Ontario take two

We planned to visit Ontario for the first time in September 2017 in conjunction with visiting Niagara Falls. After I accepted a job offer to return to BU that month, we cancelled those plans. We visited Niagra Falls and spent a day in Ontario in August 2018. In May 2020 we planned to spend more time in Ontario and visit Quebec for the first time in conjunction with a trip to New England, but that trip was cancelled. The New England portion of that trip ended up happening in 2022, but the COVID restrictions involved with crossing the border at that time meant we didn't visit Canada on that trip. We still haven't been to Quebec, but we spent two more days in Toronto this past Sunday and Monday.

The Bible quizzing competition wrapped up late on Saturday afternoon, and then we headed to the dining hall for dinner at 5:00 followed by the award ceremony and then some team photos. We were trying to leave as quickly as possible as we had a three-hour drive to Toronto. We spent two nights at a Staybridge Suites, which was very nice. There was a door separating where the kitchen and couch were, which meant that Nadia had more privacy as the couch is always her bed. After eating breakfast at the hotel, we drove into downtown Toronto. Our first two stops were the Ripley's Aquarium and the CN Tower. The Aquarium was nicer than some (ex. the Virginia Aquarium) but certainly not in the top tier. We'd rate our top four as the ones in Baltimore, Chicago, Camden, and Atlanta. Some highlights included a giant octopus, two cuttlefish (one of Ian's favorite animals), and watching a diver feed some large sting rays. Although the CN tower is three times higher than the Space Needle, which we visited last September in Seattle, I would say the overall experience is much better at the Space Needle. One pays quite a bit of money to basically just ride an elevator at the CN Tower. Our third stop of the day was at Fort York which is also in downtown Toronto. It was attacked by Americans in the War of 1812. It was free to visit this site, and we had a guided tour. 

Our cell phone plan doesn't include Canada, and so we had turned our phones on airplane mode as we neared the border on Saturday night. We had free Wi-Fi at the hotel which made it possible for us to use my phone to give us directions to the Aquarium/CN Tower. There wasn't any Wi-Fi at Fort York, which meant we had no way to use the phone to give us directions to the Toronto Zoo, but we managed to get there. We received a 50% off discount with our AZA membership. I was most looking forward to walking through the kangaroo enclosure, but sadly that ended at 3:00. Had we known we could have gone directly to that exhibit, but we didn't, and it was closed when we arrived there. We spent over three hours at the zoo. Similar to the aquarium I would say it was nicer than some zoos (ex. the tiny one in Delaware) but also certainly not one of our most favorites. It was a large zoo in terms of how much walking was involved. One of my favorite sights in that zoo was of a baby rhinoceros. 

We planned to have dinner at a Cheesecake Factory. There aren't any Olive Garden's in Toronto, or I would have chosen that since it's Nadia's favorite and it was the day before her birthday. Cheesecake Factory is one of her most favorite places, and I got a $100 gift card from credit card points. This was a mistake because I was forgetting that we couldn't use a US gift card in Canada. We plan to make other trips to Canada in the future as I'd like the kids (or at least the boys) to visit all the provinces of Canada, so hopefully I'll remember this lesson learned in the future! When we arrived, the wait for a table was 90 minutes long, and it was already after 6pm. It was located in a large shopping mall. We were in sticker shock when we looked at a menu of another sit-down restaurant in the mall, so we opted to eat in the food court. One upside is the exchange rate was in our favor, but a downside was the additional 13% tax added to everything. Ian, Oliver, and I loved what we chose to get in the food court. Ian has been wanting to try a chili dog, and his wish came true. Oliver always wants to try new foods, and he had dim sum, and I got a burrito from Chipotle. We did splurge (and I do mean splurge!) and got two slices of cheesecake to go on our way out, which was when we learned they don't take US gift cards. I think it was a blessing in disguise that the wait was so long. I think the prices were likely much higher than at the same restaurant in the US, and we couldn't use our gift card. Nadia got her own piece of cheesecake, and the boys shared s slice. Paul got a soda at a gas station as his "dessert," and I didn't get anything. 

