School's In (August 19 - September 22)

First day of school 2024-25
(3rd grade)

Zach of Note

• In the lead up to school, Zach has given up screen time in the morning. Truly amazing.
• Wildcraft made an appearance!
• A cough on Wed - Friday of week 5; tried to get out of school on Wednesday, but then remembered he had lunch bunch with Mr. Johnson  

School’s In 

• No problem with his assignment despite no Beckett or Theo or Athena
• He’s with Juan, Adrian, and Jackson
• Jackson was in good form and they had a good time on Day 1
• Cora and Zach like Sra Serrano; she is speaking more Spanish and trying to help them learn by repeating what’s she’s saying. 
• Zach loved the math games he played with one of his teachers as a special. He tried to teach me, and Frank got really into it.
• Zach came home one day so excited about applying to join Student Council Association (SCA). He put in the effort and was selected!  
• Z&JT had a run in on Day 5 of school, so I met with his teachers. They seem to have the situation under control. 
• Then, Zach and Juan had a run in playing soccer and were both banned from soccer for all of September! 
• As 3rd graders they can get a pass to spend lunch on Wednesday with the art teacher and either do art or play board games. Zach loves that. 
• Walks to school in the morning have been a blast. It can be a huge crew (Teddy, Jewelle, Cora, Aidan, Tom, Milo, Adina)
• Zach and Tom have been leaning into playdates. Tom enjoys coming over to see Callie. 
• Back to School Night was fine. 
• Zach enjoyed the movie night with Adrian and Jackson; I got to sit with Mary. 

Zach - Words & Music

• We briefly found Zach’s reading time to increase at the beginning of the school year, but then we watched a new Harry Potter movie (5 or 6?), and then listening made a come back again. 
• He says he reads a lot during the day at school, but does he? 
• He’s back to listening to Harry Potter, Big Nate, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Sigh!)
• Piano continues even though Zach isn’t really practicing in between
• They started violin, and Zach was loving it; kind of fleeting
• Listening to Crazy Train and picking Move Along over listening to The Toilet Bowl Cleaners - Yes! Cats and Netflix song from vacation came back out

Zach - Soccer

• Practices started August 19, and Zach goes to goalie training as well
• Games started with a friendly on August 24 - Zach’s team lost BIG. Yikes
• Tournament weekend from Friday, Aug 30 - Monday, Sep 2 - They were well-matched and played well and made it to the Finals. It was a rematch with a team they beat on Friday night, so in the end, the two teams had the same record, 3 wins and 1 loss. We’ll call it a tie. Very exciting. Guest players included Owen L. It was nice to have a core of last year’s team together!
• The first two weekends of the regular season, the team won one and lost three and rounded things out with a loss on weekend three. 
• They’re all having fun (mostly), and they definitely love playing together as much as possible. 
• Zach is playing keeper 100% of the time and enjoying it. 

Callie

• Susan K. showed us how to cut her nails and we had a chance to chat with Susan and Lindy and SJL a couple of times
• Callie has gotten back to nipping a bit and she seems so hungry!
• Zach’s Callie socks!

S&Z

• Lice check
• Canceled Super Kicks - it just didn’t make sense
• Some additional walks/running with Zach in the evenings
• It’s a lot about food: We checked out a breakfast spot, Cowbell Kitchen, in Leesburg and visited Melt, and The Carousel after games. 
• A visit to Occuquan for lunch (Third Base Pizza), a walk around town, and discovered a fantastic bakery, The Golden Plum

F&Z

• The pool and the Water Mine - crashed Luna’s birthday party
• Kitchen soccer
• Soccer games
• A visit to Luray Caverns

Family Fun

• Dr. Who
• Harry Potter 5
• Hike at Banshee Reeks
• Loudoun United Soccer game
• Dinners at Cafe Sano (really lovely) Ted’s Bulletin and Five Guys
• Birthday Party for Mom and Dad in Woodstock

S&F

Walks have been pretty consistent and therapy

Good Food

• Agnes Restaurant & Cheesery (beet carpaccio) in Pasadena and tacos in Pasadena
• Pupusas in Herndon, Pupusas Express
• Auntie Em’s ratatouille and baba ganoush and blueberry lemon cake - Happy Belated Birthday to me!
• Auntie Em’s cancer anniversary cake
• The Wine Kitchen with Auntie Em

