April 25th

The 5th was my last update, Phil was in Minneapolis celebrating his 40th birthday with no-fun work meetings.  Obi had a baseball game, and Athan had a lacrosse game. 

I had to get the appropriate socks to be playing lacrosse in Maryland.

On the 9th I learned that my bees all died this winter.  It looked like they ran out of stored honey, and I wasn't there to feed them.  😢

On the 10th Cora received her official acceptance to Greenheart's Study Abroad Program in Austria.  She also received her host family assignment.

She will be living in Königstetten, Niederösterreich Austria.  It is a small village about 19 miles from Vienna.

The family has three boys ages 8, 7, and 5.  She will attend school in Tulln.  She will be in Austria from September 2, 2017 to February 4, 2018.

We are still all processing the many, many emotions of the whole adventure.

On the 11th I tagged along with Phil to the Craft Brewers Conference in DC.  Phil became involved in meetings in the afternoon, so I wandered around and enjoyed a few 2oz samples.  I had to hunt for the non IPAs, not a fan.  I did find some sour beers I liked.  The conference hosted quite an eclectic group of people.  One thing that stood out to Phil and I was this little machine.  

That evening we had supper with 3 German men who are with a company that did work on the project out here.  After supper we headed to the rooftop bar of the W Washington.  

Here's the views we enjoyed.

Here's the view from our hotel room.

On the 13th my dad decided he was going to come out for Easter weekend.  I was able to find a flight for him Friday afternoon to get in late Friday night.  We had planned a trip to Baltimore, so we decided not to tell the kids differently.  They woke up Saturday morning to a big surprise.

Saturday we heading into DC to show their Papa all of the sites.  In one day we walked around the Capitol, road in the DC Circulator past Union Station, walked around the Washington Monument, ate lunch in front of the Monument, visited the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, WW II Memorial, and then walked to view White House.  We then make a quick visit to Arlington National Cemetery.  

Sunday we took my dad to Ocean City.  We watched dolphins at the end of the fishing pier. We enjoyed some Thrasher's fries for Easter brunch.  Then a short ride to Assateague State Park for lunch on the beach.  The weather was quite warm, the sun was very sunny, but the water is still too cold to swim.  

After a few hours enjoying the sun and sand, we drove over to the bay to do some crabbing.  Crabbing was a lot slower than usual, and we lost one of our lines.  You can ask a certain someone how that happened.  We came home with only 5 keepers.

Monday Phil had to return to work, and the kids had musical practice from 12-5.  After running to the market to grab some oysters and clams for supper, I took my dad up to the job site.  Phil gave us the full tour.

Monday night for supper we had Manhattan style clam chowder, fresh oyster, and the crabs we caught.  YUM!!!

Tuesday morning my dad flew out early, and the kids returned to school.

South Pacific performances began on the 20th.  The kids have worked very hard the last several weeks with some VERY long days.  Cora, Gavin, and Athan had parts, while Obi helped with sound duties.  

There were two casts for the 5 shows.  

In the Palm Tree cast Cora was a Native Girl, Gavin was Marine Sgt. Hassinger, and Athan was a Native Child.

In the Coconut Cast Cora was Ensign Cora MacRae, Gavin's character was the same, and Athan was not in this cast.  Obi was part of the sound team for both casts.  

Yesterday's and todays afternoon and evening activities have been canceled due to the rain.  No one is complaining.  The rest and quiet is nice!

Thanks for reading.  Enjoy the photos from the show.  

(sorry they're not quite in order)

 

 

 

 

April 5, 2017

Spring and spring activities are going at full speed.  Although I'd say the amount of activities going on here are much less than they'd be in Iowa at this time, with the added travel time, we are staying busy.

Obi recently had an assignment for his Family Consumer Science to bring a food that represented his culture.  He chose to make a pumpkin pie.  He learned how to make pie crust.  The first time didn't go so well; the second time was a success.

The 25th Gavin and Athan had a lacrosse scrimmage, and then on the 1st had their first game.  They had great improvement between the two weekends.  Phil and I were surprised and found it humorous just how physical the games are.  I don't know how humorous the boys found it, but I know that even they were surprised.  We encourage them to do more pushing, body checking, and stick jabbing........only on the field.

Before Saturday's game Obi and Gavin played a game of catch.

While the rest of us spent the afternoon at the lacrosse fields, Cora stayed home to give sushi making a try.  We came home to a sushi supper.

Sunday we made a trip in D.C..  We enjoyed the cherry blossoms around the tidal basin, then walked to the mall.   It was warm, the sun was shining, the grass was green, and the food trucks were lined up.  We grabbed our lunch from different trucks and enjoyed the experience.

We did a bit of the Holocaust Museum, and then part of the National Art Gallery.

Obi had his first baseball game with the school team Monday night.  He decided to do baseball, because it would be a more consistent and structured than the middle school track experience.  Cora ended up not doing track like she had planned.  The school musical schedule and the track schedule were not aligned to allow students to participate in both.  

Today Phil turns the big 40!

It's a bummer that he's spending it in Minnesota in meetings all day.  

Be sure to wish him happy birthday.

Thanks for reading, Jessica