Wrap it up- July 2014

What a month, with only a few weeks left of summer vacation I'm feeling a little "gotta get it done" before school starts back on the 25th (teacher workdays begin the week before.)  Today have second meeting at school about the AP Capstone program.  I am serving as AP Dept chair starting this fall in addition to my regular teaching load.  A large part of the downtime I had on both trips were spent creating spreadsheets comparing the 18 tested areas between 2013 to 2014 scores, by student subgroups as well as other indicators.  This was a familiar site as I got caught up on This American Life summer episodes at night while at Cal Lutheran last week.

July was spent on the road for me with two trips to the west coast within a 3 week period.  I am forever grateful that of the applicants I landed a spot in both the National Endowment for the Humanities, "Atomic West, Atomic World" and Gilder Lehrman American History Summer Institutes in "Age of Reagan."  Both conferences were worth the time away from my family and the extra costs outside of the stipends provided for travel.

What else happened in July-

-I finished 3 books, and skimmed read another 3 (1 for Age of Reagan and 2 for Atomic West)
-Camp Mommy field trips continued with trips to Hob-e Max, Durham Life and Science, The Scrap Exchange, Locopops (twice), and 3 Bears Acres
-Bill had his own version of Camp Daddy with trips to Durham Bulls game with our neighbors + kids, Hurricane Hockey Fan Appreciation Day, neighborhood block party at the pool while mom was gone
-The boys continued to enjoy camps a plenty including Art Deconstructed (artwork above), Bond Park Camp, YMCA Kindercamp
- Ben and Mom worked on learning multiplication tables or as Ben calls them "the times"
- We made weekly trips to the library for books and mom managed to get in multiple workouts the weeks she was home
- We ate ice cream almost everyday for dessert and took Vegas on many walks on the unseasonably cooler July days
-Ben had a friend spend the night and went to a 5 boy sleep over at a friend's home (not MY home)
-We spent many afternoons at the neighborhood pool and the Y spray park

As we head into our final three weeks of the summer we still have our annual Florida road trip ahead, a girl's weekend at the beach, BMX camp again, and Vacation Bible School

It has been a relaxing and fun filled summer all in one.  Favorite pics from July

*custom water board built by Bill for the boys and enjoyed for many an afternoon

Mom in her finest hours of July-

At the B reactor in Hanford Nuclear Reservation, Richland WA

In the Oval Office at Reagan Presidential Library and Foundation, Simi Vally, CA

In general, the theme of the summer