Fancy That

First Day of School

This Monday marked the real First Day of School. I can’t believe I have a 5th grader and a 3rd grader. We started the morning off strong with some cinnamon rolls.

We packed up our back packs, got on our shoes, and prepped our masks before making the walk to the school.

The boys need to wear masks while inside the school building all day with the exception of eating lunch or outside time for recess. It seems like the first day was a success. Thomas’s teacher sent home this little polaroid for the first day:

I am really happy they have the opportunity to get into school. But I am still watching the school case numbers closely. The County has what looks like a pretty decent tracker:

Here is the link to the tracker if it didn’t embed nicely: FCPS Covid Tracker

Keeping those fingers crossed that the school year goes smoothly.

Practice 1st Day of School

It is closing in on a big day. The first day of school. Yesterday, the boys participated in a “Practice” 1st Day of School. We walked the route to school albeit in the rain. They got to wear their backpacks. We assisted by bringing in all of their school supplies. This way we have one less thing to do for the real first day. But we had to say goodbye at the door. The boys entered on their own. They learned where their classrooms were and had a chance to meet their teachers with a little less pressure. They also got to explore some of the other areas of their new school.

Sooo many supplies!

All masked up in their practice run!

And then, in an hour, we went and picked them up. A short but hopefully beneficial prep to make the first day go smoothly next week.

Moving

Moving is a fact of life when you are in the military. It is something one gets used to but each one is different. This one has been long and drawn out. It has only just begun. On Thomas's birthday, all of the items we placed in storage arrived at our house.

The past week and a half has been spent doing loads of unboxing. To find lots of things were packed like so

It has been rather disappointing. But we are powering through it. We have just a few lone boxes left to tackle, though we might need to get more book shelves to finalize the process.

We have managed a few fun diversions though. It was super hot and we needed to cool down.

We met up with cousins for fun at the playground.

We met up with some old friends from Fiji!

And we just recently experienced our first baseball game! We had to have the obligatory hot dog!

Crazy 8!

I can not believe it. My huggie-bear Thomas turned 8 years old. We celebrated a little early with just some close family. Thankful to be able to have a bit more of a party than last year.

National Museum of the US Army

This week we took a trip to the National Museum of the United States Army. We were not expecting much but holy cow! This museum was really outstanding. We got to see lots of army technology and explore all of the wars the United States has engaged in. The displays and interactives were very engaging. There was also a great movie that was sensory filled - floor shaking, wind blowing, etc. We only did part of the museum so we definitely have more to see.

Exploring

We have been hard at work around the house and the yard. We decided we should take a few breaks every now and again to explore.

Last week all four of us made a short drive to George Washington's Mount Vernon. It was a great day despite the sunny and warm conditions that we experienced. We learned quite a bit about crops that Washington grew on the grounds.

Today we decided to hop on the metro and travel into DC. Our destination was the International Spy Museum. This was a lot of fun. We enjoyed the interactive "become a spy" activities throughout the exhibits. I especially enjoyed the section on Codes and Ciphers. The boys got to come up with virtual disguises for their secret agents.

July

Major oopsie-daisy! It has been a while since I posted. Well in the all the news that is fit to print is that all four of us have made it back to the US and are settling in to our new home in Virginia. Myself and the boys headed back early in June and Andrew arrived back in mid July. Because I am horrible, I will just post a collection of fun things that have happened over the past month and half. I aim to get back into weekly posting.