ABCs of 2021

A - Our senior pastor, Pastor Arlie, retired in May. Nadia and Ian attended a one-week art camp at our local public school. We toured Shedd Aquarium with the Benners. We spent two days in Arizona- we visited Horseshoe Bend, the Grand Canyon, Lowell Observatory, Walnut Canyon, Meteor Crater, and Petrified Forest. 

B - We visited the Benners in Chicago in September. Wendy, Grace, and Rachel also spent time at our house in August and Wendy and all four of her kids spent some time with us here in December. One of the kids' favorite national parks that we visited this year was Badlands in South Dakota. We visited forts/ battlefields in Michigan, Montana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Tennessee. All five of us individually read many books, (Nadia read more than 77 books this year, Ian read 50 books, Oliver read 24 books), and the kids and I (and sometimes Paul) also listened to 132 audiobooks. 

C - Paul and I each had two doses of Pfizer's COVID vaccine; we don't plan on getting booster shots or having our kids receive that vaccination. None of our immediate family have tested positive for COVID, but some of our extended family members have had COVID including Paul's mom and Yvonne's family. The most recent case was Margie who just tested positive yesterday. Her chemo treatment had to be postponed. I took the kids to see a production of Charlotte's Web.  I signed the kids up for co-op classes, but we were only able to attend once due to my broken ankle. We went to the movie theatre for the first time in 2 years in December to see Christmas with the Chosen. Earlier in the year we watched the second season of The Chosen. 

D - We visited Darien Lake amusement park in New York for the first time in May and a dairy farm in Wisconsin in September. I went almost 11 weeks without driving due to my ankle. All five of us have been doing Duolingo for several months. Paul and I are both in the fourth unit. We started a tradition this year of each child getting two dates per year with a parent. Nadia and Oliver had both dates. Ian is still waiting for his second bowling date with Paul.  

E - Paul and the kids skied at Elk Mountain in January. Nadia and I saw a production of Emma. On our way home from Long Island, we visited Thomas Edison's laboratory in New Jersey. I broke my right ankle at Effigy Mounds in Iowa on September 12 and had surgery on it at Evangelical Hospital on October 7.

F - During our final visit with Aunt Janet on Long Island, we visited Fire Island for the first time. We enjoyed learning about Henry Ford at the Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village, and Ford Rouge Factory in Michigan. One of the highlights was riding in a Model-T! We had new flooring installed in our dining room in October. Nadia began learning to play the flute.

G - The kids lost their second Grandma in May when Paul's mother passed away. All three kids participated in a theatre camp at Greenview Alliance Church in August. In December we spent two days at Great Wolf Lodge as part of Ian's 12th birthday celebration. On the first day of our vacation in September we stopped at President Garfield's home in Ohio. 

H - In July we traded our grey 2012 Toyota Sienna for a white 2022 Honda Odyssey. 

I - During our 25-day vacation we drove through 25 states. The only state we drove through but didn't do anything in was Indiana. Ian entered middle school this fall, which meant that he joined the youth group in June. The boys went 21 months without going ice skating due to COVID, but then we went ice skating twice in December.

J - The kids earned around 30 Junior Ranger badges on the vacation. They each have more than 100 badges altogether! My niece, Jenna, is now living two hours south of us when classes are in session at Messiah University. We were able to go to a Christmas show and take her out to dinner on December 4. Sadly, Nadia's five-year-old guinea pig, Jenna, passed away on December 17. 

K - The kids spent a day kayaking and fishing in June. We visited Helen Keller's birthplace in Alabama. We learned more about horses at the Kentucky Horse Park. Milo had a fabulous day with us at Knoebels amusement park!

L - In Montana we visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield.

M - Our first year with Milo and first visit to Mount Rushmore.  Pop Pop joined the kids and I at Montage Mountain water park. The kids spent five days at Good News Camp at Mountain View Bible Camp. We visited Mesa Verde in Colorado and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Paul and the kids played miniature golf in Tennessee. We enjoyed watching the first season of the Mysterious Benedict Society on Disney+.

Talking with their cousins in Quito via FaceTime

N - Nadia was in an online drama production of Nancy Blue.  Aunt Janet moved from New York to Nevada.