On Monday morning we checked out of our hotel after eating another nice breakfast and used the free Wi-Fi to give us directions to Canada's Wonderland. We had purchased the dining plan that included snacks and drinks in addition to meals. It was a bit of a letdown as there were very few options for "snacks," but none of us went thirsty or hungry. There are 18 rollercoasters, but the kids were only able to ride seven of them. We arrived when the park opened and went right to a roller coaster, but even that first line was much longer than we expected. Paul didn't ride any rides, and I only rode one. In hindsight, we probably should have splurged and got the kids fast passes. We did buy them each a fast pass to ride one ride one time as we wanted them to at least be able to ride the three best rollercoasters one time. They did really enjoy those three roller coasters, but this was our worst experience in quite a while in terms of time spent waiting in lines. The park was open until for twelve hours that day, but we left 3.5 hours before it closed because we had to drive a little over 5 hours to get home. So far, the only time we ever bought the kids a fast pass was at Carowinds, and back then we only bought two because Oliver wasn't riding the big rollercoasters at that point. We don't plan to visit any more amusement parks this year, but we'll try to keep this in mind if we encounter really long lines at Six Flags in Texas in 2025 or at King's Island in 2026. The kids have now been to 37 different zoos/aquariums and 30 different amusement parks. 

It was hard to get up early on Tuesday morning as we didn't get home until midnight on Monday night, but the kids and I helped out at our church's VBS this week from Tuesday through Friday, and the teen helpers are supposed to arrive at 8:00 for a devotional with the youth pastor. Nadia helped with the fourth-grade girls, I was one of the leaders of the first-grade girls, Oliver helped with the four-year-old boys, and Ian helped with the third-grade boys. They provide a lunch for the volunteers, so we were there from 8:00-1:00 the last four days. On Tuesday Nadia also had a physical, and I mowed the lawn as we had been gone for five days. On Wednesday we picked some blueberries, and Ian had a piano lesson. On Thursday I took Nadia to get her learner's permit, bought Ian some sandals, got some groceries, and let Nadia get behind the wheel (in a parking lot) for the first time. Today I drove Nadia to the Wilkes Barre airport so she could fly to Chicago to spend five days with Rachel, Grace, and Wendy. Paul and Oliver left for a one-night camping excursion this afternoon. They'll get back around lunch time tomorrow. Right now, Ian and I are holding down the fort along with Milo and Lily. I'm thankful I don't need to go anywhere tomorrow, and the only place I'm going on Sunday is church because Paul is driving Oliver, Ian, and Xandir to overnight camp on Sunday afternoon. Aside from church on Sunday, I think I'll stay home sweet home until July 4 when I promised I'd give Nadia some more experience driving in a parking lot. 

Sweet Sixteen

 

Sixteen years ago, my dream finally came true with the birth of Nadia Renee, whose name means hope reborn. We began celebrating her birthday at 7 pm on June 11. Three of her friends (Leila, Faith, and Julianna) and Pop Pop met us at the bowling alley in Milton. I had rented two lanes for two hours It turned out we had the whole place to ourselves. Pop Pop brought sugar cookies from Aunt Millie's bakery as Nadia had requested. The three girls then spent the night at our house. Ian and Oliver joined them for a game of manhunt outside, and then the girls hung out in the family room until they went to sleep around 1:00 am. They played more games the next morning. Faith and Julianna were picked up sometime between 10-11, and Leila was picked up around 2:30 pm. Nadia received money, an Amazon gift card, a shirt, and a book from her friends. We gave her puzzles, a portable phone charger, earrings, Wheat Thins, peanut butter pretzels, and a roundtrip ticket to Chicago so that she can spend five days with Rachel. June 13, we spent the day with most of the Towfighis at HersheyPark, which was the day before Andrew's 19th birthday. Nadia's actual birthday will be spent at Canada's Wonderland, which is an amusement park near Toronto. We splurged and got the tickets that also include food and drinks. She has a physical scheduled for tomorrow, and at that appointment the medical portion of her learner's permit application can be signed. She plans to take the driver test later this week. 

Here are sixteen ways she's changed over the past six months.

1. She has begun taking guitar lessons. If she continues to practice faithfully, we're planning to buy her a better guitar than the hand me down she inherited from her cousin.

2. She recently resumed taking piano lessons with me. I honestly didn't think this would ever happen. It's 100% at her initiative right now. 

3. She had her largest role in a musical to date as she played the part of Mrs. Mayor in Seussical. She's hoping to start taking voice lessons in the fall.

4. She visited South America for the first time. 

5. She completed three more college classes through Grand Canyon University - English Composition, World History, and a Communications class. After completing five courses, her GPA there is 3.94.

6. She was appointed to be the team captain for our church's "B" team at the Bible quizzing Nationals last week. She qualified to be in the finals of the individuals, and the team she was on qualified to be in the top division of the finals! Her performance at Nationals was SO much better than the first three years she participated. 

