Summer 2010, Part I

We have really been enjoying an event-filled summer this year. So many summers have flown by leaving us regretting the fact that we did not take more advantage of the time while we had it. Fall is filled with soccer and Nutcracker practices. Winter is too cold to do anything outside, plus all the holidays and travel. Spring is taken up with soccer, baseball, end of school-year festivities, and recitals. Summer is supposed to be that time when our weekends are more our own to do all those things we always said we wanted to do. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of planning to seemingly be spontaneous. Last winter (in anticipation of not wasting another summer), we sat down and made of list of all the things that we wanted to do this summer... then, being the organized nerds that we are... we put together a spreadsheet to match each activity to a weekend, so that all our summer weekends were filled. It could have been so easy to not stick to our plan, but we have... or at least used it for a guide. It's been fantastic! A short run down of our summer so far.

June:

Great Falls: I'd only learned that we had such a gorgeous National Park right in our own backyard just this past year. We spent the afternoon just admiring the falls from three different overlooks and taking a short hike to some canal remnants. We even sat and watched some kayakers struggling with the current. It was a wonderful afternoon (even though we had to initially sit in our car and wait for the downpour to subside). The kids love the outdoors so much. Clara wants to stop and record in journal about all the plants and insect life that she sees. Lucas wants to lead the way and be the first to discover each hidden treasure. Eli just loves the freedom of being outside and running.
Blueberry Picking and Luray Caverns: The blueberry field was actually on our way to the caverns, so it was a nice diversion. The caverns were something that I had always wanted to see. They were spectacular, much more so than even I had imagined. And of course, the beauty and massiveness of it doesn't come through in the pictures. And luckily for me... I really got my money's worth, getting to go through the caverns three separate times thanks to Eli needing to hit the bathrooms halfway through.

Baseball Game DC Nationals v. KC Royals: Ball games are always a hit with the older kids... the whole atmosphere of being there in the stands, eating the peanuts right from the shell and pitching the shells right onto the ground. It always seems like the game is secondary, but it's a fun family outing no matter. This time, however, proved interested with Eli in the midst of toilet training. He kept using the bathroom as a way to get out of uncomfortable situations, like when the fireworks went off or when the crowd got rowdy or when it started raining. So it was a LOT of up and down the stairs with him (and it was a lot of stairs as were were nearly at the top).

Dance Recitals: The culmination of a whole year of hard work in dance class! A day we look forward to each year... and they did absolutely great! I posted the videos on YouTube, in case you haven't checked them out yet.
July:

Camping at Peaks of Otter (Blue Ridge Parkway) and Natural Bridge: This was our first camping trip of the year. We were all very excited. I was especially excited as Eli was a year older and I was looking forward to him being a bit less of a handful than last summer... he wasn't. He was so desperate to be one of the older kids and do what they do that it made it more work for me to constantly be on guard. We all loved it and had a great time though, despite all the whining, the falls and scrapes. Our first day, we drove down the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped at some overlooks and a few short hikes. I think the favorite part from this day was the rocks that the kids climbed all over. Jason took Clara and Lucas on a night hike, which was another highlight from that day. The second day was spent just exploring the Peaks of Otter recreation area. We did three 2-mile hikes (one took us down to a waterfall, one took us up to a homestead farm, and one was just a nature loop). We took some time out to head down to Bedford, VA for some ice cream and a look around the visitor center. Our third day was spent at Natural Bridge.
National Air and Space Museum: We've lived here now for over 4 years and this was our first visit to the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. Let me just say WOW! Of course, the first thing that strikes you is the size of these aircraft... and then when you realize that these aren't replica's or models... they are the real thing... it's kind of awe inspiring. Especially the Space Shuttle Enterprise! The kids ran through the museum pretending to be little airplanes. Clara's favorite was the Concorde.

More Blueberry Picking and DC United Soccer Game: More blueberry picking? I know, but we were out after our last outing and there is this particular farm that we love going to, so it only made sense... especially since the rain resulted in a much longer picking season. We ended up coming home with over 9 pounds of berries... not too bad! That was Saturday. On Sunday, we went to our very first major-league soccer game. The World Cup literally brought soccer into this house. Clara and Lucas both play soccer, but it just isn't the same as seeing it played by professionals. Lucas was obsessed with the World Cup... wanting to watch every match and literally crying when we were out and he missed one. The humorous part is that the only channel that we have that broadcast World Cup matches was Univision... so we were watching nearly all the matches in Espanol! (There were a few Saturday games that were aired on ABC.) Nearly every day, Lucas and Clara were playing soccer in the kitchen pretending to be players from team USA (Clara would be Landon Donovan and Lucas would be Tim Howard). When we heard that Donovan's team the LA Galaxy was playing our home team DC United, we knew we had to go and to top it off, the kid's tickets were free through their summer reading program. What an experience!! Soccer games are the best... so exciting, so action-packed. We will definitely be going to another one next summer... or sooner.
In addition to all this F-U-N we're having... Eli's completely toilet trained, Clara and Lucas are making big strides in the Little Vikings swim team, and we had an very welcomed unexpected guest for a week. It seems like it's been a busy summer so far, but I don't feel overwhelmed. I'm really enjoying it and looking forward to Part II.