O - Ian's first year of seeing an orthodontist (he had expanders and then a retainer this year)

P - The boys attended 6 nights of overnight camp at Pocono Mountain Bible Camp. We visited Paterson Great Falls in New Jersey, Petroglyph in New Mexico, the Parthenon in Tennessee, and Pipestone National Monument in Minnesota. Oliver began learning to play the piano.

Q - Nadia participated in Bible quizzing events in Indiana, Ohio, and Oklahoma. The team she was on won in Oklahoma which meant Nadia won a little over $1,000 college scholarship. Ian also participated in the event in Ohio. Yvonne and her family (minus Jenna) moved to Quito in September.

R- We had a new roof installed on our home in October. The kids and I made our annual trip to Reptiland. 

S - We spent 2.5 days at Six Flags America and Six Flags New England. Nadia spent 7 nights at Camp Susque and participated in a two-week Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs theatre camp. In July we visited the Springfield Armory, Springfield Museums, and Old Sturbridge Village. Oliver received stitches under his chin following an accident at the swimming pool. We visited science museums in New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, West Virginia, and Tennessee.

T - The kids took tennis lessons for two weeks in Lewisburg in the spring. We visited Theodore Roosevelt's Inaugural Site in Buffalo in May and his National Park in North Dakota. The kids and I saw a production of The Tempest in August. Nadia became a teenager in June! We watched the first 5 episodes of the new Tuttle Twins show.

U- We spent three days in Utah at Snowbird Ski Resort, Bryce Canyon National Park, horseback riding at Kodachrome, Zion National Park, and touring a slot canyon. 

V - The boys attended two weeks of VBS, and Nadia joined them for one of the weeks. I started making better videos. Speaking of which, I finished Ian's 12th birthday video yesterday.

W - Paul's dad joined us at the WWII weekend at the Mid Atlantic Air Museum. The kids went white water rafting for the first time in the Poconos with the Towfighis in June and again with Paul in Oklahoma City in September. I went 9.5 weeks without using my right leg to walk. We enjoyed spending a day at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. 

X - Ruth had x-rays of her right ankle taken in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. 

Y - We had a great day at Yellowstone National Park.

Z - Nadia had voice lessons via Zoom during the spring semester. She also chats with her cousin Rachel by Zoom on a regular basis.

Susie gave Nadia and Ian each a drawing lesson

Thankful Thursday

1. The kids had four more tennis lessons from May 24-27, and their friends Micah and Isaiah also took tennis with them. I was able to talk with Tab in person far more than usual that week. It was also easier for me to log more steps that week as I walked during the lessons. The kids have been playing tennis in our driveway with the neighbors lately.

2. We were able to take a two day getaway to Buffalo that included the Buffalo Naval and Military Park, Theodore Roosevelt's Inaugural site, swimming in the indoor pool at the hotel, and Six Flags Darien Lake. We used four coupons to reduce the cost of our dinner at Chick-fil-A on Friday, and we used gift cards to pay for our lunch and dinner on Saturday. Paul had a four day weekend!!!!

3. Our church had a nice service and luncheon to celebrate the fifth graders promotion into the youth group on Sunday. Ian would have attended youth group last night for the very first time if Paul hadn't offered to take the boys roller skating. He's planning to start attending next week. 

4. I'm very thankful for all who have given their lives in the service of our country.

5. The kids and I enjoyed our annual visit to Reptiland. 

6. Milo is handling our absence better when we leave him in his crate, and we are also very appreciative of the care that Micah and Isaiah give him when we leave Milo at their house. 

7. Tab picked us up at Walmart one day last week on the way to tennis lessons so that we didn't have to wait at Walmart while they rotated the tires on the van.

8. Paul took Karyss, Ian, and Oliver roller skating last night while Nadia and I were at church.

9. Although the mask mandate in our state doesn't expire until the end of this month (or whenever we hit 70% of adults fully vaccinated if that happens first), at most places masks are already optional. Yahoo!!!

10. I don't always vote in the primary election in an off year election, but I did vote this year because of the constitutional amendments that were included on the ballot. PTL the amendments passed. The first two were aimed at limiting the power of a governor in terms of how long a state of emergency can last. I'm absolutely in favor of checks and balances and not giving any one person too much power regardless of what political party currently has control of the legislature or the executive branch. 