7. She was offered a job to work at Camp Susque this summer for four weeks. 

8. She's been working on jigsaw puzzles almost every day. 

9. She's recently gotten in the habit of drinking a glass of milk every day. Since she almost always skips breakfast, I'm glad she's drinking milk, but it has meant that I need to buy milk more often. She eats breakfast when we are staying at hotels, and she also eats it when we have Cinnabon cereal.

10. Hot pockets are still her favorite lunch, but when we don't have those, she's not been always having grilled cheese sandwiches as she had done for quite a while. She's recently discovered she enjoys having a tuna salad sandwich for lunch, for example. 

11. She's been studying to take the test for her learner's permit. Driving here we come!

12. Her closest friends at the moment (aside from her cousin, Rachel) include Leila, Faith, and Julianna.

13. She completed Marine Biology in science this school year. Next up is chemistry.

14. She completed a course in Algebra 2 this school year. She had an easier time with this class than she did with Algebra 1 or Geometry. Next up is pre-calculus. 

15. She registered to take three classes (worth a total of seven credits) at Liberty University this fall.

16. She's been using the iPad less, which means she's hardly been watching any shows, which means she's been having less screen time. 

Bible Quizzing Nationals

Nadia joined our church's Bible quizzing team in January 2020, but naturally the competitions that spring were cancelled. The first time she participated in nationals was in Oklahoma in 2021, and very few teams participated that year. Our church only had one team that year, and our team won, but honestly Nadia contributed almost nothing toward the victory that year as they had seven people on the team but only four can quiz at one time. Ian and Nadia both attended nationals in South Carolina in 2022 on our church's B team. Both of our church's teams won their respective divisions that year. Last year they both participated in the nationals in Indiana, and the two teams again won. That time Ian and Nadia contributed more. Last fall Ian set a goal for himself to make it on our church's A team this year, and he achieved that goal! 

Because the nationals were held at Houghton in New York, Paul, Oliver, and I attended the competition. Ian and Nadia rode up to Houghton with their team on Wednesday, and Paul, Oliver, and I came up on Thursday. We missed seeing the individual matches on Thursday, but we saw the team matches that day as well as the individual and team matches on Friday. Everyone else from our church is staying in the dorms on campus. Paul, Oliver, and I opted to spend two nights in an Airbnb located about 1/2 mile from the building where the competitions are taking place. The quizzing includes written competitions, individual, and team competitions. The team eats all their meals in the dining hall on campus. We ate a packed lunch on our way here on Thursday. Houghton is in the middle of nowhere. There are no grocery stores in Houghton, and there are only three restaurants - coffee shop, pizza place, and a Chinese restaurant. We got a large pizza at Bum's pizza on Thursday night, and on Friday at lunch I picked up another large pizza as a carryout order. Paul and Oliver had pizza for dinner both days and for lunch on Friday. I had pizza twice and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the third meal. We brought cereal with us and got a half gallon of milk at a grocery store on Thursday afternoon. On Saturday we ate food we had brought from home for our lunch, and on Saturday evening we "splurged" and paid $48 for the three of us to eat dinner in the dining hall with the quizzers. On Friday evening the quizzers and officials from our church went out for ice cream. Paul and I didn't have any, but we bought Oliver a dish of watermelon soft serve. Oliver had a blast hanging out on campus with Xandir, Ben, and Ian after the quizzing was done each day. Sometimes we walked to campus from our Airbnb, and other times we drove. 

Ian, Ben, Faith, and Leila are on the A team this year. Ben has been on the A team for several years, and this is Leila's 2nd year on the A team. Ian and Faith both just finished 8th grade, Leila just finished 7th grade, and Ben just completed 10th grade. Seven of the eight members of our teams are homeschooled. Leila attends the Christian school at our church. Ben was the team captain. This team was undefeated on Thursday and Friday, which made them the top seed in the A division on Saturday. They also were undefeated on Saturday. North Rome entered the finals as the second seed, but a loss to Sweetser meant that North Rome moved to the third place. Our A team competed against Sweetser in the championship round and won the for the fourth year in a row. 

