Home for a day

We managed to get all the girls packed up and in the car by 10:30 and I managed to parallel park the giant SUV (these are both incredibly impressive feats). 

We stopped for blizzards at Dairy Queen (2 of the girls had never had them before!) and still made it home by 1:30. 

Overall, it was a fun, smooth trip and I’m so glad I got to go with them. 

Now I need to do a bunch of laundry and repack because we’re leaving tomorrow afternoon for a long weekend at the cabin. 

Chattanooga Day 3

Today we started at Rock City. So glad we went in the morning because even at 10:30 am it was 90 degrees. 

After lunch at the Ruby Falls cafe, we had some time to kill before our 3:00 cave tour. Thankfully teenager girls are way better at entertaining themselves than they were just a few years ago. 

Everyone enjoyed the cave and waterfall, especially because it was so cool in there. 

After a quick dinner at the Purple Daisy, we were all ready to head to the house for showers and some quiet chill time. 

Another successful and enjoyable day in Chattanooga!

Chattanooga Day 2

The girls were up earlier than I thought they’d be and insisted on making their own eggs and pancakes for breakfast. 

First we went to play some pinball. While it’s no Pinball Palace, it was still really fun. 

We took the free electric shuttle across the river and got bento boxes for lunch. We did a little shopping and then rode the carousel. Even though it was really hot, they didn’t feel like changing into swimsuits for get wet the fountain, so we got ice cream and then went back to the pinball museum for another hour of play. 

We made tacos at the AirBnB for dinner and then watched Miss Congeniality before crashing. Another fun day!

Chattanooga Day 1

Yesterday at 4:45pm, Hertz called to tell me that the 12 passenger van I reserved (and already paid for) had been sold and wouldn’t be available for me to pick up the next morning. They offered no solution so after lots of arguing (and invoking repeatedly that this was for a Girl Scout trip), they agreed to to give us 2 cars for the amount I’d already paid. Not an ideal situation, but at least we could get the girls to Chattanooga. 

We loaded up the 5 girls between the two cars and got to Chattanooga in time for lunch. After sandwiches, we attempted a round of mini golf (It was crazy humid) before it started to rain. 

We went to the grocery store before heading to the AirBnB. We made pizza for dinner and then watched 10 Things I Hate About You. Overall, a successful first day!

Snuggly Cat

 Alex has been really snuggly since we got back from DC. 

Beans!

One of my summer goals is to try some new bean recipes, so I went to the library. 

Home again

We left the hotel at 5am to take the Metro, train, and then shuttle to the airport for our 8am flight. While it was unpleasant, it was nice to be home and unpacked by noon. 

DC Day 5

This morning we went to Word Planet- a museum all about language. I think it was my favorite museum we’ve done. It was absolutely delightful. 

We had lunch at Unconventional Diner and then walked over to the American Art Museum. I love any chance you see Kehinde Wiley’s paintings. We stopped by Chinatown to pick up some dumplings, which we ate on the rooftop terrace on our hotel. 

We’re turning in early because our flight is very early tomorrow morning. 

DC Day 4

Yesterday we went to Kramer’s book store and got some treats at a farmers’ market nearby. We went to a beer garden followed by a beer bar (it was Father’s Day after all) and got dessert at Milk Bar. 

We took a bus to the American History Museum, but were disappointed when it closed at 5:30 (those late solstice hours spoiled us!). We especially enjoyed the Food exhibit and the American Culture exhibit. 

We decided to stick close to the hotel for dinner and went back to Bluejacket, where we had dinner the first night. It was an enjoyable place to watch part of a World Cup match and play Pass the Pigs over dinner. 

Korra and I finally tired to make it to the pool only to discover it was “temporarily closed” for no reason we could figure it. Bummer. 

DC day 3

In the morning we went to the Library of Congress. I was extra invested in seeing it after the display I did about the most recent Librarian of Congress, Dr Carla Hayden. 

I might have cried a little after seeing her empty office. 

In the afternoon, we went to the DC Pride Parade. It was fun, but very hot. 

We made a quick stop into the American Indian Museum and ate a food truck burrito in a park before going to the Air and Space Museum for Sally Ride Night. Thanks to those late Solstice hours, we got to do the planetarium, a scavenger hunt, and see as much of the museum as we wanted. 

It was a fun, but exhausting day. I think we’ll take it a little slower tomorrow. 

DC Day 2

In the morning we went to the Spy Museum. It was fun and interactive, if a little crowded. 

In the afternoon, we walked along the Wharf where Nate tried rum and Korra and I tried Chimney cakes. We stopped at a street watch-party for the USA vs Australia World Cup match.  It was cool to be in a space where hearing the chant “USA!” was exciting and not scary. 

In the evening, we took advantage of the late hours at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum for the the summer solstice. 

DC Day 1

While Korra and Nate slept in until 10, I did my PT in the hotel gym, enjoyed breakfast, and read. 