Tennis Take Two

The kids had tennis lessons three weeks ago, and this week they are having their second week of lessons. Oliver really wanted to do another week of lessons, Ian was ambivalent, and Nadia really did not want to take any more lessons. I was leaning toward signing them up after I found out that Tab had signed her boys up for lessons this week. I left the decision up to Paul, and he was adamant that all three should take another week of tennis lessons. The first week of May my three kids were the only ones at some of the lessons. Another boy (Hugh) joined them one day that week. This week there have been five or six kids at each lesson as Hugh came twice this week. The Coach is fully vaccinated so he didn't mind it if my kids didn't wear masks. Micah and Isaiah haven't been wearing masks during tennis lessons either. Hugh has been the only one wearing a mask. On Monday the temperature was in the low 60's, on Tuesday it was in the low 70's, and today it was in the high 80's. 

On Monday Tab met a friend for lunch. I walked around the park with Milo for two hours while listening to A Girl of the Limberlost. I've really enjoyed two

of Gene Stratton-Porter's books recently so I am planning on listening to five more of her books this summer. I want the kids to listen to Freckles at some point in the future. On Tuesday I walked with just Milo for part of the time while Tab ran some errands, and then she walked with us. Because of the heat, Tab didn't feel up to walking today. I chatted with her in her vehicle (with the AC on) for part of the time and walked around the park with Milo part of the time. Today Tab met us at Walmart prior to the tennis lessons so that they could do a tire rotation on the van during tennis lessons. It took me 7.5 months to drive 5,000 miles due to COVID. Last October the Walmart Auto center wasn't even open due to COVID. I am grateful they have reopened because tire rotations are free because I bought the tires there. Tomorrow I'm planning to treat the kids at sweetFrog to celebrate the completion of their tennis lessons for this summer. It's over priced frozen yogurt in my opinion, but the kids really enjoy picking out their toppings so I like to take them there at least once a year. 

Can you find Nadia on this ride?

For years Nadia has been asking for us to join a co-op again. We participated in two different co-ops several years ago. Neither of them met all year. I had contemplated joining two others that did meet all year long, but for a variety of reasons I hadn't done so. As is normally the case, Ian would prefer to stay home. One of the co-ops put on a production of The Sound of Music earlier this month. Because Nadia can't try out to be in Tuck Everlasting because we'll be away for 3+ weeks in September, she really wanted to be in this co-ops productions during the next school year. Students in grades 5-8 will put on a Christmas production in December, and students in grades 8-12 will be on another (TBD) production next May. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say. This past school year would have been the ideal year to give this co-op a whirl. This school year is not idea in light of our lengthy vacation in September, but I've decided to show up on registration day on June 15 to see if there will be room in the classes that the kids selected. The co-op meets on Tuesdays. During the fall semester we would be there from 12:00-4:45. It's held at a church 25 minutes from our house. Since Ian will turn 12 in December, I will consider him old enough to babysit Oliver at that point. Unless they add more courses for spring, I think Nadia will just have drama from 3:30-4:45 on Tuesdays starting in January and the boys can stay at home. 

Oliver selected three courses for the fall: art, baking, and one that will involve discussing character traits after listening to a true story. Ideally I would have signed him up for music, art, and some type of physical education, but the colored bells (music) is being offered at the same time as art, and they aren't offering a gym class for grades 4-5. Nadia and Ian are planning to take three classes together this fall - painting (grades 6-12), drama (grades 5-8), and a foam sword fighting gym class similar to Dagorhir, Belegarth, and Darkon. Nadia hopes to take a fourth class - Home Economics (sewing, calligraphy, setting a proper table, cooking, etc.). This co-op has a homeschool graduation at Camp Susque each May, and Nadia would like to participate in that. So we shall see how it goes whether this ends up being a one and done experience or if we keep participating in this co-op for years to come. They offer courses in history, science, math, etc., but I wasn't interested in signing up for any of those. I plan to homeschool the kids in the morning at home on Tuesdays and then spend our afternoons at the co-op in the fall. The past few years (prior to COVID) Nadia and Ian had taken classes at MCS (art and chorus) as well as participated in a homeschool gym class at our church. I would be open to signing them up for a homeschool gym class that started in January, but I said if we do this co-op, I am not signing them up for classes at MCS this year. She still wanted to do the co-op this year. Our vacation would have caused the kids to miss four weeks of co-op, so I decided to shorten our vacation by one day so that they would be able to attend the first session and "only" miss three weeks of co-op. 