Nadia, Xandir, Lucy, and Jillian are on the B team this year. This is Xandir and Lucy's first year of quizzing. Nadia just finished 10th grade, Jillian finished 8th grade, Lucy finished 6th grade, and Xandir just completed 5th grade, which is the minimum grade level to be eligible to participate. Faith, Lucy, and Xandir know the memory verses VERY well. Nadia was the team captain. For the first time since 2014, both of our church's teams ended up in the top division of the finals! North Rome won 2nd place, and there was a three-way tie for third place, but only the top four teams could be in the A division. The tie breaker for a three-way tie is the written scores. Sweetser had the best written score of the three teams, but our team came in second place, which meant our B team was the fourth seed of the A division. When our B team lost 3 matches on Thursday, they began to lose hope of achieving the goal of also being in the A division for the finals, but they won all their matches on Friday, and North Rome helped them out by beating Sweetser in the last match on Friday. Although they had beat Sweetser on Thursday, they lost all of their matches on Saturday, which meant they ended in fourth place. The last two years our B team won the B division, which would have been equivalent to fifth place this year. If they had been in the B division this year, they would have won all their matches on Saturday by a large margin. There was a big gap in ability between team #5 and teams 6-8.

Nadia and Ian also qualified for the individual final competition this year, which was a first for both of them. They both improved SO much over the last year! Six of the eight kids from our church qualified to be in the individual finals. Leila (from our church) and Simon (senior from Sweetser) tied for first place. Other winners included Ben (3rd), Faith (4th), Tony (5th), Ruth (6th), Ruby (7th), and Ian and Xandir tied for 8th. 

The winners of the written part of the competition were as follows: Faith (1st), Simon (2nd), Ruth, Julia, Leila, Ruby, Jillian, Ian (8th), Tony, and Ben. The kids in our A team were all in the top ten on both the written and individuals, and two members of our B team were each in the top ten for one of those two awards. Two special awards were also given to Tony and Simon. Nadia and Ian both showed a lot of improvement over the last year, and I'm hoping the same will be said of them next year in Oklahoma when they quiz over the book of Luke! Our church might have three teams next year as four new people (Oliver being one of them) plan to join in the fall. At the moment Paul and I don't plan to attend the one in Oklahoma in 2025, but we are planning to attend the following three in South Carolina (26), Indiana (27), and back in Houghton (28). If Nadia attends in 2027 or 2028, she might serve as an official because 2026 will be her final competition. Chris (from our church) graduated last year, and he was an official this year. Hopefully the Holy Spirit will use the verses these kids have memorized in their lives for decades to come. Sweetser's t-shirts said, "Study it, quiz it, live it," and I hope that is true for all of the quizzers!

Thankful Thursday

 

1. The Schrecks came over for dinner on May 25. We always enjoy spending time with their family. Another family was supposed to come over for dinner on June 8, but they accidentally forgot. Because we've been hosting the co-op and homeschool game nights at our home, I haven't been attempting to have one family over for dinner every month, but we still have more people coming over for dinner than we used to.

2. Cheri joined the five of us for the movie Sight at the theater on May 26. we're so thankful there are many more Christian movies now than ever before

3. We had a nice vacation in Virginia from May 27- June 2. The weather was wonderful which was an answer to prayer. The top three highlights for Ian and Oliver were the two amusement parks, Virginia Beach with their cousins, and water skiing. Paul really enjoyed the Udvar-Hazy Center and the Virginia Aquarium. The fact that we also got to spend time with 8 of the Towfighis and Grandpa while we were in Virginia was definitely icing on the cake! 

4. One of my most favorite desserts is chocolate peanut butter twist soft serve ice cream or custard. I never had it in 2023, but I've had it on two different days over the last few weeks as I had some at a Kohr's in Virginia Beach and then again at an ice cream shop on the way home from Hershey Park last week. 

5. We've been enjoying watching season four of The Chosen. We've seen five episodes so far, which means we have three to go. Lazarus is going to be raised from the dead next Sunday! 

6. While we were on vacation, I received word that my mammogram was normal, and while we were at Hershey Park last week, I received word that my pap smear was normal. Those two tests cost us $614.90. I am very grateful for the $18K we received from the insurance company. I think that will end up covering all our medical, dental, and orthodontic bills for this year. 

7. Paul and I have enjoyed the first two weeks of our Intermediate Cha Cha class. We will miss the class tomorrow because of the Bible quizzing, and we will miss next Friday because Paul and Oliver will be camping for one night, but we hope to attend the last four weeks of the class. It had been ten years since the last time we took a class. Hopefully not nearly that much time will pass before we take another class!

8. On June 8 I had a belated birthday lunch at Panera with Cheri. I always greatly appreciate having time to chat with a friend!

9. I was the substitute teacher for our Sunday School class on June 9. We discussed the first half of the book of Amos. It went well. 

