Getting Away

School is out and summer is here! I know the calendar says it's still spring, but I'm going by the thermometer.

VACATION
Two weeks ago (Saturday, the 26th), we packed our van and headed out of town. We were gone seven nights. We left early that morning and drove all the way to the Jones' house in Virginia where we had a great time spending time with family for a few days.

We did most of the normal family things while there. Some of the highlights include attending mass with them at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Staunton, going to see the recently released I Can Only Imagine movie, eating at a local pizza joint, shopping at the Green Valley Book Fair, and playing games, of course. Will has been cutting a lot of new trails on his property, and we took a pretty good hike one afternoon to check them out.

WASHINGTON, DC
Last Tuesday, we left the Jones family and drove up to Washington, DC. Our hotel was located close to Dulles Airport, so the first touristy thing we did was visit the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum out there (not to be confused with the one on the National Mall that most people visit). We had a guided tour with a very interesting docent. Some of the interesting parts for me were the Enola Gay, an SR-71 Blackbird, and the Space Shuttle Discovery. When we left there we checked into our hotel, rested a bit, ate supper, and then took the Metro to DC to see the monuments at night.

Wednesday we took the Metro back to DC. Our first stop was the Holocaust Museum where we we attended a live interview of Holocaust survivor Bob Behr, which was incredible. From there, we went next door to tour the Bureau of Printing and Engraving. After that, we grabbed lunch in Union Station and then toured the Supreme Court and Library of Congress.

Thursday we drove out to Triangle, Virginia, to visit the National Museum of the US Marines where we enjoyed a tour with a docent who made the museum come alive. When we left there, we headed back to DC and checked out the new Museum of the Bible, which is really well done. Then we ate supper in Chinatown. We had planned to visit the Lincoln Memorial but could not find a place to park that was reasonably close (it was raining off and on by then), so we headed over to the Iwo Jima Memorial.

HEADING HOME
Friday we loaded the van and headed toward home. We decided not to make it a hard driving day, so we spent the night in Kingston, Tennessee. This allowed us to take in Solo: A Star Wars Story at the theater there and enjoy a last leisurely supper together.

Last Saturday, we hit the road and got home around lunchtime. This gave us time to unpack and get caught up on the mowing. We were greeted by a swarm of mosquitos when we got here. Not the welcoming committee of choice.

THE SUMMER ROUTINE
Now that we're back home we are fully into the summer routine. Vicki is back to work, of course, and since I am a twelve month employee, I am too. The kids have filled their schedules with odd jobs.

Summer basketball practice has started up, so Ben has been getting to school by 7:30 most mornings for that. This week they had a camp at Lipscomb University. The varsity team won five of the seven games they played. We got to watch a couple of games on Wednesday. DA only graduated two seniors last year and have a lot of talent moving up from middle school this year so early indications are they will be a fun team to watch.

Cross country training has also cranked up. Nate has been running a lot on his own since Ben has basketball and we can’t get him to practice.

HOME INVASION
I guess with that headline I need to spoil the story right up front. Nate thought he might’ve had an intruder in the house Wednesday morning. It was actually Vicki. She had left for work and realized she had forgotten her phone about a mile or so down the road, so she turned around. When she got back home and came in the alarm keypad chimed as it normally does, she hollered at Nate to let him know it was her, grabbed her phone, and left. As simple as that.

Nate was upstairs. I don't know if the A/C was running or he had his earbuds in or both, but the only thing he heard of the above was the alarm chime. So, with only that to go on Nate thought an intruder was in the house. Being Nate, he didn't think to grab his phone and call his mom at best or 911 at worst. No, he sneaks downstairs as silently as he can. Seeing no one he heads to the kitchen and grabs two knives from the kitchen counter. Thus armed he proceeds to silently and methodically search the house.

Ten minutes later he has worked through the back of the house and is now entering the foyer. As he rounds the corner to the living room he hears what sounds like someone taking a breath. (It was actually two of the boards in the floor rubbing together when he stepped on them.) He concludes that someone is hiding behind the couch. After a three minute stand-off Nate rushes the couch, kicking it back to the wall in order to pen down whomever might be back there. Much to his relief, he was alone in the house.

I'm glad all this was a false alarm. I wish Nate had thought to use his phone which was right beside him upstairs. And I'm not really sure that the sight of a 6'2", pimple-faced, 15-year-old dressed in pajamas and brandishing a steak knife and a paring knife would truly instill fear in a hardened criminal. Foolhardy as this may have been, I am glad he had the courage to face fear in an uncertain situation. That's my boy!

Joe