Salamanders and Sales

Aside from our one week vacation in October and our trip to Long Island in August, the kids and I have been home most of the time for the past 14 months. That was not the case over the first seven days of this month. First, we went to Bloomsburg for our homeschool evaluations on May 1. While she was testing Ian, I took Nadia and Oliver to the town park. While she was testing Oliver, I did some grocery shopping at Aldi. On Sundays we usually go to church, but this past Sunday we went to Knoebels after church. On Monday I took Ian to an orthodontist appointment and then all three kids to a two hour tennis lesson. Tuesday they only had a one hour tennis lesson because the high school needed to use the tennis courts earlier than usual. Tennis was cancelled on Wednesday because of rain. Nadia was at church from 4:30-8:15, and I had my second choir rehearsal in 14 months from 6:30-8:00. The boys stayed home all day as Paul came home from work earlier than usual. On Thursday the kids had a two hour tennis lesson. Milo and I walked around the park during their lesson, and I was listened to Freckles by Gene Stratton Porter while we walked. Tab had offered to take my kids with hers to the monthly homeschool meetup at Kaos. We met at a parking lot on the way home from tennis. The kids enjoyed one hour of arcades followed by one hour of playing laser tag. They skipped the trampolines this time. I mowed the lawn and cooked dinner while they were at Kaos. 

Yesterday morning I took the kids and Milo to some yard sales in Milton. The annual community yard sales weren't held last year, but they resumed this year. At 10:00 I took Milo and the kids to Cheryl's house. She has two boys and had invited eight other kids over to explore a stream and pond. Nadia was the only girl there. The kids collected various things from the water and looked at some through microscopes. They found algae, mollusks, crayfish, salamanders, newts, a frog, etc. The kids roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over a fire. Cheryl made a delicious soup for the four moms to enjoy. I had done some more yard sale shopping during part of the time the kids and Milo were at Cheryl's house. I had planned to return to the yard sales this morning and then take the kids to an outdoor program about birds at 2:00 this afternoon, but I think we'll just stay home sweet home today. Tomorrow will be an exhausting day as we'll be driving to Maryland in the morning (streaming the church service while we drive), meeting Yvonne's family at Six Flags, and then driving back home in the evening. Milo will be spending the day at Tab's house. I hope he's a good boy! We moved the dates of our family vacation because Tab's family will be traveling the first week of October. Yes, the schedule of our dog sitter is determining when we go on vacation this year, LOL! Now we are planning to leave on September 7 and get back on October 1. I booked one night so far - a camper cabin that is right in between Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Paul thought we should pick the one that included electricity and a private bathroom, but the kids liked the bunk bed in the one without electricity, and the cost was much less for that one. Either way there won't be any cell service, WIFI, or television so I figured we could go without electricity for one night. We don't own a tent so this will be about as close to camping as we'll get I think.

Nadia likes to sleep in now that school is over. I've decided this is the perfect opportunity to listen to some chapter books again with the boys that we did years ago when Oliver was very young. This morning the boys listened to The Chocolate Touch (from start to finish). Yesterday they listened to Chocolate Fever.  They also worked on a Junior Ranger badge this morning about the Pony Express. In our house learning is something that goes on almost 365 days a year not just on "school" days. Ian finished his missed spelling list yesterday. His last word to master was "guarantee." Oliver is still working on learning his multiplication facts; he made a LOT of progress this week. I'm reading John Grisham's newest book, Sooley, which is about a basketball player from South Sudan. Even though it's fiction, it's heartbreaking to think of all the violence that really has occurred in that country. 

Thankful Tuesday

 

1. Our school year is done! Oliver has one word he needs to master (mopped) before he gets a break from spelling, and Ian has eighteen words left to learn. Oliver also needs to finish learning his multiplication facts, but the kids are taking a break from most subjects right now. They will continue to read and listen to audiobooks every day. Nadia has been doing Sudoku puzzles lately when we've been listening to audiobooks.