10. The kids and I saw a movie at a Drive-In theater for the first time. It wasn't a first for Paul. In hindsight, we shouldn't have brought Milo. He just couldn't settle down! We saw Garfield. I think we all decided we prefer to see a movie in a theater, but I'm glad we got to try something different. 

11. On June 11 Pop Pop and three of Nadia's friends joined us for two hours of bowling. The girls then spent the night at our house. It was an early birthday party for our girl who will soon turn sixteen!

12. Oliver is very glad that he has been promoted to the youth group at church. He attended his first social on June 5.

13. On June 13 Paul and I were fingerprinted in Hershey for TSA PreCheck. The closest location is in State College, but since we didn't have any plans to head that direction, we went to the one in Hershey on the same day we met eight of the Towfighis (plus three of their friends and Joe's sister) at Hershey Park. It was a very hot day, but at least it was a dry day. Paul and I spent the first six hours with Wesley, which meant we rode a lot more rides than we typically do when we are with our kids at an amusement park. He's seven years old, but he's very small for his age. We walked through the Zoo and saw the show featuring seals and sea lions in addition to riding rides. The other kids exclusively rode roller coasters all day. My kids love spending time with their cousins, and they love roller coasters, so the combination of the two is amazing for them!

14. The kids had extra 2.5-hour Bible quizzing practices on Friday and Monday. They missed the one on Thursday due to our trip to Hershey. I'm thankful for all Dave Seibert does for the teams!

15. Paul's dad came over on Saturday for Father's Day. The kids played Mario, foosball, and Labyrinth with him. We had shrimp, prime rib, Nadia's favorite kind of macaroni and cheese, corn on the cob, and cheesecake for dinner. I sent some shrimp and corn home with Pop Pop. Paul had prime rib again on Sunday and Monday. 

16. On Sunday afternoon the five of us saw a production of the musical Oliver. Nadia had read Oliver Twist earlier in the school year. Some of the kids' friends were in the musical. The man who played my husband in Sount of Music was also in Oliver. Next year one of the productions they will be doing is A Wrinkle in Time, so I've decided to require Ian and Oliver to read that book next year. Nadia already read it several years ago. 

17. Nadia was supposed to babysit for the youth pastor on June 3, but several of us had a stomach bug that week. She was able to babysit for them on June 17. 

18. On Tuesday Julianna joined the kids and I at Montage Mountain. The weather has been hotter than usual lately (highs in the 90's!), but that weather was ideal for a day at a water park. I spent more time in the water than I usually do when we go to a water park!

19. Nadia and Ian have been working diligently to prepare for the national competition for Bible quizzing. Paul, Oliver, and I didn't arrive up here in time to see the first rounds of the individual competition today, but we were able to watch the team competitions. The team Ian is on won all their matches today. I was rather impressed with how much Nadia improved over the last year. She is the captain of our church's B team. Ian is on our church's A team for the first time. 

20. Someone picked up our spinning seesaw on Monday. Given how many people contacted me after I posted it on Facebook, I probably could have sold it instead of giving it away, but nonetheless, it has been taken away. The kids had stopped using it, and the seat covers needed to be replaced. The concrete pad it was attached to is still on the lawn, but we've made progress. Paul and I have made significant progress with removing our fence. I probably also could have sold that. I buy things second hand sometimes, but I almost always just give our unwanted stuff away instead of selling it. I'm looking forward to NOT needing to clean the fence every year, and I will also be doing a lot less weed whacking once the fence is totally gone. Yay! The concrete pad the shed was on is still in the yard, but I think we'll save that project for another year. Unfortunately, the fence was installed incorrectly 14.5 years ago, and we didn't figure it out soon enough, so it's never done us a lick of good, but that's how it is in life. Some purchases end up being worth far more than you paid for them, and other times you realize it was a waste of money. Thankfully, most of the time I haven't regretted purchases that cost us thousands of dollars like the fence did. 

21. Paul, Oliver, and I saw the movie Arthur the King on Wednesday afternoon. Aside from the fact it had some language, it's my kind of movie - heartwarming and based on a true story. 

22. We received our "known traveler numbers" through the TSA. The kids need to be on our reservations in order to go through TSA Precheck with us. Thankfully, Alaksa Airlines was able to make a switch so that all our kids will be able to go through the Precheck. They were able to fix it only because Oliver is under the age of 13. I'm grateful as I had a bad experience with TSA in March, and we're hoping using TSA Precheck will prevent that from happening again.

14.5 years old!