Connection

• A visit to Udvar Hazy with Grandad
• A trip to Lake Anna with all the family: Michael, Leah, Benny, Sisi, Tim, Meaghan, and Nolan
• Saul’s birthday party and speaking French!
• Playdates with Tom, Beckett, Theo and of course lots of play with Teddy and Jewelle 
• Meeting the soccer families and reconnecting with last year’s families through their stint as guest players
• A playdate day with the Elcesser’s on the tournament weekend. We went to Quattro Goombas and the Gumspring Library!
• Calls with Paige and Mary Kay
• Video chat with Mary Kay, Kathleen, and Kate and Nikki
• Visit with Katie and Suji
• Visits with Auntie Em
• Video chat with Ian and folks at work through coffee chat

Grateful

• Memories of Uncle Tree and “magical fruit salad”
• Family birthday celebration and hanging out

Fun Stuff 

• Personal
• Good Inside
• Some Spanish
• Took control of my email and have been able to enjoy some of the newsletters
• How can I do more with the election? Gave more to get Democrats elected in Nov 
• Massage

Reading

• Infinite Country
• Big Magic
• The Personal Librarian

Watching

• The Diplomat
• Bridgerton
• Unprisoned

Listening

• Simon Sinek and IN Q
• Bossed Up on Eldercare
• Amy Webb and Brene Brown and Amy Webb at SXSW
• Motivation 10-25
• Video of Dolly Parton and Lainey Wilson and their “I Will Always Love You” duet

Professional

• A trip to Pasadena that went smoothly and a good opportunity to bond; feed forward exercise was very cool
• Leadership, especially Paul’s insightful questions: What do you like about hiking
• Culture Onboarding
• Theo’s music video
• Working with Chad
• Great to hear the big picture from product and sales

Not So Fun

Personal

• Dad’s aortic aneurysm, but so glad they caught it with his irregular heartbeat giving blood
• Meeting with Zach’s teachers to get on top of the Jackson situation
• High emotions on the soccer field during one game
• Katie’s accident and breaking her foot and bee stings
• Fence painted; in compliance with RA

Health

• Bone density scan - we have a baseline
• Doing Darebee exercises pretty consistently for strength training

Professional

• Felt very behind for a while coming back from vacation and then the trip to Pasadena

Good Reminders - Nuggets/Emotion Skills

• Remember to let the emotions flow; can just be in it with them
• Good Inside has been blowing my mind!
• Kids are born with all of the emotions and none of the skills
• Confidence isn't feeling good; confidence is self-trust.
• I have a good kid having a hard time.
• Yes, this is tricky, and I know you can do it.
• I am safe; this isn't an emergency. I can cope with this.
• These posts made me feel seen and not in a great way!
• The Good Inside post about worth coming from excelling or being seen as the best. And if not the best, don’t feel worth. 
• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/adammgrant_the-8th-habit-of-highly-effective-people-activity-7241500539035742209-6iD_?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop 

Tour de Great Lakes (July 27 - August 17)

What’s different about Canada

These are jut a few things we noticed...

• Those were some slow speed limits in Ontario around Blue Mtn!
• Milk can be purchased in plastic bags that are rather thin. I wonder how often they rip and spill milk all over on the way home from the store...
• They say washrooms, not restrooms.
• Portage with a French accent
• Butter pies
• A confection with a chocolate-like graham cracker crust, custard layer, chocolate and coconut

Passport Caper for Frank

Within the first hour of our trip, I called Frank to make sure we had the correct passports. He pulled out his passport and noted that it expired 31 July 2024. The day he was supposed to fly to Toronto. We were shocked as we’d checked our passports when we were thinking of going to Canada in the winter. How had we missed this?! He got online and checked for an emergency appointment in DC. We thought through all kinds of scenarios and contingencies, but in the end, he got an appointment at 8am on Monday morning in DC. By early afternoon, he had his new passport and flew on Wednesday, 31 July! Whew!

