Thankful Thursday

 1, Paul, Pop Pop, and I enjoyed watching the boys in their performance of "The Museum of His Story" at our church on August 2.

2. I was thrilled to see Nadia on August 3 and hear about the four weeks she spent at Camp Susque. 

3. The week of August 4 we watched a few movies at home as a family - IF, Fall Guy, and Unsung Hero.

4. We enjoyed having dinner at Texas Roadhouse on August 7 to celebrate Oliver's 12th birthday. I am so grateful that he is part of our family!

5. Oliver had an uneventful physical on August 12, and I had an uneventful dentist appointment on August 5.

6. I enjoyed having lunch with Tab on August 13 to celebrate her birthday! 

7. The five of us plus Cheri enjoyed a We are Messengers concert at a church near our home on August 13.

8. I'm thankful that we have the resources to pay for getting new rear brakes and three new tires on Paul's car on August 8. That car has been used very little over the last year, but that has changed recently as we've been having Nadia drive that car even though it's a bit uncomfortable for the five of us to ride in that car at the same time.   

9. Nathaniel and Julianna spent several hours at our home on August 8. Friends are a blessing!

10. Nadia, Ian, and I served as Compassion volunteers at a concert on August 16. Paul and Oliver also attended the concert. 

11. We got our very first picture of the six of us - meaning our first family picture that included Milo! A friend organized a Sunflower Festival, and we got our picture taken there on Sunday afternoon. 

12. We had a safe drive to Maryland on August 19 and were able to walk through the Utz factory en route to the Towfighis home. Joe graciously got up very early on Tuesday morning to drive us to BWI. We had a safe flight o Anchorage and were able to see Denali from the air! The weather was gorgeous on Tuesday and today (sunny with a high of about 61 degrees). We're so thankful we are able to travel to see this beautiful state and that we are getting very close to achieving the goal of visiting all fifty states! 

13. The Seiberts are watching Milo for us. We'll return the favor for them and watch Cooper in November. So thankful Milo does so well with them when we're away! We're also thankful that our neighbors are giving some food/water to Lily, and their son is also mowing our lawn once in our absence. 

14. We have liked the two places we've stayed so far in Alaska - an Airbnb in Girdwood and Tides Inn in Seward. 

15. We were able to see three moose on our hike in Girdwood yesterday morning, saw a bear cub this morning when we were driving to the zip lining course, saw salmon in Anchorage, saw some fish jumping in Seward, and saw an otter in the harbor near our hotel this evening. The bird we've seen the most often so far has been the magpie. We hiked to the Byron Glacier, and we hiked toward the Exit Glacier. 

16. Today we went zip lining! It was the first time Paul or I had done this, and it was the most exciting one the kids had ever done. We zip lined eight times. Some were as short as 65 feet long and others were as long as 1,100 feet long. We also walked across three suspension bridges and rappelled twice - once down 60 feet and the second time down 40 feet. 

17. We have enjoyed the pizza we've eaten, and we had delicious gelato last night. Oliver enjoyed his clam chowder this evening. 

18. The kids each earned a Junior Ranger badge as well as a patch at Kenai Fjords today. 

19. We encountered a LOT of flies during our hike with a park ranger to Exit Glacier today, but otherwise we haven't encountered any pesky insects. 

20. Everything went smoothly with the TSA on Tuesday, and we are all healthy!

State #48

 

We are in our 48^th state, which was the 49^th state to join the USA! I’m not sure exactly how many states I visited as a child. Some states that were new for the kids were not new for Paul or me, but this is the first time any of us have been to Alaska. Paul and I have been waiting for more than twenty years to go to Hawaii, but since I’m not a fan of cold weather, I can’t say I have had a desire to visit Alaska for a long time. However, I love seeing beautiful landscapes and a variety of animals in the wild, so I have been looking forward to this trip. We wanted to go in the summer so that it wouldn’t be *too* cold in Alaska, and given the kids had Bible quizzing in June and Nadia was working at Camp Susque in July, that pretty much left us with August for our trip. I chose to go towards the end of August because the aurora borealis season begins today. Nadia would have started taking a class with Liberty University this week if it weren’t for this trip. We learned from experience last year that it’s not ideal to be taking an online class while on vacation, so she won't be starting any classes with LU until September 16. Similarly, we normally would have started “back to school” this week, but we are waiting until September 2^nd to begin due to this trip.