 Today is Ian's half-birthday! Here are some developments over the past six months of his life:

1. He shaved off his mustache for the first time ever.
2. He became more comfortable with performing for an audience and discovered he really, really enjoys being in a musical. He did a great job as Vlad Vladikoff in MCS's production of Seussical and the Mad Hatter in our small homeschool production of Alice. 
3. He's grown at least two inches and will soon be passing Nadia out in height for the first time in his life.
4. His voice has been changing. Most of the time he sounds like he has laryngitis. 
5. He finished 8th grade, which means he's now a high schooler! The last course that he finished this school year was Algebra 2. Next year he'll be taking Geometry and Chemistry.
6. He was selected to be on the A team at Nationals next week for the first time. He recently memorized the book of Colossians.
7. We've begun the process of having him tested for sleep apnea and also seeing an ENT regarding the fact he can't breathe out of his right nostril. 
8. He performed a solo in a piano recital for the first time in February. Recently he's begun working on a piano duet from Beethoven's 3rd symphony that he will perform with Addi in November. He always enjoys playing a wide variety of songs that he finds online on Musescore. He also has been working on Chopin's Military Polonaise - using the same copy of music that I used decades ago.
9. He spent time in South America for the first time in his life in February. 
10. It's no longer hard for him to switch from long sleeve to short sleeve shirts when the weather gets warmer, but the transition to shorts is still not easy for him.
11. He resumed seeing an orthodontist once a month as he began the second phase in February. 
12. He attended a Tim Hawkins show and a TobyMac concert which were both firsts for him, and they are two of his three favorite artists. 
13. He's gotten into a regular habit of doing push-ups every day.
14. He spends about $10 on Brawl Stars every month. 
15. He went water skiing for the first-time last month, and he loved it!

Virginia Vacation

The kids have been to Virginia multiple times over the years. In 2015 the kids and I spent a week in Williamsburg with my parents. We had been on many vacations with them prior to that, but it turned out that was the last one with them as my mom passed away a year later. In 2019 we spent a few days in Virginia on our way down to Myrtle Beach with Paul's parents. Similarly, it was the last vacation we took with Paul's parents due to COVID and then Ellie passing away. My dad moved to Virginia in 2017 so we also made a few trips to Lynchburg over the last six years. Despite having been to Virginia multiple times, there were still some places that I wanted to take the kids in this state that we hadn't been to yet. So, I planned a one-week trip to Virginia. Since my dad still lives in Lynchburg and Nadia plans to go to college at Liberty, I anticipate future drives to Virginia and back, but I don't think we'll spend another entire week here on vacation in the future. 

We left on Monday morning (Memorial Day). Our first stop was to drop Milo off at the Seibert's house. Then we drove to Monocacy National Battlefield in Frederick, Maryland. The kids each earned a badge. In hindsight we could have spent more hours at the battlefield because the Ranger station at our next stop (Wolf Trap) was closed. Because we had appointments for the kids to have water skiing lessons from 5:00-7:15, we were somewhat limited in what we could choose to do instead. We ended up visiting another National Park site - Prince William Forest Park. There are times when we scratch our heads a bit wondering why a particular site was chosen to be a national park. This would be one of them. The kids earned their second badge of the day. After eating an early dinner at Subway, we headed to Bumpass, Virginia for water skiing lessons. 

Nadia has been wanting to try water skiing for many years. It has been challenging to find an option that wasn't extremely expensive. We had originally planned to go to this place last year in August, but it didn't work to do it that month albeit we did make two trips to Lynchburg, Virginia that month. The weather forecast hadn't looked good for Memorial Day, but thankfully the weather forecast was wrong. The weather was perfect, and the water temperature in the small lake was 80 degrees! Oliver chose to go first. I thought he'd have the hardest time of the three kids, but I was completely wrong. It didn't take him long at all to get up on the water skis. I had gone water skiing on Long Island with my aunt's family when I was growing up, and I knew from experience that was the hardest part of water skiing. Once you're up, it's not nearly as hard to stay up. Oliver did fall off a few times when making turns, but he easily got back up, and he didn't fall of his skis that many times. Of the three kids he definitely spent more time water skiing around the lake as his lesson lasted a full 45 minutes. After his lesson was over, Oliver and Nadia sat in the back of the boat while another man had a very short lesson on his slalom ski as he was preparing for an upcoming competition. Nadia went next. She couldn't manage to get up on the skis. After many attempts, they gave her a break, and Ian had his lesson. He also didn't struggle with learning how to get up on his skis, but he fell off more than Oliver did. Also, he got a bad leg cramp, so his lesson was cut short. The rest of the time we had paid for was given to Nadia. They tried again having her use a pole instead of the traditional ropes, but she also struggled with that. She was up for a few seconds one time with the pole. She said she'll stick with snow skiing. I felt badly since she was the one who most wanted to try water skiing, but at least she knows we have been trying to work through her wish list. Other things on her experience wish list that haven't happened yet include sky diving, swimming with dolphins, hearing Riley Clemmons in concert, visiting England, France, and Italy, and scuba diving lessons. The boys however had a blast, and they both said they want to go water skiing again in the future. I'm not sure when or if that will happen, but I'm glad they thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

