Camp Susque take 6

Today the boys and I took Nadia to Camp Susque for a week of girl's camp. This is her 6th time attending a week of camp there. It would have been her 7th time, but they were closed last year due to COVID. She attended one week of Young Explorers camp (co-ed), and this is her fifth year of attending a week of girl's camp. The girls are in three sections - jays (entering grades 3-5), doves (entering grades 6-8), and hawks (entering grades 9-11). She's planning on being a hawk the next three summers and considering possibly being a counselor there for 6 weeks in 2025. She was very happy that she was assigned a cabin this year because most years she's been in a tent. She likes to be on a top bunk, and that's only possible in a cabin. We got there early enough that she was able to claim one of the top bunks. I always pay for access to the pictures. In the past they've given me a thumb drive at the end. This time they are giving us digital access. Nadia has lately been a saver rather than a spender, but she did decide to buy a blue tie dyed Camp Susque hooded sweatshirt today. I think Ian and I will miss her the most this week, but one perk of overnight camp is that I only have to drive there twice. We will pick her up next Saturday morning. The tie dyed t-shirt she's wearing in the picture above is one of the shirts she tie-dyed at Camp Good News this week.

Paul came home from work just as we were getting in the van a little after 3pm to take her to camp. Milo was appreciative that he didn't have to be locked up for the 3 hours we were gone. It hit me on our way there that I should have left Ian and Oliver at home. I wasn't expecting Paul to get home before we left. After dropping Nadia off at camp, we picked up pizza for dinner, picked up some supplies at the party store for Oliver's and Ian's birthday (yes, I know Ian's isn't until December but I thought I'd just take care of it at the same time), got Oliver a balloon at the Dollar Tree, and got some groceries at Surplus Outlet. I had planned to also stop at Lowe's but decided to just come home sooner since Paul was already at home. Time will tell if the boys spend another week at Camp Susque at some point in the future. 

Can't do it all

 

Today is the kids' last day at Camp Good News. They left at 8:00 this morning and won't be getting home until probably about 9:30pm because they have a campfire tonight. I still can't believe the camp cost only $15 for the week, and that included a free t-shirt (see above photo) plus snacks from the Sugar Shack each afternoon. They have had such a great time that Ian and Oliver told me they want to go to Camp Good News' overnight camp at this location (Mountain View Bible Camp) next summer instead of PMBC or Camp Susque. Nadia said that she wants to be a junior counselor at that overnight camp next year and attend Camp Susque as a camper. I have to say I am ready for camp to be done. Usually if I'm ready for a camp to end it's because I'm weary of the driving. In all the years of the kids attending camp, I believe this is the least amount of driving I've done for a camp. I'm very, very grateful that our neighbor and Paul have been able to do  almost all of the chauffeuring this week. I am ready to trade vehicles though as I prefer driving the Odyssey over Paul's Mazda. However mostly I just really miss my kids!!! I am extremely grateful that I homeschool them. I can't imagine spending so many days apart from them. I'll have about 8 hours with Nadia tomorrow and then we'll be driving her to Camp Susque for a week of overnight camp. I'm very thankful I'll be with my boys next week. Oliver's birthday is next Saturday so I've planned special outings for next week on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I'm taking four boys (mine plus Micah and Isaiah) for a pottery painting experience and roller skating on Wednesday evening. On Thursday I'm taking my boys plus Addi and Westyn bowling and then to Kaos for arcades, trampolines, and laser tag. I'm planning to take the boys to Knoebels for bargain night at 5pm next Friday. I'm hoping Pop Pop will come to our house next Saturday on Oliver's actual birthday.

Something else Nadia painted at art camp last week

Nadia wanted to attend a retreat from Tuesday through Friday this week with the youth group at FBC. She couldn't since I had already signed her up for Camp Good News M-F. She was able to attend most of the sleepover at Jill's house on Tuesday night. I dropped her off about 2 hours after it started and picked her up 2 hours early the next morning. Similarly, she would have loved to have gone on the mission trip with the FBC youth group in June, but the dates partially overlapped with the Bible Bowl event in Oklahoma. That trip was also the reason she couldn't be in Alice in Wonderland. She's also missed several youth group events at our church due to theatre camp, Camp Good News, and Camp Susque. I think her choices will become more complicated in the coming years. She could be a junior camp counselor with Camp Good News for one or more weeks next summer, and she's also considering being a junior life guard next summer. She wants to start working at a petcare center near us when she's 16. She could be a full fledged life guard in two years when she's 15. She always likes to be in theatre productions. I'm sure in future years she'd really like to go on this Glory Barn youth retreat that she missed this week. She wants to continue spending one week at Camp Susque for the next 3 years.  She'd like to go on missions trips and continue participating in Bible quizzing. The national competition will be in South Carolina next year. Nadia likes having a BUSY schedule in the summer. We shall see what all manages to "make the cut" in the future and what isn't possible due to schedule conflicts.

One of Ian's paintings from art camp last week

I talked to my friend, Joyce, yesterday for about 90 minutes on the phone. We probably talk on the phone about three times a year on average. We've been friends for 25 years. She asked me what did I do this week since I had so many hours without the kids (a very rare occurrence). I had a lengthy to do list. Some items were quick and only took a few minutes such as updating our E-ZPass information with our new license plate or contacting Six Flags again to find out when our membership expires. I finally got an answer! It expires on August 4, which means we're not going to go again this summer. The kids and I visited a Six Flags park 8 times over the past 13 months, and Paul went 4 times. We also received free parking and unlimited free drinks each time plus some other random benefits. I'd say we got our money's worth as it cost us about $360  altogether which works out to $10 per person per day we spent at Six Flags. I'd continue our membership if we lived closer to a Six Flags, but it's at least a 3 hour drive to any Six Flags park. 

Nadia's flower

Other things I accomplished this week took more time such as getting caught up on the videography course, lesson planning, and working on learning more Spanish. I am now in Unit 3. There are 9 units altogether. The first unit is VERY short compared to the others. If I keep at my current pace, I will finish unit 3 sometime in August. I did a load of dishes, mowed the lawn, did three loads of laundry, tried a new recipe for s'mores cookies, took Milo on a longer than usual walk every day, and made chicken parmesan with spaghetti. Usually when I have a chunk of time without the kids I focus on projects around the house. That wasn't the case this week, but I am hoping to do some cleaning, decluttering, and organizing over the next three weeks. I also had more time to spend with friends this week, which is a VERY rare treat for me. I had lengthy phone conversations with Aunt Tina, Tab, and Joyce. I met Carol for lunch on Tuesday, and I'm meeting Cheri for dinner and concerts at our church tonight. I asked the boys for LOTS of hugs when they came home at night "necesito un abrazo, por favor" is what I said. I didn't do any reading, and I missed listening to audio books with the kids this week. We listened for a VERY tiny bit each morning while they were eating breakfast, but that was it. I will enjoy listening to books for a bigger chunk of time again starting tomorrow! I loved camp when I was a kid so I'm very grateful that my kids get to go to camp.