Originally the plan had been to drive down to Maryland on August 20, but when Alaska Airlines changed the time of our flights, we decided to drive down on August 19. We left our house around 9:30 am. Our first stop was to drop Milo off at the Seiberts’ house. He and Cooper were very excited to see each other again! Our second stop was at the Utz factory in Hanover. We had a self-guided tour of the potato chip factory, and we each received a free small bag of chips. We arrived at the Towfighis around 2:30 in the afternoon on what was their first day of school. Everyone except for Andrew was there. It was the first time in 5.5 years that some of us had been in their home in Maryland. We all slept in the basement since we were getting up so early. Ian had a very hard time getting up at 4:35. Joe rode with us to the airport, and he drove our van back to their house, so we won’t have to pay for airport parking. Thankfully, they only live 30 minutes from BWI. I had gotten our boarding passes on Monday morning. We printed the tags for our luggage, dropped off three suitcases, and breezed through security because Paul and I got TSA pre check in June. We didn’t have to take off our shoes or remove laptops from our bags. The best part was that we went through metal detectors. I was so, so relieved. I had asked others to pray about that, and God answered our prayers.

To be on the safe side, we had left their home at 5:00 am, as our flight was to begin boarding at 6:30. I know the official recommendation is to arrive two hours early for a domestic flight, but arriving 90 minutes early was definitely plenty early as we were at our gate about 45 minutes before it was time to start the boarding process. We got breakfast at a McDonald’s near our gate. Eating breakfast that early wasn’t ideal considering we traveled four time zones west, but they don’t serve (free) food on flights these days, and McDonald’s was much cheaper than ordering through the airline, and we also had a lot more choices. we experienced a lot of turbulence on that flight, but we arrived safely in Seattle. We landed on time, but then had to wait 30 minutes before the plane could taxi to our gate. Our connecting flight was at a gate that was close to where we arrived, but we didn't have much time to buy lunch. If we had more time, we would have gotten lunch at Wendy's. Also, we discovered the food prices were ridiculous at the Seattle airport. We only had time to go to the bathroom and buy some very overpriced muffins and Danishes before boarding our second flight. The second flight was much smoother. We landed about 15 minutes later than scheduled. We picked up our luggage and then took a free shuttle to the valet parking lot where our rental car was located. 

By the time we started driving the minivan we rented through Turo (which is basically the rental car version of Airbnb), it was about 3:00 pm in Alaska, which felt like 7:00 to us. The first thing we did in Anchorage was visit the Anchorage Museum. We got in free through our ASTC membership. It was a combination of a science museum (including a planetarium), art museum, and history museum. Paul enjoyed it the most. The rest of us were a bit too hungry and tired to get much out of it. Our next stop was Moose's Tooth Pizza which has very positive reviews online and is a very large restaurant. The pizza was very good! The food prices here in Alaska are very high so we expect to eat a lot of pizza this week as that's typically the cheapest way to feed a family for dinner at a restaurant. 

Before we drove to our Airbnb in Girdwood, we went on two short walks in Anchorage. The first one was at Potter Marsh. We saw some birds, an eagle nest, and some salmon swimming around. Next, we traveled up in altitude and walked the short Anchorage Overlook Trail. If we had more time and more skill with hiking, we would have done the Flattop Mountain Trail which started at the same location. Finally, we drove to Girdwood. Shortly before we arrived at our Airbnb, we stopped at a bakery where we bought two very overpriced donuts and two very overpriced cheese Danishes for Paul and the kids to have for breakfast today. Because we were flying, we didn't bring as many groceries with us on this trip. I had packed oatmeal packets for my breakfasts, Kudos bars for Ian, trail mix bars for me, and fruit snacks for Oliver and Nadia. We also stopped at an ice cream place that was in the same location as the bakery. Nadia and Oliver each got a fruit smoothie, and Ian got a dish of ice cream. The guest suite we stayed in was lovely. Paul and I had our own bedroom, and the kids slept in the loft. It also had gorgeous views out the large windows. I went to bed early in light of the fact I had started my day at 4:15 am and was adjusting to a four-hour time change.

