Tuesday, August 06, 2019

more of July

Here are scenes from around our house and around our town as we spend our summer days soaking up the warm and sunny weather.
The topsoil and sod placement was a welcome sight as the guys worked to finish the grading and keep the water away from our foundations.
Since I have not been able to garden, I've visited the community gardens checking on the growing plants and admiring the work by fellow citizens.



































late June and early July

 In between finishing the last two weeks of our lesson work, we celebrated Seth's sixteenth birthday with good friends and then with a final checking off the assignment list, we headed to my parents in Pennsylvania to kick off our summer holidays. Shane came down at the end of the work week and we began to plan an overnight trip to Washington D.C. to see the sights with Seth and Laura. Kate stayed with my parents since sightseeing is not her thing.
We met up with my Uncle David who treated us to lunch and a tour of his military retirement home set on 200+ acres right in Washington D.C. His ninety year old friend Frank dropped us off at the closest Metro station so we could go onto the National Mall and see the sights.
Then we headed back to my Uncle's neighborhood by metro where he and his wife Aura met us and took us back to our parked car. Then we followed them over the Potomac after rush-hour to get to our hotel in Alexandria not far from where they live. We checked into the hotel and then drove a few miles into the Historic downtown part of Old Alexandria where we walked around and then picked a restaurant for a late dinner before saying goodbye to them.
The next morning, we drove north of D.C. to a park and ride to catch the Metro back into the National Mall area. We finished the Mall and the heat wave convinced us to find a Metro station to get back to our parked car.
We headed north to Gettysburg, had a quick supper and then only had a few minutes to look around at Gettysburg Visitor Center before thunderstorms took us the rest of the way back to my parents. It was a quick trip and despite the very hot days, we enjoyed our time in D.C. and visiting with my uncle and his lovely wife.
We had two last days to spend with my parents which included the 4th of July, so we bought a small pack of fireworks to entertain ourselves with after dark. Shane promised to get bigger fireworks next year as some of our children were not super-impressed. Good thing the neighbors for miles around have the good stuff.