Ian's artwork

Choir

 

Nadia painted this during art camp last week

"The only constant in life is change." From September 1986 to February 2020, I sang in an adult church choir. I lived in three different states during those years (Ohio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania) and attended churches from five different denominations (Baptist, Evangelical Free, Presbyterian, Evangelical Congregational, and Wesleyan). When I would consider churches to visit after I moved to a new area, I had a few things I wanted to know about the church before I'd visit it. One of those was whether the church had a choir. My favorite choir was the one I sang in from 1986-1990 and 1992-94. I loved the music the music pastor selected, the choir was large (around 100 people), and we were accompanied by a full orchestra (woodwinds, brass, strings, timpani drums, etc.). Most of the choirs have been much smaller than that. At one point I actually was the director of an adult church choir, but the vast majority of the time I've sung alto (first alto when the altos split). There have been many differences in how the conductors have lead each choir. Some included a time for sharing prayer requests and some haven't. The worship arts pastor who has been my director for the past 7 years had two choir members alternate sharing a devotional at the end of the rehearsal. Some directors spend almost the whole rehearsal working on just one or maybe two pieces of music. Others (such as the woman who was my director from January 2009 to May 2014) had us practice MANY different pieces of music in each rehearsal. Each director has had something different that they spent a lot of time focusing on. The woman I just mentioned really focused on "messy s's" meaning words that ended with an "s" - making sure we cut off at the same time or attaching the final sound of one word to the first sound of the next word. My current director often mentions unifying our vowels (which sound to emphasize in diphthongs). I've been accustomed to singing once a week on a Sunday morning during the school year, having a rehearsal on Wednesday night, and presenting a cantata of some sort at Christmas and Easter. That was something I've missed the past 7 years as we've only sung one song on Sunday mornings - no special programs (cantatas). 

Oliver in the Friends' church building in Sturbridge

It seems at least for now that my time singing in a choir has come to an end. I have confidence that I will be able to do it again in the future, but I think it might not be for another nine years. Sob! Our senior pastor retired two months ago. Our new senior pastor decided that the choir would only sing once a month. There have been many Bible studies I've been interested in joining on a Wednesday night over the past 7 years, but I didn't because it conflicted with choir rehearsal. If the choir is only singing once a month, I would rather be in a Bible study on Wednesday nights. From 2004-2008 I played in a handbell choir and sang in a choir. From 2004-2012 I was asked to play my flute many times at church either to accompany the handbell choir or the choir or as a soloist. I've never played the flute at our current church. Singing in the choir was something I enjoyed musically, spiritually, and emotionally. It also was one of the ways that I could serve in a ministry. I'm trying to figure out how to fill those voids - a musical outlet of some sort and also another ministry to serve in. I considered offering to teach an adult Sunday School class starting in October, but then I found out that Bruce, who had been my SS teacher from 2012 until COVID, is going to resume his class in September. My areas of ministry the past 7 years had been helping in the children's ministry and singing in the choir. I stepped down from the children's ministry in February for another reason. If our kids were younger, I think we would be switching churches right now. That's how highly I value being able to sing in a choir, but Nadia's friends are almost all at this church. Presuming that Ian and Oliver develop friendships with kids at church over the coming years, I don't think we'll switch churches until Oliver graduates from high school. If that doesn't happen, then maybe we'll switch in five years when Nadia graduates. I really, really hope that church choirs don't become a thing of the past.

My observations have been that #1 governments almost always only get bigger over time and #2 when churches eliminate or decrease a program in some way, it rarely ever comes back. One of the reasons that Coolidge is one of Paul's most favorite Presidents is because he actually did take actions to reduce the size of the government. When I was growing up, we went to church on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, and Wednesday nights on a weekly basis. Over the years I've noticed that many churches have eliminated Sunday nights and Wednesday nights, and also many people only go to the worship service on Sunday morning rather than Sunday School and the worship service on Sunday morning. I haven't attended Sunday School for 17 months due to COVID. I'm grateful that will be resuming in the fall. We've been attending the second service, but I think we'll switch back to attending the first service in the fall and then the kids go to the youth service (N/I) and Oliver can go to Kidzway during the second service while I attend Sunday School. Nadia and Ian attend youth group at a different church on Sunday night and at our church on Wednesday night. Whether Oliver attends AWANA at the Alliance Church or the midweek Kidzway program at our church will depend on where I end up attending a Bible study on Wednesday night. Speaking of choirs, my kids sang in choirs since they were four until COVID. Nadia and Ian sang in the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale in the fall of 2019. When COVID hit, Nadia was in the middle school chorus at Meadowbrook Christian School, I was in our church's adult choir, and Ian and Oliver were in the kids' choir at our church. Ian is now too old for our church's kids' choir. I haven't heard if the kids' choir will be resuming at our church or not. If it does, Oliver might be the only member of our family in a choir. 

Thankful Tuesday

1. We are still enjoying our new van. It gets a little bit better gas mileage, it's far easier to listen to audiobooks, and the front seats are far more comfortable. The color continues to grow on me. I'm very glad we didn't try to hold out for a different color.

2. We were offered trial subscriptions to Sirius in the past (such as 9 years ago when we bought the Sienna), but we didn't actually give it a whirl until last week. I figured that the three month free trial would come in handy during the weekend getaway to Massachusetts, our trip to Long Island, and our vacation out west in September. That has absolutely been the case. It's so nice to not need to try and find another station when driving through different areas of a state or different states. They've offered to extend the subscription for 3 additional months for a grand total of $2. I haven't decided about that yet, but I'm very grateful for the three month trial.

3. I had a lovely lunch with my friend today! The restaurant we had picked wasn't actually open today, but we found a diner in that small town that was open. We weren't there for the food but rather to talk and enjoy each other's company. I hadn't seen her in two years, and her husband passed away in November. We've been friends for 27 years, but we haven't lived near each other for 25 years so our visits tend to be few and far between. I drove a little over an hour to get to the diner, which is not something I'm usually willing to do for a meal, but it was definitely worth it as we chatted for 3 hours (part of the time sitting outside). That is a very rare treat for me.

