Unfortunately, once you slip, it just keeps piling up and piling up and then you never want to start because there's so much to say that you just don't know when you'll have time to write all! ARGH!!
In pondering this situation this morning, I realized that the thing that holds me up is uploading the accompanying pictures. So, to speed the process along of documenting the last couple of months, I'm just going to bullet list everything we did. I may or may not add pictures later.
- March 21: Lyn left for her first solo trip to visit family on the West Coast. She had a great time!
- March 23: John spent the day at the temple with other youth from our church.
- March 24: Margie participated in a mock voir dire, or jury selection, helping Fairfax County Public Defenders prepare for their trials. It was a lot of fun!
- March 27: Easter. We missed having Lyn be with us for our annual family picture!
- March 28: Lyn came home. Yay!
- March 29: John participated in a Scouting Board of Review and the next day advanced to Star Scout. One step closer to attaining his Eagle!
- April 1: John went with his class on a field trip to the Newseum.
- April 2: The family participated in our assignment church cleaning. Margie was supposed to attend training for her new position as Cubmaster, but was feeling sick. Dan started building the Once on This Island set for Edison High School.
- April 8: Margie went with some girlfriends for a weekend trip to Wisp Mountain, also visiting Falling Water during a freak snow storm!
- April 13: John was selected by his Civics teacher to attend a tour of the Fairfax County Courthouse, as well as sit in on a real trial. Margie went as a chaperone. It was very interesting!
- April 15: Margie hosted her first Cub Scout Pack Meeting. This is a monthly get together with all the boys, 8-10, that she oversees, as well as their families. All the kids made percussion instruments and then played them in a special performance orchestrated by a local Eagle Scout.
- April 16: John ran sound for his middle school production of Seussical. Unfortunately, the rest of the family couldn't come see it because we were busy catering the cast and crew luncheon for Once on This Island. We went to see the show that night and John got to sit in the audience. The kids did a great job!
- April 22: John attended a dinner hosted by his Young Men leader, then came to see Once on This Island with us.
- April 23: Margie attended a regional scout meeting in Ashburn. It was really far away, but she learned a lot and is glad she went.
- April 27: Margie volunteered at Finance Park.
- April 29: John went camping and completed a 10-mile hike in preparation for the 50-mile hike he would be doing this summer. He needed some help carrying his pack every so often, but in general, his leader said he did a great job.
- May 4: John went on a field trip with the school News Crew, which he has been on this year editing videos.
- May 5: Margie hosted her last Honor Roll Assembly. She has been the Honor Roll Assembly chair at the middle school for four years, and it's time to hand over the scepter.
- May 6: The family attended a performance of To Kill a Mockingbird at LTA. Dan designed the awesome set, and his sister Debbie tried her had at set decorating for the first time.
- May 7: Margie took the kids to a performance of the rarely performed musical, Starlight Express, at a local high school. We loved it.
- May 11: Margie volunteered at Finance Park.
- May 13: John and Dan attended the annual church Father Son campout.
- May 14: Lyn attended a party in preparation for her work as Youth Camp Leader this summer.
- May 17: Margie and John met with the guidance counselor at the high school (yes, John's going to be in HIGH SCHOOL) to discuss possibly participating in a new pilot Global Stem Challenge program next year. This is a program that combines math, science, engineering and computer science into one class, working in conjunction with local businesses to solve real world problems. He's going to do it!
- May 18: Margie volunteered at Finance Park.
- May 25: Lyn went kayaking with some of the Young Women from church.
- May 27: Margie and Lyn attended the annual Thespies, a drama department awards show at Edison High School. It was fun.
- May 29: The family attended a potluck after church.
- June 2: Margie participated in another mock jury. This time in Loudon County.
- June 3: Margie attended the funeral of a dear friend's husband, who died of complications related to Alzheimer's. In the evening, she and John attended the Twain talent show.
- June 4: The whole family helped with the Opening Night Party for History Boys at LTA. One of John's classmates was in the show, so it was kind of fun.
- June 8: Margie, Lyn, and John attended the temple and for the first time ever did work for our own ancestors.
