Actual 21st Birthday

Our daughter is 21, wow. For her actual, Tuesday celebration, colleagues brought in a cake and took her out for Happy Hour! Then we grabbed her favorite 'hood dinner, Chipotle. The girl has pretty reasonable (low!) expectations of us. Steven did go above and beyond in gathering Snapchat birthday videos from colleagues that know her. Some sweet and some very funny (due to Steven's filter choices). The mouse picture was a video of Steven singing Happy Birthday...hilarious.

The interns took a field trip to the Capitol on Thursday. Coming up this weekend--proper partying and sleepover with Holton/OSU friends and then a family/friends shindig.

Deep Creek and Class

Yay--Julia and Steven had another chance to enjoy Deep Creek Lake with the Sarrges and Austins. Although there was some rain, they managed to get out on the water and enjoy some paddleboarding and floating mat time. I had class Saturday and Sunday...just one more weekend left.

Birthday Party and Ian

We celebrated Tony's birthday with Ian and his wife, Olivia. It was nice to catch up and to get to know Olivia better.

Great Basin National Park

Julia spent a fantastic week gathering data at the Great Basin National Park. Totally disconnected from technology, she was in tune with all things environmental, geographical, and climate related. We're so proud of how she has been able to shape both her education and her experiences to better her future!

Meanwhile at home, somehow, Steven, the cats, and I survived. 

Superstar and Deep Creek Lake

Thanks, mom, for the great seats at "Jesus Christ Superstar." It was a hard act to follow "Hamilton," but still enjoyable.

We jetted to Deep Creek Lake for a nice, mini-vacation with the Sarrges. The weather was perfect every day, between 75-85 degrees with little humidity. Tony set off a ton of professional grade fireworks (courtesy of Pennslyvania). Steven got in a few rides. My favorite was the pontoon boat--perfect speed and smoooooooth. Julia had some quality time with the cousins and Kevin. There are some good shots of Julia and Kathryn wakeboarding. And, although I never taught Julia the very important life skill of doing a cartwheel, I did, in fact, prove that I could still do one this past weekend. Pic below. It was a wonderful and relaxing time.

 

 

Chicago and Hamilton

We drove to Chicago for a quick four days. Shout out to Laura for winning the Hamilton lottery tickets (the seats were AWESOME)! While I attended a conference, Julia and Steven were on their own. Julia was able to meet up with Laura to see their fabulous condo. Unfortunately, Steven had a severe UTI episode and missed Hamilton. Thankfully, he was able to make the drive back home--yes, he drove the whole way back surviving on antibiotics and ibuprofen; although he had a major setback once in DC. Best of my worlds colliding, Julia was able to meet Magda--my wifey from work. Good eats while in Chicago included Molly's Cupcakes, DMK Burger Bar, Fig & Olive, South Branch Tavern & Grill, and Yolk.