The weather on our first day in Alaska was gorgeous. It was a clear, sunny day. We were able to see Denali while we were flying to the Anchorage airport. The temperature was around 60 degrees when we were walking to the museum. Today it was cooler, and it rained a lot. We left our Airbnb at 8:30. Our first stop was the Lower Winner Creek Trail. The trail was 5 miles long. Most of the time there was a light rain. The highlight was seeing a total of three moose during our hike. The first two moose we saw were very close to the trail. The moose closest to us was only about fifteen feet away when we rounded the bend and saw him. We saw the third moose on the return trip, but he was farther away and in the midst of trees, so it was hard to get a good picture of that moose. We had lunch at the Subway that was right next to the bakery we stopped at yesterday. As we were about to leave, the Airbnb host sent a message that we left a library book there. Thankfully we were only about 8 minutes away, so we went back to retrieve the book before driving to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. I had opted to skip the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage. Due to how cold and rainy it was, we spent more time driving around and less time walking around the site. The highlights were a four-week-old musk ox, and a bear that was having a blast twirling a large stick. Our last stop in Girdwood was to do a 2.5-mile (round trip) hike to a glacier. After this hike, we drove to Seward. We had dinner at Klondike Pizzeria, got some groceries, and then went to Sweet Darlings for dessert. The kids and I had gelato, and Paul got some fudge. Usually on vacation we stay at hotels that have a free breakfast, but on this trip, we will only get a free breakfast one morning. We got food for four people to eat three breakfasts, all five of us to eat two lunches at the grocery store, and ice cream for the kids to eat the next two nights, and that cost a little over $100! I'm sure I'll be in the same sticker shock in Hawaii if we make it there next August. Finally, we checked into Tides Inn, where we will be staying for three nights. "Checking-in" at this inn involved calling a phone number, and the person told me which room was ours. The key was in the door! The kids like this unit very much because it has four beds (in three different rooms), a couch, and a kitchen. We're very thankful that we can see a part of our country we've never seen before and looking forward to more special experiences over the next eight days!

Medical Appointments

Thankfully, the five of us are generally very healthy. Aside from my broken ankle in 2021, we haven't had any surgeries, hospitalizations, or doctor appointments aside from physicals for several years. Despite being healthy, we still see a doctor at least once a year for a physical, see the dentist at least twice a year, and the boys typically see the orthodontist once a month. This year I've made more appointments than usual. Paul has only seen the dentist. I had a pap smear and a mammogram plus an extra trip to the dentist for a small filling. Nadia has only seen the dentist plus had a physical.

Oliver had his twelve-year-old physical yesterday. He grew three inches in the past year and is now 5 foot two inches tall, which puts him in the 87th percentile, and he's still on track to reach his projected height of 6 feet tall. He gained ten pounds over the last year, which means his BMI is still at the 5th percentile. I was happy to see that he weighed 82 pounds because the goal had been for him to weight at least 80 pounds for our zip lining adventure in Alaska next week. He was happy to be told he wasn't getting any shots at his physical, but then when we were at the orthodontist yesterday afternoon, he found out that he needs to have two teeth pulled next month, and he dislikes those shots more than immunizations, and I have to agree with him on that assessment. 