2. When the kids were younger, we attended Knoebels for free on WVIA day, but we haven't made it there for several reasons over the past several years including: the park was closed last year in May due to COVID, the weather was awful more than once, and we were on vacation in another state the day the event was held. They used to have WVIA day on a Saturday, but they moved it to Sunday a few years ago. Two days ago we attended Knoebels on WVIA Day, and the weather was perfect! The park was more crowded than usual. We received six free handstamps. I used to love riding rides, but that hasn't been the case for me the last few years. So I told Nadia and Oliver they could each invite a friend to join us. Nadia invited Evanna (age 15), and Oliver invited Karyss (age 9). I didn't use a handstamp but rather was in charge of Milo, taking pictures, and carrying various and sundry items (ex. tubs of cotton candy). More rides were closed than usual. I'm not sure if that is because of COVID or some other reason, but the five kids had a great time. There are always a lot of dogs at Knoebels. Milo had never seen so many dogs before in one day! I carried a backpack primarily so I could give Milo water as needed. I never pictured myself walking around an amusement park with a dog leash in my hand, but Milo isn't ready to be alone at home in his crate for that many hours yet. I didn't take as many pictures as usual because it's just not the same when everyone is wearing a mask. 

3. Evanna spent the night on May 1 so that she could go to church with us on Sunday morning and also join us at Knoebels. It had been quite a few months since Nadia had a friend over for a sleepover.

4. Pop Pop was at our house for a couple of hours on Saturday evening! The kids and I hadn't seen him in more than 5 months. Unfortunately Milo was barking at him a lot. We had dinner together, I gave him a haircut (since Grandma is usually his barber), he saw some of the kids' Lego constructions, and he played chess with Ian and a Mario game on the Switch with both boys. 

5. We were not fans of the Egyptian Palace Bread. Almost the entire amount went straight to the trash can, but Nadia and I enjoyed the panna cotta (Italian custard). The kids and Paul thought the Cornish pasties were fine; it was actually a relief to me that they didn't think they were really wonderful because they were rather time consuming to make. I've made 149 new recipes over the past eight months. I had picked out about 180 new recipes to try, but I will admit I've lost steam. I think I'll just try one more new recipe and be satisfied with 150 new recipes. Back on December 18 I set a goal to see how long I could go without repeating a main dish, and aside from when I made rigatoni and meatballs on Easter Sunday, I haven't repeated any for about 4 1/2 months. I think May 8 will be when I start the meal rotation over again.

6. Milo turned seven months old on Friday! We are very thankful for our puppy. 

7. Paul and I watched News of the World starring Tom Hanks together. Nowadays it takes us a couple of nights to watch one movie. That wasn't the case when we were dating in 1997! We enjoyed it.

Rain doesn't stop this boy from playing outside!

8. The kids started taking tennis lessons yesterday. The boys really enjoyed it. There are only four kids in the class. I walked Milo around the park during their two hour lesson. If the weather cooperates, they will have four lessons this week, which means I'll be driving more often this week than I have been over the last fourteen months. Oliver loves the fact that the tennis courts are adjacent to a skate park.

9. Today is Rachel's 12th birthday! I am very thankful that she and Nadia have a close friendship. It's not uncommon for them to spend 1hr and 45 minutes a day chatting on Zoom while playing Minecraft. They usually chat once in the afternoon and another time in the evening. Nadia usually uses all of her screen time for the day to play Minecraft with Rachel. Nadia bought Rachel a birthday gift with her own money. 

10. Camp Good News posted last week that they WILL be having day camps this summer. At the location where the kids used to attend a day camp (M-F 9-3) they are offering a mini camp, and at the location where they used to offer an overnight camp, they are offering an extended day camp. I am planning to sign the kids up for one week of their extended day camp. Although this summer is certainly not normal, it is reassuring to see evidences that it will be closer to normal than last summer.

11. Ian finished learning the countries and capitals of Africa last week. Ian and Nadia are now able to identify all of the countries of the world on a map as well as the provinces of Canada and almost all of the capitals of the world. Settera.com was a big help in accomplishing this goal.

