Pool Dinner

 Another bucket list item. We were really coming down to the last minute on some of these, but we finally made it to the pool the night before school started:

Birthday Fun

 We had a chill birthday day, with brunch, errands and a dinner and game at home with Gammy:

Rivanna River Float Trip

 We had this as a bucket list item this month, but the river has been so low that it was not possible before all the rain last week. We saw the tubing company was re-opening last weekend and we made a beeline for it. The Rivanna trip is much shorter than the James trip (only a little over an hour) and was very pleasant, even in 90+ degree weather:

Spotted these turtles as we floated by

There was a teeny tiny turtle, too, but it jumped in just before the picture

This blue heron was hanging out right by the rapids

Late Summer Lunch Date

 Benji was in camp last week and I took Friday afternoon off to hang out with Abby. We got pedicures and then had a lunch date on the patio of Sultan Kebob on what turned out to be a gorgeous afternoon:

Surprise Dartmouth Visitor

On Saturday, Kevin got a message from his friend Jen (Kuester) Middleton, letting us know that they would be coming through Charlottesville en route to the Great Smokies. Jen and Matt have two younger children, so we decided to pick up pizza and meet them at the park, which worked out well:

Disc Golf Course

 We had a free day on Sunday and were able to knock off several bucket list items, including playing on our local disc golf course:

Peach Picking 2021

 We went to Chiles this year:

Tie-Dye Experiment

It was on the bucket list, so I bought a kit and we gave it a go. The results were underwhelming, so we are going to try again later:

Swim Banquet 2020

 They had a modified/low key banquet this year at Penn Park. Every family brought their own food, but they still did coach's gifts and swimmer awards. They did not buy trophies this year or do the typical MVP-type awards, but instead the coach's painted a rock for each swimmer with a "paper plate" type award (goofiest smile, sparkliest clothing, etc.). Benji got the "Chip Off the Old Block" award because he apparently likes to share a lot of trivia with the coaches, who also know his parents were on Jeopardy!:

The group of 13-14 boys was small this year

Receiving his rock

End of the Road: One Last Stop in NY

 We ended up back in Rockland for the weekend and were able to see Kevin's whole family again on Saturday and Josh, Kathy and their kids on Sunday for brunch. I forgot to take any pictures of brunch, but I did get a few sweet shots on Saturday:

Benji watching Uncle Tom play guitar

Cutthroat Tripoly game

Road Trip 2021: One Last Day in Western Mass

We woke up in Williamston on Friday but immediately set out for Stockbridge, our last new destination before heading back to see family in New York:

The main attraction

It was really cool to see the original oil paintings on which the covers were based. The level of detail was amazing.

In the little café outside the museum

Outside the artist's studio

The studio, exactly as it was in the 1970s

We had a nice lunch at a bakery in town and then decided to explore the Berkshire Botanical Gardens:

Spotted this butterfly first thing

They had a really cool lily display in bloom

And these purple flowers

A seat made of a bush

Benji found every little nook in the park to walk into

We ended the day with tea in the little tea room in the garden