At Ian's physical in January, we mentioned we thought he might have sleep apnea. This led to a referral to the pulmonologist at Geisinger. They had scheduled his sleep study for next week, but we cancelled once we received the estimated charge. He met with a pulmonologist in Hershey where they charge far less for a sleep study. That doctor said he needed to see a cardiologist and an ENT. The cardiologist appointment was a waste of time and almost $400 because he said Ian doesn't have a heart murmur. The ENT appointment last month was a waste of time (not sure yet if it was a waste of money as we haven't received a bill) because they told us they don't do nose surgeries on those under the age of 18, and they knew when I scheduled the appointment that it was for a 14-year-old who has hypertrophy turbinate. She suggested we take him to an ENT at Geisinger, Camp Hill (to see Dr. Wilson), or Hershey. On July 24 I called the office in Camp Hill and left a message. On July 25 I asked the ENT we saw to send a referral there. Having heard nothing in the meantime, I called and left another message at the ENT in Camp Hill on August 12. This morning, they told me that they had received the referral but hadn't contacted us because they don't work with our insurance. I said that we don't have any insurance. They for some reason thought we had UPMC insurance, which we've never had. So later they called back and scheduled an appointment with Ian for December 3 in Hershey. Because they won't repair a deviated septum prior to the age of 18, we are not sure if we should wait so that Ian wouldn't have two nose surgeries. It seems wise to find out the results of the sleep study first. If he doesn't have severe sleep apnea, we might wait until he's 18 to fix his nose and just let him continue to be a mouth breather. I called the pulmonologist in Hershey on August 5 to request that the follow-up appointment after the sleep study be done by phone or video instead of in person given the length of our drive to and from Hershey. I never heard if the doctor approved that or not, so I called yesterday to follow-up as I had said on August 5 we would need to reschedule if it had to be in person. We have to drive down there to get the results because the doctor wants to do another exam. I'm not too thrilled with his examination skills since he thought Ian has a heart murmur, and the cardiologist said he doesn't. But I rescheduled his follow-up appointment by one week so that it won't interfere with our homeschool co-op. Either Paul or I will be taking Ian to Hershey for three doctor appointments from October 29 - December 3. At the orthodontist yesterday, I asked when he would begin working on Ian's lower jaw because he's been in phase two for six months. He said he'll start next month so Ian will have two orthodontist appointments next month, and he's also going to get another x-ray (per the request of the orthodontist) when Oliver is having two teeth extracted. 

We do have dental insurance, and it is definitely worth the monthly premium we pay. We don't have vision insurance. Last week I called and scheduled appointments four of us to see the eye doctor in December/January because the last time we saw the eye doctor was December 2022. We don't have medical insurance, but we've been members of a Christian medical sharing program for almost two years. So far, we've only had one medical bill reimbursed (dermatologist for Paul), but I anticipate receiving reimbursement after Ian's sleep study. I am going to research the cost of health insurance again this fall to make sure we are still making the correct choice by going with Samaritan instead of insurance. The ENT office I spoke with today said the first appointment will cost $250. Since we received $18K back from the insurance this year, the line item on our budget for medical expenses currently shows a negative number despite these extra bills. 

Twelve years old!

 My baby turned twelve years old this morning! I'm so thankful for the twelve years we have been able to spend with Oliver so far. Twelve months from today I'll be the mom of three teenagers! Every life is a miracle. We're not always aware of all the times our lives have been spared, but in Oliver's case we're aware of some of those instances. The first that comes to mind is in May 2012. The staff at the hospital wanted to do an emergency c-section to save my life, which would have ended his life because he wasn't quite far enough along to be considered viable. I begged them not to, and I prayed fervently that God would stop the bleeding and spare his life. Thankfully, God answered those prayers. The day after he was born, the NICU staff informed me that the previous day they weren't that optimistic that he would live. There have been other scary moments since then, but thankfully the Lord brought him through those hard times and enabled him to flourish.

Oliver's birthday party took place two weeks ago because I thought it would be special if four of his cousins could attend. For the past eleven months we had planned to celebrate Oliver's birthday on Long Island with Aunt Janet. However, Hurricane Debby altered those plans. Considering Aunt Janet currently lives in Reno, we had reservations for four nights at a Holiday Inn, so it seemed challenging to come up with alternative plans if it was raining most of the time we were out there. We scratched the plans (which included visiting five NPS sites, the private beach, and Bronx Zoo), and made some new plans. We said Oliver could choose where we went to dinner tonight. He chose Texas Roadhouse. We'll pick up donuts today at Dunkin for breakfast tomorrow. I got a DVD from the library of a movie he's been wanting to see for a few months, and Julianna and Nathaniel are going to spend about 7 hours with us tomorrow while their mother is at work. Oliver had opened some birthday presents on the day of his party, and he opened one from Pop Pop last Friday. This morning, he opened the gifts from us, which included two puzzles, three books, one Lego set, a pair of wireless headphones, some Pokémon cards, and a pogo stick. Next year, Lord willing, we will be celebrating his birthday in Hawaii! 

