Summer 2022

As I look back at the pictures from the summer I realize that I didn't take very many :)

The summer was, as it tends to be, full of things.  I'm trying to think of the things that don't have pictures below. We went to the pool and played outside a lot, the boys went to Georgia with Taylor and stayed with his parents while he had Presbytery meetings, they went to soccer camp at VT, baseball camp at the high school, basketball camp at the rec center, went to "Harry Potter STEM camp" at the children's museum, the boys went camping at Claytor Lake with Taylor, and I took a trip with them to Georgia to stay with my mom and see cousins.  Now that I type that out that seems a little crazy, but some of those things were only for a few days.

We were so happy to have $2 movies back this summer.  We went to see several (Lego Ninjago, Secret Life of Pets, Space Jam, How to Train Your Dragon), some with friends and some with just us.

Our Chick-fil-a is now open all the time inside.  This doesn't seem like it should be a big deal, but it is.  Just this past Saturday (it's October) the boys did an in person Saturday project at Home Depot, went to Barnes and Noble, and then had lunch at Chick-fil-a.  Things that we did many Saturdays years ago but haven't been able to do like that since pre-covid. This picture also makes me think that the boys are still really into playing games and Taylor is happy that they have enjoyed learning "Killer Bunnies"

Taking pictures for the summer photo scavenger hunt for school

We debated what to do about vacation this year.  The past two summers we have gone to the same beach condo and loved it, but the condo was sold this year.  Gabriel has been wanting to go to Washington DC, so we decided to do that.  Amtrak goes from Roanoke to DC and was very affordable, and then we stayed pretty close to the heart of the city so that we had access to walking to sites and the metro.  I think that the boys enjoyed all of the modes of travel most of all.  Amtrak was nice because we could relax and move around (the boys thought the cafe car and Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches were really exciting) and the Metro was fun because they could stand while it was moving and stopping.

Amtrak

The day that we arrived we walked our things to our hotel (you would have thought from the whining that we walked 5 miles) and then went to the American History Museum.  It was a bummer that the entertainment section was being renovated because they wanted to see C3PO from Return of the Jedi and the Ruby Slippers from Wizard of Oz.  They still had fun exploring though.

The second day we were there we took the metro and then a bus to the Air and Space Museum in Chantily (the one is DC was currently closed).  I'm glad we made the trip because there were so many neat planes to check out.  On the way back from that we went to the National Archives and saw the original Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights.  We had shown the boys National Treasure leading up to the trip and Gabriel said very loudly while there "We're going to steal the Declaration of Independence!"  The Archives were neat because they had a kids section with copies of different documents from different states and interesting books for them to read.

I apparently didn't take any pictures the next day when we took the Metro to the National Zoo, probably because it was so HOT.  We went to a bird show and saw lots of animals.  Corban picked out his trip souvenir, a small stuffed red panda that he now sleeps with and calls "Red."  (Gabriel chose a small copy of the Declaration of Independence for his souvenir).  After we left there we were so hot and tired so we went back to the hotel and they swam in the pool and then watched "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy", which they discovered they really liked.  The random things you do on vacation.

The final day there was very busy.  We had a guided tour of the Capital in the morning (which was really informative), then went to the Museum of Natural History (they love "Night at the Museum"), went paddle boating in the Tidal Basin, and then walked to the Washington and Lincoln Memorials

Duck and her babies at the reflecting pool

At the Lincoln Memorial Gabriel kept tracing the memorial stone to MLK from
where he gave the "I have a dream speech."  He seemed captivated by that

And then we were back home for the last few weeks of summer.  In the picture below the boys are at the pool with their friend Aela.  We have known her since kindergarten and I really think that they both see her as a sister.  Corban wanted her at his birthday party this year and they both really enjoy playing with her

Doing his favorite thing - building with Legos

Duck pond with Aela

Corban grabbed one of the baby ducks.  The mom was not happy. 
Aela succeeded too and the mother pecked her

Gabriel did a free camp for a few days called "Youth Experiencing Science" that the VT Chemistry Department does for kids 8-12.  The chemistry grad students work with the kids and do fun science things and also teach them about their research.  At the end of the week they present what they have learned at a local Blacksburg Festival called Steppin' Out.  Gabriel really enjoyed the experiments and getting to sit in a college lecture hall

Grandpa Gregg and Grandma Debbie came to visit for a few days so we took them on a hike at the Cascades.

Birthday party for Gabriel's friend, Bentley

Touch a Truck was also back this summer.  I took the boys and we stayed for a couple hours but it was really hot and they didn't want to wait long enough for most of the trucks.  They have seen many of them before and they were more interested in going to vendor booths and seeing if they could get free candy.  They still had a good time though and Gabriel spent quite a while asking questions and talking to a SWAT team member.  He was showing the boys various types of armor, shields, and tactical things.

Panda Express after the trucks

The boys wanted to try growing some things again this year.  The okra and watermelon did really well last year but this year our harvest wasn't so great.  We got a few beans and cucumbers.  The thing that surprised me though was the corn that we planted.  It grew so fast and so high and required very little maintenance.

Reading before church

 That wraps up everything that I can think of about the summer (which is good since it's now fall).  I will try to make another post soon about Corban's birthday and the start of the school year.