4. I'm thankful for ice cream. I know it's not a healthy food, but let me tell you it's one of my most favorite foods. Currently my four most favorite flavors are Cherry Vanilla (Weis), Blueberry Crisp (Weis), Chocolate Fudge Brownie (Stone Ridge Creamery), and Maple Caramel (Stone Ridge Creamery). YUM!

5. I'm thankful for safety as we traveled to and from Massachusetts. I'm also thankful that in our area we don't encounter the traffic we encountered on an Interstate in Connecticut on Sunday. I'm thankful we were able to stream the last sermon in our new senior pastor's 8 week series on Nehemiah while we were driving home. I prefer to worship in person, but it is nice to be able to attend online when we are away.

6. I'm very thankful the Springfield Armory recently reopened and that we were also able to visit the Springfield Museums and Six Flags New England for free on July 23-24. We also were very grateful that a gentleman secretly paid for our large pizza. I'm also thankful that kids are able to visit the Sturbridge Village for free in July and that we were able to use gift cards to pay for our breakfast and dinner on Sunday (we skipped lunch).

7. We're grateful that our friends took care of Milo .I wish he hadn't been such a handful for them. Tab called me on our way home and said she thought we might need to take him to the vet, but he's fine. I think it was a combination of separation anxiety plus adjusting to a transition from puppy to adult dog food. 

8. Oliver is very grateful that his four sutures were removed on Monday morning as that has meant he can SWIM again!

9. I'm getting a new (to me) lens for my camera! I haven't gotten a new lens in five years. I'm really looking forward to using this wide angle lens on our vacation in September. Almost all of my lenses are Canon lenses, but to save money I got a used Sigma lens; however, it's from their Art series which are supposed to be excellent lenses. 

10. My cousin, Brent, who turned 47 years old ten days ago became a Dad today! This means that my Aunt Janet (age 78) became a Grandma today!!! Woohoo!!!! We're hoping to meet her grandson at some point in the future when we take a trip to Lake Tahoe.

11. We've been looking forward to our annual trip to visit Aunt Janet, but now we have even more reasons to be excited about it. First, my niece Rachel will be spending a week with us (part of that will be in NY), and secondly my sister, Wendy, is flying to Long Island to spend 3 days with us. It will have been two years since I have seen either of them, and I've never gone that long without seeing Wendy before. We are thrilled, and Aunt Janet is also very excited!

12. I'm so thankful that Dee (our neighbor) is taking the kids to camp, and Paul is picking them up at night. I am very, very grateful for the reprieve from chauffeuring. As much as I love spending time with my kids and do NOT look forward to being an empty nester in potentially 9 years, I have to say having a few days a year when I can have several hours of quiet time by myself is also greatly appreciated. I'm also thankful that the kids are having a great time and that this camp was practically free. We only had to pay a tiny fee to cover a t-shirt and their snacks at the Sugar Shack. As much as my kids enjoy these camps, they also give me a renewed appreciation for one of the benefits of homeschooling - not needing to get the kids up and out the door before 8:00am. I really don't like having to wake the kids up, and I don't enjoy a rushed morning, which is what is happening this week. Thankfully it's a rare occurrence in our household as during the school year we very rarely leave the house before lunch. 

13. We found a way to watch the Olympics even though we don't have cable. It turns out there is an app to use to watch local channels for free.

14. I placed an order today for new flooring for our dining room. I remember 13 years ago telling my mom that if we stayed in this house after Paul graduated from PSU, the first thing I was going to do was replace the flooring in the dining room as I thought off-white carpet didn't make sense in a dining room. We have changed the flooring in five other rooms in this house over the years, but the dining room still has the 22 year old carpeting. In hindsight I wish I had done both the dining room and kitchen five years ago, but it seemed like too much money at the time. I say that because now it's impossible to get the same flooring. So I tried to pick something out that looked okay next to hardwood (what is in the living room) and what is in the kitchen. Milo's accidents have left stains in that room, the family room, and the upstairs hallway. We keep all the bedroom doors closed so he hasn't damaged those carpets. We've never had our carpets cleaned before. I made an appointment today for someone to come on Monday to clean the family room and upstairs hallway carpets. Hopefully that will do the trick, and I really, really hope that Milo is done having accidents in our house. 

Dinner for two

Although we usually only eat dinner with Paul 1-2 times a week, I am usually cooking for five people. I got a break from cooking the past three days while we were in Massachusetts, and for the next five days (including today), I'm only cooking for two. I'll be eating dinner alone four of the five nights, and Paul will eat sometime after he brings the kids home. He usually waits to eat until after 9pm. I made a list of things to try and accomplish this week as the kids will be leaving for camp around 8:00am and getting home around 7:15pm M-Th and not until 9:15pm on Friday. I crossed many things off the list today, but I still didn't start the videography course. I really, really hope I make some progress on that tomorrow!!! 

We spent Saturday at Six Flags New England. Before I knew how long of a walk it was from the parking lot to the park entrance, I thought that we'd leave the park for dinner and then come back to ride more rides until 9pm. Instead we opted to eat dinner later than usual and went back to the motel after dinner. We went to another pizzeria. I am accustomed (in PA) to a large pizza being a 16" round pizza. Well on Saturday night I should have requested a medium pizza because the large rectangular pizza was GIGANTIC. I saw other people ordered a small pizza, and I would say their small pizza looked like it was a 14" round pizza. That's the biggest small I've ever seen! Their calzones were also the biggest I've ever seen. Paul finished the last slice of that pizza at lunch today. Paul and I made a stupid mistake on Saturday morning. We took Nadia and Ian to the water park, and I took Oliver to the dry rides. We failed to pick a time and place to meet, and he gave me his cell phone. We were in a large, extremely crowded amusement park without any plan for how to reconnect. I prayed, and Oliver and I searched the water park. I then decided to wait and see if Paul would use someone else's

phone to call me. Paul prayed and found us a few minutes later. Whew! I failed to use our five skip the line passes last year. We made use of them on Saturday. We also redeemed some reward points for a free Icee and redeemed a free print of a ride photo for the first time. I put our belongings in a locker for a couple of hours so that I could ride a couple of rides with Oliver. We had almost no wait for a river rapids ride and a wait of more than an hour for a ride Oliver asked me to ride with him.

