Great Falls National Park

This weekend the girls and I visited my friend Emily and her family in the Washington, DC area. We hadn't see our friends since March 14...just a couple days before NC and VA shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

One of the highlights of our trip was visiting Great Falls National Park in McLean, VA. From the overlooks, we saw some impressive waterfalls as the Potomac River rushed through the Mather Gorge. On the trails, we hiked through the forest and climbed some big rocks. We enjoyed spending time with our friends and hope to see them again in a few months!

Hadley loved Emily's cat named Spoof!

 

Emily and Me

Celebrating 13 years of friendship!

 

David, Savannah (11), Xavier (11), Felix (7), and Hadley (5)

 

  

Main Street Park

 Our family hiked 1.3 miles at a park where Tal does some of his F3 workouts. We enjoyed getting some exercise, crossing a bridge, and climbing rocks.

   

Falls Dam

During one of our recent adventures, the girls and I explored Falls Dam. We walked on the sandy beach and climbed on the rocks. 

Dam

Tree Removal

Last week Tal and I had four trees removed around our house. The trees were 20 years old. They were touching our roof and had grown too tall to maintain safely without professional help. We are going to plant smaller shrubs that are easier and safer to maintain. 

Tree #1

On the left side of our house, we had the tree next to Tal's truck removed. It was competing with our neighbor's tree and was in danger of falling on Tal's truck during a storm. (Tal's truck doesn't fit in our garage, so he has to park in the driveway.)

After

Before

After

Tree #2

We also removed a tree in the front right corner of our house:

Trees #3 and #4

Finally, we removed two trees in the back right corner of our house. Over the next few weeks, we will be pressure washing the side of our house to remove the green grime:

The tree company mulched up our trees and ground up the stumps and then dumped the 4-5 truckloads of mulch from our trees on our driveway.  Yesterday Tal and I spread 2/3 of the mulch in our backyard and plan to spread the rest this week.

Coronavirus Chronicles: Part 10

Over the last four months, our family has been working from home and practicing social distancing. Even though school is closed this summer, I'm still working full-time at home. Although there are a lot of interruptions and distractions at home because the girls need my love and attention, I'm thankful to have flexible work hours and to be able to spend more time with Tal and the girls this summer.  

We received some packages in the mail, and the girls enjoyed playing in the boxes:

Sparklers on the 4th of July

We used Tal's annual wellness reimbursement from his employer to renew our Y membership for the rest of 2020. The Y's indoor facilities are closed due to the governor's orders, but the outdoor pool is open with limited capacity and social distancing. Over the last couple weeks, we've enjoyed swimming most days, so we could cool off, burn some energy, and spend time outdoors. 

Hadley used her chore money to buy some fake nails:

Savannah's friend Sky braided her hair. So pretty!

Tal pressured washed our deck and then applied two coats of stain.

After

Before

Swim Test

Savannah passed the swim test at the Y! She swam the entire length of the pool in a straight line (from 4 feet-8 feet deep) without her goggles and without stopping or touching the bottom of the pool. Then, she jumped into the deep end of the pool (8 feet), treaded water for 30 seconds, and used her arms to pull herself out of the pool. Now that she has earned the black band, Savannah can swim anywhere in the pool without an adult. Savannah loves her independence!