thursday morning, I received an email stating it would be delivered sometime between 8:00am and 8:00pm on Sunday, which I thought was odd. They said I'd get a call either Saturday night or Sunday morning to narrow it to a two hour window. I never got that call, but they did call me 15 minutes before they arrived this morning to tell me they were on their way. This would have been a problem if I hadn't been sick because normally all of us would have been at church at that time.

I have been fighting an upper respiratory bug since Thursday, which includes a really bad headache and a low grade fever. I went to bed at 8:00pm on Thursday night and Saturday night. I would have done the same on Friday night, but I had already purchased tickets to take Nadia and Ian to see Seussical at our local high school at 7:30, and Paul didn't get home from work until 7:00 so I had to take them. Forcing myself to stay awake until 10:00pm was very hard. I was feeling nauseous part way through the musical just from sheer exhaustion. There were two things on our calendar for Friday - Nadia and Ian's art class at 11:00, a

training on campus for helping prevent someone from committing suicide from 3-5, and Seussical at 7:30. I gave serious consideration to skipping the QPR training on campus because I felt so lousy, but I had already said in my documentation for my review this semester that I was attending it. I did leave the training at 4:30 due to how I felt. Yesterday I left the house once - that was to take the kids to an egg hunt in our town's park and to the grocery store (next to the park). The egg hunt was a disappointment as all the eggs were hard boiled (no candy), and none of the kids got a prize egg. Nadia was the most upset because she only got one egg, and her brothers each got three eggs. Paul took them to an egg hunt at the Methodist church near our house this afternoon, and although they didn't find any prize eggs, they came home with lots of candy. I plan to take them to three egg hunts on Saturday. Paul took Nadia and Ian to the Upward basketball awards assembly last night. The program was put on by individuals from Liberty University. Oliver and I stayed home.

Today I had planned to be at church from 8:00-12:15, participate in a mock interview session for education majors from 1:00-3:00 on campus, and attend a Steven Curtis Chapman concert with Nadia at 6:00. When I woke up (after having slept for 11 hours), my head was throbbing and my throat hurt much worse than it had the previous three days. I knew I was not up for singing in the choir, and I knew the best thing to do would just be to stay home today. I texted the alto section leader and the student in charge of the interview event to let them know

I wouldn't be there today as planned. I don't go to many concerts a year. I had to miss one the first week of February because I was sick. Paul took Nadia to that one. I had bought tickets for three concerts. Of the three the one I wanted to go the most was the one tonight. Paul called his brother and asked if he would be interested in using my ticket to take Nadia to the concert. For the concert in April I bought three tickets (for myself, Nadia, and Ian), and it's the day after my birthday. Hopefully I will be healthy enough to go to that one! In early

February I got the bug that Paul brought back from Vegas (I think it was the flu but we didn't get swabbed so I can't say that for certain). I've been healthy since that point until Thursday when I started to come down with this (milder) bug. Thus far I'm the only one who is sick in the family. Hopefully I won't pass it on to anyone! I have a long day planned for Tuesday (as far as work for the university) so I hope I'm feeling at least somewhat better by then. The only time I plan to leave the house tomorrow is to take the kids to swimming lessons at Bucknell University.

Although I stayed home almost the whole day yesterday, that doesn't mean I wasn't getting work done. In addition to a little bit of grading, my main accomplishment was booking our flights to San Diego. If I had booked them in early February when I booked our lodging, we could have flown on Southwest. The prices had gone up quite a bit on Southwest, so I ended up choosing Alaska Airlines instead. I compensated for one of the downsides (no free checked baggage) by applying for an Alaska Airlines credit card which means that I and up to six companions can each take one bag for free. The other disadvantage is the time of day we're flying. We'll be coming back on a red eye, but the price difference was almost $200 per ticket. I'll definitely lose a night of sleep for $1,000! Buying 5 round trip tickets cost us $1,388, and I'll get $500 of that back from the credit card company. I used a different credit card's points to get our tickets to the Zoo, Safari Park, USS Midway, Maritime Museum, Sea World, and Aquatica for free. The only attractions that will cost us money will be LEGOLAND (and the kids are free there) and Disneyland. I'm also hoping to use credit card points to rent a minivan. We're leaving on May 27 so in two days we'll be able to say our trip is just two months away!