Blue Mountain Highlights

• Scenic Caves (though no caves…) and the suspension bridge; a beautiful view for our lunch; mini-golf and rode the train four times
• Activities at Blue Mountain - trikes, gondola, ropes course, mini-golf, and alpine slide-type ride
• He loved beachside camp and made friends with Brody. He paddle boarded, swam, canoed, and kayaked. He enjoyed games, especially Colours

Zach’s Curiosity

• Chatting with people and just taking on conversations
• Zach is an extrovert. I mean, I knew it but…
• Asking good questions about words he’s reading, things he’s overhearing
• Zach’s fun socks: cats and Canadian socks 🙂
• Loving Odin and chatting up our hosts Lynn and Sam :)

Funny things people said…

• Mentioned that I drove up 9 hours 45 minutes from Reston to Blue Mountain and the train operated looked at me and Zach and said, “Wow, so you shared the driving.”
• I told the woman at the gallery on Manitoulin that we were “from Virginia, near DC” and she said: “They teach us geography here.”
• And then in Northern Michigan, our tubing van driver was from Latvia, and three women from Saulte Ste. Marie had never heard of Latvia. Do they teach geography in Canada?

Family Fun

• Stopped for a fun dinner in Stayner at Honey Monster Fried Chicken & Ramen
• Lunch at Coffin Ridge Winery - beautiful views and delicious wood-fired pizza
• Chi-Cheeman ferry from Tobermory to South Baymouth
• North Channel cruise to Baie Fine and hike to Lake Topaz and swimming at the lake
• Lunch at Gore Bay and ice cream
• Paddle board (sitting down because too windy) around Providence Bay
• Grilling out and s’mores
• The drive from Manitoulin to Saulte St. Marie was beautiful. My memory that it was “not that nice,” was so wrong!
• Played the final year of the Harry Potter game on Manitioulin!
• Listening to Crossover and Ghost
• Lots of Uno
• Tubing on the Sturgeon River - a beautiful day and so fun
• Mackinac Island (Z and I took a carriage ride, and we all wheeled around the island.)
• Dark Sky Park and the talk/presentation about "How cold is space!"

• Hanging with family in Charlevoix (Sara Gay, Charlie the puppy, Nancy, and Leo)

Good Food

• Dolce Family Ristorante and lavender lemonade
• Indian food in Blue Mtn
• Pasta with red sauce, eggplant dip, and olives
• Grilling out for F&Z and grilled zucchini + s’mores on Manitoulin
• El Cilantro in Petoskey
• Kouign-amann pastry from That French Place
• Kale salad at Pond Hill Farm

Zach and Susan

• Playing at the tiny pool at Blue Mtn
• Picking Frank up in Barrie and rocking out to Kidz Bop on the drive there
• Trip to Wal-Mart - milk sold in plastic bags…
• Drive out to Gypsy Farms for veggies
• Trip to coffee shop in Providence Bay, store and gallery browsing, and a stop in at the Providence Bay Discovery Centre
• Hike at the Cup and the Saucer
• Exploring the library in Petoskey and the Bear River trail
• Crepes and the farmer’s market in Charlevoix

Zach and Frank

• Biking
• Water Park on Lake Mindemoya
• Playing in the water at Providence Bay and in Northern Michigan
• Uno Dare edition for F&Z
• Mini-golf in Petoskey

Frank and Susan

Fun Friday excursion: we walked around Thornbury and found good books in a Little Library; walked along the water; and ended up at a wonderful winery for a lunch of spinach artichoke dip and grilled cheese + a wonderful rose flight with ciders and wine 

Crying on vacation

Big emotions are okay and they should be acknowledged! Zach acknowledged them!

Manitoulin House

• Soft water – danger, danger!
• Falling on the rocks and in the bath tub
• Running into and tilting glass table tops
• Flies

Northern Michigan House

• Lots of people! In addition to Sam and Lynn, there was the family who was camping. 
• There was lots of old stuff, including a huge Little Caesar from Little Caesar's Pizza and old boats, snowmobiles, etc. 
• Zach loved the dog, Odin, and taking him for walks

The Mystery of the beeping EZ Pass

It started beeping when we came back into the U.S. across the bridge at Saulte St. Marie and again every time we crossed the Mighty Mac. We removed it until we began encountering toll systems that took the EZ Pass. 