It was a very hot day on Saturday. It rained a little bit while we were at the Science Museum on Friday, but otherwise we didn't experience any rain on Friday or Saturday. On Sunday it was a different story. It rained off and on in the morning, and it was much cooler out. We were actually a bit chilly, which was quite a contrast to how much we sweated on Saturday. We had breakfast at Dunkin before we drove 40 minutes to Old Sturbridge Village. I didn't order any drinks with our breakfast sandwiches. Then I asked for two cups of tap water. I was in shock when I was told I owed $2.12 for tap water. Seriously?!? We spent about five hours at Old Sturbridge Village

which depicts life from 1790-1840. We visited almost all of the buildings that were open. A small minority were closed due to COVID. We did accidentally miss the cooper shop. We didn't have time to attend many of the programs offered throughout the day, but we did attend a presentation by a 19th century Irish Immigrant named Mary Culligan, rode a horse-drawn carryall, and attended a demonstration on making butter and soft cheese. One of our favorite reenactors worked with the animals in a barn. We learned how he has been training two fourteen month old steers to follow verbal commands when they are yoked together. 

Usually we eat in the van when we're on a road trip. We did eat our lunches in the van on Friday, but otherwise we opted to eat in restaurants, our motel room, or at a travel stop for the other meals. We're trying to keep our new van as clean as possible for the time being. We didn't eat lunch on Sunday so we ate our dinner at Subway a little earlier than usual. Here are some inflation rates I've noticed lately - it used to cost $19.99 before tax for 2 large pizzas in our town. Now it's $23.99 before

tax (20% increase). It used to cost $5 for two breakfast sandwiches at Dunkin'. Now it's $6 for two (20% increase). It used to cost $5 for a footlong at Subway. The price of those has gone up 50%. Ouch! The cost of pizza may have gone up, but it's still by far the cheapest meal to purchase from a restaurant. I've never paid for a cup of tap water at Subway, but at the Subway in MA they wouldn't give any cups for water. We were thankful we still had our $1.06 cups from Dunkin. We refilled them with water at Subway. Water is the healthiest drink, but the other reason the kids and I usually get water at a restaurant is to save money. If we have to start paying $1 for a cup of tap water, maybe I'll have to rethink that choice. 

We drove 5 hours and then picked Milo up around 9pm. He had unfortunately been a challenge for our dog sitters. He was VERY happy to see us!!! The kids went straight to bed when we got home. The kids had to get up earlier than usual this morning. Our neighbor left at 8:00am with Nadia, Ian, and her two kids. At 8:30 I drove Oliver to the Urgent Care so they could remove his sutures. He arrived at camp around 10:00 whereas the others arrived at 8:40. The kids had a great first day of camp! Oliver and Ian picked archery as their elective, and Nadia picked tie dying. They liked the food they were served for lunch and dinner and enjoyed swimming, playing games, etc. Oliver and Ian are in the same "cabin." Paul picked all five kids up at 6:30. Their Bible lessons are focused on spiritual armor. The kids find it a little challenging to relearn some of the verses in KJV that they've previously learned in NIV. This is Ian's fifth and next to last time attending Camp Good News as he attended for the first time in 2016. I remember my mom passed away the week he attended Camp Good News for the first time. They didn't hold any camps last year due to COVID. Nadia attended for the first time in 2017, and this is her last time attending as she'll be too old to attend next year. The boys are planning to attend overnight camp at Camp Good News next summer instead of PMBC, and that is held at the same place where they are having extended day camp this summer. Oliver said he really likes the slide in the swimming pool. He was glad he was able to swim today! Hopefully they will all have a great week!

Day 1 in Springfield

Usually the kids have been sleeping in this summer. The kids had to get up earlier than normal this week (M-TH) because art camp started at 8:30; Oliver also had to get up earlier because he rode with us to take Nadia and Ian to the middle school. Yesterday morning they got up even earlier because we were attempting to be out the door at 6:45. We didn't actually leave until closer to 7:15. After dropping Milo off at our friend's house, we drove 5 hours to Springfield, Massachusetts. Probably the most well known attraction here is the Basketball Hall of Fame. Our first stop was Springfield Armory where the kids each earned a Junior Ranger badge and patch. We spent a little over two hours there. Paul could definitely have spent more time there, but we wanted to have enough time to spend at the Springfield Museums. Everyone gets into the Springfield Armory for free. We got into the Springfield Museums for free because of our ASTC membership. The kids enjoyed the Dr. Seuss museum the best. Usually they love science museums, but this one wasn't much to write home about so to speak. We skipped the history and art museums there. We ate breakfast at home and had packed lunches to eat during our drive, when we arrived at the pizzeria I had selected for dinner we found out it was closed for a couple of weeks for a vacation. We found another pizzeria en route to Six Flags. We ordered a large (18") cheese pizza and five glasses of water. The pizza was delicious, and at the end we found out that another customer had paid for our pizza! We paid it forward for someone in the drive thru behind us at Dunkin' earlier this summer, but this was the first time we ever experienced a stranger paying for our meal. It was very kind of him! He left before we found out what he had done so we were unable to thank him. 

Lastly we spent about three hours at Six Flags New England. The parking lot is GIGANTIC. We literally had to walk almost a mile to get from our vehicle to the park entrance. Since we're planning on arriving at Six Flags shortly before it opens this morning, hopefully we won't have to park quite as far away. Paul and the kids rode a wooden roller coaster. Next, Nadia and I rode the Superman (a metal coaster) while the boys rode something else. After that Nadia rode two other metal roller coasters by herself while the boys rode the swings four times in a row. When we first got there, the lines were longer, but as we got closer to the closing time the lines became nonexistent.

Our only expenses yesterday were gasoline and one night at Red Roof. It was very challenging to find affordable lodging in this area. We usually stay at places that have two queen beds, free breakfast, and a swimming pool. This place doesn't offer breakfast or have a pool, and we slept on two double beds. Nadia slept on an air mattress we brought from home. Because we don't plan to purchase lunch and the motel doesn't offer breakfast, we walked across the street to Donut Dip to purchase breakfast sandwiches and donuts for our brunch. Paul, Ian, and Nadia are planning on spending time in the water park at Six Flags today. Oliver can't get wet because of his stitches. This morning we didn't need to get up early because Six Flags doesn't open until 10:30, but when we all share a bedroom the boys usually get up very early. We watched some Olympics on TV after we ate our breakfast and had our devotions. Yesterday we all had to wear masks inside the Dr. Seuss museum. The kids had to wear masks in Springfield Armory because they aren't vaccinated. The rest of the day we were all mask free, and we won't need to wear masks at all today. The Springfield Armory had been closed for t he past 16 months. Paul was very glad they recently reopened!

