Abby's 17th Birthday

We had a quiet day at home. Kevin picked up Panera while Benji was at swim so that Abby could have her traditional morning muffin. We took a brief trip out mid-day to pick out treats for our trip and to pick up lunch from Hotcakes, then spent the rest of the day at home. Abby and I watched 13 Going on 30 while Kevin made Pop-pop's pasta, and we finished the day with a Ben and Jerry's cake:

Ready for a birthday girl

She opened presents over breakfast

Breaking from brownie sundaes, we had a B&J cake this year

We're off on vacation today - blog will resume in August!

Goodbye Statues

 It was an historic day in Cville. After years of lawsuits and an alt-right rally, the court finally cleared the way for the confederate statues to be removed from the city (the city council had originally voted for removal 4 years ago). We missed the morning fesitivites (removal of the Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson monuments), but were able to watch the removal of the Lewis and Clark statue in the early afternoon:

Waterworks

 We discovered this sweet little 1970s-era Parker Brothers game at our cabin in Smith Mountain Lake. After enjoying it for a second year in a row, I decided to explore a little bit and found that it had recently been reprinted by Hasbro, so I ordered a copy for Benji's summer box. We've been on a streak of playing it a few games at a time:

Licensed to Drive!

 She passed her skills assessment on Friday and is the proud owner of a driver's license:

Trivial Pursuit

 The kids have found a new interest in Trivial Pursuit, so we purchased an updated version to play. We christened it with Gammy:

Fourth of July 2021

On our way to the fireworks

 

Georgetown

We spent the holiday weekend in Herndon. We all had Friday off, so we decided to head up in the morning and spend the day in Georgetown before headed to casa Lamy-Peterson. We got there in time for a late lunch at Das Ethiopian, followed by a trip to Levain for cookies and then a self-guided tour of Georgetown's campus (which Abby loved):

Benji's New Bed

 He was ready to be done with the bunk, so we bought him a new twin and he is thrilled:

Water Balloon Games

 This was the last of our June bucket list items:

Balloon squash relay race (Benji is still popping his by sitting on it)

Hot potato (loser breaks balloon over their head. Abby did not actually lose, but she wanted to burst a balloon over her head)

The ring toss proved a little contentious - and dangerous

Balloon battle