Photos here!

Chilling on the way to Baie Fine

End of Summer – Wait, What?!

This post covers July 8-27 for the most part. 

However, there is some overlap and sharing 

about our three weeks of touring the Great Lakes!

More on that trip in the next post!

Zach of Note

• Week of no camp worked well. Quiet day with a pool excursion. A visit to Hershey Park. Time with the grandparents
• Sportsters with Theo and new friends, Francls and Mabel
• Workbook fell off the week before our vacation, and we never picked it up while on vacation. Zach really fought it. So, I guess he did it for 5-6 weeks.
• Headed out to Canada! I can’t believe how quickly 6+ weeks passed
• Fun at Blue Mountain’s Beachside camp with Brody (whose grandmother lives in Thornbury)
• Zach is an extrovert. I mean, I knew it but Frank and I are starting to really unpack that. The only time he takes to himself is to listen to stories and take a bath! I listened to a podcast about raising a child different from you. In that episode it was an extravert raising an introvert. More work to be done here!

Zach Words and Music

• Piano
• Listening to Harry Potter and Big Nate - good questions from Big Nate about words like “procrastinate.”
• The One and Only Bob - reading
• The One and Only Ivan - listening
• A Black Belt attitude and “Yes, I can.”
• Some words like “hell” and “damn” have appeared. He’s also asked about the meaning of words: frivolous and procrastinate
• We talked about Kamala as the nominee for president, and he said, “If she’s elected, will she be our first girl president?” We also talked about the word “political,” and how having a sticker like “Cats for Kamala” would be political.
• After watching a kid have a tantrum, Zach and I talked about it, and he said, “If I did that, it wouldn’t work.”
• I got a “Mommy, you were right!” related to the questions he was asked at the border when we went into Canada, and in telling him that a “powder room” is a bathroom!

Zach and soccer

• Too hot for goalie training for several weeks, but Zach ended up attending all sessions with three practices in one week to make up for all those hot, hot days.
• Recruited to be Team Manager. Womp. Womp.
• Worked on the budget and on registration for the first tournament, the Revolution Cup taking place over Labor Day weekend

Callie

• We love Callie
• Neighbors came over to meet her and visit; Logan enjoyed our piano
• Thanks to Susan and Jonathan for taking such good care of her!
• Thanks to Rachel, Teddy, and Jewelle for playing with her
• Thanks to Grandad for hosting her at his house

S&Z

• Check for lice in July
• Farmer’s market
• Cascades library
• Karate
• Despicable Me movies (especially #3)
• Driving up to Canada through Pennsylvania and New York - Zach commented on how beautiful it was! It really was!
• Good questions and conversation with Z. We went through some photo albums and he asked good questions, like, “Why didn’t you stay in Germany?”
• Really working on boundaries. I am aloud to set a boundary, and Zach is allowed to feel however he feels. This is how he will learn that it’s safe to have emotions and learn to manage them, not just stuff them down as “unacceptable.”

F&Z

• The pool, the Water Mine, Hershey Park
• A bike ride?

F&S

• Enjoyed a date evening and watched a Pete Yorn concert!

Susan’s birthday!

• Brunch at the Duck and the Peach and a visit to the Portrait Gallery
• A family excursion to the see Inside Out 2
• Had to cancel to karaoke because Auntie Em was sick
• Officially adopted Callie on July 13

Family Fun

• Dinners at Glory Days and Reds Table
• On vacation:
• Listening the Crossover and Ghost
• Watched Spy Kids, The Long Shots

Good Food

• Peppers, capers, olives and tahini + tofu and black beans - Yum

Connection

• Kathleen and Brian came for a visit and we played Castle Panic
• Zach and Grandad and Z saw friends at Udvar Hazy + went on a 1.5 hour tour with Grandad!
• Zach and an overnight with Gamma and Daddy Bob
• Auntie Em

Grateful

• Capturing gratitude on Sundays

Fun Stuff (Personal)