I usually include a list of descriptions on each child's birthday, but when I looked at his list from his half-birthday in February, everything I listed there is still true. When we go to sit-down restaurants, Ian and Oliver still order off the children's menu, but we're making an exception tonight for Oliver because he wants to eat seafood, and there isn't any seafood on the kids' menu at Texas Roadhouse. I love Oliver so much. Of my three kids, he's the one who tells me he loves me the most often, and he also often writes a love message to me on the sermon outline at church on Sunday mornings. He repeated fourth grade so he *could* have already been in the youth group for a year, but as of May he's been attending the youth group instead of Kidzway on Sunday mornings, and next month he'll begin attending Bible quizzing and youth group on Wednesday nights. Memorizing is a challenge for him, so I've been giving him a head start and have already been working with him on memorizing verses from Luke for Bible quizzing. He had five lines in the musical last week, and although he didn't speak loudly enough, he did remember his lines! He will be taking art and chorus at Meadowbrook Christian School for the first time in his life this school year, which means he can also be in the spring musical. Middle school here we come! 

Thankful Thursday

1. On July 12 and 19 Paul and I attended two more lessons of Intermediate Cha Cha. Paul didn't want to go on July 26 and doesn't want to go tomorrow, so it seems we only will have attended 4 of the 8 lessons we paid for. Maybe this means we should just wait seven years before we try again, but I'm thankful we had at least four nights of dancing together for an hour and learning some new steps.

2. On July 13 four of us toured Fort Roberdeau and attended the Napoleonic Grand Tactique at Old Bedford Village. 

3. The boys attended a manufacturing camp from 9-3 July 15-18. It wasn't their favorite camp, but there were parts of it that they enjoyed such as the tour of Playworld. 

4. On July 20 we were able to visit Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site for the first time and spend four hours with 10 members of the Towfighi family, which meant we met Brenden for the first time. 

5. From July 20-27 Micah, Joel, Nathan and Julianna spent a week with us. The cousins had a blast! Five of those days they attended a Stronghold foam sword fighting camp from 9-12 in Danville and then had a free hot lunch and played on the playground in Watsontown.

6. I enjoyed teaching a lesson (as a substitute) on the second half of Amos in our Sunday School class on July 21. 

7. We were able to talk to Nadia on the phone on July 21. Talking only one time over a span of four weeks has been challenging for me, especially as I've also received very few text messages from her. Hopefully I'll hear from her more often when she goes to college as this has been hard for me, but I'm grateful she could have this opportunity to serve at this Christian camp. Now it's only TWO days until she's back at home. I can't wait to hear all about her time there!

8. Paul has done really well on the stock market over the last two months. We are grateful! 

9. Yvonne got a good report at the cardiologist this week. This is an answer to prayer! 

10. My nephew, Adam, was baptized this week in Lake Michigan in Chicago. I really enjoyed watching the videos of his testimony and baptism! This was also an answer to prayer!

11. The boys have been participating in a theatre workshop at our church put on by a Christian radio station in New York (Family Life). Nadia and Ian had attended their workshops at another church (farther from our home) in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Last year they didn't participate due to schedule conflicts. Ian and Oliver both have small parts. Ian is Galileo, and Oliver is C.S. Lewis. Pop Pop plans to come up tomorrow to see their performance at noon. 

12. Oliver's birthday party was a success. We celebrated early so that four of his cousins could participate. Micah, Isaiah, their cousin Dominic, Nathaniel, Xandir, Sincere, Andrew, Pop Pop, and Ben also joined us for bubble ball soccer, glow in the dark dodgeball, pizza, chips, and cake!

Field trips and a party

The past 2+ weeks we've had a taste of what life will be like after Nadia graduates from high school. The last few field trips we've taken as a family of four instead of a family of five. Since Nadia doesn't really enjoy many historical field trips, I'm sure she doesn't mind that she missed them. On July 13 we visited Old Bedford Village. They hold a variety of special events throughout the year. Paul chose this weekend which focused on Napoleonic Grand Tactique as that is very uncommon whereas Civil War reenactments are held at a wide variety of sites. Paul just focused on the special lectures and demonstrations they were doing. The boys and I did some of that but also walked around some of the historic village. Paul especially enjoyed the lecture on espionage during the time of Napoleon. My favorite part was the instruction on the history of how brooms have been made over the years. Our next stop was Fort Roberdeau, which was a fort used for two years during the Revolutionary War. 