Thankful Thursday

 

1. I took the boys to the orthodontist on Monday. It was a very quick appointment, and he said that I don't need to return for 6 months because Ian needs to wear his retainer longer before the next step and Oliver isn't ready to begin. 

2. I used to shop the clearance racks at department stores several times a year (primarily JCPenney or Sears), but since malls have pretty much become a thing of the past, I haven't done that in several years. On Monday I used a $5 off coupon at Kohl's to get a winter dress for Nadia for $7.41 that was originally $68. I get most of the kids' clothes at yard sales, but it's not always easy to find dresses for Nadia now that she's older. It was very easy to get dresses for her at yard sales when she was younger.

3. Nadia and Ian really enjoyed the color war event at youth group the previous Wednesday night as well roller skating with the youth group last night. They also attended youth group at FBC on Sunday night. 

4. All three kids enjoyed VBS last week. Ian was thrilled to be one of the eleven children picked to "plaster the pastor" with paint on Thursday night. 

5. We bought a lot of fruit on Monday at ALDI. Eating plums, grapes, cherries, nectarines, peaches, and other types of fresh fruit is something Nadia and I really, really enjoy about the summer! Oliver has discovered he likes honeydew as much as I do. His obsession with watermelon has waned some this year.

6. Peppa's eye healed on its own. Whew! So glad we didn't need to take her to the vet, and also thankful she seems fine now.

7. We are thankful we were able to purchase a minivan during this time when it's challenging to do so. The kids and I like it a lot more than the Sienna for a variety of reasons. I'm also thankful for the 9 years we have been able to use the Sienna.

8. The kids enjoyed going to Dairy Queen on Tuesday night. It wasn't a cheap dinner! Unfortunately they didn't have any brownies as Nadia and I wanted to get a Blizzard that had brownie in it, but we still enjoyed what we selected. It brought back memories as I remember going to DQ when I was a child in Texas. When I was a principal, DQ actually delivered school lunches to our students once a week. Those school meals were FAR cheaper than what we paid on Tuesday night. 

9. Helen joined us for lunch and swimming yesterday after art camp. 

10. I installed 60 Dig Defence barriers around the fence yesterday morning so that Milo *hopefully* won't be able to escape. He wants to spend more time outside than he usually does. Paul needs to put something on the bottom of the two gates, and then Milo can have free reign in the backyard without a leash when he wants to go outside!

11. Paul is generally very good at rolling with the punches. He had a lot of practice with that this week. On Monday he drove to Reading for naught, he had to drive to Stroudsburg on Tuesday evening to sign the title, and I entered the wrong month for his dentist appointment. He showed up on Tuesday morning when actually his appointment is in August. OOPS! He was very gracious about my error. Thanks, honey! Would you believe the woman who failed to tell me on Monday that the van had been sold on Saturday night texted me on Tuesday asking if Paul had come down on Monday and said the vehicle was still there. What in the world?!? I told her that Paul had left work early and driven two hours in vain only to be told the van had been sold on Saturday evening. Oi vey!

12. Nadia and Ian have been enjoying the art camp this week. I want to frame at least one of Nadia's paintings. All of the projects have been with watercolor. It's the first time I've ever dropped my kids off at a public school! There are only eight kids in the art class - Helen, Ian, and Nadia are three of the eight.

13. Oliver's chin collided with a wall in the swimming pool yesterday. At first I thought only his lip was bleeding, but there was also a gash under his chin. Thankfully, our neighbor was also at the pool. She said Nadia, Ian, and Helen could stay for another hour. Helen's mom came an hour later to pick her up, and our  neighbor took Nadia and Ian home along with her two kids and a friend of her daughter. Years ago when Ian had a gash under his chin at the ice skating rink, I took him to the Urgent Care, and they said the only could treat with glue. Since his wound required sutures, I had to then take him to the ER. Thankfully the policy has changed over the years as they did stitch Oliver's wound at the Urgent Care this afternoon. We had a very small wait. Oliver was a trooper because wow it looked very painful to receive the injection in his face to numb the area. He screamed but was in the words of the doctor "very compliant." Unfortunately, the stitches meant we had to cancel our plans to visit DelGrosso's today (and we had invited four other people to join us). He can't swim until they come out. Hopefully he will be more careful in the future! I'll attempt to reschedule the DelGrosso's trip for sometime in August. The tickets will cost more then as today they were on sale for only $16 (half off). 

So Long, Sienna!

I started driving in January 1988. My first vehicle was a manual silver Toyota Tercel. The car didn't have air conditioning, and when I was working on my master's degree in South Carolina in the summer of 1994 I decided it was time to trade the car in for one that did have a/c. My parents had picked the first car out, and I bought it from them in 1991. I knew exactly what color car I wanted in 1994. I bought a mint green Tercel which I owned for several years. While I was working on my doctorate I traded my second Tercel in for a beige Toyota Corolla. In 2009 I traded the Corolla for a red Prius (hybrid). When Paul and I got married 20 years ago, he had a Honda Civic. Over the past 20 years he's purchased two vehicles. The first was another Honda Civic, and the second was a grey 2016 Mazda 3 which he bought in May 2018. It didn't have many miles on it when he bought it, but he drives 600 miles a week to and from work so the car already has 113,000 miles on it only three years later. In 2012 we traded his Civic in for our first minivan. The red Prius became his car at that point, and for the past almost nine years I've been driving a grey 2012 Toyota Sienna. That was the first time either of us ever purchased a brand new vehicle. We planned to buy a used light blue minivan with heated seats, but Oliver came home from the NICU in a car bed because he was too small to use a car seat, and we had to buy a van the same day he was discharged or I would have been at home the next day with three kids who couldn't fit in the Civic or Prius while Paul was at PSU. We weren't able to shop around for that vehicle purchase. 

