Summer Fun!

Moving

The upside to moving right down the street is that moving oversized items like lawnmowers and bikes is a breeze!

 The downside of moving right down the street is that there are still the same number of boxes to unpack.  

Cincy

Cincinnati over Fourth of July was super fun!  We saw our friends and family and hit quite a few of the Cincinnati hot spots.  There was a lot of swimming, picnicing, and playing.  We played many rounds of Scene It, Harry Potter edition, that Mom had picked up at a garage sale.  What a find!  The day we went to Coney Island was cloudy but the sun came out after lunch, right when we were finished riding all the rides.  The kids love visiting the large pool there and using the waterslides.  We also took the kids down to the fountains at Bicentennial Commons where they splashed around on the hot hot day.

Home of the Free, Because of the Brave

By the end of the week we had so many things, we couldn't see the top of my dining room table!  I probably should have taken more pictures.

My friend Becca was leading a care package ministry at her home in Texas and asked me if I had an address for her to use for the shipments.  I started emailing friends whose husbands are currently deployed (there are several).  I came back with two addresses...one would ship packages to troops across Africa and the other to Qatar. I decided to keep one address and give her the other one in order to double our efforts for the troops!  My friends all rallied on this one, dropping off magazines, hygiene items, small snacks,etc.  The day of the stuffing party, the kids wrote notes and colored pictures for each package.  We shipped 7 boxes and I know Becca shipped tons of boxes too!  They were a small way for us to show the troops we are thinking about them and appreciate all they do to keep us safe.  

The kids go to school with so many children whose parents are either deployed to combat areas or as support for our military stationed in more dangerous parts of the world.  They are gone sometimes 365 days at a time.  Those Mamas (and Dads too, as many Moms are deployed) are tough cookies.  They are so strong and rely greatly on their friends and neighbors to get through those times.  This was the least we can do.  "Thank you for your service" has become a phrase we utter often.  We are so thankful for our time spent in Springfield, VA, surrounded by these wonderful families who have taught us so much!

Tidal Basin Paddleboats

When Grandma Kathy was here in June, we met Jackie and Scott down at the Tidal Basin for a little paddleboating.  Abby was completely overwhelmed at the idea of putting on a lifejacket and getting into that little boat.  She's been on plenty of boats but she wanted to part of this boat with pedals.  We were quite certain we wouldn't make it out of the dock with her.  I'm sure those touring the Jefferson Memorial could hear her screams.  However, after about three minutes, she was loving it.  She helped steer our boat while Brad and I pedaled.  We pedaled around the Tidal Basin in D.C. for almost an hour, it was a nice cool day and the canopy blocked the suns' rays nicely.  We enjoyed a yummy lunch with Jackie and Scott at Cantina Marina along the water.  It was a perfect day!