Stories, Kayaking, Jamming, the Pool and More

Zach of Note

• A visit to Jurassic World at Bull Run Park
• Back to Burke Lake for frisbee golf, the train, and the carousel
• We're still enjoying Meadowlark Gardens when we get this unexpectedly delightful early summer days. We enjoy the Harmony Hut in the Korean section, and above the Harmony Hut (HH) are some statues that remind us of Onward! After hanging out in the HH, we talked about how much we loved “this place in this place” or “the HH in Meadowlark Gardens.” :) We also talked a lot about how much we loved each other, which was super-sweet. 
• Meadowlark Gardens staff and life guards find Zach adorable. I mean... 
• Some Great Country and Great Falls are still sprinkled in...
• The weather has been up and down and up and down, but we're loving the pool!

• Frank and I have both taken Zach to the Watermine, and it is so fun! Though he did get stung again (3rd time), though it doesn't seem to bother him much
• Zach running into Sacha at the pool
• Video games: a new car game. Sigh :(
• On a rainy day, Frank and Zach went back to the hideout and they got all wet. 
• Ana Freya watches Heartland (like Gamma and Daddy Bob)
• Kayaking on Lake Anne!

• Tennis lessons!!!!!!!!!! Madison is with him!!!!
• He enjoyed playing at Logan and Cora's and broke out Logan's guitar.
• Fireworks at The Turner Farm

Emotions/Empathy Corner

I listened to a podcast about attachment theory, and the research shows that parents only have to get it right about 1/3 of the time, but I still spend a lot of time worrying that I have to stay on top of everything or we'll slide down a slippery slope that will be so hard or too hard to come back from.

When to do kids learn to use a napkin, dry off with a towel, sleep through the night and not constantly wake you up. When are they no longer scared? (This from the woman who was often scared to sleep alone until she was 17 years old.)

Zach had trouble sharing his stuffed animals when we met up with Nolan. We had to have a chat. It's been a long time!

Lego STEAM toys, the Fire, video games, and even fun experiences are a bit of an obsession. Some of these: STEAM toys, certain video games are challenging for him, so he has to get Frank to help him. These can be an obsession

Zach's bad behavior. He lost his shows, video games, and rover (STEAM toy). He pushed me. Fussed about washing his hair, called me mean and an idiot, and wouldn't give up his Fire. 

When I told Zach that I wasn't going home after I dropped him off in Woodstock, that Daddy would be home alone, he said something like, "this is weird for him, me not seeing Daddy. He said, “I don’t know how I feel about that.” 

Zach's Words and Songs and Curious Questions

• We read the Little Golden Book (Big Bird and red, Mouseketeers and “claim jumpers,” and Scrawny Lion, and the New Baby) books
• He got into Encyclopedia Brown
• We have listened The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo and to two books by Lauren Wolk: Wolf Hollow and Echo Mountain, I particularly loved Echo Mountain
• We went to the library together and Zach enjoyed picking up some books that caught his eye. We ended up with Betty Bunny books, and he loves them. We also got the 13-story treehouse, which has been quite popular as well!
• Let's just capture it again: Zach says, “May you go get it for me,” instead of “Will you” or “Would you” go get it for me…
• He can now sing the catchy tune that is also Daddy's phone number. Very good!
• He's gotten into one of his musical books and his keyboard. He plays A Tisket, a Tasket often. It's nice. 
• He very nicely played the piano at Katie and Suji's
  

Sleep Update

• Pretty much the same old, same old!
• I am in my summer solstice sleep pattern. I am waking up early and in the middle of the night.

Good Food

• Julia's poundcake and Dad's chess pie
• Kombucha tasting: Mom liked Health-ade ginger lemon best. Jeff liked the mint limeade from Health-ade. And Charlotte got some Wild Bay elderberry kombucha. 
• A Thompson Italian order. So much yummy focaccia
• Cherries, cherries, and more cherries and peaches, peaches, and more peaches. So good. And Zach has learned to eat cherries off the pit in the style of Greer!
• Gathered Threads cultures. Yum!
• Garlic scape pesto and especially added to pasta and chicken at Katie and Suji's :)
• Auntie Em's strawberry rhubarb muffins, rhubarb bran muffins, berry tart, and sour cherry slab pie
• Apple cider donuts, fried apples, and Zach's most recent winner for "best burger" from the Apple House
• A mountain recharge/writing retreat. So fun! I tried bougie ice cream sandwiches from Richmond, Blue Ridge Bucha (blueberry hops), Pen Druid's Arkansas Black cider (too sour and bitter), a Portuguese sparking wine, the Hopkins Ordinary's Belgian Trippel and Brown Ale, Before and After's chicken salad sandwich, and the Inn at Little Washington's peanut butter and cashew sandwich cookies. Amazing! Photos here!
• Happy 4th of July with a sour cherry pie and faux burgers. Can't wait!