For the past 30 years I've traded in my car once it's hit about 100K miles. The van has 152,000 miles, which means it's the most miles I've ever put on one vehicle. Over the past 33.5 years I've purchased five different Toyotas - three of which I wasn't really crazy about the color and two I did really like the color (mint green Tercel and red Prius). The color I disliked the most of the five is the grey I've been driving for 9 years. To add insult to injury, Paul bought a grey car 3 years ago. The color of a vehicle is unimportant to Paul, but the kids and I have been really looking forward to trading in the van for another van or SUV that we liked the color. We considered a red Sienna, but the kids preferred the Obsidian Blue Pearl Odyssey. It's a really pretty color - even prettier than the light blue we considered getting in 2012. We were planning on buying a used one this time, but considering the very small discount for a used minivan, we decided it was better to buy a new one. A dealership that had one in the color we wanted was south of where Paul works so he drove the Sienna to work on Monday morning, and I drove his Mazda when I took the kids to art camp, orthodontist, library, grocery store, and such today. Paul owned two Hondas, but the Odyssey is the first Honda that I've owned and our first vehicle with heated seats. As a person who doesn't like being cold, I am really excited about the heated seats! If we own this one as long as we owned the Sienna, we'll have it until Oliver graduates from high school. I had thought that Paul's Mazda could become our third car once Nadia started driving in 2024, but at the pace he's going there will be over 200K miles on it at that point. We shall see how long we keep the Mazda. While I was a FT adjunct at BU from 2017-2019 I set some money I made aside for a few big purchases, and we are using most of that money this summer to buy this van and replace our roof in September. Usually when you earn money it goes towards things you can't really "see" such as paying for gasoline, property taxes, life insurance, utilities, car insurance, etc. 

Paul was at work on Saturday and wasn't able to go to the dealer that day, so on Saturday I made an appointment for him to come down on Monday evening. I confirmed the appointment on Monday morning as I knew there was a chance it had been sold since I made the appointment. The confirmed the appointment, Paul drove down there, and they told him they sold it on Saturday night and weren't expecting more until September. Ugh! He left work early and drove an extra two hours for nothing. The only Obsidian Blue Pearl ones that we found within a 2 hour radius of our house were of a more expensive model. Paul knew how much I had disliked the grey color the last 9 years and was willing to splurge on one that had more bells and whistles, but I wanted to see if there were other options. Although I've never been a person who was really interested in vehicles, liking the color did make it a more exciting purchase. I found a 2020 blue one in Stroudsburg that only had 201 miles on it (seemed new even though it was listed as used), and I made an appointment to see it at 1:30 today. As soon as I picked Nadia and Ian up from art camp at noon, we started driving to the dealership. The blue one was still there, but I quickly learned it was missing many features that I wanted such as it only had 7 seats (we've had 8 seats the past 9 years), didn't have the magic slide for the middle row (which I was eagerly anticipating as it will make it easier for people to get into the back row), didn't have heated seats, etc. I asked if they had any 2022 Odysseys, and they had one white one in stock which was thankfully not the more expensive model. In the end I decided that it was more important to get the features we wanted than a color I wanted. I would rank white as fifth in terms of my favorite colors for vehicles. It's not as pretty as the Obsidian Blue Pearl, but it's much better than grey. 

The Bluetooth was truly a royal pain to use in the 2012 Sienna. It is a billion times easier to listen to audiobooks and use any other feature of my phone via the vehicle's touch screen in the 2022 Odyssey. It has heated seats, and I can set the temperature for three different parts of the vehicle (can be three different temps) - drive, passenger, and rear. The driver's seat is far more comfortable than it was in the Sienna. It also has blind spot information system, adaptive cruise control (ex. if the vehicle in front of us is going slower than what I've set the cruise control to then the vehicle adjusts the cruise control setting accordingly), the car brakes on its own if we are too close to another vehicle, the car also has a lane keeping assist system. In other words the car literally drives itself by controlling the steering wheel and brakes at some points! The only feature it didn't have that I was hoping our next vehicle would have was a power tailgate. When we buy groceries, many times employees are waiting for me to hit a button that I don't have. That's not changing even though we have a new vehicle as we'd have to have gotten a more expensive model to have that feature. It does have a remote starter which I've never had before. It's not plain white - sort of a pearl color. It's growing on me, but I still hope that our next vehicle is a color I prefer. I realize it might be another 9-10 years before we trade this in. If there wasn't such a shortage of vehicles at the moment, I would have held out for blue, green, or red, but I contacted quite a few dealerships and many of them had ZERO Siennas or Odysseys in stock. 

It took almost two hours to drive there, and we were at the dealer for three hours. Milo was a very good boy during the 8 hours he was alone in his crate during our car buying adventure. Since we didn't leave the dealership until 5pm, I treated the kids to dinner at Dairy Queen as going to to DQ was on our bucket list and we hadn't been there yet. Because both my name and Paul's was on the title for the Sienna, they needed Paul's signature. They wanted both of us to sign it in the presence of a notary tomorrow. Paul wasn't sure how to accomplish that in light of his work hours. So Paul drove to the dealership this evening. I certainly hope the next time we buy a vehicle we don't have to drive so far to find one! The kids and I drove about 3.5 hours round trip, and Paul drove a total of 5+ hours to dealerships the past two days (just what he drove to the dealership, I'm not counting the time he spent driving to work). Nadia said she hopes she doesn't want to be around the next time we buy a vehicle, and she said if she's married she'll have her husband do it as she doesn't want to go to a car dealer again. LOL! She might change her mind in the future, but I agree car shopping is not exactly pleasant! Usually we try to negotiate the price, but I figured it was pointless in the current market where there is a shortage of vehicles available for buyers. I asked if they would give us $400 more for the trade in than they initially offered, and they gave us $200 more than what they initially offered. That's not much but considering places are requiring people to make offers that are HIGHER than the sticker price, I was thankful we "only" had to pay the sticker price and that he gave us what I thought was a reasonable amount for the Sienna. Here's to hoping and praying for many years of safely driving our new white Odyssey! 

Nadia and her new friend, Helen

What a difference!

 

Our lives this summer are VERY different than last summer. We got our first dog seven months ago; having a dog has changed our lives far more than owning guinea pigs has over the last 4.5 years. We lost another family member when Paul's mom passed away in May. I still have moments when something happens and I think I need to call her and tell her, and then I remember that's not possible. Last year was a very unusual year. I've had plenty of times in my life when I was sick and looked forward to feeling normal again. I'll be turning 50 in 9 months, and I don't recall any other time in my life when life in general was so abnormal that I was longing for life to return to normal. Comparing our calendar for last from April - June with this year's would be one way to see that life has drastically changed over the past year. Today and tomorrow I actually had nothing on the calendar. That was the norm in 2020 but that hasn't been the case lately. I almost took the kids swimming this afternoon, but a thunderstorm changed those plans. I like having some days when I don't drive anywhere, and it's been awhile since that happened.