On Tuesday our first stop was at Maggie Walker's National Historic Site in Richmond. I honestly had never heard of her before, but she was truly a remarkable woman! We watched the movie, and the kids earned a badge. If it had been possible to tour the house sometime between 9:00-10:00 we would done so, but the first tour didn't begin until 10:20, so we skipped the guided tour of her home and went to King's Dominion. When I was growing up, that was my favorite amusement park that was within a reasonable driving distance of our home in Maryland. The "Rebel Yell" was my favorite wooden roller coaster until I moved to Pennsylvania in 1996 - at which point the Phoenix at Knoebels became my favorite. Unfortunately, the roller coaster that looked like it is the most intense one at that park wasn't open (Intimidator 305). Nadia and Ian rode the rest of the 13 roller coasters. I rode some of them, and Oliver rode most of them, which was a big improvement for him as he's usually been too scared to try many of them. His favorite was Twisted Timbers, which we rode multiple times. The only three rides that Nadia and Ian rode that weren't roller coasters were the pirate ship and white-water rapids - both of those I insisted they ride because of my walk down memory lane and a huge drop tower. At most amusement parks the pirate ship doesn't involve going upside down, but I remembered going upside down on the pirate ship at King's Dominion when I was their age. The day we were at King's Dominion it was in the 80's so it was a perfect day to get soaked, but we didn't ride it until closer to 5:00. The kids didn't enjoy getting soaked. My family used to love that ride on a hot day. Paul didn't ride any rides until after we had dinner. He rode three rides altogether - bumper cars (not as good as the ones at Knoebels), old fashioned cars (we hadn't done those in a while), and a wooden roller coaster called the Grizzly with Oliver. For the first time in our lives, I had purchased tickets that included an all-day dining plan. It didn't include drinks. Three of us just drank water all day long (free). Paul purchased two sodas, and Ian used some of his money to buy one soda. We were allowed to get an entree and a side every 90 minutes. I got two meals (lunch/dinner). The rest of the family got three meals because the pizza dinner only included one slice of pizza (with a salad or two breadsticks) so they went back 90 minutes later to get a second slice. Nadia's lunch was gigantic. She couldn't possibly eat it all. I really enjoyed my lunch from the burrito place, but the pasta I had for dinner was a small portion and not very tasty. The meal plan I bought for Canada's Wonderland on Nadia's birthday includes drinks and snacks, and I'm certain we will greatly appreciate those additions. Nadia used some of her money to buy an Italian ice from Rita's. Oliver and I didn't get anything beyond what was included in the dining plan. Although the water park portion of the park opened the previous weekend, it wasn't open on the Tuesday that we went. Altogether everyone had a good time. We're looking forward to seeing the Towfighis again in a little less than two weeks at HersheyPark, and we should be meeting Brendan for the first time that day.

On Wednesday morning after eating an amazing (free) breakfast because we had spent the night at an Embassy Suites, our first stop was Fort Monroe. We were planning to have a guided tour, but once we found out that the Towfighis were meeting us at the beach that day we scrapped the tour and also our plan to visit the Virginia Zoo. The kids earned another badge, and we visited the Casemate Museum. We met the Towfighis a little before noon at Virginia Beach. Eight members of their family plus Toby's sister (Lily) joined us at the beach. Yvonne, Jenna, and Brendan didn't come. My dad met us there a few hours later. The weather was perfect! The kids enjoyed the beach FAR more since they were enjoying it with their cousins. Joe taught a class online for about 2.5 hours, but Paul and I were able to watch the kids while he did that considering only four of the kids were under the age of twelve. We had dinner at a pizza place and sang Happy Birthday to Joel as his 13th birthday was the next day. Grandpa bought 7 large pizzas for our group of fifteen people. The next day I found a place that sells 28-inch pizzas - those slices are gigantic! Probably just two of those pizzas would have been enough. Micah, Julianna, and Wesley spent some time in the outdoor pool at our hotel before their family began the drive back to Maryland. After they left, we went to Ben & Jerry's for ice cream (cost a small fortune!) and also bought t-shirts for me and the kids.

