He loved it!

Nadia is not the kind of child who needs a nudge when it comes to trying different activities or experiences. If she was an only child, I might be more amenable to agreeing to all her requests, but she's not an only child so for years I've had to help her select which activities she will actually pursue. For example, when she was younger she wanted to take ballet, ice skating, and gymnastics in addition to playing on a soccer team and basketball team. That would have been far too much! On the other hand, Ian is a child who needs a nudge now and then. Nadia and Oliver both attended overnight camp at Camp Susque when they were entering second grade. I *made* Ian attend overnight camp at Camp Susque when he was entering third grade. He loved it and needed no prodding to attend overnight camp in 2019 or 2020. I had signed Ian and Nadia up for a Youtheatre workshop that was supposed to take place in July. It was cancelled, and I was given a full refund. I signed Nadia up for a different acting class. Then I was informed they had rescheduled the Youtheatre workshop being put on by the Family Life Network. Nadia said she wanted to do it. Ian said he wasn't interested, but I signed him up anyhow. Nadia has attended a theatre camp every year from 2013 to the present. Ian had never attended one before, but he has talent both with acting and singing. Aunt Janet enjoyed hearing him impersonate a variety of voices last week. The primary reason he was hesitating was "stage fright." I had to wake the boys up this morning, which is something I *hate* to do, but waking them up at 7:00 this week (M-F) really isn't the end of the world. I wish they had slept in until at least 7:00 every morning last week on Long Island, ha ha! When we picked Nadia and Ian up at 12:30, the first thing Ian said was, "I loved it!." He later told me he had no idea a theatre camp could be that much fun. It's just like I tell the kids when they see a new food and immediately determine they don't like it. I urge them to at least take a bite before they form an opinion. Because of COVID-19, there are not many kids enrolled in the workshop this week (only 13). They had auditions this morning. Ian is playing the part of a jock. Nadia has one of the main roles. Her character's name is Tiffany; she knew one of the girls in this workshop from Camp Susque. The kids range in age from 8-15. Oliver also said he didn't want to participate. He doesn't usually need a nudge to try something new, and since he JUST turned 8 last week I didn't sign him up. I asked Nadia today, and she said she thought he would have done fine. Stage fright wasn't the reason Oliver wasn't interested. He said he loves to sing and dance but didn't want to memorize any lines. My plan is to sign all three up for this camp next summer. And it will probably be the only theatre camp I sign Nadia up for next summer. All three kids going to the same theatre camp at a church 25 minutes from our home for just five days sounds perfect to me.

Last night Margie and my dad arrived at our house at 7:30pm. Paul left at 7:45 to go get Nadia. They returned home at 8:15, and then the seven of us played Bubble Talk. This morning Oliver and I got back to our house at 8:40 after dropping Nadia and Ian off at their theatre workshop, and Margie and my Dad arrived at our house about one hour later. Grandpa built with blocks with Oliver, he showed them how he can use the hoverboard they gave him and the five of us played ladder ball and Spot it. Margie and I had been in the lead in ladder ball, but Grandpa and Oliver pulled ahead to win at the very end of the game. I was the winner in Spot it only because Nadia wasn't here playing with us. At noon we left to pick up Nadia and Ian at their theatre camp, and then we went to Olive Garden to have lunch. Because we had to wait 20 minutes for a table, we ate our lunch MUCH later than usual. It was delicious!! Nadia ate TONS of breadsticks. Margie and I both chose to have soup, salad, and breadsticks. Nadia said that my meatballs are better than Olive Garden's. I'll take that compliment! Because we had a late and large lunch, no one is hungry for dinner even though it's almost 6pm right now. We'll be eating a VERY small meal this evening. If Paul doesn't get home too late, maybe we'll even eat dinner with him for a change! He usually doesn't eat dinner until after 9pm, but I think he'd eat earlier if we were eating when he was at home. Dad and Margie's third anniversary is this Wednesday, which is why they are spending three nights at a couples only resort in the Poconos. They checked in this evening and will drive back to Virginia on Thursday. Our 19th anniversary is tomorrow, but it's been quite a few years since we did anything to celebrate an anniversary.

Because of our lengthy meal at Olive Garden, the kids and I decided not to go swimming today even though it was in the 90's outside. Tomorrow I'm planning to take the kids straight from theatre camp to the swimming pool. Oliver was having a hard time choosing between Olive Garden and Taco Bell so I promised him I'd take him to Taco Bell for lunch sometime this week if we went to Olive Garden today. We hadn't been to an Olive Garden in more than a year. We've only been to a sit down restaurant twice in the past six months (including today's meal). I haven't decided exactly what day we will "go back to school" but it will likely be either August 20 or 24. I know we'll be taking August 25 off for our last trip to Six Flags (in MD) this year. Even though our regular school year hasn't begun yet (we're in "unschooling" mode this week), we have begun watching an episode of World Watch News each day (M-F). I purchased an annual subscription today. I've been impressed with the quality, and I think it will be an excellent addition to our curriculum this year. Since this is the last week the swimming pool will be open and the last week the kids have a "camp" of some sort, it feels like the last week of summer. There are three things left on our summer bucket list that we haven't done yet that CAN be accomplished this summer - catching fireflies, jumping rope, and making a fruit pizza. We shall see if we accomplish any of those three things in the next two weeks. Even if we don't, we will have accomplished 41 out of 44 things, which isn't too shabby considering all the things we could NOT do this summer due to COVID-19.