Our budget is another indication that life is very different. I've been tracking expenses for three decades. The Excel document I am currently using contains data from 2005 to the present. This past month we hit a record as to the most money spent on gas in a month - $633.19. Ouch! The previous record had been in the fall of 2008 when we spent $523 in one month. There were months over the past 17 years that we spent less than $100 on gasoline in a month. Over the past five years, we've spent an average of $303 per month on gas, which means $633 is a lot more than usual. I attribute this to the increase in the price of gas in addition to an increase in how much driving I've been doing. There was a month in the spring of 2020 when we spent less than $150 on gasoline. The kids and I were at home all the time, and the price of gas dropped lower than it had been it quite awhile. Gas hasn't reached the highest price I've ever paid yet, it would have to go up another 80 cents a gallon for that to be true. One of our credit cards often has a quarterly bonus of 5% on gasoline, but none of them do this quarter which is bad timing because we're planning to drive a LOT more than usual in September. I recently applied for a credit card for myself that will give us 3% off of gas all year and applied for a different one for Paul that gives  5% off each month in the category you spend the most in that month. I'm planning on having Paul use that one for gas for his car. Gasoline isn't the only thing that has gone up in price lately. For example, I picked up pizza this evening at a restaurant in our town, and the price of a large pizza has recently gone up 20%. Speaking of driving, the kids and I decided that when we trade in our grey 2012 Sienna, we'd like to get an Obsidian Blue Pearl Honda Odyssey. After driving a vehicle that I didn't like the color of for nine years, I'm looking forward to enjoying the color of our next vehicle. 

A positive change has been that more places we hoped to go over the next two months have reopened over the last two weeks. Today I booked reservations for a tour of Sagamore Hill on Long Island for August 28, and I learned today that we will be able to visit Springfield Armory next week!! We'll save Weir Farm for 2023. Two of the four National Park sites I had hoped to visit in the Lake George area recently reopened. We haven't decided if we'll schedule a trip to that area before our Six Flags' membership expires. I was also thrilled to learn that the Navajo Nation recently reopened. I had already found a replacement slot canyon tour. I'm not going to add Antelope Canyon to the schedule, but I did delete two National Park sites in Flagstaff so that I could add the Four Corners Monument to our itinerary. We shall see if Lowell Observatory moves to phase three (general admission) before September 20.

Oliver attended five nights of VBS. Nadia and Ian chose to attend the color war event at youth group on Wednesday night instead of VBS. Last night Ian was one of eleven children chosen to "plaster the pastor" with paint as a reward for the children bringing in a little over $550 in the offering over the five nights. He had a blast spraying the pastor with paint! 

Thankful Tuesday

 1. I started feeling under the weather in the evening on Thursday. I went to bed very early hoping this would nip it in the bud. Paul was feeling very poorly by the middle of the night on Friday night. We both didn't feel well At All on Saturday. He went to work at 3am that day so that he could come home early to attend Nadia's play. He slept through part of the play. I felt miserable on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Thankfully, I feel much better today primarily because the fever is gone. Oliver and Nadia appear to have dodged the bullet. Ian still has a little bit of a cough, but he's doing much better than he was 8 days ago. I wouldn't take the kids to the pool on Sunday or Monday because of how icky I felt. They were very thankful I took them swimming today!

2. We enjoyed watching the performance of Snow White that Nadia was in on Saturday, and the kids enjoyed swimming in the Lewisburg pool afterward (not our usual pool). I also scored a free large chocolate milk flavored cotton candy that they shared.

3. We enjoyed watching the season two finale of The Chosen on Sunday evening which focused on the Sermon on the Mount.

4.After a hiatus in 2020, the kids are enjoying attending VBS this week. Tonight is their third night. 

5. The kids got a good report at their dentist appointments yesterday. I was told to schedule an orthodontic consultation for Oliver. I was hoping Ian might be the only child who needed to wear braces, but I guess I was wrong! Paul never needed braces. I was surprised that we ALL had to wear masks at the dentist even if we've been vaccinated. I wonder when the mask requirements might totally go away. Sometime in 2022? We shall see. Thankfully the times we need to wear them are VERY few and far between at this point.

6. Nadia made a new friend at theatre camp. I signed Nadia and Ian up for an art camp at the local middle school next week, and it turns out her friend, Helen, will also be in that camp! 

7. I finished my lesson plans for social studies for the next school year today! That subject takes me the longest to do of any of them as it also entails selecting many books some that I'll read to the kids, some that we'll listen to together via Overdrive or Audible, and some that they'll read independently. I purchased some of the books through Amazon and thriftbooks, will check out some from the library system, and will request others through inter library loan. The subjects I still need to plan for next school year include: Spelling (Oliver), Science (Oliver), Math (all three), and Writing (all three). 

8. There are usually three times per year we visit several yard sales on one day. We will miss one of those this year because it takes place in September, when we plan to be on vacation. I was very, very thankful that two of our neighbors had yard sales last Friday. I bought a LOT of winter and summer clothes for the boys and Nadia - some they are already wearing and some for the future. It's nice to buy, for example, an Under Armor shirt that is in great condition for $1.00! 

9. Our church's youth pastor has planned a LOT of fun activities for the youth this summer. Nadia and Ian have missed several due to schedule conflicts, but they are very excited about the Color Wars event tomorrow night. The previous youth pastor didn't plan many activities, and of course the new youth pastor couldn't do so last year due to COVID. I'm hoping that this will become the "norm" for the summer. Oliver really, really wishes he was already old enough to be in the youth group. I for one am very thankful he's not. Kids grow up fast enough as it is! Speaking of time flying by, yesterday was the 5th anniversary of my mom's passing. I can't believe it's already been 5 years since I've been able to talk to her or hug her. That just reminds me once again that the next 5 years until Nadia graduates are also going to fly by. 

10. Kid's Café has returned to being offered in person as of July 5 rather than a drive-thru event. I give the kids the choice as to whether they want to eat lunch at home or at Kid's Café, and the last several days they've consistently picked Kid's Café. We appreciate all the volunteers who make that possible!

11. We had been using the free version of Duolingo. I did a free trial of the paid version and decided I liked that a lot better. A family plan (up to 6 accounts) cost $120 for the year so that seemed reasonable. Oliver hasn't been using it, but the other four of us each have an account and have been working through the units. It's a lot cheaper than Talkbox.mom, which is what we used last year. 

12. I believe I found a solution for our fence problem. We had a fence installed 11.5 years ago, and I've viewed it as a waste of money that has created more work for me because #1 I have to clean it and #2 I have to weed whack under it. I hoped that some day we'd get some benefit from it. I thought that would be true when we had a dog, but we got a small dog. If we had gotten a bigger dog, the fence would already be a blessing. I was hoping to find a way to solve the problem of the gap between the bottom of the fence and the ground. Once we install what I've ordered today, we should be able to let Milo spend time in the backyard without a leash which I think will make him VERY happy. 

VBS

Nadia attended VBS for the first time in 2011. Most years the kids have attended multiple weeks of VBS as they have attended VBS at five different churches that are located within 15 minutes of our house. Last year was the notable exception - no VBS due to COVID. Ian and Oliver could have attended VBS at our church for four mornings in June while Nadia was in Oklahoma, but that particular week I wasn't interested in adding anything more to our calendar. Next week three of the five churches where the kids have attended VBS in the past are all having VBS. I think Nadia would have preferred if I had chosen the Rocky Railway one at FBC because she's in that youth group, but I picked the Go Fish one at the Methodist Church. I picked that one primarily because it's only 1.5 miles from our house. The kids have always enjoyed that VBS, and their program is also for teens. The Alliance Church usually has their VBS in June, but because of COVID they are having it in August this year. I don't believe Nadia will be able to participate in that one. Hopefully Ian isn't also too old. We shall see! At least Oliver should be able to attend two weeks of VBS this summer.

Nadia has attended a theatre camp the past two weeks. The camp has been held at a park 20 minutes from our house which sounds like no big deal, but that translated to Oliver and I spending at least 80 minutes a day in the car every day. On Tuesday I also took the kids swimming after we ate dinner, and on Wednesday night we also took her to youth group. Her performance is tomorrow. She's enjoyed the camp and made a new friend (Helen). I'm very thankful that next week the only things on the calendar are VBS in the evening and a dentist appointment. We'll probably go swimming on whatever days the weather permits that. Nadia has also been preparing this week for her audition for Tuck Everlasting that is taking place on Sunday afternoon. She's memorized a passage from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe for the monologue portion of the audition, and she's singing a patriotic medley (with me as her accompanist) for the singing portion.

Sometimes I wonder why I haven't made more progress through my summer to do list, and then I stop and think about my day. The kids and I went yard sale  shopping for a couple of hours this morning. I spent $74.50 at the first yard sale. One toy (birthday gift for Oliver) cost $10, but almost all the items were $1 or $1.50, which means I bought a LOT of clothing. That family's yard sale has been my favorite for years because they have one girl who is one year older than Nadia, and one boy who is a few months older than Ian. They had their yard sale in 2019 when we were in Myrtle Beach, and they didn't have one in 2020 due to COVID so it had been a little over three years since I last shopped at their yard sale. We came home and put away some of the new purchases before heading out to the park so the kids could have lunch at Kids' Café before taking Nadia to theatre camp. Milo went yard sale shopping with us. I walked him around the park while the kids ate, and he was in the van when we took Nadia to camp. On our way home from camp we stopped at Weis and the library. After I trimmed Milo's hair, I mowed the lawn. Next Ian and I worked together to make dinner before Oliver, Milo, and I returned to pick Nadia up from camp. I did spend a little bit of time working on learning Spanish before the kids got up and working on lesson plans for a little bit this morning while the kids were listening to an audiobook, but that was about it. This evening we all watched an episode of The Mysterious Benedict Society together. 

Thankful Tuesday

1. We've enjoyed watching the first three episodes of Mysterious Benedict Society. There will be five more episodes this summer. So far they are following the book pretty closely! Oliver isn't a huge fan, but the other four of us enjoy it. The girl who plays the part of Constance Contraire really cracks Paul up.

2. I took Nadia to her annual physical on June 25. I dropped the boys off at a skate park near the doctor's office because they still weren't allowing other children to be present if they don't have an appointment. Thankfully the appointment was quicker than usual. I'm very thankful that Nadia only goes to the doctor once a year. She was thankful she didn't need to get any shots. Over the past year she grew 3.25 inches, which moved her from the 29th percentile for height last year to the 41st percentile this year at 5ft 1.25 inches.

3. We enjoyed spending some time with Yvonne and her kids on June 25-26. Eleven of us (including Jenna's boyfriend) went white water rafting in Jim Thorpe and had dinner together before they headed back to Maryland.

4. Nadia enjoyed spending time with some of her friends at church in the evening on June 27. I was very thankful that our neighbors drove her home after the fireworks as I didn't want to stay the whole time. She also enjoyed having three of her friends join us at the pool for swimming and pizza on the 29th. The girls spent the night here.  I made Belgian waffles for breakfast and dropped the girls off at their homes around noon the next day. 

5. Nadia and I had more one-on-one time last week while the boys were at camp. I treated her to frozen yogurt from Sweet Frog on Monday, lunch at Olive Garden on Tuesday, and took her to Red Robin for dinner on Wednesday before we went shopping. On our way home from shopping we used a coupon for a free hot chocolate from Dunkin that the two of us shared.

6. I finished making the reservations for our 25 day vacation on Saturday. Whew! I've never invested this much time in planning a vacation before, but this one is longer than usual and also involves driving much farther. We're planning to do at least one thing in 24 different states - five of which the kids have already been to before (PA, OH, KY, IL, and WV) and nineteen "new" states. There are only two times we're spending two nights in the same place - two nights in Dearborn, MI and two nights in Chicago, IL. We will be spending at least one night in seventeen different states: MI, IL, MN, SD, MT, WY, UT, AZ, CO, NM, TX, OK, AR, AL, TN, KY, and WV. Indiana is the only state we'll be driving through but not actually doing anything in it. 

7. I'm very thankful that Nadia's theatre camp is only 20 minutes from our house as I've driven much farther than that to take her to theatre camp some years, and her camp only cost $50 for 40 hours of theatre camp, which is definitely the cheapest theatre camp she's ever attended. I'm looking forward to seeing their performance on Saturday. I'm also thankful the kids aren't wearing masks at camp, don't need to have their temperatures taken, and our whole family can watch her performance. Last year only one parent (and no siblings) were allowed to attend the performance. 

8. Our apple tree is REALLY laden with fruit this year. Hopefully they will ripen before we begin our vacation on September 8. 

9. I enjoyed playing a patriotic flute solo at FBC on Sunday morning. 

10. The boys had a great week at overnight camp last week!

11. Nadia and I picked some blueberries at a farm about one mile from our house. We used some of them to make a VERY delicious fruit pizza!