Thursday morning my dad joined us for a trip to the Virginia Aquarium and for lunch at a sub place. We had packed a lunch for Monday, got lunch at King's Dominion on Tuesday, and skipped lunch on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. The kids appreciated that my dad treated us to lunch on Thursday. He left after lunch, and we headed to the beach for a few hours. It was a little cooler on Thursday, and their cousins weren't there, so the kids didn't last as long at the beach before they switched to the swimming pool. We had pizza for dinner (just one large for our family), and we had custard from Kohr Bros. (so so MUCH better than Ben and Jerry's). My most favorite ice cream is chocolate/peanut butter twist soft serve. I never had that in 2023, so I was thrilled when I saw that was one of the choices. It was SO yummy! Nadia got something from Sweet Frog instead. Oliver tried my favorite (and also loved it), and Ian had their version of a peanut butter cup "Blizzard."

Friday morning, we left Virginia Beach and drove to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. The kids were at Busch Gardens in Tampa in 2022. Oliver had made progress at Kings Dominion, but he made even more progress at Busch Gardens as there were only two rides that he declined to do. Wow!! Way to go, Oliver!! He discovered he enjoys going upside down on roller coasters. Nadia and Ian only rode one ride that wasn't a roller coaster - Finnegan's Flyer. That was one of the two Oliver skipped. Oliver rode 9 of the 10 roller coasters. They rode some of them multiple times - especially Apollo's Chariot. I insisted that we watch one show that featured Irish step dancing. The kids weren't thrilled by my request, but they enjoyed the show after all. I rode several of the roller coasters. Paul didn't ride anything We didn't have a meal plan. We brought in some snacks (crackers, trail mix bar, etc.) that constituted our lunch. We bought two pretzels to share (which were very overpriced), and we waited to have dinner until after we left the park. We went to McDonald's, and when we found out their ice cream machine caught on fire earlier that day, we went to Rita's for dessert.

Unfortunately, as I was checking into our hotel on Friday night, Oliver started vomiting. He didn't have much success with doing this without making a mess. Thankfully he didn't throw up in the bed, and thankfully Paul was a saint and he cleaned up the messes during the night. The last time it happened was 2:00 am. We had planned to be out the door at 8:20, but we delayed our departure until 9:30 in light of his GI issues. We had planned to attend two programs at the battlefields, but those plans were scrapped. We made a brief stop at George Washington's birthplace. The kids had already earned a badge for that site when we were at another park. Although George Washington is Paul's most favorite president, we weren't too impressed with this particular site. I again found myself wondering why it's a national park site. As of today, we've been to 156 National Park sites in person. Some of them I'd highly recommend, and others I'd recommend skipping. Today Oliver earned his 200th Junior Ranger badge. Nadia has earned 214, and Ian has earned 216. I'm hoping they each hit at least 250. Today the kids earned three badges at Spotsylvania, Chancellorsville, and Fredericksburg. They could have earned a fourth, but we didn't make it to Wilderness. The kids and I are not fans of battlefields. Nadia dislikes them the most. I said it was an early Father's Day gift for Paul, as he loves visiting them. We had dinner at Bob Evans. We shouldn't have bothered ordering Oliver a meal as he still doesn't have much of an appetite. Thankfully he hasn't thrown up since the middle of the night, but he has still been dealing with the runs. I'm not sure if he caught a bug or something he ate didn't agree with him. Thankfully the rest of us have escaped it thus far. 

My original plans for tomorrow had been to visit Prince William Forest (which we ended up visiting on Memorial Day), Theodore Roosevelt Island, and Great Falls Park. It turns out the Visitor Center is temporarily closed at Great Falls Park, so I totally revamped our plans for tomorrow. At the moment the plan is to listen to our church's 9:00 service while we drive to the Udvar-Hazy Center (larger site for Air and Space Museum). After lunch at a sit-down restaurant, we might visit Clara Barton's National Historic Site before driving home (and picking up Milo!). We hope to be home by 7:00 so that we can watch the first episode of season four of The Chosen. During this trip we've continued working through the NT portion of the Bible Recap together. It's a plan to read the entire NT in 92 days. We've also been listening to the 7th book in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series together. During our trip I also began the 8th (final!) unit in Duolingo. I'm so thankful that we can take trips like this and make memories together as a family, and I'm so thankful Paul has a job now that he can do just about anywhere as he can make stock trades on his phone even when we're at an amusement park!