"Beach" and the Break

It's been what I like to call "Virginia hot" for what the meteorologists are saying is a record breaking time, so last week we took a little adventure to a place I have wanted to go for a long time - Leesylvania State Park. I had heard they had a little beach area a few years ago, but it is a bit of a drive for us. I finally decided to go, and bonus I finally got to see my teammate for life and her new baby (who I seriously felt like was half mine). Quinn had a great time splashing around in the water.

Other than this adventure, we've been doing the same old. Painting, hiding, and moving rocks, finding new trails, playing, and reading some books. I have also been working virtually about once a week. It's helping to get a little better acclimated to my new job, but it's rough not being in person and trying to learn new things. We've also been listening intently to the hot debate over reopening schools this fall. Last week my district pre-voted for a 50% hybrid model. I was surprised when late last night it was voted down. Around 2 a.m. they motioned to open virtually for the first quarter.

We drove through a Vacation Bible School supply pick up last weekend, and we left a rock in the growing piles at our church/Quinn's school. We still miss getting to come here everyday, and now we have to decide what we will do with Quinn next year. Such a hard decision. 

Earlier this week, I drove halfway to Pittsburgh and met my parents, so that Quinn could go visit them for a few days BY HERSELF. She has been asking to do this for months. I was moderately worried she would freak out at the exchange point, or at bedtime, but she is having a great time. This is only the second time in 4.5 years that Quinn has spent time away from us, and her first ever time away from her house by herself. I miss my friend, but it's been nice to not have to be in constant entertainment mode the past couple days. The parents also got ice cream during this momentous occasion...something that never happens around here due to food allergies. We are also watching Hamilton and not starting it at 10 p.m. Living large. 

Pizza Bagels

It has been 116 days since March 13, 2020. I have cooked dinner probably 108 of those days. We have had take out four times. Matt cooked something a few nights, and then I decided Quinn should take a turn. She hasn't made dinner in 4.5 years after all. I declared this as law last week. She would start making dinner every so often, and something that requires little to no help from me. She was not too happy about this at first, but once we got her into it she was super excited and proud. First up was pizza bagels with cucumbers and tomatoes and ranch on the side. All I helped with was the set up and the putting in and removing from the oven. It was perfect.

Rocks, Fireworks, Swimming

Another week of life's strangest summer gone by...this one marked by the huge highlight of swimming in a real pool. We also continued the adventures of painting and hiding rocks. This time we took our adventures across town to try to find some new rocks and to hide some of our own in a new location. You can see one in the cannon above.

Quinn found this robin's egg on a walk back from the rock trading post located in our neighborhood. 

Let's title these two pictures, 'very expensive dress up clothes.' Quinn's dance recital was the last weekend in May, and while the studio keeps saying it will happen, I'm not so sure at this point. In any case, we had already paid for her costumes, and we went to pick them up this week. I made her put them on and take pictures when we got home. She loves to dress up, so she was very excited and did not want to take them off. 

Quinn saw this Starbucks cup months ago and has wanted one ever since. It has confetti dots in it that change color when there is a cold beverage in it. I haven't seen one in stores, and also I wasn't buying a 4 year old a Starbucks cup. I told her she could cash in the rewards points she earns for doing chores/schoolwork, or she could pay me back and I would order her one on Etsy. She chose the cash option from her piggy bank.

It has been feels like temps of around 100 degrees for what feels like weeks at this point. We were very lucky to have a pool to ourselves for 4th of July weekend. We traded feeding my friend's cat for the use of her pool while she and her family were away. Great deal. Quinn even learned to swim a little bit by herself by the end of the weekend.

Milkshakes and pool on the 4th of July

Like most places, the local fireworks we typically go to were cancelled. We got a few sparklers to do and weren't upset about the whole thing. After we finished up at the pool for the day, we drove back home and there were fireworks in any direction we looked. It was the craziest thing. I guess people took matters into their own hands. When we pulled into our neighborhood so many people were outside either setting off fireworks, or watching. It was such a strange experience, but also pretty fun.