Clematis in my garden

We've always loved clematis and have planted it at every home we've lived in.

National Law Day

We don't have many organized homeschool field trips here. It's not even that we don't do them; there aren't a lot of opportunities. There are several co-ops, but the "big" homeschool group doesn't even have any sort of regular get togethers. It's more of a clearing house to get out information. One of the local moms pulled together a visit to the federal court house in honor of National Law Day.

The court house is conveniently located in downtown Roanoke, and the court staff went to great lengths to provide a full morning for our group of about 35 middle school and high school kids.

The lobby was set up with several information stations just for us. There were flow charts, a U.S. Marshals' vest to try on, photos of evidence, displays with (fake) illegal drugs, and more. Meanwhile, Holly had been randomly chosen to sit on the jury. 

Trevor and Kurt

The kids viewed a mock trial to show them how the system works at a federal level. In addition to the judge spending the entire morning with us, there were also two federal prosecutors, two public defenders, several marshals, a probation officer and other court staff. All provided great insight into their role in the system and were eager to answer any questions our group had.  (Haha, aren't homeschoolers notorious for not asking questions?)

The marshals showed us a number of very cool high tech toys that are often used when searching for bad guys.

We were shown a short video of the "crime" that took place. The defendant was a boy from our group who also plays on our soccer team. His alias was Mad Dog, and he was brought into the court room in shackles.  I called him Mad Dog a few days later at soccer, but he didn't seem to appreciate it.

The jury listened to both the prosecution and the defense, and the defendant was found guilty.  There were a few audio difficulties during the morning, which unfortunately made for too much time where we could not hear anything at all. Overall though it was fun and informative, and I'm glad my kids have seen something more real life than what is shown on tv.

The jury; Holly in the back row, second from left.

 After court, we decided with Kurt and Judy to lunch.  Holly suggested our mutual favorite Alejandro's.

Cool old church downtown

Alejandro's--yum!!

A pretty walkway.

I liked this sign: "Yes. Ladies Enjoy Eating Here."

It was a fun day. I wish we did more field trips.

Playing with Trevor

We've always enjoyed our word games, although we don't play them as much as we should. While I made every effort to win (and offered occasional suggestions to him), he killed me in Scrabble, 304 - 252.

Walk the dog

Trevor has been bringing Lucky on our walks lately. For the longest time, he's asked if he could. Lucky is so calm at home but is a pain to walk. He's excited, he pulls, and I could only remember Trevor as a little boy driving me crazy by yanking poor Lucky with his gentle lead. The gentle lead goes around his muzzle. It's easier to walk the dog--as long as it's snug enough. And several years ago, he slipped out a couple of times, which was just one more reason that I didn't want to bring him along. But that was a loooong time ago. I'd forgotten that Trevor has grown a foot since then and is old enough to walk the dog without input from me. Lucky seemed to be able to tell the difference too. He was excited, sure, but he also behaved very nicely for Trevor.

So nice to be able to get out not just with my son but for us to have our sweet doggy with us too. Lucky seems in perfect health, but at 12 (11? can't remember!), he's getting old. We've been so blessed by this puppy from the very first day that I'm happy to do something to make him so happy too.

Beach (Wednesday, Thursday)

I'm still a few weeks behind blogging. Blogger, like all else google, has undergone radical changes in the past week or so. Meanwhile, my computer started dying, so I'm getting used to my new computer, trying to gets photos transferred from the old one, and work with the blogger redesign. If I were going any faster, my head would spin!

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Wednesday at the beach. Another sunrise on the porch. No pics from the day. Trevor and I took a long walk on the beach with Dave and Janet and even saw dolphins, always a highlight! Robert and the kids back to the Boardwalk. Pizza for dinner to wrap up our last night.

Thursday. Last sunrise.

A treat for everyone shortly before we left!

I'd checked out several Peruvian restaurants near Washington, DC, along our way home. I pored over reviews, gave the menus to Holly and Trevor and told them to choose the restaurant. Their decision was unanimous.

They were convinced by the lomo saltado on the menu.  Holly had eaten this a few times in Peru and loved it.  I came nowhere close to replicating it at home.  We also ordered Peruvian broiled chicken, salchipapas, and fried yuca.  And the kids had Inca Kola.  The place was not fancy, but the food was incredible.  It was the perfect way to end our vacation, and I can't wait to go again--to both the beach and out for more Peruvian food!

Just the usual

Trevor and Kurt a couple of weeks ago. In pretty much their usual position.

Beach (Tuesday)

Sunrise. God, totally there. Even if we can't see Him. Even if all seems dark.Until we fix our eyes and see.

Kites.

Kids.

(Even a few big ones.)

Boats.

Waves.

Bare feet.

Another trip to the Boardwalk.  The kids played quite a bit in the arcade; we ate ice cream.  We were more sheltered from the wind, and it wasn't cold.

Back at the condo, the kids had a blast playing Anomia.  Actually, we played quite a few board/word games while we were there.

We celebrated Barb's birthday while we were there.

Robert fixed chile rellanos, and we made tacos, Mexican rice, beans, guacamole, and pineapple salsa. Yep, lots of food--relaxing, beach, hanging out. Perfect!

Beach (Monday)

A second sunrise on the patio. Ocean City Boardwark lights are low on the left; Atlantic City lights are taller buildings on the right.

Most of the others went off to the OC Boardwalk in the afternoon; seemed too cold and windy for me!  In reality though, we had good weather, dry, highs around 60.  Robert had planned ahead and prepared a bunch of breaded eggplant; there was enough room in the kitchen for others to make spaghetti, garlic bread and salad. We feasted!

Sisters

My aunt gave me these when we were visiting last month.

c. 1968

To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were.

c. 1971

We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time. Clara Ortega

Easter on the beach

Robert and I were up at 5:30.


We sat on the deck to watch the sun rise.


Far more amazing than any formal "sunrise service" could be.


We had our first glimpse of the dolphins that swim just beyond the surf. I could have spent the entire five days here, never moving from this spot.


Trevor and I went for a morning walk on the beach.


Weather was plenty nice for mid-April; not a lot of people around. We were at a more remote stretch of the beach, which was perfect for this time of year.

Barb and Dave took off to Atlantic City for the day. Janet and Alex and family would be coming later in the afternoon.

We'd already decided to join worship at a local church that used to be part of the Calvary Chapel network. We specifically chose the last service so we wouldn't be rushing in the morning. It's always a little unnerving to think about visiting a new church. We didn't have room to pack any kind of dressy clothes, but our shorts and jeans were entirely within what everyone else was wearing. Great message; Calvary Chapel-style teaching is like no other. We have such a longing to be part of a CC church again, but our local church is definitely not the one, and the Lynchburg church is just so far.

Afterwards, we went driving around on a hunt to find horseshoes. We ended up outside of Atlantic City, no horseshoes yet, but absolutely starving. We ditched our previous (and sketchy) dinner plans, ending up at Chili's. Back at the condo, we met up with everyone else, with some of us going on another walk.


A totally different Easter than usual, but good for the four of us, reconnecting, relaxing, and just enjoying being out and together.

VACATION!!

Robert's sister Barb and her husband Dave rented a house on the beach at Ocean City for the week. We joined them along with Dave's sister Janet, husband Alex, and kids, Gwen and Nate, who are each a few years younger than Holly and Trevor. Dave and Janet's dad also joined the party. Many, many thanks to the generosity of Barb and Dave, we've vacationed with them twice before, two years ago also at Ocean City, and four years ago in Williamsburg!

We packed everything into my Prius, a job worthy of a televised reality show challenge. We didn't just have luggage for four; we also had linens and towels, a box of books to read, two boxes of food and drink, and a box of things to give Barb. We got off to a two hour late start, haha.

Virginia has several wildfires burning right now, and we saw this one a day or two before we heard it on the news.

Cove Mountain fire has burned about 60 acres

It's a seven hour drive, and we finally, finally, finally made it to Ocean City, driving the last half hour in the dark. On the plus side, they had beer waiting for everyone, including the kids.

Birch beer

Just in time to see the full moon rising on the ocean. We couldn't see much, but what a view!

Off to a wonderful start!

One of Trevor's "best days ever"

A particularly sweet and jubilant victory in first week of the season. We beat a former coach former teammates 1-0 in the last minute of the game.



Trevor signed up to be a line judge this season and received his first paycheck ever. Very exciting!