It's summertime in Washington.

Ashley's friend Brenda visited (from New York) and we did the obligatory DC tour. We also drove out to Warrenton for the Gaskins' lake party...some 4-wheelin', food, and fun.

Ashley turns 27!

Although she technically turned 27 while she was in California, we celebrated in style when she returned. And by style I mean it involved chocolate. The guys came over and gave her an appropriate Care Bears gift bag. We also said good-bye to Dylan, who moved back to Idaho. FUN!

The more the merrier.

What is it about a big piece of fabric that makes people think, 'Let's play with it! Or lay in it!' FYI, stretchy material can sometimes come at a price (i.e. concussions, bruises, etc) but 'Stretchy' is so much fun, I won't lie :) So much fun we may have accidentally left the guy's house with it. But we quickly returned it in an appropriate manner.

Summatime and the livin' is easy.

Man, this summer is FAH-LYING by. Whether it's enjoying the hammock on the porch, trekking to the GW Law School with Laura, hitting 100 degrees on more than one occasion or getting new kitchen flooring, it's all in a day's heat. And I do LOVE our new kitchen floor :)

Catching Up

A lot has happened these past few months, and I haven't been taking a lot of pictures so you'll actually have to READ this :) After spring break, it was back to the grind. The spring was actually pretty nice, and the weeks flew by in school. The kids were in a pretty good routine and we were all excited about going to Camp Highroad. It was a 3-day trip with the 5th and 6th grade in Middleburg, VA. We had a GREAT time. There was a lot of hiking, but the counselors were great, and we didn't have any accidents or catastrophes! Just plenty of ticks, but we located all of them on various heads.

Johnny graduated from high school and is preparing to go to the University of Maryland in the fall (yay Terps!) Lacrosse this season was a bit rough...we didn't win a regular season game, but the good news is my idea to have sports 5 days a week (last period) was approved so we will be contenders this coming year! I planned our school's annual field day and it was a HUGE success...it was based on Homer's Odyssey and a great time was had by all. Apparently it was the 'best field day EVER,' as quoted by dozens of students. It looks like I'll be teaching 4th grade this next year, so we'll see how that goes! I'm also planning on starting my masters degree in January (MAT-master of arts in teaching) from UMUC.

And...I'm turning the big 3-0 in a few weeks. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Some days I think, "It's no big deal. 30. I look pretty good and life is good." Other days I freak out and scream, "I REFUSE to leave my 20's!!! NOOOOO!" It's a little surreal to think I'm losing that '2' in front of my age, now replaced by a '3.' Oh well. What they say is true; the older you get, the better things get...I'm more comfortable in my skin and content with life.