From July 15-18 the boys participated in a manufacturing camp from 9-3 in Milton. I signed them up at the request of my friend, Tab. A couple of weeks before the camp was to begin her two boys were the only two signed up, and they were going to cancel the camp. It wasn't the boys' favorite experience, but there were parts they enjoyed. On the second day they had a field trip tour Playworld (playground manufacturer in Lewisburg). On the third day they had some experience with using CAD to design a playground. This week they are participating in a foam sword fighting camp from 9-12 with four of their cousins in Danville. They participated in one of these camps last summer at another location. Next week they'll have their last "camp" of the summer - a theater camp from 9-12:30 at our church. 

On July 20, we visited Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. The kids had earned Junior Ranger badges from that site through the mail when it was closed due to COVID. Sometimes when we visit a national park site that's not well known I find myself wondering why on earth it's a NPS site. That was NOT the case this time. It was interesting to learn about what happened there, and unlike most NPS sites, there was a hands-on experience in which we each made a stove plate (albeit not from iron). The park ranger who gave a talk we attended couldn't have been more passionate/enthusiastic about the site, and her enthusiasm was contagious! We spent about 2.5 hours at the site, and then we drove to Camp Hill to meet 10 of the 11 Towfighis (all but Andrew). We had seen 8 of them multiple times recently, but we hadn't seen Jenna since December, hadn't seen Yvonne since February, and we had never met Brenden (who is 3 months old). We spent about four hours together at Jenna's apartment, a playground, and Cracker Barrel before driving home with Nathan, Joel, Micah, and Julianna who are spending one week with us.

Oliver's birthday is August 7, but I decided it would be special to have his birthday party while some of his cousins were here. His first "big" (for our family anyhow) party was in 2022 when I rented two lanes of a bowling alley for two hours and invited his friends to join us. Last year we celebrated his birthday at an amusement park in Pittsburgh; he didn't do anything with friends for his birthday last year. His birthday party this year was by far the most expensive birthday party I've thrown anyone in my life, but it helped knowing the money was going to our church. We paid for one hour of bubble ball and one hour of glow in the dark dodgeball. I invited fifteen kids in the hopes that at least twelve would show up. Six of the kids were Ian, Oliver, and four cousins. Amazingly all fifteen said they could come for at least part of the time, and one family asked if they could also bring their cousin who was visiting them from Ohio. Two kids backed out the day of his party, and Ben came for only the second half of his party. This meant we had thirteen kids for bubble ball and fourteen for eating and dodge ball. Paul's dad also joined us, so we had seventeen people including adults. I brought chips, drinks, and paper products and ordered pizza that Paul picked up during the bubble ball. Paul's dad brought vanilla cupcakes and a chocolate peanut butter cake that Aunt Millie made. We three adults *thought* we would only be spectators, but the finale to the party was a round of kids vs. adults glow in the dark dodgeball. Xandir's aunt joined us, but we were still outnumbered 14:4 so Ryan had Ben play on the adult team which made it 13:5. Needless to say, the kids won. Throwing parties is totally NOT my thing. I wouldn't mind never being in charge of another party the rest of my life, but I want birthdays and other future special occasions (ex. graduation from high school) to be memorable for my kids, so I will do my very best. Oliver received nerf guns from the Towfighis and Xandir, an Amazon gift card from Nathaniel, Knoebels ride tickets from the Schrecks, some money, and some fireworks and Snickers from the Seiberts. Julianna was the only girl invited to his party. The kids we invited ranged in age from 8-16, and all of them are homeschoolers. It was the first time Nadia wasn't at one of her brothers' birthday parties. She will be with us for his actual birthday. I was very impressed with Xandir's generosity. He made Oliver a really nice birthday card, and he used ALL of his own money to buy the nerf gun. He was a few dollars short, so his dad had him do some more chores to earn the remaining money. Wow. What a kind and generous thing to do for a friend! My kids have certainly never spent that much money on a gift for a family member or friend, especially considering it was all of the money he had. 