Once we got going, we first went to the Smithsonian Art Museum, then to the African American History and Culture Museum. We had a late lunch at Astro Beer Hall (which was meh).  

Afterwards, we walked to the Reflection Pool, which turned out to be hard to get to since a lot of National Mall was blocked off with things being set up for the 250th anniversary celebrations next month. We really wanted to see it though since it’s currently full of a really aggressive algae that’s being cleaned out. 

We also saw the World War II monument (and some adorable ducklings) and the Lincoln Monument. By this point, we had already walked about 7 miles, so we decided to head back to the hotel to chill out for the rest of the night. 

Figure-out-able

Not sure if it’s from traveling more or age but when things go wrong with travel, I find myself much calmer than I used to be. Was I still upset that we accidentally got on the north-bound train to New York instead of the southbound train to DC? Yup. Especially when I realized the next train station where we hopped off only got southbound service every 2 hours. But we figured it out. We got an Uber to take us back to the airport and we caught the next (correct) train. It probably helped that Nate insisted on buying some McDonald’s at the Atlanta airport so none of us are feeling hangry. Here’s hoping we’re still feeling good by the time we get you our hotel!

DC bound

 We left our house, took an Uber to the MARTA station, took a train to the airport, went through security AND made it to our gate in 45 minutes. 

Now we’ve got 2 hours to kill before our flight even boards. Good thing I loaded up my Kindle with vacation reading!

Speed Puzzles-Redeemed!

 At Speed Puzzles, we redeemed ourselves by coming in 2nd place!

More medical appointments

Yesterday I met with a dietician in the hopes she can help me with some weight gain I’ve had in the last 2 years, ideally in a body neutral way (something I’ve been reading about and working on lately). The first meeting was really good. My first goal: eat more protein at breakfast. 

Today’s appointment was physical therapy for my back. I initially hurt it while bending down to pick up a bag of groceries while holding toddler Korra on my hip. Since then it’s flared up every couple of years- most recently in February. Nothing has helped yet and I’d really like this to be the last time it hurts. The PT seemed nice and helpful. She tried dry needling, which made me have that vasovagal response of feeling really woozy, but since I was laying down, I was able to let it pass. I don’t feel like it helped at all, so I probably won’t do it again. 

I guess I just need to accept that summer is for medical appointments. 

More quilting!

In the last 2 days, I went on a quilting spree and completed the top of a tshirt quilt for Nate. 

I’m really happy with how it’s coming along!

Typical Weekend

We had friends over for dinner and games on Friday evening. I had book club on Saturday morning and we visited with some friends for a bit in the afternoon. Today we went to watch one of the World Cup matches at a Brewery and then got pizza for dinner. Plenty of socializing but also plenty of downtime to watch soccer or tv shows or read and be crafty. 

Trip Planning

I’m simultaneously planning 2 trips: our family vacation to DC that’s next week and the Girl Scout trip to Chattanooga. Thankfully both my family and the troop are indecisive and they’ve allowed me use all my type A skills and plan to my heart’s content.

Sewing but not succeeding

I spent pretty much the entire day working on 3 different sewing projects- only the easiest of which was successful (making a too-short pair of jeans into shorts for Korra). I’m going to take a break and see if some time away from the other 2 projects leads to any breakthroughs in how to salvage them. 

Recovered Rocker

I spent way too much money getting our glider rocker reupholstered, but it was worth it to me because I love this chair and ottoman so much. 

Blueberries!

After helping pull weeds for a couple hours this morning, Korra and I picked and took home half a gallon of blueberries. Yum!

Cat Grass

I planted a big pot of cat grass for Alex to enjoy on the balcony. He loves it. 

Lemon Blueberry Banana Muffins

I made some pretty yummy and photogenic muffins this morning. 

DC

I booked us a nearly week-long trip to Washington DC!  Really excited to take Korra to all the Smithsonian museums, especially since there will be special programs for Pride week, Juneteenth, and the summer solstice while we’re there.  

PE & AP

Korra is taking her high school PE credit online this summer. Yep, it’s a weird as it sounds to take a PE class virtually. 

Additionally, Korra got her schedule for 9th grade and she’s signed up for AP Human Geography, which comes with summer work. These 2 classes plus lots of cat-sitting is keeping Korra pretty busy this summer. 

21

To celebrate our 21st anniversary tonight, we went to the Botanical Gardens for cocktails and live music, followed by dinner. It was a really pleasant evening- beautiful weather, surroundings, and company. 

I’ve officially been married to Nate for half my life. 

Donuts with Korra

 Korra and I went to the eye doctor this morning. The walk back just happened to bring us right by a donut shop…

Speed Puzzles

We went to Round Trip Brewery for Speed Puzzles night with Meaghan and Robert. The puzzle was miserably difficult, but the company was pretty great. 

Patches

Spent the last few days sewing all these patches onto Nate’s satchel. 

Carrots

Korra and I worked on the school farm for a couple hours this morning. We harvested 30 pounds of carrots that got donated to a local food pantry and cleared the weeds out of 4 beds.