Connection

• Family calls
• Met Julia in Sperryville on Memorial Day weekend
• Memorial Day family picnic at Auntie Em's with Charlotte!
• Kathleen
• Zach visited Gamma and Daddy Bob in early June and early July. In July, I took Zach out for a visit to Woodstock and got to see the kitchen remodel work in progress
• Auntie Em - we can get together and cry
• Brian and Sara Beth's baby shower and cupcakes: vanilla with raspberry. Brian humored Zach and took him all over their house!
• Greer
• A beautiful evening at Bear Chase
• Two evenings with Katie, Suji, and Vero (piano and jamming and tennis!)
• Zach stayed with Grandad for 36 hours while we had a new roof put on. 
• Mary Kay came for an in-person visit, and we got to walk together and talk for four hours!
• Fellow traveler, Liz at the "table for one" section of Hopkins Ordinary

Family Fun

Senor Ramon's tacos and our first visit back to Crooked Run and Daybreak in 15+ months

Fun and Not So Fun Stuff 

• Definitely out of sorts at times (change in seasons, fear, worry, shift in schedule, change). Late May/early June was TOUGH. At times, I feel like I'm the only one who gets upset. What's wrong with me? (Nothing, I know, but it's hard.)
• Man, the cicadas got old. Flying into me. In one part of my walk, there were so many dead carcasses that it really smelled. It would be hot and smelly. Yuck!
• One day they showed up to jackhammer all afternoon! Not cool. 
• On a Sunday night, we were informed that our roof work would be done on Tuesday, then Thursday, then Wednesday. So frustrating. It is good to have a new roof and gutters and maybe new siding soon. I reached out to the bathroom remodel guy
• Rappahannock County - my new fave place! I went on my own (Skyward Cafe), met Julia (Before & After and the Thornton River Walk), to meet Tim and Nolan at Rappahannock Pizza Company, and finally to Sumac, Pen Druid, and the Little Washington Winery on my weekend cottage stay at Sharp Rock Vineyard on the Hughes River and I have scoped out Copper Fox Distillery on the Thornton River as a great place to meet up!
• Read/Reading: Ade by Rebecca Walker, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May (thanks Emily R.), Love by Toni Morrison, Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C. Ford, Ghost and Patina by Jason Reynolds, Love & Gelato, and Jews, Palestenians, and Friends by Richie Zweigenhaft
• Reading bits of: Stay Woke 
• Watching: finished The Good Place, some of Life Sentence, Season 1 of Pose, Shooter :)
• Podcasts: 
• That Relationship Show forgiveness episodes, esp Part One
• Good Ancestor with Tayo Rockson, Monique Melton, Justin Michael Williams, Tiffany Jewell
• Brene Brown and Susan David - re-listened to both episodes
• Brene and Simon Sinek and the Infinite v. Finite game
• Brene and Aiko Bethea
• Unlocking Us: Dr. Clint Smith
• Unlocking Us and the Gifts of Imperfection
• Teaching Hard History on acts of resistance to slavery
• Audio books: Inferior, The Coaching Habit, Leaders Eat Last, some of Thinking Fast and Slow and Emotional Agility but these last two have me skeptical that you just need to rational your way out of your primitive brain. 
• Zumba workout and looked up songs that I love (I Wanna Dance w/ Somebody, Summertime, and Footloose). 

• Planted lavender, potted my Mother's Day plant, my outside spider plant is two-toned and very healthy, and our Mountain Mint is blooming! 
• Good work on Writing July 2021 (My life through Walking and What I've learned)
• Revelation: Where is your energy going? Is it going to the right places? Be thoughtful and intentional.

Professional

• One day Zach and I ran into Ryan, and I mentioned it to Chris, since they're friends. He said, “Yeah, he told me.” Turns out it was super-confusing because they’d said they’d seen mean, but didn’t know/didn’t remember it was Meadowlark, so Chris was trying to figure out how Ryan who lives in Fairfax and his friends (staying in Vienna) ran into each other out walking when I live in Reston. They thought it was funny that Chris knew Zach’s name, and Chris was like, “I see him all the time.” So wonderful and funny. I’ll miss him. 
• Adding certification expectations to PT1 and PT2 has been really worthwhile and fun. Thanks @chrisber for putting together so much aweseome work!
• Nice Leadership Advisory Group meeting with Troy, Stuart, Judie, and Ryan H.
• Bye Chris. We sent each other nice messages and I laughed at one of his last quotes: We try not to get too cute on demos with customers. 

Health Corner

• Bad shoes (a new athletic shoe brand) and had to retire them after my foot go so tired I couldn't walk for about 2 days
• Weird, itchy spider bite
• Surgery anniversaries for me and Auntie Em