August

The start of August saw Russ transition from the international component of his studies to War College proper, thankfully with an extra long weekend in between. The weather was still extremely hot and humid.

Russ, Laura and I ventured to the National Museum of American History but could not manage to convince Ben to come with us (in his opinion he has seen too many museums for his lifetime already!) https://www.si.edu/museums/american-history-museum

This museum is amazing. We spent three hours there and only finished one floor. Laura declared that she was tapping out after this time so we decided to leave, but Russ and I will return at a later date to see the other two levels. Whether the kids join us is still up for debate. I suspect not!

To take advantage of Russ not having any study requirements for the long weekend we ventured down to Williamsburg in the southern area of Virginia, about two and a half hours away.

Laura drove part of the way, and did very well considering it was a three lane motorway and everyone drives at least five to ten miles over the speed limit.

On the first day we went to Water Country USA https://watercountryusa.com/ It was super hot so the rides were a very welcome way to cool down.

Unfortunately our phones were in a locker most of the day, but we had a great time, went on many rides and got a little sunburnt. Below is a pic of our favourite ride, Colossal Curl.

Day two was spent at Busch Gardens https://buschgardens.com/williamsburg/

This was an amazing park which was zoned by countries, eg:

Ireland

...more Ireland

England

The food available in each zone was themed to the country. We dined in Italy and it was delicious.

The rides were exhilarating. Turns out Laura and I are the daredevils of the family. We didn't buy any of the official ride pictures, but I did manage to screenshot a couple:

Russ and Ben on Darkoaster

Laura and me on Apollo's Chariot. That's pure joy, not fear, on our faces!

Our favourite ride was in Scotland - The Loch Ness Monster. We went on it several times throughout the day:

On our last day in the area we had a walk around Colonial Williamsburg https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/

After visiting Colonial Williamsburg we drove a short distance to Yorktown, another historically significant location, where the Americans finally defeated the British in their quest for independence - https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/yorktown

Redoubt 9 (explained in the linked page)

Awww....

Bridge over the York River

Lunch and then a slow drive home (American traffic = insanity!) rounded the weekend out.

Even though school wasn't due to start until the very end of the month, school sport tryouts started about three weeks prior. School sport is a different kettle of fish over here! The kids are required to have a medical  and release form signed off by a paediatrician to confirm they are physically healthy enough to participate. Sport is divided into fall, winter and spring sports, each being run over about three months.

Laura decided she was going to try out for the cheer team for something different. Before attending the week-long tryouts Laura and I both had to sign a contract agreeing to the terms and conditions of being a cheer member. Laura got home from the first tryout and had not enjoyed it. New sport, new school, not knowing anyone all combined to a less than enjoyable experience for our girl. The next day she told me she wasn't going back, but as she had signed the contract we agreed she would attend and explain to the coaches in person that she had decided not to proceed with the tryouts. I'm not sure what happened that session, but she came home positively glowing and hasn't looked back. Cheer has been so great for Laura as she is kept very busy and has made a wonderful group of friends. Cheer training is held every afternoon for two hours, with a game each week and competitions occasionally.

Our cheerleader

Mid August we had a fabulous night out with friends who were visiting from Australia. Tracey and Noel are sister and brother-in-law of our dear friend Michelle. We had pre dinner drinks at Vue Rooftop https://www.vuerooftopdc.com/ which is a a bar on the top floor of Hotel Washington, with a side view of the White House. We saw secret service on top of the building at one point.

After drinks we headed for dinner at Old Ebbitt Grill https://www.ebbitt.com/ which is a bit of an institution in DC. Wonderful food and company made for a great night out.

While Laura was getting her cheer on in August, Ben decided he would try fishing. Ben and Russ went out to some beautiful areas, as shown below. Unfortunately no fish were caught.

Fishing at Theodore Roosevelt Island

Scenery at Theodore Roosevelt Island

Just a couple of people trying their luck!

In the last week of school holidays the kids and I went to the National Zoo https://www.si.edu/museums/national-zoo which was really beautiful. Lots of trees helped keep us cool in the scorching weather.

The entrance to the zoo.

There was much hype about the pandas that are coming to the zoo later in the year. Their enclosure was being worked on while we were there.

Bird enclosure.

The kids started school in the last few days of August, but I'll save that information for the next blog.

What we've learned:

The postal service here is incredible! We receive an email whenever we have mail inbound to let us know when to expect it, with an image of envelopes or tracking information for parcels. We have on occasion ordered from Amazon and had items delivered within a couple of hours.