Today was so much fun splashing around in the wading pool and running through the water fall as well as the water fountain. Many of our campers that are new this week had never been there before so it was a blast to introduce them to it!
There is always a band on Wednesday's and today was Cazhmiere...a very talented band that plays top 40 hits from the last 40 years. We danced to Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, Katy Perry, Van Halen and so many more...I will try and post a video of the kids learning how to do "The Bird" with one of the lead singers. The band loved having our campers there and enjoyed interacting with them!
Ugh, won't let me upload the video...maybe I can try it on FB... :(
After the concert we swam a little more and then headed back to camp...much slower than when we headed TO the pool! Lots of tired kids again today! Only two more days of camp!! This experience has gone so fast!! It seemed like 6 weeks was going to last forever and I would have all kinds of time to see everything...WRONG!! I am a bit in panic mode as there are still several things I wanna go see!
The good thing about staying at work late is that I don't have to be there until 8:30...although I got there early today because I wanted to stop at Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts when I got off the train at Eastern Market. The commute didn't take as long as I thought so I was a little earlier than planned...worked out well because Tony had to go home and pick up some stuff he had forgotten and I had already left the house when he realized it.
Today we took the campers on a bus trip to the Smithsonian's American History Museum. We took them to the "Spark Lab"...a great hands on science center designed just for children! We divided our group in half and I took one group to another hands on area while Mr. Barry stayed with the other group in the Spark Lab. The children and I had a blast doing all kinds of hands on stuff...we tried to build a tower on a wobbly table top...it taught us about balancing all sides of our tower on the table. We also got to play with big pinwheels and fans...we could change the direction of the fans and watch how it effected our fast or slow our pinwheels went. Lots of fun stuff to keep us busy!
We had a picnic on the big veranda outside the museum. We love picnics, especially when there are pretty flowers to look at and benches to jump off of when we are done eating!
When we got on the bus home it was pretty full so I had four little campers hanging onto my legs...two on each leg, one on the front and one on the back of each. Much easier for them to keep their balance rather than hold onto the bar on the back of the chairs :) Other passengers are amazed at how well 25 kids can behave on the bus...we really do have such a great group of campers who just know what they need to do! Passengers on the bus love to ask our kids questions about our adventures each day...they get the biggest kick out of them!
Before we headed back to site we headed over to Turtle Park to play some more...so much fun to listen to them shrieking with excitement about being chased or chasing us! Lots of tired children go home each day.
After work I was welcomed home by 3 happy children...Meren was especially excited...it makes me laugh because they are with me all day...I guess having me home I turn into Cousin Jes (which is what they call me, and I LOVE it!!) instead of Miss Jes...the one who makes Julian and Meren rest instead of play outside with the older kids! Meren had to show me her flips she can do...where she gets down on all fours and then sticks one of her feet in the air. So funny, she really thinks she is something else being able to that...so filled with talent she is ;)
When they were headed up to take a bath I went to Potter's house for a visit...at this point I don't think they would have even known I was gone...they had been playing in the backyard with the ducks. They all know I really don't like being down there by those BIRDS!!
When I got home I started catching up on this blog...now it is after midnight and this adventurer is going to bed...tomorrow is our swimming adventure at Yard's Park :)
Today was our first day of camp at our new location. It isn't actually a new location, it was where camp was held last year. Adventure Camp was technically supposed to be done on Friday, but because Tony had several requests about extending it and Barry and I would both be here this week he called his contacts and got us this location just for this week.
We have a whole bunch of new campers and some of our old friends...what a great mix! We took a walking trip to Garfield Park. This park has some fantastic rope towers to climb, rope bridges to run across, lots of fun stuff...slides swings etc! We played hard all morning so we had a picnic lunch at the park.
Just a short distance from the park are a couple horse stables. Tony knows the owner so he made some phone calls and got it approved for us to go and visit. The children loved putting grass through the fence and feeding the horse. I guess there is supposed to be two but only the white one came out to visit us.
On our way home we stopped and played at Turtle Park. I am not sure if that is the official name for park but it has a huge cement turtle for climbing on, over and under, so hence the name. Turtle Park also has some great jungle gym equipment to play on as well as a large grassy area where the boys could run and play spy. Lots of giggle and squeals must equal a successful day right?!?!
Because Barry, Tony and I are the only staff this week I am staying on site until 6:30 when aftercare is over. It is so much fun to see the parents and share with them the fun things there children did that day. It is also kind of strange to be getting home after 7:00...the location is on the SE side of DC so I take the train and walk the 6 blocks home each night. Much different than getting done between 2:30 and 3:30 and only having to walk 5 blocks home in the afternoon. I won't be doing the cooking this week :)
Sunday was a great sight seeing day! We went to the Capitol building...although the visitors' center was closed :( We went through the Botanical Gardens...Amazing and then headed over to the Air and Space Museum...I could spend days in there reading about everything...sensory overload happened quickly because I knew there was no way I would remember all the facts and historical tidbits i as reading about!! I am hoping to get back there and go through Einstein's Planetarium before I leave...you have to pay for a ticket and I didn't feel like i had enough time to get my money's worth so hopefully I will have another opportunity!
Before we left the National Mall, Barry and I were discussing whether or not we wanted to hang out until dark to see the monuments at night...we decided to head home instead and if we had enough energy we would hop back on the Metro train and see them. That didn't happen...when we got home we started playing with Barnaby, Julian and Meren.
We had a marshmallow roast and found a big, huge garden spider in one of the bushes. Tony looked it up on Wickipedia to find out what kind it was and we discovered they are harmless to humans so Barns grabbed my camera and we went down to take pictures. Julian was amazed at how close I would get and shocked that I would touch it and the web. I asked Julian if he wanted to touch it and his response was a shocking "You will teach me how to touch it?!?!?!...you are the bravest person I know!" Hahahaha so darn funny! He reluctantly held out his hand and grabbed the web...what a brave little boy. The spider quickly disappeared and that was the end of our spider fun! I grabbed my camera and video taped him telling me about his spider adventure and now have proof that, at least for a short time, I was the bravest person he knows! I told Tony I would be playing that video at his high school graduation party!
Saturday I slept in and then headed to Eastern Market to cash my check and pick up some produce. Barry came along for the adventure...he is such a patient man! We went to Java Port City for a cup of coffee and some lunch and ran into Jack and Allison, a couple of our campers and their dad. Dad and mom used to work up in the Boundary Waters back in the day so it is fun to talk about MN with him. It was good to see all three of them one last time and get extra big squeezes from them again. :)
I had a blast looking at all the produce at the Farmer's Market section of Eastern Market...it costs a little more than safeway, but it is local, fresh and delicious. Picked up some sweet corn, bell peppers (who knew they had purple bell peppers, had to get one just for it's color!!) and other veggies to possibly make kabobs with. That never happened but we did eat the corn and it was delish!! The peppers will be used sometime this week!!
I got home in time to take a quick rest and head over to Potter's house...Potter had an extra ticket for the Arena Theatre's play previews, where they do a scene, song etc from each of their upcoming performances. What a gorgeous theatre with so many talented actors and actresses! After that we headed to Union Station to take advantage of Happy Hour at B. Smith's restaurant and bar...what a classy place! When I asked Tobin, the bartender, if I could get some olives for my beer they came on a carved bamboo skewer in a fancy glass. No plastic swords and shot glasses here!! We ordered a couple appetizers...one was Thai Chicken Wings...and instead of a handi wipe that come in a little packet that you tear open we were given a coffee/tea cup with a linen napkin rolled up and hot water poured over it...huh, who knew!?! It was like washing our fingers with a warm wash cloth instead of a fake lemon smelling piece of paper towel :)
We headed to Maryland to go to Target...Potter loves their book selection. So much fun at Target...even bought myself a pair of pants that is two sizes SMALLER than the size I wore when I got out here! Now to just keep losing the weight...and I was worried about all the hard work I had put into the Litchfield Lite going down the tubes. Haha, just come to DC and you will sweat and walk it off in no time!!
It is a sad face day because it is the last day I will see so many of the campers!!
We took a bus ride to Watkins pool and playground...what a fantastic place!! The children had so much fun swimming...what a bunch of fish!! One of their favorite games to play was hanging on Ms. Jes and having her drag them around the pool! So many giggles so it never got tiring! One of our 3 year old boys hung on to my arm so tightly that whenever I went under he did too. I would quickly jump up out of the water and he would be frantically wiping his face and then say "I'm OK, let's do it again!!" So cute...I am going to miss them so much, but the memories I have made with them will live in my heart forever!!
We had a picnic lunch on the playground and played some more...they would have stayed there all day if the decision was up to them, but alas, we had to head back to camp and get ready for our ice cream party to wrap up our camp season.
I had outside playground duty again...it was so much fun reminiscing with Ms. Angela and Ms. Morning about our summer adventures! The children wanted my camera again...of course I couldn't say no. What great little photographers some of them are!! Makes me smile just remembering some of the cute pics they took for me!! I am hoping to create and upload a Snapfish account or something similar so all the staff can upload their pics (we all took bunches each day to send to Tony to put in the daily email) and all the families can see them. Lots of cute pics that never got sent in the emails but would be fun for everyone to have access to.
So many parents showed up for our ice cream party...one family even brought several different cakes, red velvet, chocolate-chocolate and a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting...YUMMY!!
It was good to visit with all the parents...share some fun memories of their children and it made my heart so happy to hear the fun things they had to say about the memories their children made with me. One little camper, Teddy (who will be president, or at least one heck of an attorney) won me over my first day there...and continued to warm my heart each day!! Every day on his walk over he had to bring me something, an acorn, a leaf, a neat piece of broken glass etc. Such a cutie-patutie!! His moms were so complimentary to me as well and were so thankful for the love and care I put into all the children each day and made it fun for them, Teddy would tell them stories about our day each night and always included Miss Jes :) Teddy and his moms were heading on vacation to their beach house after camp that day and so he gave me a big hug and I told him I was going back to Minnesota so I wouldn't see them again until next summer...he didn't really grasp the concept and his reply was "Will you bring me back a Minnesota Ginger Ale?!?!" Hahahaha, too cute! I told them they should come to MN so I can take them fishing on a frozen lake...teddy didn't think this was a very good idea because "even Miss Jes, you can't walk on a lake, even though you can do lots of stuff for me" aaah, heart you!!
After lots of hugs were given to lots of campers and their parents it was time for me to leave because I could tell my dam of tears was ready to overflow...not a pretty sight for anyone to see. I quietly slipped away and headed home to take it all in!!
This day was probably one of the best of my summer! We started out taking our campers to Eastern Market to listen to John Henry perform. What a fantastic concert he puts on!! The children had an absolute blast!! He had them rowing boats, running around like wild animals, doing fist pumps while singing a song about Washington DC...super cute and I wish I would have been able to video tape them!
After the concert we walked over to Lincoln Park and had a picnic with our lunches. We played on both playgrounds and got so much of our energy out. Mr. Barry had some of the campers climbing trees, some were playing spy and sniper, running all over saving the world. Needless to say, when we got back to camp there were lots of tired campers!!
I had playground duty for the afternoon and had a blast with the campers! I had my camera with so they wanted to take pictures with it. I wrapped the cord around their little wrists and let 'em go. Each time it was time to switch they would come back to me and I would transfer the camera from one friend to another...this went on for over an hour! Lots of fun pictures for me to look at that evening on my way to Fairfax to see Joe.
When I got to Fairfax Joe and I headed out of town...he was taking me to see a mountain sunset!! YYIIPPEEEE! I hadn't seen an actual sunset or a sunrise since leaving Minnesota...too many buildings on Capitol Hill! The views were amazing...I posted lots of pics on my facebook page. We even saw a pair of black bears. They were about 10 yards off the road, up the bank so Joe stopped the car and grabbed my camera to take some pics. He had to climb up the hill to get the pics...while I stayed back by the car ready to jump in it in case the Momma Bear came back. The moon was also rising so I got several great shots of that too!Definitely worth the drive...over an hour each way! Truly blessed to have such a great group of friends now in the DC area that are willing to go out of there way to show me a great time!
Oh, man...I am typing this on August 16th so I am trying hard to remember what we did almost a week ago :)
We took the campers to Yard's Park...we had been there several times before and the children always have a blast!! They love splashing around and it is a great peace of mind knowing that no part of it is over their heads. There is a band in the old abandoned parking garage each Wednesday so it is always fun for the kids to dance and enjoy the music if they don't wanna swim :) It is so much fun sitting down and having a picnic while we are there too!
Before we left, Mrs. Potter, our retired teacher friend, stopped by the park with some frozen blueberries for all of our camper friends. They enjoyed the yummy snack...she is so much fun when she visits, the kids enjoy her so much! :)
More water fun was had in the sprinklers out on the playground when we got back to Miner...a fun day with great weather!!
We took our campers to the Arboretum...they always have so much fun there. We looked at the koi fish and then we headed up to the capitol pillars where there is a fountain, a waterfall/river thing that leads to an infinity/reflection pool. The children had so much fun playing in the water! We headed back towards the main part of the Arboretum and looked at some of the bonsai trees in the Chinese garden part.
The clouds started rolling in and getting darker so we headed back to the bus stop and got to camp before the rain started. All the walking and playing made the children tired so we had quite a few resters that afternoon.
After work I headed to Fairfax. Joe brought me to the NRA to see the Museum in his building. So impressive! Lots of unique guns of all kinds...some famous and some just plain interesting. I had 10 minutes to tour the entire museum before it closed so Joe gave me the super quick tour...I was trying to listen while I was trying to take pictures. I'll do my best to remember what he said.
The first gallery you enter is the The Robert E. Peterson gallery. Mr. Peterson left the museum his entire collection of firearms and they replicated his personal library as the gallery for the museum so it is like you are actually in his home looking at his collection. This guy had guns that had been owned by JFK, Annie Oakley and some other famous people that I can't remember that Joe told me. There had to be over a 200 guns in just his collection though!
They also had on display the history of firearms and the history of guns that were failures as well as those that are still popular and available today. One of the neatest guns there was a handgun that was carried by an NYPD officer on 9/11. It was recovered and the officer's family donated it to the NRA...at least I think that is how they got it...remember I was busy taking pictures while he was talking and breezing his way through the museum.
One of the other sections that I remember looking at was the exhibit on guns in Hollywood. They had a vast array of guns used in movies and TV from John Wayne and Magnum P.I.
The museum was closing but before we left he took me up a couple floors to a hallway that has a bunch of deer mounts with some of the most impressive racks. One of them is from Wright County, MN! All the racks are replicas of just the antlers and can be removed because they are on a rotation...the deer heads stay there, they just switch the antlers out and change the information card. They looked real enough to me!
So I am writing this a week later...on August 14th. I'll see how well my memory serves me, I'm thinking I won't remember all the funny little details that made up each day, but I will try!
A day off from work...our numbers are low this week so each full timer was asked to take one day off. Cousin Barry and I both picked today. We decided to do the tourist thing and go to the Arlington National Cemetery. AMAZING!!! We weren't very far into our walk when we noticed a handful of soldiers standing on top of a hill...they weren't at attention, just standing there...I was curious so we headed on the road that we thought would lead us up there. As we came around a bend we saw a band in formation leading a funeral procession. Wow, talk about goosebumps! There was a soldier standing at the intersection and we couldn't go straight or to the right (where the soldiers were up on the hill) so we stood there and watched the band march and turn the corner. Complete silence except for their shoes hitting the pavement in perfect timing! I stood there with my hand on my heart praying for those grieving their loved one. We were asked to back up about 50 feet as the remaining procession came closer. We realized it was the casket draped on the back of a shiny black trailer being drawn by a team of horses, all with soldiers on top of them. The family walked in silence behind the casket...more goosebumps!!
As we walked away and begin looking at the monuments and graves we heard the band begin to play "God Bless America". We were at the top of a hill and when I looked back I saw the lone trumpeter that was going to be playing taps. He hadn't even started playing and I started tearing up! Once he started playing I had tears streaming down my face...so moving watching a soldier play taps for another fallen soldier!
We continued to walk and look around. One of the things I noticed was that on each tombstone was a cross near the top, some had circles around and some did not. I asked one of the soldiers walking around what it meant and he didn't know...I need to google it I guess. OK, I googled it and found this link to the Arlington Cemetery's Page that explains all the different crosses...guess I didn't look very close to notice all the differences just that some had circles around and some did not. Click on the link, it is very informative!
We also visited the Women in Military Center...what a fanstastic little treasure! Explained what women did overseas and back home as they were serving our country. They had uniforms and hand books and all kinds of things on display. I will have to upload photos soon.
Because I had the day off I could head to Fairfax sooner than normal and Joe could pick me up from the train station right when he got off work at 4:00 instead of having to drive all the way home, only to turn around and pick me up a little while later.
He and his daughter, Kerri and I walked/hiked around Burke Lake, a gorgeous wooded area where we saw deer and bugs and random huge mushrooms. I was glad it was shaded by so many trees as it was still hot and sunny out and I had been in the sun walking around in the humidity all day. I doubt I will ever get used to the humidity down here!!
We went to this fantastic frozen yogurt place called Josie's...you pick the size container you want (they are very similar to the containers you get from the deli at the grocery store) and serve yourself from a plethera of flavors...I picked Mountain Strawberry, Pina Colada and Pinapple Mango...then you can add whatever toppings you want, fresh fruit, candy, nuts, chocolate chunks etc...you get the picture. Then you set it on a scale and you pay by how much your container weighs. Very delicious!
Once we left Josie's Kerri wanted to grab some McDonald's just a couple stores down. Sidenote: It is still weird to me that they have McDonald's in the middle of strip malls down here...back in MN they are usually by themselves...once in awhile they are connected to a gas station/truck stop but rarely! Ok, anyway, Kerri went into McDonald's and Joe and I waited outside and ate our yogurt. I realized the tree across the road, about 20 yards away, was full of birds...I am talking about at least 75-100 birds. Yes they were small sparrow type birds, but birds with beaks nonetheless. Gave me the willies, as many of you know how much I hate birds to the point of being scared of them! Ha, Joe noticed my weariness and said he was going to get the car. Now you are thinking "How nice of him!" right. WRONG, he wanted to get the car so he could park it under the tree and make me walk under all of those scary birds to get into the car. I begged him not to do it and told him I was going to go with him...that stopped him because he didn't want Kerri left alone.
I thought I had won the battle, but oh, no he doesn't give up and I should have realized he had a plan B racing through his brain. LOL. Kerri came out and sat down and started eating her food and Joe, acting like a caring father, asked Kerri if she wanted him go and get the car. Of course she said yes...I tried to quickly explain to her why he didn't need to get it he took off running across the parking lot to grab the car. Yep, he parked it right under the tree and had me walk under it to get in...oh, but the door had locked somehow so I had to stand out there a little bit longer. UGH! He explained that he had created a 12 step program to help me overcome my fear of birds and that was step 1. Haha, I can laugh about it now, but at the time my heart was racing I was so afraid! I survived and the rest of the night he didn't try anymore of his therapy tricks!
Mr. Julian and I started off our day bright and early, 6:20 is early for a Saturday morning! I had gotten up to use the bathroom and planned on going back to bed when I heard Julian talking at his sister. I peeked in the bedroom to find him poking his sister on all of her limbs etc. We decided a bowl of cereal with some fresh peaches would be a great breakfast. Then we snuggled into my bed where he watched a show on the computer while I read.
It was nice to have some company this morning...it is my Grandpa Stoffers birthday and I miss him so much! It is also my cousin Hannah's 1st birthday and my Grandma is out in Honolulu spending it with my Uncle Eric and Aunt Lori and Jacob and Hannah...i can't imagine she would want to be anywhere else on this day!
Barnaby joined us on my bed after a little bit and just as the show ended my computer battery died so I sent them downstairs. I read for a little while longer and then my room started to heat up when the sun shone in through the windows. I headed downstairs to accomplish some work on my computer...once it was plugged into the wall.
After lots of email deleting and replying I started cropping and deleting some of the 499 pics I have taken at the musuems the last couple week-ends. Finally finished that task and am uploading them as I type.
Everybody is home and Jenny is spending the afternoon and I think the evening with us as well...been a lot of energy and chaos but so much fun! Too hot to do much outside...let me rephrase that...too HUMID to do anything. Dew points are in the high 70's last time I checked. I feel like I can't possibly drink enough water to keep up with how much I am sweating out just sitting at the table typing and cropping!! Ugh.
We have had the clouds get thicker, heard some thunder but not much rain at all. I would love a long and steady thunderstorm tonight!
Speaking of tonight I should go and turn on my AC in my bedroom so it gets comfortable up there when I go to bed.
Have a wonderful week!!!
So cousin Barry and I decided to head over to "The Mall" and visit the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Lots of fantastic things to see! Animals, skeletons of every thing imaginable, jewels (THE HOPE DIAMOND), rocks and minerals that were so intriguing and beautiful!, bugs ( I held the biggest, coolest cockroach...it was almost as big as my palm)...
the two places we didn't look at were the butterfly area and the bird section.
We also watched the Imax movie about Tornadoes...LOVED IT! I have always been enthralled by thunderstorms and tornadoes!
After some ice cream (espresso for Barry and peanut butter ripple for me) we headed over to the American History Museum...I was so excited to see Dorothy's Ruby Red Slippers and the huge American Flag that inspired our National Anthem to be written! Oh, and Julia Child's kitchen! Lots and lots of pictures were taken...check out my facebook albums! Barry headed to Tony's for supper...I stayed at the museum because I had eaten the second half of my sandwich from lunch with my ice cream and wasn't hungry at all.
When I got home 2 fantastic things happened 1. Tony had saved me one of each of the yummy crab and seafood ravioli things and some yummy sauted mushrooms. 2. Jilly Bean sent me a great card where she promised me the that if there was only one cupcake in the world she would let me have it :) :) Oh how I miss my MN friends!
The rest of my evening I spent on the phone with Joe when he was done with work and then with Bean back in MN (gotta love the time difference!!). Let me just give you a brief synopsis of part of my convo with Joe...when I asked what we were going to do on Sunday he informed me that he really wanted to do this 18 mile hiking trail...one where you get dropped off at the beginning and someone has to pick you up at the end or drop your car off there for you. Not only did he want to hike it but he also wanted to run part of it. HA i said, there will be no us doing that, just a Joe...I walk all week with 30-40 children I really didn't want to do it on my day off as well. I told him I was thinking that going to a local Virginia winery for a free wine tasting event sounded like a fantastic way to spend our Sunday...stay tuned for Sunday's blog to see what the outcome was...
Our Friday at Adventure Camp had us going to Kingman Island again. They always have so much fun there!! This time we were on top of the "Mountain" the children were exploring "ancient Chinese ruins"...according to 4 year old Julian, that is what we discovered anyway. One of the kids pointed up to a tree and said something about big, green eggs being in the tree. I looked at what he was pointing at and discovered that the big, green eggs were actually hedgeballs! Those weird, rough brain textured balls that repel spiders...which we pay a couple bucks for in the store. I will definitely be hiking back there to pick a bunch and ship back to MN!
Joe had Friday night off so I after work I headed over to Fairfax on the Metro train. As you all have read, the Metro and I are not getting along the best! As we were getting closer to Fairfax the train started acting up...lo and behold we ended up stuck in the middle of nowhere for about 20 minutes...we offloaded at West Falls Church and waited there for the backup train. Long story short, we missed happy hour :( I told Joe to head back to the bar and get another beer because I had no idea how long we were going to be but he decided to sit in the car and talk to his brother John...finally I got there and we headed to Hard Times Cafe and Cue for some wings and beer (with olives). The wings are grilled and delicious! I had teriyaki and also tried one of Joe's Chili with Lime...both very yummy!
We decided to head to Champs and watch the MN Twins play...I haven't watched them since I got out here!! On our way Joe decided I should meet his sister. [sidenote: I told Joe that he was in charge of making all the decisions for us that night because I was sick of being in charge and being the boss of 40 campers every day all day and I really wanted him to be the boss of me so I didn't have to make any decisions ;) ] Instead of going to Champs we headed over to his sister and brother-in-laws. What a blast they are! We stayed there the rest of the evening and had a couple drinks and fantastic conversation. They are both from Minnesota so it was fun to talk about places and have them know where we were talking about...and they have the best sense of humor, lots of ribbing among all of us!
On my train ride home we had a stall as well so my 50 minute train ride lasted a little over an hour...but alas I made it home, turned on my AC and went to bed. :)
Our adventure today was a trek to Eastern Market to hear Mr. Skip in concert! What a great performer for children! Most of the kids had a blast. A handful of the older boys were not so impressed and just sat and talked and watch the rest of us dance and sing. I can't really blame them as it was geared towards preschoolers. After our concert we headed to Lincoln Park for a picnic. After lunch we headed back to school because the Performing Arts camp that is at the same school as ours (Miner Elementary) was holding a performance for us in the afternoon!!
I am not sure how the performance went as I was done working at 1:30 because we were overstaffed for the number of children...I got laundry done had a rest. Great way to spend my Thursday afternoon. No children tonight so Tony said not to make any supper...life is very relaxing for this overheated minnesota girl right now!
I am looking forward to a fun filled weekend with some sight seeing adventures taking place...I will keep you posted and hopefully it won't take me so long to blog next time!
Quick prayer request for a dear family friend, Will who is losing his battle to cancer as we speak. Will and his wife, Ruth, lived half a block away from us and their 3 children, Michael, Melanie and Brian and my brothers and I all played together growing up! Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they send their husband, father and grandfather off to be with the Lord. Thank you and God's blessings on your weekend!! :)
So today the weather was supposed to be rainy/stormy most of the day...so we cancelled our trip to Yard's Park for swimming and the concert.
Oh what to do with children all morning inside our borrowed classroom all day?!?! What did my mom do for me and my brothers when we were little and cooped up inside? Made a FORT!! I created 2 forts with a couple of the children's nap blankets or sheets. They had the best time!! Only 5 kids fit in each fort so we had to go in shifts. I told each group they could make it what ever they wanted it to be. It was so funny to find out what their imaginations came up with...a zoo, an orphanage, a police station, a dance place, a hotel, a camping tent and a veterinary clinic.
It didn't rain all morning so I didn't have 30 ninjas in my room at one time...they were excited to go to the other playground and play where the "big kids" get to play during the school year. There is also a garden back there full of sunflowers that the children investigated. Once the afternoon came then the rain came also...oh, well who knew! Even though we didn't go on an adventure I think the children enjoyed our day of playing at "home" as they called it! :)
After work I came home and got ready to head to Fairfax, Virginia to meet Joe for pizza. Sidenote: Joe is my friend Jessi's good friend from high school in Minnesota. He works for the NRA and he and his daughter have lived out here for about 10 years. I had met him once before about 10 years ago.
I walked to the train station and although I had deleted his text message telling me which orange line to take I felt confident that I remembered which one and hopped on. I texted him when we made it to the Chevellry stop. He immediately called me and said I was headed the wrong direction!! Ugh, I got off on the next stop and backtracked...my 45 minute ride just turned into a little over an hour! The benefit of riding it so far out of DC the wrong way was the train was virtually vacant so I had a seat the whole way...not true had I gone the right way first!
We went out for pizza and then went to a couple different bars and had a beer. It was very fun to hang out with another Minnesotan and visit. A great night, maybe the best one so far! Hopefully we can hang out again...fun to hang out with people I don't see all day everyday! I love my cousins to death but we are together so much it kinda takes the fun out of hanging out in the evenings!
Got home about midnight and went to bed...
Today was our big trip to the Smithsonian Zoo! It is a long bus ride so we ate our lunches as soon as we got there...the squirrels and birds loved us because we left so many crumbs behind for them to eat :) We all know how much I love birds near me!! NOT! Luckily we had to eat and run because we only had an hour to before we had to get back on the bus and make it back by 3:00.
The Purple Turtles got to see some neat things...the elephants, the panda bear, the brown bear sloth, the cheetah and a couple other animals in some glass displays. Their favorites were the panda bear and watching someone put money in the souvenir penny machine and watching how the penny got squashed and dropped down for them to take. Amazing!! Hahaha it was too cute to see their huge eyes watch the levers and wheels turn.
Most of our campers fell asleep on the bus ride home...great day for a nap, especially because we didn't get back to camp in time for most of them to take a nap. :)
When I got home from work that day I was exhausted!! After supper was prepared and eaten I just had to go upstairs and read in my room...my body was done being hot! I was sleeping by 8:30...woke up to go to the bathroom and was certain is was almost time for me to be awake, but alas it was just after midnight!! whoohoo! a whole 6 and half more hours of sleep! Life is good!
I can't believe August is here already! We took the campers to the Arboretum. They have so much fun looking at the koi fish...some of them are HUGE...2 feet in length from head to tail tip I am sure, others are the size of my palm. Once we were done with our water break and koi watching we broke up into our groups...this week my group has decided to call itself the purple turtles. We ventured into the Bonsai gardens...those trees are amazing! Some are hundreds of years old!! The children think it is great to count the trunks of the "mini trees". However, I am pretty sure the highlight of our visit was when the caretaker help up his watering hose and let the children run through it! What a wonderful older gentleman...you could just tell he found such joy in watching and listening to the childrens laughter and comments about his beloved trees!!
We also went over the bridge that housed the Cicada Killer Wasp nest...they were flying all over! I am sure my bloodpressure was near stroke status even though I knew that none of them had stingers because they were all males as the female had laid her eggs already and I assume she died. Terrifying for me but the children loved running and darting away from them! UGH!
The weather has finally dropped into the low to mid 90's so it is much more bearable now...it even gets down into the low 80's at night! Now if the humidity would drop it would be great.
Hope you all had a most magnificent Monday!!
So I haven't blogged since last Saturday...I'm not sure if I will remember all the details about earlier this week, but I'll give it my best.
Sunday...mmm, Barry and I ate lunch at Zest, a restaurant that is owned by a family whose sons go to Adventure Camp with us. Delish! Had a tasty, albeit spicy, bloody mary with my grilled chicken ciabbata sandwich...which reminds me I need to find out how to make citrus mayo or if it is something I can just buy, but it certainly made the sandwich that much better!!
After breakfast we decided to go to the Spy Museum. $20 and 2 hours later we were both glad we went but it certainly wasn't what we expected. A lot of waiting in lines and then once you are in it is a dark maze of items and pics...entails a lot of reading, not so little kid friendly. It was interesting to see the items that spies used back in the day as well as how many, roughly, spies there are in the world. Lots of info on espionage and spies that have gotten caught...and things they do to fit in so they don't get caught.
After buying some souvenirs and trinkets in the gift shop we headed across the street to the Smithsonian Portrait and Art Museum.
I am not sure how many pics I took but it had to be close to 100! It was really neat to see pics in person that you see in movies and advertising. I am SO THANKFUL for this opportunity to not have to cram it all in to one or even two weeks but I have almost 7 to meander through the Smithsonian museums at a pace that allows me to take it all in.
We left the Smithsonian around 7:00 and headed back to Eastern Market to grab some supper. We decided on Subway...cheap and yummy. The Subway in Eastern Market is super tiny and instead of booths or tables it has a couple counters you can lean on and eat. We opted out of that and headed across the street to eat on a park bench...felt good to sit down!!!
I got home and was wiped out so off to bed I went :)
So my intent when I woke up this morning was to go to Eastern Market to cash my paycheck and pick up some fruit at the farmer's market. Then Tony explained that it was more expensive to do it that way then to get it at the grocery story so alas I didn't pick up any fruit. However I saw so many other great things...
I stopped in to this great store called Labyrinth. It was full of all sorts of mind and brain puzzles...wooden ones that come apart and you have to put back together and the metal ones with the chains and balls and bent metal that you have to get apart. Some very unique chess boards and other board games that stretch your brain. In the back of the story is an area for children to have their birthday party! Such a great idea! Needless to say this was the perfect spot for me to pick up my dad's souvenir/birthday present/father's day present. I hope he loves it as much as I think he will!
I continued my jaunt down the streets lots of restaurants and pubs! I saw a sign for Yard's Park and the ball park so I figured I was probably closer to that Metro Station than the Eastern Market Station so I meandered down the road.
I stopped at this little Capitol City Subs eatery...very homey, an L shaped counter to eat at and only one booth in front of the window. There were several people in it who looked like locals so I figured it must be a good place to eat. I ordered a cheeseburger, even though it was only 10:00 in the morning. It was delicious! I sat at the counter and ate my burger and drank my can of Mountain Dew (my first can since I got to DC). I had another bite or two left when I looked up at the wall and saw a cockroach shimmy his way up the wall!!!!!! UGH!! Needless to say I left right away without finishing my burger...I was glad I hadn't lost my lunch right there on the counter! Eeewwwww!
I kept roaming down the street towards where the Metro Station was supposed to be...and I kept roaming! Ugh it wasn't nearly as close as I had thought! Just when I was ready to stop and look up a map on my phone I ran across this cute little path next to a big building. Over the top was an Arch that said Transportation Walk. It was a great little walking exhibit of how transportation and things involved in transportation have evolved. I posted pics on my facebook wall of most of the items and displays. At the end of the walk (or the beginning if I was walking it backward) was the United States Department of Transportation. Hhmm, it all made sense now!
After snapping a couple photos of the front of the building I meandered a little farther and found my metro stop. I decided that instead of going home I would head back to the Navy Memorial Museum...last time I had been there it was because I had gotten of at the wrong train stop and went in because I was overheating and only had 12 minutes to look around. What a great little museum! Pays tribute to so many amazing Navy men and women.
After I left there I looked at a map and saw that the Law Enformcement Memorial wasn't too far away so I ventured over that direction. I discovered that what I had seen on the map was in fact the LEM visitor's center...the actual Memorial Wall and Garden were about 3 blocks away. So I headed over in the direction the lady at the visitor center pointed me in. However I ended up on the wrong side of the road and there was major road construction going on with big fences and machinery so I ended up not even seeing it across the street so I wound up roaming the grounds of the Appeals Court. Beautiful fountains...one had a golden statue of a woman and a deer. I coudn't find a plaque explaining the significance of it however...guess I will have to google it. When I had gone up the steps of the building to take a picture of an enormous red brick building across the way I happened to notice the big lion sculptures and discovered that the LEM was right across the street...I just needed to go back to the corner and cross over and walk in the same direction again! TaDa...I made it! It was very moving to see all those names of fallen police officers! Many of them had patches from different Police Departments placed on the bottom of the panel as well as hats and flowers. So emotional! The wall is the a horseshoe shape and as I made my way towards the center of it I discovered a metro train station! Yippee I didn't have to walk all the way to the other one! I finished my walk around the path and headed towards the metro station. Lo and behold...The National Building Museum was right across the street! Whoohoo!
I headed inside and was amazed instantly by the vastness of the entry way. It was open all the way to the ceiling and had 4 floors. You had hallway balconies on each level and different exhibits on all 4 sides! I spent the better part of 2 hours there! The history of the World Fairs in America, some famous woman named Hildreth Meiere who designed some fantastic tiled mosaic walls and stained glass windows in all kinds of famous buildings. There was also an exhibit on the architechtural history of DC...all very interesting, however my favorite was the Lego Exhibit! This was also the only exhibit I could take pictures in. I posted them on FB if ya wanna look.
After I was done there I was exhausted so I took the redline train to the green line which took me to the blue line where I could get off at the closest stop to Tony's house. I was going to walk home but I looked over and a D6 was just pulling up and it could drop me off a block from my house...I took this as a sign from God that I should just take the bus home and who am I to disagree with God!
Made it home and I have been editing and uploading pictures since. Oh, and blogging of course! Have a super Saturday night!
For our field trip adventure today we took the X2 bus to watch the Theatre Lab troop perform 101 Dalmations. Theatre Lab is an acting camp for tween and teens who, I might add, are very talented!! Our campers loved it and were such an attentive audience that even the director of the play commented on how well they sat still and quiet while watching it! The Theatre Lab is based out of this huge, gorgeous church in Chinatown. We ate our lunch in the basement in what must be like a commons area.
After work I went with my co-worker, Angel and her daughter Zoe out for supper and thrift store shopping. So much fun to spend time with another thrift store lover! Not only that but she is a very strong Christian so we have great conversations about God, the power of prayer etc! Great way to end my work week! I know you're dyingto find out what I bought!...I found a great pair of red plaid "Rocket Dog" brand canvas shoes, some sheets that I am going to make into curtains for my bedroom and a metal water bottle. Oh, and a couple old notebooks that have great thick paper. One is smaller and I didn't realize it when I picked it up, but the first dozen or so pages are a journal of a young man's sr. year in college as he prepares for his MCAT and is trying to get into med school, as well as his efforts to try and win over a girl...which unfortunately he never finishes journaling about any of it!! I was disappointed last night when I read it taht I never found out if he passed his tests, got into med school OR won the girl over!! The other notebook is blank, unfortunately...or fortunately since I bought it for the great paper, would have been disappointed had I not been able to use it myself!
Bring on the week-end!!
Let me just start by saying that in my last post (which I posted just before I started typing this one) I mentioned the yummy lemonade and peanuts at the baseball game last night...I realized I didn't eat all my salted in the shell peanuts and had stuck them in my purse. I am now eating them while I am writing this...this blog may take a while to write!
Today our Adventure took us back to Kingman Island. What a great place for children to let their inner animal out! We climbed on rocks, played with sticks and dirt and threw rocks into the river. We saw some baby stink bugs and a baby Praying Mantis. A couple of the girls thought it would be great fun to smear dirt (really fine dirt I might add) all over their faces and arms! They had to wear it until we got back to the school because we weren't going to waste our drinking water cleaning them off! All of the children were dirty to some degree and we got some funny looks and comments when we got on the X2 bus. Once we got back I spent quite some time washing faces...or rewashing faces I should say, they all washed their own faces first but let's face it we all know how small children fare at that task. We had lots of tired out kids so we had an extra full nap room and the majority of others picked outside water play instead of playing inside in the other classroom.
Quick story about one of my 4 year olds: His dad loves that we tire out his son so much at camp. He is usually so energetic and bouncing off the walls in the evening, but not this summer!
Today while we were walking back to the school he and his partner were consistently falling behind the rest of us so I explained that if he was that tired he should probably rest when we got back...his reply was "oh, no ma'am, I ain't tired, I don't need no rest" So i told him that he needed to not be draggING behind. "Ok Miss Jes, I ain't gonna be draggin' 'hind." So thus our conversation went every 4 minutes or so"..."Hey, you're draggin' 'hin", "No, Ma'am, I ain't draggin' hin, see (speeds up his walking) I ain't need no res time" Needless to say, he didn't rest and his dad laughed hard when I told him the story.
That was my day in a nut shell. Oh I called today's post Thweaty Thurthday because it was a cooker out today and the humidy is super high...my hair was so curly!! I don't even bother trying to blow dry it straight any more because then it is half straight and half curly and I look like a wierdo...all curly is a little better, I just wish it was actual curls instead of the crazy cowlicks and random curly-q's all over.
Hope ya'll have a Fantastic Friday! I can't believe week three is coming to a close already!!
I had a blast at the Nationals game...we left after the 7th inning to avoid the mad rush of people getting on the metro. It sorta worked...I was crammed into the train right inside the door. Had a very fun conversation with a couple people from Iowa...what we liked and disliked about dc, the heat, the rats, the crowds and all the noise, yet people are so friendly, the city is so clean considering the population and tourists and the metro system rocks...both the buses and the trains.
OK, I digress...back to the game, or actually the tailgating! There was a big partitioned area on the corner just across from the ball park so we went in to get a beer and hotdog. The beer garden was under a tent so we walked under the tent to get a beer and low and behold they had misting hoses strung up around the edge of the tent so we got a little refreshing cool down as we entered...nice! It is amazing to me, and Kelly and Becky, how many women around here can wear this fantastic dresses, you know the kind you have to wear to work...suit type, and they still look all polished standing in the heat and humidity with the rest of us. We all have sweat dripping and look like wet noodles but oh, no they look like they just stepped out of a j. crew catalog!! not fair!
The game was a blast...we were only 3 rows up about 50 feet passed the 3rd base line. I was so hoping we would get a foul ball but alas...there were only a couple that even came close to our direction and were much too high or too short. I had some of the best lemonade and peanuts there...they don't sell sunflower seeds at the stadium!! I was disappointed...I thought seeds and ball went hand in hand and I am pretty sure they are sold at Target Field?!
So anyway, the game was fun...especially because I got to see Beck and Holderby! Fun times with fun college friends...now if only the rest of my college friends could get out here while I am here!! I have 3 more weeks so it is a possibility!! LOL!
UGH, this morning started out rough. Not sure if it was the richness of my meal last night upset my stomach or it was a touch of the stomach flu, but yuck! Without going into too many details lets just say I didn't go to work, took a couple showers and did 2 loads of laundry this morning!
After napping most of the afternoon I am now ready to go meet Kelly and Becky for some tailgaiting before we watch the Nationals game. I am leaving earlier than needed but I wanna make sure I get there in plenty of time. If I get there too early I can look around...lots to see in that neck of the woods!
For our adventure today we took the children to see the USS Barry at the Navy Shipyard. They had a blast getting rid of some of their wiggles by climbing all over the gigantic anchors and all over the train. We then headed over to see the USS Barry ship, and alas it was closed for cleaning and maintanence :( Instead we took the kids to the Navy museum...so much fun to look at the history of the US Navy, from their battles to their equipment and everything in between! The museum is very well laid out as well.
Once home from work I got ready to go meet 2 college friends who are in town...Becky is here for work and Kelly is on vacation with her. I was so excited to see both of them because I hadn't seen either since college!! The funny thing is they live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota only about 4 hours from me...but yet we all go half way across the country to see each other!
The plan was to walk around Old Alexandria and then eat at "The Wharf" restaurant, Becky had made our reservations for 7:00. I left around 5:00 for the train station and only had a short wait to board the first train...smooth as silk. Got to the transfer stop at La'Enfant got on the next bus and we sat...and we sat...and we moved a little bit...and we sat. You get the picture...it was taking forever to get to my King Street exit. Whew, we made it finally to King Street and I waited for my 29k bus....and waited, and waited. By now it is after 7:00 and Becky and Kelly are already at the restaurant waiting for me. After texting back and forth Becky calls and tells me to hop on the trolley that should be stopping in the parking lot across the street...sweet it is just pulling in the parking lot!! What great luck...things are turning around. Get the front seat of the trolley and just as I am going to ask the driver which stop is the best to get off at he turns off the trolley and gets off!!! UGH...I ask the guy sitting next to me what is going on and he said they are switching drivers...takes between 10 and 15 minutes!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! So i text Kelly and let her know what is going on...disbelief. What should have taken 45 minutes tops is now taking the better part of 2 hours!!
Once there Kelly and I have a great time catching up on family stuff and other college friends etc. I order a fantastic Pomegranate Daquiri...and for the main course I order seafood stuffed Chesapeake Founder with this amazing cream sauce over the top!! Kelly ordered a combo plate with a variety of seafoods on it...delish! Becky ordered lobster linguini and it looked scrumptious as well!
After we finished eating we headed over to Murphy's Irish Pub. There was this great guy named Sanford who sang some irish tunes while he strummed his guitar! My favorite was "What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor"...not sure why I know it, and I didn't know all the verses but it must be a song my dad sings or used to sing to us.
I didn't stay at the pub too late because I was worried I wouldn't make my train transfer at La'Enfant...the metro doesn't go all night i guess. I made it fine! My only concern was my walking back from the train station to home. It is about 9 blocks and it was late at night. Thank goodness for my bestie Andrea who I called and she kept me company on my walk home. :)
So the biggest news I have is that we had a quick rainfall with a little thunder and that was all it took to cool things down into the 80's this afternoon...with a great breeze blowing! YIIPPEEE! I opened all the windows stuck fans in them and cooled down the whole house! It feels and smells so nice now!
Today our adventuring took us to the Air and Space Museum...my group looked at the space part of it. We saw all kinds of space ships and space suits as well as stars and meteors! We also got to listen to the sweetest little elderly lady read us a story about being an astronaut. I was impressed with how well my 10 kids sat and listened to her read.
This afternoon I made supper (pasta with diced tomatoes & chilis with chicken) and Julian helped me set the table. He was very excited to help...even more so because Tony had asked Barnaby to do it but he had to use the bathroom first so Julian jumped at the chance to outdo his big brother. I made my mom's fresh fruit salad...all it is is cut up fresh fruit with some sugar sprinkled on top, but it was a big hit with everyone but Meren. Julian even wanted more fruit salad instead of chocolate ice cream. We made a boat out of the sliced banana and covered it with blueberries and strawberries...and of course a "kinda bigger sprinkle of sugar" as Julian requested.
After supper Meren and Julian and I went outside so Meren could walk her baby with her new stroller, both were birthday presents from Grandma Mybetty :) We walked the baby, drew with some sidewalk chalk and of course blew some giant bubbles. It was nice to be outside and not covered in a sweaty sheen immediately!
We came in and watched a show online (jaroo.com) called "Stop the Smoggies". It was a quirky cartoon from Canada. Now they all have their teeth brushed and are listening to Tony read them a story. Now all I have to do is relax...because I cooked, Tony cleaned up so the supper mess is gone!
Here's to a Terrific Tuesday filled with lots of giggles and happiness in your corner of the world!
I am not sure if this morning was beautiful because I went to bed so early last night and only woke up a few times, or was it because we all sat down and had a delicious breakfast together with no arguing or fighting between my little cousins, or the fact that after breakfast I went back upstairs and took a nap while they all ventured with the neighbor to a small pool to swim. Either way it was a great way to start my Sunday.
I did the whole church thing on the computer again...great sermon and a few of the hymns we ones I love so it was refreshing in that sense. I am hoping to figure out a bus route to a LCMS church...I will have to transfer several times because the closest one is out of DC proper.
Elizabeth took me to Target today...that was fun. Went to for two things...an air mattress and to make a cd of the pics on my SDHC memory card and print some off to send to Aunt Betty. I failed to bring the memory card and the air mattresses were super expensive especially the one with the pump. I sent a text to Tony so see if he had a pump but he did not. He explained that Jenny had an air mattress with a small hole that had the pump attached...all of this I knew because he explained my first night here that that was one of my options unless Jenny needed it back.
I told him that because I was so tired I would go with blankets on the floor for a bed because I had no ambition to be searching for a hole, i just wanted/needed to go to bed asap, but that I would see if I could find the hole the next day or when I had some energy/time to do so. But alas he gave the air mattress back to Jenny that night so I assumed she needed it for something, and figured I could buy one or have Andrea send me the one she offered to me.
So to make a short story really long...Tony told me we could get Jenny's back today and I didn't need to buy one after all!! So I went to Target for two things and didn't come back with either! I did find some sandbox toys for 70% off ($1.48) and side walk chalk for just as cheap...I think the campers will have fun with them.
I also bought a several dvd's for $4.50 each...The Best of the Cosby Show, the first two seasons; Thirysomething...which I never actually watched when it was on TV because 30 was so old and I couldn't relate to any of them...NOW however is a whole different story. I tried finding it on HULU.com and they don't have it. I also had to get The Best of SHIRLEY TEMPLE!! 23 features...8 movies and 15 short films! I am very excited to bring it home...Alexia loves Shirley Temple too so we are definitely going to have to have a movie marathon.
Now I am at home enjoying the empty house until Jenny brings the kids home and Tony returns from his Beauvair (the school he works at, and I am sure I butchered the name...it is French)Social Event.
Hope everybody has a fantastic week ahead of them...I can't believe it is already going to be Week 3 for me here! Wow time is flying by...I better get going on my Bucket List of adventures!
Another sun filled, sweltering saturday in DC :) Decided to get the cleaning done in the morning before the house turned into a sauna...and I am glad I did. The rain we had a 30% of getting didn't show up so the sun just kept on shining!
I am now an official DC grown-up...I have my own Metro card! It is a big step for me...now I can walk onto the bus like all the cool people do and just hold my wallet up to the beeper and it beeps and lets me in. No more dumping in change and trying to get my wrinkled up dollars into the feeder for me...no siree bob!! Barry and I walked a mile and a half to CVS by Eastern Market to get it but it was so worth it. Then we went to the library next door and checked out some books. Well Barry checked out some books, I bought a Jodi Picoult book...hard cover for $1 at their book sale. Very excited to have a new book to read!
After we left the library we decided to check out the Banana Cafe and Piano Bar. $3 Margaritas and free appetizers...we couldn't possibly walk passed that opportunity! With my meal (chicken burrito with all the sides) I ordered a Dirty Banana ice cream drink...delish! Banana liquore and Godiva chocolate liquore with fresh banana ice cream all blended together! So refreshing!!
Instead of walking home we took the metro (cuz we're grown-ups now) and only had to walk about 6 blocks in the 103 degree heat and humidity...a much easier jaunt on a full belly then the mile + walk home :)
Hopefully tomorrow will bring me to Target so I can get an air mattress...my ribs are really sore from sleeping on a couple quilts on the hard wood floor. Unfortunately for me the metro doesn't go all the way to Target or I would have been there a week ago! I need to make some more friends with cars who like to shop! I also need to make a cd of pictures from my sdhc memory card because the laptop doesn't recognize that type of memory card...to new for this older laptop i guess. I can't wait to post pics of my flight...yes i looked out the window! And pics of Meren's birthday party...so many cute ones of Barnaby, Julian and Meren!
Well this tired girl is going to get ready for bed...have a great night and a Splendid Sunday!
So even though I said it was too hot to venture out Tony and I decided to go to a restaurant called Zest, which the parents of a couple of our campers own. We hopped on the D6 bus...once we were on it we decided to make a pit stop at Union Station so I could look around. What a great place!! So many fun shops...I will definitely be going back to get some souvenirs for my friends and family, chocolate, cigars all sorts of fun stuff!! We thought it would be a good idea to head to the underground level where the food court is and get a snack. We picked, of all places, Taco Bell :) I had a snack and Tony had a meal and then chose a Fancy Bar at a bakery counter. It was a chocolate chip and caramel chunk bar...I had a bite and was not impressed.
Tony said it's because I have been spoiled by my mother's AMAZING baking skills! I agree with him...growing up i loved going to friends' houses and being able to have store bought white bread and packaged cookies! I now realize how lucky I am to have such an amazing baker for a mom. Maybe someday I will have even a 10% love for baking...I need to work on my patience and recipe following, baking is such an exact thing and i can't always pay attention to all the small details!
Instead of going to Zest we headed home...the 20 minute wait for the bus went by in no time because my lovely Aunt Betty called and we chatted about camp (she was out there the three weeks before I could be out here so she knows most of the campers and our adventures) and about Alexia and Collin not being very happy that they are with my parents instead of their mom. We need all the prayers we can get for them right now!!
Once home I thought I better call some of my "other parents" and check in with them so I had a great chat with Winton and Kris, who are my landlords but also very wonderful parent like figures in my life!! The next phone call was to my dearest Aunt Sandy, AKA Mom because I spent every summer and as many weekends during the school year as possible with them in Foley while I was growing up...such a great influence in who I am today! We had a great conversation as well...her son Barry is here teaching at camp as well; you know how guys are though...most don't call their moms too often and fill them in on their day to day lives!
Then it was off to bed...99 degrees at 11:00! I was ever so thankful for my air conditioned room! Hope this weekend is full of fun and adventure for you...unless you want some rest and relaxation, then I hope you get that!
Today was a day of many choices at camp today. Because of the heat we gave the parents and children the option to let their child stay at school and play or go on our field trip to the Discovery Theater and watch the Reptile Show. We had about half go and half stay...I was assigned to stay at camp (somewhat disappointed because I love reptiles, but at the same time relieved because the heat is just sweltering here). We played did some fun inside activities and played outside for a very short time, while drinking lots of water. After lunch the campers put on their bathing suits and we enjoyed some sprinkler and hose time. Their favorite activity in the water to was to spray Miss Jes...even though I didn't have my suit on. With it being 113 degrees outside I was feeling much better with wet clothes...as were all the kids. The rule was they had to be wet if they were going to play outside...otherwise it is just to dangerous!
Tonight I was going to see Dr. Fu's concert at Yard's Park but I think I may just stay in and relax; sitting outside for several hours just isn't appealling right now. I am wondering what Tony's water bill will be with me taking two showers a day, sometimes three! I can't function when i am covered in sweat and grime...we all know how delicate I am! LOL...hope that gave you a chuckle! It is even too hot to wear much for jewelry...*gasp* or even make-up.
Speaking of make-up...reminds me of my 12 year old niece, Alexia...please continue to pray for my parents and Alexia and Collin. Court continues on Tuesday, Trish received a continuance so she can find an attorney. The children are safe with my mom and dad, and although Alexia claims she hates it there and has no fun, the reality is she is enjoying being a 12 year old with the other children she gets to play with and both of them have so much fun each day.
I am so homesick for them and wish I could be there to spend time with them and give my parents a break, however this is exactly where God wants me for now and when I get home to MN both Alexia and Collin will be there waiting for me! Thanks for all the prayers and support!
If I do anything exciting tonight I will be sure to let ya'll know by writing about it on here...but I'm thinking even though the temp is down to 103 and the sun is hidden behind some clouds I am probably staying indoors :)
Hope Friday is a Funday for all of you!!
Holy heat batman!! It is unbearable here! This Minnesota girl isn't used to this heat and humidity and my body let me know that today! I realize that I overdid it yesterday...not getting much of a reprieve from the heat until 10:00 last night was not a great idea, I woke up with a killer headache that lingered throughout the day. Thankfully we kept the campers at school and played water games outdoors or they could play inside in the air conditioned classrooms. Because we didn't travel anywhere I was able to leave mid-morning and rest at home in my air conditioned bedroom and go back to school in time to help with lunch. I had a great rest again this afternoon and felt much better after that.
Perhaps winning tickets to "Thievery Corporation's concert on August 20th lifted my spirits as well. I "liked" the Washington DC site on FB and they happened to have on their wall that you could email them for a chance to win a pair of tickets. I thought about entering but I haven't even heard of the band and I was almost to school ( I was walking, not driving while I was checking FB this morning), and I was too lazy to bring up my email, so I decided not to. However, this afternoon when I was checking FB again there was a reminder that there was only a couple hours left to enter so this time I did email them. I WON!! Whoohoo I have much better luck in DC. Not sure if they picked randomly or if the read my email (all I said was I didn't read the fine print so I wasn't sure if I was supposed to convince them I deserved the tickets, but that i as here for 7 weeks teaching and that going to the concert would be another great experience to take in while I was in the fun, fantastic city). Now I need to find someone to go with me...any MN friends wanna fly down for the week-end?!?!
Because I was feeling so rested and my headache subsided we decided to go to downtown DC and see some sites and grab a bite to eat...or a lot of different bites. We stopped at Red Velvet Cupcakery where the three of us each tried a different cupcake...me, I opted for the Summertime, a lemon cupcake with whipped cream cheese frosting with shredded coconut that was so light and refreshing; Barry chose the Cookies and Cream, a chocolate buttermilk cupcake with buttercream frosting; Tony picked the Black Velvet, a vegan and gluten free chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting. We all sampled each cupcake and there was no real loser...they were all simply delicious!!!
We then ate Mac n Cheese from the Cap Mac truck parked outside Red Velvet. We tried the goat cheese variety and again it was delish!! It has sun dried tomatoes and some other great flavors in it...so creamy and delish!
To top it all off we went into TangySweet, a fantastic frozen yogurt place with wonderful flavors and endless toppings from candy to fruity pebbles to a plethera of fresh fruits!
After we left there we were feeling quite energetic and there was a slight breeze so we walked around for a little bit. I took some neat pics (which I will have to figure out how to upload those onto this site) and even bought some postcards at the visitor center.
After cooling off in there we crossed the street and waited for our bus...sweating while sitting still is in no way, shape or form fun for me!! I am glad to be home, sitting on the front steps with a cold beverage waiting for the AC to cool my room down.
I am glad to hear it is cooling down back home in MN...the heat is supposed to last here through the week-end and then cool down into the MID 90's!!! Definitely looking forward to that...I am hoping the dew point drops as well. I realize that it won't get as cool here as it is in MN though, but will take whatever relief we can get! Sitting outside at 10:00 and it still be 97 out is a bit much for me!
Oh what a fun day we had today! We took the campers to Yard's Park...they got to play in the wading pool and sprinklers. We also got get our groove on with the band "The Congress", which was performing a lunch concert. A great way to get our minds off the sweltering heat and humidity!
I also had the opportunity to go a DC United pro soccer game...it was a great experience considering soccer is NOT one of my favorite sports. The US Marine Corp did their silent routine. Very impressive...considering it was still in the mid 90's with dew points in the upper 80's and the were in full dress! Although we lost it was still a great opportunity to experience yet another great event in DC!
What a terrific Tuesday...sweltering heat, but so much fun! We took our campers to the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum and looked at all sorts of things on the 2nd floor...rocks, bones, bugs, butterflies and bats.
The heat is getting somewhat unbearable and even to the point of dangerous towards the end of the week...heat index is supposed to be upwards of 120 degrees!!!!! We have canceled our travels for Thursday and Friday and decided to have water fun outside and movies and inside play as well.
Two fun things after work...went shopping in Maryland with Miss Angel, my co-worker. Found some fantastic plaid flip-flops for $3.00...going on out a limb with plaid, decided I needed to get outside my box (wink, wink)!!
The other fun thing was having Meren's 3rd birthday party. Supper was Kraft macaroni & cheese and homemade pizza. Dessert was chocolate cake and homemade chocolate & peanut butter ice cream! I took some great pictures but unfortunately the laptop isn't reading my SD card so I can't upload them :( I will have to go to Target soon so I can use their photo lab kiosk to create a CD and print some off. Aunt Betty~ I have great pics of each of your grandchildren so I will send you actual pictures of those. Meren's smile as she is pushing her new stroller is so adorable! She loves her new baby doll and stroller!!
It is still in the 90's as I write this at 9:20 pm...the sun has gone down and it is so humid out. I am soooo looking forward to going to bed in a nice cool air conditioned bedroom!
Tomorrow we are going to swim with the campers...very much looking forward to that excitement!
Goodnight Ya'll...hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!!
Today we took the campers to the National Arboretum...just a short walk to the bus and then just a quick walk from the bus stop to the Arboretum. We observed the koi fish and even fed them some acorn tops. After our koi fish fun each group went their separate ways...our group went to the garden and then hiked somewhat up the "mountain".
Now we are all home and supper is in the oven...it is too hot to put a whole lot of energy into supper so it is fish sticks, green beans, salad and fresh fruit.
As far as any adventure tonight...well, I don't foresee anything exciting happening. We may watch a movie on the laptop and just relax. I am looking forward to bed tonight...I caved and turned the air on in my bedroom. Looking forward to not waking up each time the part of my body facing down is sweat-drenched.
Here's to hoping all of you have a cool, relaxing evening!
What a fantastically lazy Sunday it has been! Slept until 8 am...breakfast of a bowl of cereal and then fell asleep on the couch reading my book. Woke up when Tony announced he had made bacon so I made myself a BL(no T) sandwich. Delish! Snoozed and read some more until early afternoon...read the church service online. I really do have to figure out the bus system so I can get to the LCMS churches around...none of them are within walking distance.
Went grocery shopping with Tony and the kids. Meren helped me pick out some fresh asparagus and cucumbers as well as a pineapple. Tonight we had porkchops on the grill along with Meren's aparagus with butter and fresh garlic all wrapped up in some foil...MMM good!! Julian and I ate a lot of the trees ourselves...Meren wasn't a huge fan, she ate a couple but that was it.
I have added so many places and things to see to my bucket list...I need to get busy so I can get them all in the next 6 weeks! I am excited to go to the war memorials...my Grandma gave me the name of my great great uncle that was killed in WW2 ( i think?) but I can't remember his name so I am waiting for her to call me back with that info. Art Stoltenow, my 92 year old friend from church, lost his youngest brother in the Vietnam war so I have to make sure I get a rubbing of Gilbert's name. If anybody reading this would like a rubbing or for me to take a picture of their loved one's name leave me a comment or email me...I would love to do it!
As I write this I am thinking of all my family and friends back in MN and the midwest who are surviving some very oppressive and sweltering heat. UGH...I am glad I am here! The high here today was only 91...very humid but not 100 degrees! And there is a breeze here, which I am told is very rare, so all the more reason to be thankful.
Hopefully going to bed early and get a great night's rest for the upcoming week of camp. Fun places to visit this week...can't wait to tell you about all the adventures each day!
We have stopped home quick to drop off Elizabeth's car and continue on our "Elizabeth's Birthday Adventure". Hamlet: Reframed was a fantastic production...open audience with people sitting on all sides at floor level and up on balcony things. Very good acting and very comedic!! The Fringe Festival lasts all month and we are already planning on what to see throughout the rest of the month!
After the play we ran into many of Elizabeth's friends so I was introduced to so many new wonderful people who all had ideas of how I should play out my tourist trips the next 6 weeks! There was a fun courtyard with a bar and grill (literally a charcoal grill) so we ordered a beer (with no olives or pickles available!!! oh the tragedy of that!!!) and a grilled burger...DELISH!! I really wanted to order Blue Moon but because I can get that in MN I ordered a local tap which was pretty good...would have been better with my "salad" of a pickle and olives, but definitely enjoyablle, hence the reason I had 3 of them as afternoon turned into evening :)
Soon we are heading to one of the local joints for a few more beers and some great company (or at least Tony claims his friend Joe is just that). As for tomorrow I am excited to head over to Our Savior's Lutheran for church...there are several LCMS churches around the DC area and I am looking forward to attending them all, that said I need to get a little more comfortable on the D6 Metro Bus!!
Have a great Saturday night, I know I will!
When I woke up this morning Barnaby was the only one up...he was very proud of himself because he had made himself some toast for breakfast already! He then announced that I probably needed some decorations for the walls in my bedroom (which is comical because he has nothing on his walls)...he proceeded to make me some snowflakes for my walls. Not just any snowflakes but themed cut-outs; some of nature that had trees cut out with leave designs around the edges and love themed ones with hearts cut out all over :) He is such a clever 8 year old! I can't wait for him to get home so he can help me hang them up in the appropriate places on my walls!
Tony, Barry and I ventured to the bank to cash our paychecks...whoohooo the freedom of having cash again :) I immediately went to CVS pharmacy and picked up some necessities such as Q-tips and lotion among other things that I am wondering how I forgot to pack?!?! Deodorant for instance...really?!?!
When we got home Tony, Jenny and the 3 kids went on a bike ride and since I don't have a bike here I was able to stay home and enjoy some peace and quiet. Grandma Rezek (Andrea's maternal grandma, who I love dearly) was so right when she said the older I get the more set in my ways I get...I am definitely used to having my quiet time in the morning, and always I guess when i am at my house. I love Tony and the kids to pieces and am not complaining, just stating that I am realizing now how I just took a quiet home for granted! :)
Tony's renter in the basement, Elizabeth, has invited me to attend a play this afternoon called "Hamlet: Reframed". It is part of the Fringe Festival that is running this month...the synopsis of the play is as follows..."While Hamlet is off monologuing, what about the rest of Elsinore? Rather than showing Hamlet's inner thoughts and private actions, this cropping of Shakespeare's text focuses on how the king and queen deal with a mad and murderous prince." Basically they have cut out all of Hamlet's parts and are focusing on the other characters and their reactions to Hamlet. I am very excited to see it! And, it is Elizabeth's BIRTHDAY!! Which, she told me, means that the play will be followed by drinks and dinner with some of her friends. I am looking forward to meeting new people in town...all of them adults! I love my campers but I am looking forward to some adult interaction that doesn't involve children :)
The weather here is gorgeous, 89 for a high and the dew point isn't supposed to get about 70 today! That means my glistening will be minimum to moderate...yippeee! I hope all of you have a fun filled weekend as well!
Today was perfect weather to go to Kingman Island...a fantastic island created by the Army Corp of Engineers in 1916 from the sediment of the Anacostia River. Lots of trails for walking, rocks for climbing and creatures to investigate and chase. We explored all morning, had our picnic lunch there and explored a playground on our walk back to the school. So much fun to watch the kids climb and run...oh yeah and to scream like maniacs without getting told to use their quiet voices.
We had just crossed the bridge to get off the island when one of my campers was stung by a bee!!!!! UUGHH! I tried to be brave and comfort the little boy but alas, I saw another bee (or the same one) and screamed like a girl and walked quickly away...all while asking Mr Brown to take care of it! I really hope the other campers couldn't sense my fear!
I also need to take back that there are very few mosquitoes here. This evening Barry and I were sitting on the front porch and he was being eaten alive...but not me!! He has at least 26 bites on him...all swelled up, me...5 bites and no swelling :)
Barnaby, my 8 year old cousin, helped with supper...he decided a salad would go great with the ribs I was making. He created a spinach salad with sliced mushrooms, cucumbers and feta cheese...all of which he sliced and crumbled himself! It was very delicious!
It is a Friday night and I am loving just relaxing on the couch...no tv, no radio just the sirens and angry cicadas to keep me company! My co-worker Miss Angel invited me to flea market with her in Baltimore so I am looking forward to that so much!! I am so blessed!!
Oh and I have saved the best for last...my parents got Alexia and Collin today!!!!! Halleluiah!! Our prayers are answered!! My parent's attorney, Rebecca Rue, presented the paperwork to Judge Drange this morning and court ordered emergency temporary custody be given to my parents until court on August 16th. Please continue to pray for my family and especially the children as they adjust to their life changes...it won't be easy for any of us!
