Last Boat Ride

Roxanna and Ron took us on our last Lake Barcoft boat ride and then had a cook out. It was a nice way to wrap up our stay. Roxanna is a good friend of Debbie's from the woman's group; they have organized several events in the past few years. Ron is quite an interesting guy. He's worked in the Secretary of Defense's office for about 20+ years and knows all the SecDefs since Schlesinger. DARPA reports directly to the SecDef. He says in 75 years he can tell some good stories.

Brunch and Swim Awards

We started sunday morning with brunch with the Best's at the Army Navy club. The food was great, and gave us a nice chance to visit before leaving. Thanks Bob & Leslie!.

Then we went on to the Swim team awards banquet. Debbie was honored for her hard work on concessions etc, Catherine got her Divisional plaque and ribbon for yesterday's meet, a coache's award for Commitment, and her points trophy! Not to be left out Caroline got her points trophy for her second place finish! It was nice to see our friends one more time and tell the coaches goodbye - they are a good bunch of young people.

Divisionals

Catherine swam 2 events in divisionals - the top 12 swimmers in each event in the division compete. She swam IM - which is a 100M 4-stroke race. She really kicked in the heat on her last turn and passed the swimmer next to her. She scored another 6th place! and gets a plaque! then she had a really strong backstroke and got 8th place for which she'll get a giant ribbon - her entire team was cheering for her on her last lap! Since were now living out of a hotel we had the dog with us - as a courtsey we stayed outside the fence in the shade - so fletch got to watch her swim also. Caroline found the sand box, and Debbie and I traded dog watching / swim watching duty. Super job Catherine - it was a tuff week with the ear infection and all. Always proud, but never prouder than to see her turn on the heat in the last lap of the IM!

Bye Bye House

Wednesday Francine kept the girls all day, that was a big help - it was 12 hours of hard work. The movers loaded the truck all day wednesday, at about 7:00 the driver tells me - we got a problem - were out of space! (there was a partial load already in there). Then I told him - we got a bigger problem - its not my house at 10am tomorrow! So after a scramble we had a plan. We met them Thursday morning at 7:15, the completed the load and Dawn came by and picked up the girls, they got to see the house empty and say a very unemotional bye. THen we went signed the papers and handed over the keys! We loved the house and living in Lake Barcroft - seeing it empty and sold was nice too! I'd call it about the happiest possible situation under which we'd be moving out.

Supper Club Sendoff

Our friends in our supper club from church gave us a great sendoff sunday night. Everyone brought something good to eat; Rob ran the grill, and Alfredo mixed the drinks. The kids ran around and played, while the adults visted. Thanks to everyone for the lovely going away gifts, and thanks to Dawn and Alfredo for being the hosts. We had a wonderful time and will miss everyone.

Goodbye AUMC

Annandale UMC has been our church home for 6 years. The girls sang their VBS songs, and they gave us a special send off. I think the music director picked the music for us this sunday - we really enjoyed it. We have made lifetime friends and wonderful memories.

Forest Hollow Swim Meet

Catherine swam freestyle and fly in the last A meet of the regular season; and her last A meet race in the Forest Hollow pool. She got a third place in freestyle! Debbie ran her last saturday morning concessions! Caroline and I watched.

Mike, and Andy Family on the Mall

Andy and his family are visiting DC this week, so Mike and I meet up with them and walked through the WWII, Korean, Lincoln, and Vietnam monuments. It was fun visiting and catching up with he and Nancy - and the kids are all so grown up! Due to the recent muggings in the mall area, the capital police were out in force; We saw a horse patrol stop a taxi for stopping infront of the WWII - it was odd seeing a horse pull over a car.

Grandparent's visit

Mom and Dad came into town for one last visit, and to drop off my great grandfather Love’s bedroom set that my father just restored. We spent some time on the Mall, went to the National Archives (it was closed due to flooding) and National Gallery. Then we went to Catherine’s swim meet Saturday morning (no ribbons this week), and got a pontoon boat tour from our realtor. Then we took a ride on the GW Parkway, and went back to Mall, the National Archives (reopened), and the Modern Art Gallery. We stayed busy, but had a really good visit.

Monday Night Meet

Both girls swam in this B meet. Caroline did the freestyle, and Catherine swam the breast stroke to improve her time for the next meet. Then there were some water games - Dawn and Nicole swam in a relay. It was a laid back night since the kids were only swimming against other team members.

Canoe Trip

The weather was so nice today we paddled the canoe around the lake. There were allot of boats out on the water, and several anchored as swim platoforms. We saw the vine covered boat out, and a sail kayak with a dog on board.

Smithsonian Folk Life Festival

After the swim meet we took fletch to the vet (while our house was being inspected) and then went to the mall to see the Folk Life Festival. This year Alberta Canada was the featured location. Caroline dressed up as a smoke jumper, and we checked out the crafts from Pacific Northwest. It was odd seeing the huge Dump Truck, Oil Pump, and live stock out on the mall. Then Caroline just had to go see her favorite exhibit in the Natural History Museum - Mammals. It was really cool outside so it made it extra nice to wander around.

Swim Meet at Highland Park

The Gators continued the winning streak today at Highland Park pool. Catherine had a really good day she swam in the freestyle and butterfly events and got second place in both. Amy, Catherine, and Sarah swept the fly; it was a fun meet. The team won by 10 points, Catherine contributed 6 of them!

Fourth of July

Catherine and I went to our final Lake Barcroft Fourth of July fireworks display at beach 2. It was hot and stickey and a bad storm had blown through earlier - so we decided to once again stay in the neighborhood vs. go to the mall. We chose right! it was a good show and our drive home was about 2 minutes. We could hear the cannons firing from the Capitol Mall, but way to much haze to see any thing.

Swim Meet

We had a home A meet this morning. Catherine swam two events and came out 3'rd place in the butterfly. Her times keep improving, and her stroke loked great. Caroline and I left early and shoped around a little bit, while debbie and catherine finished the meet. The gators won the meet!