Because the foam sword fighting camp is 30 minutes from our home and lasts for three hours, it doesn't seem worth it to me to come home after I drop them off. I've been spending the time walking, listening to audiobooks, and talking with friends. Yesterday I called Kay, who is in her late 80's and recovering from a knee replacement. Today my friend, Cheri, came and walked with me for part of the time. According to my phone, I walked 7.6 miles yesterday and 6.7 miles today. Speaking of phone calls, I talked to Nadia on Sunday!!! I hadn't heard her voice in two weeks which had been challenging for me. It was wonderful to hear about her first two weeks at camp. Just eleven more days until she is home sweet home! We're planning on one more field trip before she comes home - a visit to the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art on Saturday. 

Thankful Thursday

1. The boys came home from camp on July 6. They had a blast! 

2. We enjoyed the final episode of season four of The Chosen on July 6. 

3. You never know what you will find at Surplus Outlet. Today I was able to find some larger containers of olive oil that Cheri had asked me to keep an eye out for. Earlier this week I found some Ghirardelli brownie mix for 99 cents each!  YUM! 

4. The boys and I helped out at Experience Missions on Monday and Tuesday. 

5. Milo enjoyed having Cooper here at our house for about ten days. He was literally crying after Cooper left on Wednesday morning.

6. Ian, Oliver, Cheri, and I went for a hike at Leonard Harrison State Park (aka Pennsylvania Grand Canyon) on Wednesday. We also went on a short tour of a unique chocolate factory and stopped for a treat at Rita's on the way home. 

7. Nadia is enjoying being on staff at Camp Susque! She hasn't texted much, but we have heard from her a little bit, which never was possible when she was a camper there. 

8. Paul finished removing the fence! Woohoo! I bought 600 pounds of topsoil today and used that to begin the process of filling in the holes. Someone is supposed to be picking up the fence on Saturday. 

9. The boys really enjoyed getting free Slurpees at two different 7-11 stores today. Since Paul and I didn't partake in the annual freebie, I didn't feel badly that the boys got two each. 

10. Paul, the boys, and I saw the movie Despicable Me 4 at the theater this afternoon. 

11. On July 5, Paul and I took Nadia out to dinner as a birthday treat plus a special sendoff before she spent 4 weeks at Camp Susque. It's her favorite restaurant. She got a free dessert and ate her leftovers over the next two days. I used a gift card from credit card points to cover a good chunk of the bill. The last 12 years we've typically only gone to a sit-down restaurant when we've been on vacation, but it's been nice to begin making an exception for special celebrations. 

12. In March I set a goal for Oliver to gain at least 6 pounds by August so that he would weigh at least 80 pounds, which is the minimum weight for ziplining in Alaska. He has achieved the goal! The doctor should be happy when he has his physical next month because last year his BMI was in the underweight category. 

Thankful Thursday

Today is July 4th! Most years that meant attending the parade and fireworks in our town, unless we were on Long Island on July 4th, but this year the boys are at overnight camp. Nadia came home late last night from Chicago. Aside from the fact I'm wearing a patriotic shirt, we aren't really doing anything to celebrate today. Here are some things I'm thankful for today:

1. Ian placed 8th in both the written competition and the individuals at the Nationals in June. Both kids showed a lot of improvement. Ian's team placed 1st in the team competition, and Nadia's team placed 4th.

2. We enjoyed visiting the CN Tower, Ripley's Aquarium, Fort York, Toronto Zoo, and Canada's Wonderland on June 23-24. I'm thankful it wasn't a rainy weekend. 

3. I'm SO thankful that the Lord gave us Nadia on June 24, 2008! It is such a privilege to be her mom!

4. The kids and I were able to help out at our church's VBS from June 25-28. Oliver helped with the four-year-olds, I was one of the leaders of the 1st grade girls, Ian helped with 3rd grade boys, and Nadia helped with the 4th grade girls. In my 1st grade girls' classroom, our attendance ranged from 18-20 students every day. 

5. We've enjoyed watching seven of the episodes of The Chosen season 4 so far. Paul and I were tempted to watch the season finale, but we decided to wait until Saturday so that the five of us can watch it together. 

