Off to Denmark!

Sofia and Chaeyoon came to see her off at the bus stop (we had hoped to drive her to Logan, but the rental car was too full so she went on the Dartmouth Coach):

Abby's Summer Term Pictures

She always does a photo dump at the end of each term (and hopefully does not care that I steal them!):

Birthday Cakes

Being on the road for my birthday was not ideal, but it did mean I got multiple birthday cakes:

With Abby at Molly's in Hanover

In NY, with Kevin's family

Back home in Virginia with Benji

Cake from a colleague at work

Abby's Summer Formal 2024

It was at the ski lodge:

First day of Junior Year for Benji

 

Last Cville Band Concert for the 102nd Season

Perfectly timed for the night before school started:

I made him take a picture before he drove himself to warm-up -- it was his first time driving himself to a concert

It was amazing to have former poet laureate Rita Dove as one of the vocalists

Benji being recognized as a student member for the season

Celebrating Birthdays at Shenandoah

As has become our tradition, Holly invited us up to Shenandoah to look for meteors and celebrate our birthdays (hers is 8/13). They were camping overnight in Big Meadows, but we went up just for the evening since it was a Monday night and Kevin and I had work in the morning (plus the start of school was near). We had dinner and cake and then Adrian got out his guitar and we had songs around the fire. We had to leave before the meteors really got going, but it was still a great night:

We forgot real candles, so we had to use battery-powered votives

Benji watching the guitar by campfire light

Macbeth at ASC

When we saw American Shakespeare Theater was doing Macbeth this summer, we asked Benji if he would want to see it, and he was enthusiastic about the prospect. We bought tickets for the weekend before the start of school and all enjoyed the performance:

DOC Pizza Outing

Abby sent us pictures from her trip the the organic farm to make/eat pizza (Taylor talked her into going, as the trip was led by a rugby teammate):

Stereo Repair

Benji has been interested in our cassette collection, so he wanted to try to fix our old stereo (the tape player does not work). He discovered the motor is dead, so probably not worth the repair:

UVA Seat Install 2024

Another hot morning at Scott Stadium:

Abby's 20th Birthday Poster

 

National Hot Fudge Sundae Day

 

CHAMPS 2024

Marching Band Camp was only 4 days, because on Friday was the CHAMPS meet (Mr. Hackworth's kids also swim, so he did not have camp that day). Benji swam in 4 events, which is the max for any swimmer:

Fly, as part of his IM

Breast, also part of IM

50M Fly, where he clearly lost his goggles

100M (Long) Free

On the Tuesday after Champs, we had the traditional swim banquet where awards are given out, and Benji won Champs hero for his performance at this meet:

Marching Band Leadership Camp

Benji had a week off after vacation, and then it was time to dive into Marching Band Leadership Camp (it was only three hours a day, so he still had time to relax):

Stuffing goodie bags for their sections

And arranging the trophies in the band room

Cville Band Concert: The Classics

 Always nice when they play at the Paramount:

Happy 49th Birthday, Kevin!

 

Benji and Alex's Big Train Adventure

We got home from vacation on Monday night, and on Friday Benji turned around and started back to NY again to take a "transit trip" with Alex. The first leg was taking the Cardinal from Charlottesville to Manassas by himself (Alex and Soph met him at the Manassas station):

On Saturday morning, Benji and Alex got up early and made their way to Union Station in DC, where they boarded the Acela train to New York (each in their own train t-shirt, which they received compliments on from two separate people):

Once they got to NY, they took the subway to the NY Transit museum, which is housed in an old subway station in Brooklyn:

After the museum, they had some time to kill, so they explored Penn Station and also got dinner before boarding another Acela back to DC:

Benji was really excited to get the train table for the train we road last month

After sleeping in Herndon, Benji boarded a different train from Manassas back to Charlottesville (the Northeastern) and returned safely home: