April Showers...

I remember at the end of March looking ahead to April and thinking it would be a busy month and be gone before I knew it, but of course, I had no idea just how fast it could go!  I've already blogged about Spring Break, which you can read about here, so this will be a much shorter entry than previous monthly wrap ups.  This may not be entirely chronologically correct, because some of these things happened and I don't know when, so I'm going to do my best.

Astrid survived the prom and then we had another big event upcoming:  Leah's birthday.  She was turning 8 and after the success of the tea party we had in September for a church fundraiser, announced she also wanted a tea party with her friends to come as princesses.  My father was coming for a visit as well.  Leah was excited to have Friday off school so she could have a PopPop Day, so Astrid announced she was taking Thursday off school to have a PopPop Day.  It was settled.  PopPop Day for Astrid involved lunch at Wegman's and then a trip to Ulta, the make up store, her mecca.  Neither my sister nor I was ever into make up, so my father had been spared this indignity when we were kids, but as both Astrid and Leah are big time into it, he gamely played along for about ten minutes.  When he saw there was such a thing as beard cream and wardrobe tape, he had more than he could bear, so he handed me a $20 bill and told me to get Astrid something before slinking out to his car to hide.  She got herself a NYX tame-and-frame brow pomade.  She was so happy.  Later that evening, we went to have cheeseburgers at Cheeburger Cheeburger, and it was a very nice day indeed. 

On Friday evening, it was all hands on deck as we prepared for Leah's birthday party.  Our main goal for the evening was to watch a movie, eat pizza, and blow up literally hundreds of balloons.  I had seen some ideas on Pinterest for princess party decor with balloons, and was planning to make towers, but somehow it turned into a giant couple of arches.  We were blowing up balloons for a couple of hours, watched The Producers, and had a great time.

We were very proud of our handiwork.

The next day, at the princess tea, Astrid was pressed into service as a waitress again, and wore her St. Jude's gown.  PopPop brought a fancy outfit from his English country dancing to be the butler, and I was dressed in all black as the kitchen wench.  Leah had 5 friends come and they had a ball.  We hired a princess actress (The Bup's Aunt Mary Anne) to come as Sleeping Beauty and she did makeovers and games and party fun.  The girls had a marvelous time and what a beautiful day Leah had to celebrate her "champagne birthday". 

We also found out that our current Lieutenant Governor, Ralph Northam, was coming into town for a campaign event the following week.  I wanted to meet him, look him in the eye, talk to him about some of the concerns I had read about him online, and some of my concerns as a citizen.  I also thought it'd be really great for the girls to meet another official of the government, as they had already met the Speaker of the House of the state. Astrid and I offered Leah a quarter if she would ask Lt. Gov. Northam if he was going to win, and she happily obliged and was rewarded with money for the gumball machine. 

He was a very interesting man, well spoken, good listener, and I got a lot out of meeting him.  He was happy to pose for pictures with both girls, which was great.  I think they enjoyed it as well.

We also had the opportunity to attend a Passover Seder at the UU that week. There are a lot of Jewish people we know who attend UU and last year, they decided to have their first seder as a celebration of their faith.  Leah and I weren't able to attend, but we were excited to go this year and I thought it would be interesting and educational for all of us.  It was totally jam packed and the ceremony part of it wound up being quite long, so it was a bit hard for Leah to sit through, but it was really interesting and we all learned a lot.  We ate a lot of matzoh and we all absolutely loved the matzoh ball soup!  It was delicious.  The traditional readings and music were very moving and Leah and Astrid won a contest where something was hidden in the sanctuary and if you found it, you won $1. 

Afterwards there was a nice potluck meal and the food was just great.

Also at the UU after Spring Break, they had a celebration of Pagan and Earth-centered religions, which I know even less about than I do the Jewish traditions.  There was a woman who came and taught us dances of universal peace.  As part of this, we danced in a couple of big circles and did some chants.  It was really like nothing I've ever done before, but it was fun and interesting to learn about and create music and movement with the whole community.  If you click on the photo below, you can see an enlarged version of the photo and we are on the right hand side.

We were still a little tired from Spring Break, but I'm glad we went.

We've also resumed our spring cook outs with my sister and her family and Astrid came along to Locust Shade Park to a couple of these.  We've been trying to get fancy with the food and do some experimental cooking beyond hot dogs and hamburgers, which has been fun.  A few flops, of course, but ultimately we've learned and tried some interesting things.  We especially enjoyed our foil dinners, and a stir fry I was able to make.  When we get our usual grill site, the kids have woods to play in and the playground to run around on, which is good fun for them, and the grown ups can keep an eye on them and still cook and hang out.  We've been talking about a little camping trip since the kids like being outdoors and Leah is asking about it, but for now we will stick with the park. 

We also had a wonderful opportunity to all go up to Washington DC on April 27th to attend WAMU's 10 Year Volunteers Awards Gala at NPR headquarters.Both my sister and I have been volunteers at WAMU for 10+ years and were among the honorees.  I had asked the woman in charge if I could bring both girls and happily she said yes!  It was an absolutely wonderful night, and I was so glad the girls could see me being rewarded for some of my hard work over the years.  They got to meet other people we have become friendly with through our work, they got to meet the volunteer coordinator, and one of the show hosts.  It was awesome.  And it was nice that we all got dressed up fancy and went out together.  It really was a super special night for me.

The girls and I with my sister and BIL with Joshua Johnson, host of 1A

Astrid was also cleared to return to soccer at the end of the month and has gotten some playing time in.  We have enjoyed going to her games and were thrilled she got to play for two weeks before the championships started.  The team has had a rough season, but they've persevered and worked hard together. 

FA Women's Soccer Team

No matter when I take her picture, she has her back to me!  Go #25!

The last game we got to see, the girls won 5-2, which was a BIG lift to their spirits, and Astrid even got an assist, which she was crazy proud of!  (As were we!) 

Leah and Astrid at the mall

We've had some fun nights as a family too, just quiet times at the mall, going to dinner, attending the FA band concert, church services, that kind of thing.  Leah attended Camp Rainbow, a camp for kids who have lost a loved one, and Astrid went with me to the final ceremonies and supported Leah there.  We went back to the We Are For America protest after the disastrous US healthcare vote.  Astrid is certainly getting an education in politics this year--as am I, because I have never in my life been so inclined to be politically active.  The latest protest was a bit smaller than the last one, but we had some supporters drop off Sugar Shack donuts and donations to Planned Parenthood while we were there, so that was pretty exciting!  Everyone generally considers this area a  pretty red stronghold, so it's nice to see progressive support!

"My feet hurt, Astrid"

Sisters

Letting the community know we are here!

Finally this past weekend was a busy one!  Astrid had her pre-return orientation with AFS this weekend.  She went up to Alexandria on Saturday and spent the day with the other AFS kids, and they had a great time doing a scavenger hunt and learning about how to prepare themselves to return home in fewer than 50 days (say it ain't so!).  Astrid's team won the Scavenger Hunt!  Way to go, team!  My sister Judy brought Astrid home Saturday evening, as I was hosting a dinner for the UU at our house, and there were a bunch of young kids running around.  Astrid immediately started playing with them, chasing them around the yard, toasting marshmallows, finding lost shoes and toys.  She just loves kids! :)

Astrid and Leah both ran in the 2017 Great Train Race.  Leah runs every year with her school, which hosts a running club and she loves it!  We went to packet pick up on Thursday to get her bib and running swag and I could sort of kind of tell that Astrid was keen to run it as well, so I asked the lady in charge if Astrid could also run, and she said they had plenty of room for teens!!  So we signed her up and Sunday morning, off we went.  Astrid's friend and Leah's favorite victim Chris was also running, so we got to see him and his family, plus two families from the UU and even a family from Camp Rainbow/Leah's toddler days!  It was pretty awesome.  The run is 1 mile long, and Astrid's goal was to complete it in under 9 minutes.  She did it in under 8!!!  Leah did it in under 9, down from her run of 11 minutes last year.  I was so proud of them both!  Chris also did very well and earned a trophy, which he proudly flashed around in Astrid's face. Hahaha  He was sweet enough to come with us to cheer for Leah through to the bitter end and pose for Leah's carefully arranged pictures and even hold her hand for the walk back to the car.  What a nice kid!

Astrid preparing on the Start Line

Leah on the Start Line

Astrid and Chris and The Trophy

Three Champion Finishers!

So that brings us to today.  Today is, as I say, 49 days till she leaves us, as she determined this morning.  I have a full array of activities planned and our weekends are jam packed between now and D Day.  She has of course the soccer post-season to finish up, sports awards to go to, we have a painting party for the UU planned, she has a birthday party to attend, we've got trips to Kings Dominion and Natural Bridge upcoming, as well as celebrating Memorial Day at Wolf Trap and the F'burg Illumination.  SO I know that May will be gone before we know it.  It is a bittersweet time of year, knowing we have a lot of fun left, but knowing it is closing in on the end.  As the Buddha may or may not have said, in one of the great controversies of the Internet:

We'll keep being grateful for every day and saying our "I love you"s every night :)  See ya in a few weeks!