Six Flags in NJ

For several years I have signed Nadia up for Six Flags' reading program because the kids get a free ticket to Six Flags. As soon as Ian was old enough, I started signing him up as well. In the past I always selected the Six Flags park located in Maryland because it's only about 15 minutes from what was my parent's house. Last year I accidently missed the deadline. This year I signed all three kids up for the program for the first time. The first few years they would also give me (the teacher) a free ticket, but they changed the policy and to receive a free teacher ticket you have to have at least ten students enrolled in the program. When I registered for the program last fall, I didn't know at that point that my sister's family would be living in the house in Maryland this summer. I chose the Six Flags located in New Jersey. It's a tiny bit closer to our house than the one in Maryland, and I figured it would be nice to try a different amusement park. The one in Maryland is smaller, but it includes both a wet and dry rides. In New Jersey the water park is separate, but it includes a safari. Nadia rode every major

thrill ride except for one roller coaster (Superman) that was closed yesterday as well as one ride (Twister) that they wouldn't let her ride because she wasn't wearing sneakers. She rode some rides more than once. She was thrilled that she met the height requirements for ALL rides in the park. Once you hit 54 inches tall you can ride anything.

Ian was tall enough to ride four rides that Oliver couldn't ride, but he only rode one of them. Oliver rode everything that you had to be at least 42 inches tall to ride. Ian's favorite ride was a new one called the Justice League, which was similar to the Buzz Lightyear ride they have at both Disneyland and Disney World. We rode it quite a few times. Oliver's favorite rides were the flume and the white water rapids rides. He likes to get wet! Nadia really liked Kingda Ka, which is the tallest steel roller coaster in the world. She also liked Nitro, a roller coaster that I rode with her. She wasn't crazy about the Batman or Joker roller coasters. The food was very expensive, but at least they did sell a whole

pizza, which Disney parks don't do. We had eaten an early lunch in the van so we only bought one meal there. For Ian the scariest part of the day was when we were stuck 200+ feet in the air on a swing for 30 minutes because there was a "technical difficulty." I was in a swing with Oliver, and Ian and Nadia were in a swing a little bit ahead of Oliver and I. After we finally got out of our swings (40 minutes later), we were each given a free bottle of cold water and a flash pass to use on one ride. The flash pass wasn't very helpful because thankfully the lines were VERY small almost the whole day. We rode far more rides than I thought we'd be able to ride. When we were on the white water rapids ride, we were allowed to stay on and ride it a second time without getting off, for example. The most annoying thing about the park is that on certain rides that  are REALLY picky about you not having ANYTHING in your pockets. They make you pay $1 to put your purse or cell phone or keys or whatever in a locker. We only paid the $1 one time and we got a few rides out of that. I hope this idea doesn't

spread to other parks! I can understand it on rides where you are flipped upside down, but they even did it on a wooden roller coaster as well as the flume. What?!?! I'm thinking that maybe I'll only sign the kids up for the Six Flags program every other year. Yes the kids get free tickets, but when you add up the cost for two tickets for Paul and I, parking, one meal, tolls, and gasoline to drive 6 hours it cost us about $250 total.

The boys and I had enough by about 6:30pm so we sat on a bench near the entrance for about an hour while we waited for Paul and Nadia. While we were waiting the boys shopped in one gift shop and spent most of the $10 that Aunt Janet had given them last week. They each bought a small stuffed animal.

I'm keeping a "life list" for the kids of all the amusement parks they've been to, and so this trip added one more park to their list! I know some keep a life list of roller coasters, but I'm not getting that specific. Originally we planned to go to DelGrosso's tomorrow, but I am too tired for that. That park is much closer and they do a few 50% off days each summer. We're planning to go next year. One advantage to where we live is that it only takes about 3 hours for us to get to Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, Washington, DC, and Pittsburgh, which provides many opportunities for field trips!

Today we stayed home in the morning, and then I took the kids to the park for Kid's Café. They were serving taco salad and root beer floats. I need to make a taco salad in the near future as I enjoy them and haven't had one in I can't remember how long. Then I took the kids to the dentist for their semiannual cleanings. After that we spent a few hours at home before I took them to their next to last tennis lesson. I picked up some things from my office during their lesson. I pulled Nadia and Ian out a little before their lesson was over so that they wouldn't be as late to VBS this evening. Since we cancelled the plans for DelGrossos tomorrow, we will just be going to the playground for Kid's Café and then VBS at night.