Thankful Tuesday

1. I thought I would be going on campus yesterday to meet with a student teacher, the department chair, and Dean, but then the department chair offered on Sunday night for me to participate by Zoom. This saved me about 90 minutes of driving time (round trip), gas and $20 that I would have given our neighbor to babysit the kids for two hours.

2. I thought that Oliver's sledding accident would cost us more than $500 in medical bills, but thus far the total is $385.78.

3. Paul has been playing board games with Ian, often from 8:00-8:30pm. I played Connect Four with him last night for 15 minutes. I can't wait until summer is here as I'll have far more time to play with the kids.

4. We enjoyed a yummy lunch at church on Sunday with other families who help teach the children's classes.

5. On Saturday Nadia had her last basketball game. We appreciate all the volunteers who make it possible - refs, coaches, those who give the devotions, concession stand workers, etc. At the moment the plan is to sign Nadia and Ian up for basketball next year and hope that their practices don't interfere with ice skating lessons.

6. The kids enjoyed their art class at the Children's museum on Saturday at 11:00 and the Amazing Inventors show put on by the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble at the library on Saturday at noon.

7. Paul has been helping with taking Nadia to gymnastics on Monday nights. It will be a little different the next four Mondays as I'll be taking all three kids for swimming lessons (right before her gymnastics class), but I have appreciated his help.

8. This week is a lighter week for me as far as visiting student teachers. Much appreciated! After this week just seven more to go! My math classes went really well today. I really enjoy teaching this class.  Hopefully, I'll be teaching two sections of this same class in the fall from 8:00-10:45am on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

9. On Sunday and Monday I wrote the final exam for the math class after I was totally caught up with student teaching evaluations, grading, etc. It's very encouraging to make progress on my to do list. I'm planning on starting to work on writing letters of recommendation for my student teachers this week. I'm trying to do anything I can to make the next seven weeks less overwhelming!

10. I'm very, very thankful for my mom. Today would have been her 73rd birthday. I miss her very much. I don't cry as often as I did the first 15 months after she passed, but she is still deeply missed. There are days I really, really want to be able to talk to her, let her hear Ian play the piano, etc. I would have loved to have had more years with her here on earth, but I am thankful for the 44 I did have. I'm very, very thankful I have the assurance I will be reunited with her one day in Glory. I cannot wait to give her another big hug and hear her voice again. Happy birthday, Mom! For the rest of my life, I will associate March 20 with the first day of spring and my Mom's birthday even if I can't do anything to make her birthday special any more.

Christ Church in Philadelphia (the Franklin's pew)

Summer Plans

My spring semester officially ends on May 10. I am planning to take the kids on a field trip on May 11. I am considering that to be the last day of our school year although I do plan to have them continue some things (such as math flashcards, practicing the piano, reading) at least some days between May 12- August 27. I haven't worked out all the details of what we'll be up to this summer. For example, I'm hoping to add at least one week of tennis lessons (for all three), one week of swimming lessons (Oliver), one week of diving lessons (Nadia), and a minor league baseball game to our schedule. In many cases it's a case of choosing what to do and at the same time what we are going to skip this summer because it's impossible to do everything! I asked Nadia if she'd rather skip going to Montage Mountain or the Lycoming County Fair. She said that was a tough choice, but she had to be willing to give up one of those two things if she wanted to do a week of Adventure Camp at Bloomsburg University. She really wants to do the camp because it includes kayaking, rafting, hiking, rock

wall climbing, high ropes/zip-line, etc. She ended up deciding to skip going to Montage Mountain. Because she's doing that camp, we're going to skip PA Wilds Child, which is a one day event at a state park on a Saturday in June. Ian surprised me and said he wanted to do the Adventure Camp, but considering how fearful he still is, I think it would be a big waste of money. If I see that he's more willing to try things like rock wall climbing, then maybe I'll send him next year. That particular camp is for kids ages 8-13.