6. Paul and I have been working on removing the fence. Paul has been digging up the posts. I fill the holes back in, which is certainly the easier task. There were 36 posts to remove. As of this moment, there are 7 left to remove. The end is in sight! When we purchased this house almost 16 years ago there was a shed and a playset in the backyard. We added a fence in 2009 and farther down the road added a spinning seesaw. Over the last year we've removed the shed, the fence, the playset, and the spinning seesaw. The only remnants of the shed and teeter totter are the two concrete slabs still in our yard. I'm grateful I don't have a fence to clean any more, and I also now need to do far less weed whacking. 

7. On June 28, Oliver and Paul went camping overnight at Glacier Pools Preserve along with more than 100 other people. They went on various nature walks, cooked their dinner and S'mores over a fire, etc. Oliver had a blast. Paul enjoyed camping a lot more when he was Oliver's age than he does at the age of 54. Oliver and Ian are planning on camp out one night in August at Xandir's uncle's house with other boys from the youth group. Oliver would definitely like to have more opportunities to go camping!

8. Nadia had a wonderful five days in Chicago. They spent one night at Great Wolf Lodge, had one meal at Olive Garden, saw the movie Inside Out 2, made a mystery dessert that turned out much better than the last one, had their traditional "sleepover," etc. Her flight was delayed last night so she spent more time than anticipated at the airport in Chicago, but she made it home safely a little before midnight last night. Wendy, Grace, and Rachel returned to the airport today to join Adam and Drayton in Africa. I'm thankful Paul picked her up last night at the airport. I had taken her to the airport last Friday. This was Nadia's first experience flying solo.

9. Nadia passed her learner's permit test! I've taken her to a few parking lots to practice. She did better in Paul's car than she did in the minivan. We haven't been using Paul's car much over the last year. If we're going to start to use it more, we need to get new brakes and tires for that vehicle. There are some things I enjoy teaching a child, and there are other things that aren't my favorite such as potty training and teaching them to tie their shoes. I will say teaching them to drive is in that category, but just like potty training it's a very important skill so I will do the best I can! I won't say she's a natural, but I'm sure she'll improve with practice. 

10. We are dog sitting Cooper right now. We've had him since Sunday, and we'll have him until July 9. I'm thankful that we've found a family who can often watch Milo while we're on vacation, and I'm very happy to return the favor!

11. I've been working on planning our vacation to New Orleans and Texas (May 2025). Louisianna is one of our last three states, but we barely spent any time in Texas in 2021. I've planned a two-week trip that involves us flying to New Orleans (four free tickets using American Airline miles) and flying back from Denver (five free tickets using Alaska Airline miles). Not counting the two travel days we'd spend 2 days in Louisianna, 7 days in Texas, 2 days in New Mexico, and 2 days in Arizona. Highlights would include 11 National Park sites, 2 zoos, 1 aquarium, 2 amusement parks, 2 caves, 1 beach, 1 factory tour, 1 battlefield, 1plantation tour, 1 Cathedral, 1 swamp tour, 1 space center, 1 arboretum, 1 stockyard, 1 aircraft carrier, and a few museums such as the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, the National WWII museum in New Orleans, and the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas (JFK).  If we only went from New Orleans to Dallas there would be a lot less driving involved, but I feel like places like Carlsbad Cavern, White Sands, and Saguaro National Parks will make it worth the extra driving. Because of the extra driving that would be required, I didn't include Big Bend National Park although I've heard so many positive things about that site. I'm so thankful for the opportunities to travel as a family! If things go as planned, by August 2025 we will achieve our goal of taking the kids to all fifty states. I haven't started planning the trip to Hawaii, but that will be the next one I work on!  

Do you see the baby rhino in between the parents?

12. The boys are at PMBC this week. The weather has been nice. I am assuming they are having a great time. I can't wait to hear all about it on Saturday! I'm thankful their friend, Xandir, went with them so they could have this week together plus it enabled us to carpool. Paul took the three boys out on Sunday, and Melinda is picking them up on Saturday morning.

13. Although our country is far from perfect, I'm very thankful to be an American and pray that for years to come we will continue to be a country where we have many freedoms. May God bless America!

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.