- June 10: Margie participated in a blood drive. It was a kind of a neat experience because there was a woman there who had been a blood recipient over 40 times and was awaiting a liver transplant. She came to encourage, thank us, and hold everyone's hand. It make the whole experience very real.
- June 11: Margie hosted Pack Meeting at Huntley Meadows Park. It was hot and yucky, but the boys had a great experience. That evening John attended a swim party for a friend's birthday.
- June 12: Seminary graduation. For the second year in a row, Lyn received the Thomas S. Monson Award for Excellence.
- June 13: Dan attended the LTA annual meeting. There were no contested races, to Margie opted to stay home.
- June 15: Margie and Lyn had a spa day and got our nails done!
- June 18: Lyn and John performed in a church "roadshow"--basically a mini-play. Twelve local congregations each put on a show based on a given theme. John shocked everyone with his on stage dancing!
- June 21: Margie went with her friend Jennifer Lyman to see a taped live show of James Corden in One Man, Two Guvnors, for which he won a Tony Award.
- June 23: Last Day of School! The kids celebrated by joining their friends in a trip to Shadowland--our local laser tag place.
- June 24: Margie and John attended at financial seminar at USAA. John is really into money and finance, so we thought this would be a good introduction--plus he could make some connections for some summer work experience. It wasn't as great as we'd hoped, but he did learn some good info. In the evening, Margie and Dan attended History Boys.
- June 25: Attended a going away party for a family who was leaving the area.
- June 26: Attended a Front of House Appreciation Party at LTA. Margie has served as the FOH Inventory Coordinator for a couple years now. The rest of the family helps cater Opening Night Parties. John and Margie each one $15 gift certificates in a drawing! That evening, Margie attended training for her upcoming roll as a Youth Conference Chaperone.
- June 27-July 1: John hiked and camped in the Finger Lakes region for Boy Scout High Adventure. He hiked a total of 50 miles!! Meanwhile back at home, Margie served as a Day Camp Walker, overseeing a dozen Cub Scouts as they participated in several activity stations, including archery, BB guns, crafts, etc.
- June 28: Lyn attended a party for the girls she would be overseeing at the upcoming Girls Camp. Meanwhile, Dan attended a dinner to meet and get to know the crew of his upcoming show, Dinner With Friends.
- June 29: Lyn went on a day hike to Old Rag.
- July 4: As usual, we started the day with the annual church breakfast to celebrate the holiday. Margie and Lyn were asked to sing the National Anthem in a women's acapella group. And that was all we did! We didn't even attempt to see fireworks. We're just all stick-in-the-muds when it comes to Virginia summer!
- July 5-July 9: Lyn attended Girls Camp this year as a Youth Camp Leader. She had a great time.
- July 6: A friend was in town on her way to Spain. Margie and John met her, her kids and some other families for brunch and then a trip to Shadowland.
- July 9: John got an iPhone! Also, Margie went with some girlfriends to an Escape Room--something that had been on her bucket list. Basically, you're trapped in a room and have clues to figure out a mystery before time runs out. Unfortunately, time ran out for us, but we were pretty close. It was fun!
- July 10: Lyn attended a Young Women's brunch to continue to work on her Personal Progress--a personal development program developed by the church.
- July 11: The whole family went to the dentist. No cavities! One of Lyn's teeth was "sticky"--basically in a "pre-cavity" stage, so we made another appointment to get it bonded.
- July 13: John and Margie had to go to the Apple store to replace his new iPhone, which was "bleeding data" and charging us $15 every 30 minutes! Ack!!
- July 14-July 16: Margie, Lyn, and John attended Youth Conference. They had a great time. Margie had to leave early on the last day to attend another funeral--the husband of another LTA friend.
- July 18-July 23: John and Lyn attended "Especially For Youth" (EFY), a religious camp sponsored by BYU. They both said it was the best activity they did all summer.
- July 18: EFY was held in Buena Vista, which is about 3 hours away. Margie drove the kids down in the morning, and then, not wanting to drive all the way back, stopped to visit her friend Alison in Luray. Despite the rain, the two of them headed down to the river for some wading and girl talk.
