Category: Uncategorized

We've all been enjoying gardening this year, and we now have a pretty good assortment of vegetables.  Since this is our first year gardening in Pittsburgh, we tried a little of everything.

The peas were delicious but we didn't have nearly enough of them.  Vine beans were wonderful and steady producers.  Bush beans, tho, not so good — lots of space for one crop of beans and then nothing. 

Corn was great, and the sunflowers were super-tough and resiliant — they were eaten down to nubs by deer while we were in DC, and to my great surprise they grew back and proceeded to make many nice flowers with big seed heads.

The cucumber vines were also victims of the deer, but we did get several nice cucumbers.

Jenya took her re-test of her Pre-Juvenile Moves in the Field today, and had a clean pass — all 3 judges passed her.  Very nice.  And note the new pink competition dress, Lunn just got done gemming it up. 

 

Ana finished her current math book, Singapore 3A.  Multiplication, long division, math with money, some geometry.

Her favorite page:

De left today to spend a week at the International Gymnastics Camp.  She’s really looking forward to it.  An entire week of 6+ hours a day of gymnastics, plus all kinds of other things like canoeing, rock climbing, swimming, and other activities.  I dropped her off (after a 6 hour drive — it’s in the Pocanoes, on the other side of the state, ugh), and got a few pictures.

Jenya completed her current math book, Singapore 5B. Decimals, percents, averages, and some geometry.  Her favorite was tessellations.

We had a very nice week-long visit with Lunn’s parents in Fairfax.  The girls each picked someplace to visit during the trip. Ana picked the Dulles Air & Space Musuem, and Jenya wanted to visit the Woodrow Wilson House and the National Cathedral.  At Jenya’s request, I also took her to the Holocaust museum.  It was intense, of course, and Jenya seemed to find it a bit overwhelming but very worthwhile.

The girls and I also had a nice visit with my friend Lynch and his two boys.  We spent the day at a local waterpark.  The girls got on well with the boys.  The twins had fun running around with his youngest, and Jenya bonded over ‘droid games with his oldest.

We also found time for Dale and Lunn to give the girls a lesson in guns and gun safety.  Our Wexford neighbors have teen boys who had been running around shooting bb guns in our neighborhood, so we figured it was high time the girls learned what guns really are, how they work, and how to handle them safely.

All in all it was a very nice week.

Test day today.  Ana took her Preliminary Moves in the Field, and Jenya took her Pre-Juvenile Moves.  Ana did a great job and passed.  Jenya also did a nice job — it was her first 3 panel test — but did not quite pass.  She got one pass and two retries. 

Part of Ana's test:

 

And Jenya's test:

 

The girls found a snake today, and they and their friends spent a good bit of time playing with it.  It was a very patient snake, and was quite tolerant of the kids’ attentions. 

Ana and I spent the morning at the local courthouse.  She got to meet two judges, a court reporter, and several policemen.  Everyone was very nice to her, and very willing to explain things about how the court system worked.  She got to see the equipment they use for video testimony, and watch several cases get tried.  A very nice "field trip."