Sam does not hold with the traditional finish on the podium while the audience applauds. No, she accepts her medal and zooms back to her place.

Read More

Sam update: she seems totally recovered! Guess it was a 24-hour bug. Weather update: time to build an ark. And fix the gutter!

Read More

Unexpected headache and fever leads to a midday nap for Sam. We had expected to attend her end-of-year gymnastics performance today, but she was too sick to go 🙁 Also so sick that she actually asked to go to bed tonight. Here’s hoping it’s just a 24-hour bug.

Read More

The kids spent about half of playgroup picking juneberries, aka saskatoon berries. Sam informs me that she is going to make muffins with hers.

Read More

Sam and I take an impromptu canoe ride down the Rivanna River with some new friends. Down was fun (mini rapids!) Up was a lot more work.

Read More

For my birthday I requested a hike and Indian food. I got those and much more. The hike around Dobie Mountain had something for everyone: vistas of many blue ridges of the Blue Ridge Mountains, deer sightings, salamanders, a fantastic creek crossing, a pretty posh AT shelter, and the wreckage of a small airplane that …

Read More

The new Star Trek movie satisfied every Trekkie cell in my brain and was a fun way to celebrate 11 years of marriage with my super geek husband, may he live long and prosper.

Read More

At the end of a really fun playdate, Sam and a friend read the Velveteen Rabbit out loud to each other. They passed the book back and forth between them, each reading a page or two at a time. So cute.

Read More

Coach West shows the kids flags of countries where soccer, aka football, aka futbol, is popular.

Read More

The seeds sprouted! Radishes, kale, lettuce, beets and who knows what else Sam planted in there. She snipped off little bits of the carpet this evening to sprinkle on our dinner. I was mightily impressed by the speed of germination. We may have to keep this micro-greens thing going.

Read More