- July 22: The kids needed to be picked up at 7am on Saturday morning. Instead of driving down so early in the morning, Dan took the day off on Friday and he and Margie went down to a BnB not far away. There we swam, went on a little hike, played some pool, and had a great German dinner.
- July 23: Picked up the kids and headed back to the BnB, where we all had an amazing brunch. Dan and Margie had planned a day of sightseeing as we moseyed back home, but the kids just really wanted to go to their own beds, so we went straight there instead. On the way, we finally listened to Hamilton. We were slow to get on that train, but we finally made it, and, like the rest of the world, we're hooked.
- July 27: Lyn and Margie went to the dentist. Lyn got her first filling (sort of, it was really just bonding), and Margie got one of her teeth bonded as well in order to protect the root and make it less painful to eat.
- July 28: The whole family went to see West Side Story at LTA. Dan's set was amazing. It was so cool to watch everyone climbing all over it.
- July 30: Since Lyn's birthday was on Sunday this year, we decided to take her out to eat on Saturday. Aunt Debbie and Uncle Doug joined us for lunch at House of Dynasty. A friend of Margie's who is a food writer has been raving about this place for years, saying it's the best in the area. Margie kind of poo-pooed him thinking chinese food was chinese food, but she's now eating her words. It was fantastic. She still dreams of the orange eggplant she had there. Yum!
- July 31: For Lyn's actual birthday, we didn't do much except make her favorite dinner--orange lentil salad. BTW, she is planning on having a "friends" party after school starts, as most of the people she knows are gone on vacation.
- August 1: Went out to dinner to celebrate the 30th wedding Anniversary of our dear friends, Dan and Susan Maher. We felt very special, as we were the only non-family members there.
- August 5-August 6: Lyn got a job doing some assembly work for a company called TwinGo. It was kind of weird, though. At first they didn't want her because they thought she was too young, but after she proved she was better than some of the 20-somethings that had been hired, the home business owners had her fold laundry and clean their house? It was very strange. But, at least she got paid!
- August 8-August 10: John attended an Entrepreneurship Summit, the first of its kind sponsored by Junior Achievement, which also runs Finance Park (where it was held). Fifteen teenagers were tasked with solving a real world problem, developing a product and marketing plan, and presenting their solution to a group of judges acting as potential investors. He did an amazing job and really shone in the final presentation!
- August 8: Dan and Margie attended yet another funeral for a dear friend from LTA. Margie declared that there had been too many funerals this year and that she would not allow any more! Unfortunately, that would not be the case...
- August 11: Dan, Margie, and Lyn attended a presentation on "Supporting Your IB Student" at the high school. IB, or International Baccalaureate, is the top level class offered in many subjects. Lyn is taking a few of them this year and is a little nervous. Junior year is the toughest in all of high school!
- August 12: Due to repaving of the church parking lot, Pack Meeting was held at our house. We had several outdoor water games. It was a lot of fun, but Margie sure wishes the landscaping was done--including the swimming pool we plan to install!
- August 13: To celebrate Dan and Margie's birthdays, the family went to Sandy Springs Adventure Park and climbed trees! It was a fun ropes course with many difficulty levels. Despite the horrendous heat and humidity, we had a lot of fun and plan to go back as soon as we can--though it's not cheap. After showers and naps, we headed out to our favorite ethopian restaurant, then Ben & Jerry's for dessert.
- August 14: Lyn attended an "Adopt-a-Grandma" brunch. This is a program started by the Young Women to reach out to lonely seniors at church. Unfortunately, her adopted grandma was not in attendance, but Lyn enjoyed the pancakes anyway!
- August 16: Since we had already celebrated Margie's birthday at the ropes course, her actual birthday was pretty low key. Since Margie is doing a two-week raw stint, Dan and Lyn made her a raw apple pie. It was both beautiful and delicious. After dinner, we headed to LTA to finish a major closet clean out. It didn't seem right for Margie to be working so hard on her birthday, but as Lyn pointed out, "It's so Mom to spend her birthday organizing!"