• Walks with Mary
• Learning Spanish (hiatus in Canada and Michigan)
• GoodInside app is AMAZING! Started learning how to handle confidence, Back to School, and now Rudeness and Problem Behaviors

Reading

• Anita de Monte Laughs Last - skipped big sections, but finished up one of the story lines
• Black Buck - though also did not read all of it; skipped whole sections in the middle because of the demise of the good judgment of the main characters
• The End of Drum Time
• Manitoulin Island books

Watching

• Hacks
• The Diplomat

Listening

• Creativity and AI
• Coaching for Leaders on Neurodiversity
• Podcast on Working Daughters and Elder care

Not So Fun Stuff (Personal and Professional)

Health Stuff

• Starting to think about/worry about colonoscopy
• GYN visit

Professional

• A meet and greet with Bluebeam; Judie’s general sentiment; and the meeting with Angela and all the jargon. Sigh.

Good Reminders – Nuggets / Emotion Skills

• Comfort with Discomfort coming from Susan David and Dr. Becky Kennedy
• Ask a tough question before bed to embed in your subconsious
• Feeling some anxiety about school starting back up
• Worried about the new school year and routine changes possibly and changes to soccer
• Being team manager
• It’s good to think about my thinking and I have been doing that!

Summer is Here!

Zach of Note

• Running into Noah two Mondays in a row at Glory Days and Athena at Baskin Robbins
• Baths while listening to stories are an activity
• Curious about the states above Delaware and leaders in Canada and Germany
• Why don’t parents have off in the summer like kids
• Reading 15 minutes first thing in the morning
• Taking care of our new cat, Callie
• Workbook and good about remembering even though he doesn’t love it!
• Listening lots and lots (Harry Potter, Big Nate, Echo Mountain); yes listening in general, in the bath, and more!
• He really is responsible for remembering his workbook, to clean the litter box, packing for camp, etc. 
• Camp with Theo and then Aidan and Alex

End of 2nd grade

Zach at school

• The school year ended at long last. Zach was invite to AAP Math at Lake Anne for 3rd grade
• Zach had a blast getting ice cream with Teddy and Jewelle and Rachel on the last day
• Cora about three weeks after school ended; it’s still around :(
• Zach’s friend Beckett will not come back to Lake Anne next year because of the bullying and Zach is sad about that and worried that Beckett will make new friends and forget him
• He’s missing “sending J. to the principal’s office.” (This sounds bad, but he feels real injustice for the way the situation was handled and the fact that his friend is not coming back and “nothing happened or impacts J.”)
• I think Zach has not really been the focus of bullying from J. because he is sturdy, he has a pretty good equilibrium and doesn’t hold on to negative experiences, and he told me when J. is disregulated and acting out to try to get a reaction out of Zach, Zach has whispered in J.’s ear, “I don’t care.” 
• One of my hopes for the summer is that Zach would learn more about ADHD to help his friend/frenemie. So far, that doesn’t seem to be the way he’s leaning….

Zach and soccer

• The team lost their final game on Sunday, June 2. Tough loss
• A fun mini-celebration when some of the team made it to Owen’s birthday pool party!
• Season officially ended on June 5 with the end of season ice cream party
• Zach was moved to the A team on Friday, June 7. What?! Things are all over the place. Charlie and Fintan were moved up too, and now it’s just Zach and Fintan and Andrew (who made the A-team outright.) The A team has 6 players; the B team has 11
• Zach started goalie training on June 17 and Beckett is in goalie training too!

Zach’s Words and Music

• Zach says: “Oh my days” as an expression of incredulity
• Started piano lessons with Mr. Sam!