NYC

I guess this will be a week in review post as it's been a week since I've written anything here. The kids loved their horse back riding camp last week. Ian was thrilled that he made a new friend, a boy named Ari. Oliver rode Clyde (the pony) the first four days, but on the last day he rode a horse! I wish I had a picture of that. I did receive one photo of each child that I will scan and upload in the future. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I stayed down near where the camp was located. I did a little bit of shopping but mostly I was using my laptop. On Tuesday and Thursday I came home. On Thursday I took the van to get the tires rotated at Walmart. I did take the kids to their tennis lessons on Tuesday. I didn't end up doing so on Thursday because it was raining when I was driving to get the kids, and I was afraid it might be raining in Bloomsburg. I didn't want to drive all the way there only to find out the lessons were cancelled due to rain. Nadia tried to convince me to go anyhow, but we just came home.

Originally I had planned to take

the kids to a parade in Lewisburg on Saturday morning, a program at a state park in the afternoon, and fireworks in Lewisburg that night. Due to my exhaustion, the fact that it was REALLY hot (90's), and an invitation to a birthday party, I scratched all of those plans. We stayed home all day on Saturday with the exception of Isaiah's 5th birthday party.

On Sunday we drove into NYC. I have driven into Long Island many times, but I almost always avoid going through Manhattan. I usually go by way of the Bronx. When I have gone into NYC to see a Broadway show, I have usually driven to Newark, parked the car, and taken the PATH train into the city because the parking is cheaper in Newark, and I didn't want to drive in NYC. Granted it was a Sunday, which I am sure made it better than usual, but I have to say it was less stressful than I anticipated. I parked right by Times Square. It took almost exactly 3 hours from getting in the van to parking it, including a stop for gas. The kids had never been to Times Square before so

we explored a little. They were amazed at a two story McDonald's, enjoyed the Tangled themed escalator in the Disney Store, and thought Donald Trump was there (it was just someone dressed up and talking like him). Nadia shopped in the Disney store but didn't end up spending her birthday money until later. I bought Oliver a pair of $2 flip flops on the third floor of the Old Navy store. The reason I drove to Manhattan was to take the kids to National Geographic's Ocean Odyssey. We spent about one hour there, and Nadia bought a plush dolphin in the gift shop. Hopefully the next time we return to that area we'll be able to see a show (maybe Aladdin, Wicked, Lion King, or Anastasia). The traffic wasn't bad getting out of Manhattan, but we did hit some traffic on Long Island. It took us about 1 hour plus 45 minutes to drove to Aunt Janet's house. The island is long like the name implies! We had eaten a packed lunch as we drove to NYC, and she had dinner waiting for us when we arrived at her place.

After we ate dinner, we swam in the indoor pool. It's a heated pool, but actually since it's been so hot lately, the water in the outdoor pool is actually warmer than the indoor pool! Yesterday and today we swam in the morning (outdoor pool yesterday and both pools this morning) for about two hours and then walked back to her place for lunch and then in the afternoon drove to the beach. We had dinner in her cabana yesterday and today. The first thing the kids noticed yesterday in the water were horseshoe crabs. Their mating season is taking place later than usual this year. Sometimes you will see just one horseshoe crab swimming by you, but typically they are found as pairs. We also saw some coming up and burying their eggs in the sand. Ian was thrilled to see them. Nadia was a bit scared of them, and this meant she didn't spend nearly as much time swimming yesterday as she normally would have. Today none of us spent much time in the water at the beach because it was thundering. We left right after we ate dinner. In the evenings we've been playing games that

we brought such as Suspend, Apples to Apples, Big Picture, and Life. Nadia is sleeping in a sofa bed downstairs. The boys and I are upstairs. Ian and Oliver started out in a sofa bed upstairs, and I was in the guest bed. Around midnight the first night I had Oliver join me because it wasn't working too well for the boys to share a bed. Since then we've stuck with that arrangement that Oliver and I share a queen bed and Ian sleeps near us in a sofa bed.

Although for some reason Oliver refused to get in the pool at Isaiah's birthday party (even though it was beastly hot outside), he has been doing a great job in the swimming pools. Each day he gets braver and braver! Today he swam half of the length of the outdoor pool multiple times, and for a good chunk of that the water was too deep for him to stand. Yahoo! I'm hoping by the end of the summer he'll be a confident swimmer like his siblings.

The dolphin Nadia bought cost $20, and she only had $15. I told her she could pay me back. Well yesterday she lost two teeth so that enabled her to pay me back $2 of the $5 she owed me, ha ha!