The last two years Nadia and Ian were in an art camp (in other words a 3 hour art class that lasted for 5 days) at the Children's Museum, and last year they also did a one week maker camp there as well. The minimum age requirement for their camps is six. One of the art camps is from July 30-August 3, and she said he had to be six at the start of the camp. His birthday is August 7. Because Oliver wasn't allowed to join

and because Nadia and Ian have been in an art class at the Christian school this year, I decided we'd take a year off of art camp. Nadia and Ian really wanted to do art camp and Maker camp again, but it's impossible to fit everything they *want* to do into one summer. Two years ago Nadia and Ian did a week of horseback riding camp. Last year we skipped that. This year I am signing all three of them up for a week of horseback riding camp. That is an all day camp (9-3) for 5 days). The last two years Ian didn't want to go to Camp Susque for the 3 night Adventure Camp. When Nadia was eight she had her first full week of camp there. Eight year olds can choose either option. That's the oldest you can be to do the 3 night camp, and it's the youngest to be in the full week camp. So this year the choice I gave Ian was whether he wanted to go to camp for 3 nights or 7 nights. He picked 3 nights. He's going June 20-23, and Nadia will be going from July 21-28. I am hoping that all three kids will be able to participate in Camp Good News in July. It will be Oliver's first time,

Nadia's second time, and Ian's third time. The other camp Nadia and Ian might do is a History camp at a museum near us (9- noon for 5 days). They did a history camp at another site two years ago.

In addition to registering the kids for various camps, I've been planning other getaways. I contacted one of our Senators recently to request a tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in DC on June 14. They said requests had to be made at least three months in advance. I also want to buy our tickets to see Jesus at Sight and Sound in the near future so we can have more of a selection of seats than we did in December. With the full realization that plans change and what actually happens might be rather different than the current plan, here is what I have mapped out thus far for our Summer 2018:

May 12-27: one day at Knoebels, kids' choir presents their musical, Brothers Grimm play, tour the Pleasant Gap Fish hatchery, see the "Greatest Pirate Story never told," visit Sky Zone (trampoline park), and possibly take a 2 day trip to NYC to visit the Museum of Math, National Geographic's Ocean Odyssey, and the Bronx Zoo

Paymaster's office at the Iron Furnace

May 28- June 6: vacation to California! (highlights will include Sea World, Disneyland, LEGOLAND, San Diego Zoo, USS Midway, Maritime Museum, Fleet Science Center, and San Diego Natural History Museum)

June 7 -17: possibly Sesame Place, Jesus at Sight and Sound, one day in DC, one day in Baltimore, 3 nights of VBS

June 18-24: Nadia at Adventure Camp (9-4 for 5 days), Ian at Camp Susque (3 days/nights), attend a Pow Wow, Nadia's birthday!

June 25-30: Horseback riding camp for all 3 (9-3 for 5 days)

July 1-7: possibly go to Long Island to visit my Aunt Janet

July 8-14: 5 nights of VBS, Star Wars Day, Charlotte's Web play, Lycoming County Fair, one day of summer history camp (9-3) for all three kids at Buggy Museum

July 15-20: Camp Good News for all 3 (9-3 for 5 days); 5 nights of VBS

July 21-28: Pinkalicious

Cornwall Iron Furnace

musical, Nadia at Camp Susque for 7 nights, one day at DelGrosso's, concerts at Knoebels one night, Acorn Family Festival

July 29-August 5: roller skating, possibly a history camp for Nadia and Ian from 9-12 at the Taber Museum, Big Daddy Weave concert, weekend 2 day trip to Pittsburgh (Bushy Run Battlefield, Fort Pitt Museum, Pittsurgh Zoo, etc.)

August 6-17: Nadia theater camp from 12-3 for 10 days total, Oliver's birthday, West End Fair, National Night Out, Little League World Series game

August 18-27: 4 day trip to Niagara Falls, Rochester, and Buffalo, Building 429 concert at Grange Fair

Thinking about how Nadia will be turning ten this summer is a vivid reminder to make the most of our summers because we don't really get that many of them with our kids before they are grown and gone!