We took some soil samples from some land we were looking at, NC has a nice soil testing service through the Agronomics branch of the Agriculture Department. You just drop off some soil and they send you a report, awesome! Takes about a week…

Fumbling with iphone wordpress app, it won’t post video… forthcoming…

new wordpress iphone app, crashes less, posted pic but not showing up

two more revs of app and still sucking…

What a fun day, two games on Saturday, taking the team to the winner’s circle!  Gary, Randy and I have coached these girls for years, and watched them come together as a team.  I’m like a broken record, but I’d rather see the girls play as a team, with great crosses, using the whole field, leading passes to open spaces, etc., even if it means losing to the poorer strategies of teams that leverage one kid dribbling the length of the field, or the whole team playing packball.  The beautiful thing about this tournament was the fact that our team-based effort is now officially blowing the doors off those strategies, with the kids’ constantly-improving level of play taking them to a coordinated effort that is truly a beautiful thing to watch.  Every kid is a contributor, and they were on FIRE on Saturday.  Way to go, Allie, Brooklyn, Chloe, Dania, Holly, Jennifer, Jessica, Kylie, Olivia, Syndey, Wrenny, Zoe!

Pictures forthcoming…

Fourteen, holy cow.  We went to PF Chang’s, had cake, opened presents, and stayed up ’til midnight watching Woody Allen’s Manhatten Murder Mystery, fun fun!  The highlight by most accounts was the news that Reiley is in line for a puppy – let the next great search begin.  :>

I was pretty nervous about my mom and dad coming to visit, didn’t want them to have to make the long trip. Sure glad they did, though – we had a blast. The main event was Reiley’s confirmation, a big day for all of us. Along the way we managed to…

• go out to Mellow Mushroom, order Thai Thai…
• have a cookout with dogs, brats, corn, s’mores
• fix up pop’s boxcarkid.com website
• watch Sherlock Holmes (aaaawesome!)
• explore the garden, walking CAREFULLY down the steeply sloped back yard
• invent a great new family game, GRAB BAG!  :P
• have a ton of laughs  :>

What a great time we had in DC last week!
Any time you want to take a “walking vacation”, I heartily recommend DC. There are more sights to see than you could cover in a week of walking.
We hit museums, monuments, the White House and the Capitol Building in two days, and it was quite a fun workout. Absolutely gorgeous weather, joggers everywhere, people playing soccer on the green. And just walking the streets of Washington provides a wealth of architectural delights.
We stayed in a DoubleTree hotel just off of Dupont Circle, right in the middle of the action. It was maybe a half-mile walk to the White House. We got really good at running across 5-lane intersections with 12 seconds on the pedestrian clock!
At one point, strolling a block off the National Mall, Wren and I are pretty positive that we passed Adam Young, eating a chocolate ice cream cone. He had big sunglasses on and a hoodie, but I swear it was him. And Wren backs me up: “he loves sweets, it had to be him!”
But a word of warning: don’t pet the squirrels! Reiley, ever affectionate towards wildlife, was instructed on this by Chief Headmaster Squirrel, who took a big chunk out of her finger following her third attempt to “pet” him. Fortunately squirrels don’t pass rabies to humans, so treatment centered around preventing infection and tendon damage (once Andrea got her to the emergency room – Wren and I were busy listening to Adam). She’s recovering well. :>
On the last day, before heading out of town, we meandered in the car over to the Georgetown area, where hip restaurants are lined up in long rows, with wait staff loitering on the sidewalk ready to pull you inside. We found a nice-looking Indian restaurant, and shared 4 delicious entrees. After 2 days of walking and quick lunches and dinners at Subway and Johnny Rockets, it was a satisfying end.