- August 19: Margie and Dan attended a memorial for yet another dear friend from LTA who died. Later that evening, John made another trip to Shadowland.
- August 20: Margie had the day off work, and we hadn't done much in the way of fun and relaxation this summer, so she and the kids decided to spend the day at Pirate's Cove. It was so great to be in the water on such a hot day--nearly 100 degrees!
Of course, there were lots of things we've been up to that couldn't fit in the play by play above:
- Dan has been busy designing and building sets--West Side Story, Dinner with Friends, and soon, Lion in Winter. We hardly see him anymore. Last fall, he developed what we thought was a sty in his eye. When it didn't go away after several months, he finally went to the doctor and discovered it was a "chalazion" and he had to have it removed. That was fun. Also, the basement bathroom was falling apart (it wasn't in the remodeling plan because at the time it was the best bathroom in the house!), and Margie thought it would be an easy thing to just take everything out and put in new shower, floor, and vanity. So we closed the AirBnB for two weeks, thinking it would only take one, but just to be safe. Turned out it was a much bigger job than we thought, problem after problem, poor Dan was going crazy and cursing up a storm, Margie felt horrible that she was putting him through this, and it ended up taking THREE weeks (we had to put our guests upstairs). ARGH!! But, he finally finished, and it's gorgeous. Oh yeah, and we just found out that he was on a team of three people that won "2015 Scientist of the Year" at NAVSEA. Woo hoo!
- Speaking of AirBnB, Margie is still managing our listing and things are going well. We had someone come and stay the entire summer, which is nice because we don't have to clean the space as much or deal with checking people in and out. But our tenant is leaving next week, so that routine will start up again. Margie has also been busy figuring out how to be a Cubmaster, and though it's been 6 months, she still feels like she doesn't know what she's doing. Margie spent most of her spring doing a major home clean out for a friend who has terminal cancer (enough of the dying already!). It was a lot of work, but she was grateful she could help. The friend was super appreciative. She said that she just felt so bad leaving her family with such a mess, and the work Margie did brought her a lot of peace and comfort. Speaking of cleaning out, Margie has also been working to clean out the supply cabinets and closets at LTA. Every 6 weeks, Margie restocks these, and it has been driving her crazy that things are such a disaster. She finally had had it, so she coerced Lyn and John to come to LTA at 7am every morning for a week and help clean. That was the only time we could do it due to LTA summer camps. They were such troopers! Next week, Margie will begin yet another huge clean out--this time of the Edison High School Costume room. In addition to all this pro bono work, Margie has been super busy with her paying clients as well. As you may remember, she added professional organization to her list of services at the beginning of last year. Business has been booming so much she can hardly breathe!!
- After they came home from EFY, Margie declared that summer vacation was over and the kids needed to get to work. Lyn spent two weeks planning, prepping, and cooking meals, and together we did some house cleaning, and of course the work at LTA. She applied for a job at Robek's, the smoothie place, but was told by the owner that he didn't hire people who couldn't work on Sunday. That was a huge bummer. She's done some babysitting here and there, and there was the assembly work at TwinGo. Now she has settled into working for Margie doing some organizing jobs. Right now she is spending most of her time working on making digital photo albums. She enjoys it, and she's getting paid well (higher than minimum wage!), but we wish she could gain experience working for someone other than Margie. The last two weeks, she has also been learning daily money management as she has been responsible for paying our household bills and keeping on top of our spending. She's definitely keeping busy!
- John, too, has been keeping busy. For two weeks, he was responsible for the daily money management, then it switched and he helped with meal planning, prepping, and grocery shopping. He also has been working with one of the Young Men's leaders, who is an accountant, on some projects. Both kids have had summer homework assignments, but John has more than Lyn. She only had a book report, while he had a book report, a history assignment, and an assignment for the Global STEM challenge. And, of course, piano doesn't stop during the summer around here! All this, plus scouts, has kept him very busy and out of trouble (so far!).
Hope you all are doing well!
