All is well that ends well.

I attempted to plan out our summer, similar to last year.  Last summer was so successful and we already had the list of the places we wanted to see and the things we wanted to do, so it was actually pretty easy.  What we didn't count on was Jason's job coming to an end... or at least an anticipated end.  So saving money and trying to do some things around the house became the priority... and our fun planned summer came to an abrupt end.  I was depressed about it for about a week and then I completely engrossed myself in our Around the World Tasting project (which I'll mention again later). 

And even if we had been free to follow our summer agenda, the infernal sicknesses that we dealt with would have limited our going and doing.  Between the strep and the colds, Clara tested positive for mono.  Now who knows how many kids are out there walking around with mono... since it has the same symptoms as strep and you can only test for it with a blood draw.  So the fact that Clara's doctor is one of the few in our area that draws blood any time you go in for a sick visit makes me wonder.  Anyway... it's not really important other than the idea that "having mono" still carries a stigma and is highly contagious.  Luckily, the boys didn't contract it, but I did leave the doctor's office wondering how in the world I was going to quarantine the girl.

This was the summer that Lucas got glasses... and he looks so good in glasses.  This summer marked the end of dance classes for the kids... thank goodness their recitals were so enjoyable.  This was the summer that our car, while parked, got hit on two separate occasions... both times by hit and run drivers.  This was supposed to be the summer that I got our house in order and decluttered... and here it is fall and I'm still not done.  Mostly though, what defined this summer was the uncertainty of what would come next for Jason's job... which is still not clear... though at least now the thought of him being unemployed/unemployable is not an issue. 

A new look

"Going to the Chapel"

"Sea Cruise"

I don't want to make it sound like our summer was all dullsville.  It definitely wasn't.  We did get out a few times.  We visited Fort Washington, went blueberry picking, went to see the fireworks, celebrated the 150th anniversary of the First Manassas, had our day at the beach, checked out the local spraypark, and toured the Library of Congress. 

Fort Washington Battery

Blueberries!

Celebrating the Fourth

Fife and Drums at Manassas Battlefield

North Beach

Clara at the spraypark

Library of Congress

Of course the biggest part of the summer for me was spent in the kitchen.  Our Around the World Tasting project was created as something to focus on this summer, since we weren't going to be doing a lot of traveling.  It all started with the purchase of a book from the library book sale, The Kid's Almanac of Geography.  We were flipping through it and there was a couple of pages dedicated to the popular foods from different countries... and Clara and I started drooling over some of the items listed.  So I came up with the idea to try making them as long as the kids did something educational along with me.  So Clara chose 12 countries and away we went... without moving.  Lucas created the country's flag and both kids had to research 5 interesting facts for each country.  We also hung our huge wall map in the dining room, so that the kids could get a real sense of the countries' locations. Clara created tiny little thumbnail-sized flags to attach to the map.  The project was a complete success.  I truly think that we all got something out of it.  In fact, my idea has spread... at least three others have told me that they are going to do this sort of project with their families next summer.  And what I discovered is that this is actually a big deal online.  There are people out there who are trying to create a meal from each country on the globe.  Anyway... it's been over a month since the project ended and at least three weeks since I took the wall map down and we all still find ourselves looking to where the map hung when geography enters the conversation.  I created and kept a separate blog over the summer that was just about the project.  The Around the World Tasting blog was a way for me to keep a journal about not just what we were doing, but I loved having a way to record the kids' reactions to the food, and a central place to link to all the recipes that I tried.  There is only one thing that we would have changed.  Jason discovered this online language tutorial... and I think we would have had the kids learn just a few phrases in each country's language.

Oh the places we'll go...

As the summer came to an end, I knew that we needed to fit in a camping trip... no summer is complete without at least one camping trip.  So Labor Day weekend was spent in Shenandoah National Park... and it was a fantastic weekend.  We decided to explore more of the southern part of the park, which we haven't done before.  We did three hikes (two in the southern district and one in the central district) and we drove down to the southernmost point of the park, where there is not a visitor center.  The fog was incredibly thick, which made for some great pictures and some interesting driving.  And, yes, it did rain... but not the pouring down hard to see through variety, that waited for our drive home.  The family in the campsite next to us had a 9-year old girl that Clara bonded with, not to mention their 11-year old boy that helped Jason start our campfire.  We side-tripped to Shenandoah Caverns on our way home.  Caverns are just so fascinating and beautiful... and Lucas had been asking when we were going to go to another caverns pretty much all year.  The one thing that I will never understand about visiting caverns... why do the owners feel the need to kitsch them up?  Do they not truly understand how beautiful and perfect they are without the rainbow lighting?

The fog set in...

Clara and a new friend

Shenandoah Caverns

For the summer that really wasn't, we ended it with a bang!  And as I've pondered over previously... the way that something ends is the way that we remember it... so 'all is well that ends well' and we just had ourselves a fantastic summer!