S&Z

• Spanish with Zach (Es un problema; no es un problema)
• Walks with Zach
• Bakery Tatte and Uno at the RTC
• Library and a picnic in the parking lot at Local Provisions
• Lots of soccer watching: Euro Cup and Copa America
• Inside Out
• Brunch at the Duck and the Peach and dance performance, Migration, by Step Afrika
• Mad LIbs, Rush Hour, and Sudoku
• Church online 
• Modeled behavior about how I felt overwhelmed and worried about the cat
• Zach and I talked about what kind of person he wants to be… one who says hi and is friendly or one who ignores others…

F&Z

• Beach time
• Hershey Park
• Bike ride on a lovely day or maybe two
• Pool, Water Mine, Sky Zone
• Despicable Me 4
• Lots of soccer

Family Fun

• Family Book Club moved on from Wizards of Once (didn’t finish) to You Choose books to The Howliday Inn
• Lunch at Dogfish in Milton 
• We added Callie to the family on June 22
• A belated Father’s Day celebration at Crooked Run
• Kung Fu Panda 1 and 2

Good Food

• Homemade Brownies (inspired by Danielle)
• Focaccia for Zach to take to camp
• Pitting lots of cherries! 
• Auntie Em’s beans and rice and plaintains
• Veggies to start meals
• 7-minute hard boiled eggs
• Auntie Em’s blueberry lemon cake. Yum!
• Sweet Donkey shortbread
• Breakfast tacos at First Watch
• Provisions from Earth Fare
• Dinner at the River and the Rail: tomato salad, cornbread and butter and pimento cheese, salmon with tahini dressing and spring/summer veggies, banana pudding, a glass of Grenache Rose from Spain and complimentary limoncello
• Martha’s blueberry turnovers

Connection

• Items to Emily and Andrew and photos of Baby Katherine
• Checking in on Katie and Nikki and Jess and Deb
• Zach’s evening playdate at Beckett’s house; Frank and I got to have a great dinner together (zucchini hash with tomatoes and goat cheese and Brownies with ice cream)
• Trip to Lewes on June 7-9; Zach and Hance had a blast; it was great to see Lily; Brian had never been! 
• Ian is back and new folks to DEIB!!!
• Checking in with Nikki and Liesl 
• Walks with Mary and some farmer’s market time with Mary and Cora
• Playdate with Beckett and family at the Water Mine; I took Finn down Little Pete and he held my hand; so cute
• Chatting with Dania at the farmer’s market
• Trip to Montvale to meet up with Paige on July 4-6 was SO FUN!
• Visit with Mom and Dad on July 6
• Play date with Owen at the Water Mine and at home; chat with Lauren to arrange and Tim

Grateful

• Beckett’s family: Larry brings me a camp chair to goalie trainings and Wendy offered to watch Zach any time!
• Callie’s family brought her to us from Rockville

Fun Stuff (Personal)

• Giving on Juneteenth
• Continuing Spanish with LIesl
• Speaking French with Agathe and Sacha - learned that fourniture = supplies and the LIttle Library is disorganized = “C’est un bazaar.”

Reading

• Finished Olga Died Dreaming, Park Avenue Summer, Clap When You Land (Thanks for the recommendation, Kathleen)
• Glucose Goddess
• Anita de Monte Laughs Last
• Good Enough
• Our Hidden Conversations

Watching

• The Lost Kitchen
• Heartland
• My Life with the Walter Boys

Listening

• Some great hits from 1988 and 1989Simon Sinek and the episodes with Brene and Adam Grant
• Simon Sinek’s episode with Christina Tosi and ice cream bread!
• Coaching for Leaders
• Hidden Potential 
• Super Communicators

Fun Stuff (Professional)

• Ian is back
• New folks to DEIB
• Continued meet ups with Hailey
• Culture OB with Athena
• GC sold to the Nemetschek group and now we’re a Bluebeam company
• Product Update modules and one thing I learned, one think I found interesting, and one question
• Speak Up Summit on psychological safety

Not So Fun Stuff (Personal and Professional)

• In memory of Suji’s brother and Nikki’s dad

Health Stuff

• Frank came down with COVID on June 13; Zach and I tested positive on June 23
• Darebee exercises are great, especially upward downward dog (20), balance front kicks (40), and twist lunges (40)

Nuggets 

• When thinking about anxiety, it’s a formula. Anxiety = the unknown + lack of confidence/lack of faith in our own ability to handle hard things. 
• Good reminder on metacognition
• Helping others when it’s hard comes down to being taught consequences of actions when did something wrong rather than punishment and shame
• Susan David and decisions…is this going to bring me closer to the person I want to be…
• A new feelings wheel 
• Fear for the next presidential election, give in state races
• Anne Helen Petersen and friends and insights