Summer 2017

It was a busy summer.  Not long after school ended, Andrew headed to JCLC for 5 days with his JROTC group and Madi headed to France with her orchestra ensemble.

Andrew survived a few days of physical and mental challenges during the leadership course. I think it was a good experience for him, but his liking of the Air Force has grown because of it :)

Madi had an awesome trip.  They toured and played in different locations in France.  Here are a few pictures of her experience.

Abby was one of the few to venture into the pool on opening weekend....as always.

We then headed to our our annual trip to Williamsburg, VA.  We enjoyed the Historic District, Busch Gardens, Water Country, the Aquarium, and Virginia beach.  Here are some pics of our vacation.

Abby and I made button doll

Water Country

Busch Gardens

Aquarium

Virginia Beach

We also took a trip to NYC.  It was to celebrate our 20th Wedding Anniversary. We stayed in NJ and traveled by train to NYC two days and to Point Pleasant Beach one day.  It was quite the adventure navigating the city.  We were victims of a train derailment that made our trip home 3 hours the first night.  Despite the hectic travel, we had a good time and saw alot of NYC and had a great day at the beach.  Here are some pics.

Train Ride

First Stop.....

Dinner at Tony's DiNapoli's

 9-11 Memorial

 Statue of Liberty

Times Square

Point Pleasant Beach

During the rest of July, Madi worked and got ready for college.  Andrew spent time running, playing basketball, and XBOX of course.  Abby began taking gymnastics again at the local Y.

Abby went to Good News Camp with Grammy.  It was hot!!  She had a good time.  Here is a pic of her cooling down.

Andrew turned 16 in late July.  We went to get his driver's permit on his birthday and started driving leaving the building.

He went to Buffalo Wild Wings with some friends to celebrate.  Drove the whole crew there. (tough lighting).

We also celebrated Andrew's birthday with family.

Madi had her graduation party in late July.  She had a co-party with her best friend Emma.  They did a great job organizing and decorating.  It was a great event that celebrated their graduation and send off to college.

We took a trip to the American Girl Store in Tyson's Corner so we could get one of her doll's ears pierced ( promised in NYC, but didn't work out ).  We also had lunch at the American Girl Bistro.

Andrew had a good summer of running.  He ran 6 days a week consistently and really put in a good base that should pay off this cross country season.  He also played with the varsity basketball team in a summer league once a week.  It was tough to get pics of any of these activities.  Here is a pic his coach took at a low key summer run in Shippensburg.

First day of school.  Andrew starting his Sophomore year and Abby starting 2nd Grade.  Abby was a little more excited than Andrew....No Madi...

Madi had a busy summer working, seeing friends, and getting ready for college.  We moved her into her room at Liberty University the day after local schools started.  She is anxious but ready to get started!!!

Hope your summer was great.  Fall will present new opportunities for the kids and we are looking forward to it.  Until next time.....