Class of 2018

So we've got a Froshie in the house!  Today is day 3 of high school and  so far, KJ has had a GREAT week!!!  Monday I picked her up after school to drive her to her scrimmage over at Sherwood High School and I asked her if she was intimidated by the upper classmen.  Her response?  "Uh, no???"  Classic KJ.  She's got friends in every class and she said they've eaten lunch in the courtyard every day.  She gets an hour for lunch (which I LOVE!) so they can meet with a teacher if they need to, play some pick-up games in the gym, get some homework done, etc.  They get out of school at 2:10 and she goes to the varsity coach's science lab for study hall for 45 minutes.  Practice is from 3 to 5 PM. 

She played AMAZING in Monday's scrimmage!  They played 3 twenty minute games . . . she played all 3 games, she started all 3 games, she played setter all 3 games and she put up 7 or 8 points each game.  Very, very proud of her!!  She's not crazy about playing setter but I told her to stop fighting it.  That's the position for short white girls! 

Yesterday I drove down to Georgetown to spend the afternoon with my Hoover friends Judy and Amanda.  Amanda had jaw surgery so Judy's been up here taking care of her.  I love, love, love spending time in Georgetown and it was SO nice seeing Judy!  Haven't seen her in a year!  The weather was great and we had a nice lunch at Tony & Joe's sitting by the water.

Looking forward to the long weekend . . . KJ has a scrimmage Friday afternoon at home and my folks are coming down for the weekend to chill by the pool.  Depending on the weather, we may meet them in Gettsyburg and spend the day walking around.  If it's too hot, I'd rather be at the pool.  Sunday we'll grill and Al and Z will join us.  So, so nice having family around!

My Peeps

So nice to have all of my peeps home for Easter!  And, oddly enough, I didn't have any of my favorite Easter candy.  So not like me!!!

T flew in late Thursday night and Friday Cosmo and the girls spent the day at Kings Dominion.  Saturday we had a nice, leisurely day walking around DC and Georgetown.  It was such a beautiful day we decided not to waste the sunshine by going to an indoor museum.  We just strolled and people watched and walked and talked.  We love to park at the Capital and walk down one side of the Mall and back up the other.  T said the pea gravel and wide Mall reminded her of our trip to Paris with it's wide boulevards and le Jardin des Tuileries.  Made my heart so happy to hear that!  Lots of families picnicking on the mall, lots of kite flying, some flag football games going on and even some adult kickball games.  We had a fun, late lunch at Thunder Burger in Georgetown:  http://www.thunderburger.com/index1.html and did some shopping.  Georgetown was hopping and I always love the vibe.  Saturday night T finally got to taste the wonderful goodness that is Jimmie Cone.

T had to fly out super early Sunday morning but on her way back to Oxford from Memphis she had a nice little visit with her cousin and his family.  They are military and are in the process of transitioning from New Orleans to Memphis.  T is SO excited to have some family nearby!

Sunday Cosmo's niece and her husband joined us for Easter Dinner.  I had only met Matt once and hadn't see Kristen since another niece's wedding in 2009!  We had a nice time catching up and hope to see more of them!

My folks arrive tomorrow and will be here through the weekend.  My mom wants to go to the Franciscan Monastery http://www.myfranciscan.org/ while they're here and my dad wants to go to the Air and Space Museum http://airandspace.si.edu/  My parents are used to high 80's coming from Florida and my mom wanted to know if we had opened our pool yet.  Ummmmm......

Weekly Recap

Not much going on this past week. It was busy but nothing out of the ordinary. KJ had her usual vball practice and has a tournament in Northern Virginia tomorrow. I like the one-day tournaments; two-days are rough and that one we did at the Convention Center in DC over President's Weekend was mind-numbing.

Champ got to see one of his former BamaLax players this week at Georgetown. Justin plays at Furman for Coach Meade (Coach Meade was the coach from Navy who recruited Brye and is starting up the new Furman team).  Coincidentally, one of the boys from Damascus is playing with Justin on the Furman team and Champ said he was incredible.  Justin played well, just not enough (according to Champ).  In any event, I love the fact that even though we've moved on, these boys will always be a big part of Champ's life.  He will do anything for his boys and will always stay in touch with them.  And if one of them is playing within driving distance of wherever we are, Champ will be there to cheer them on.  I love when the boys text him to check-in, ask for advice, etc.  Once a Coach, always a Coach.  I know he misses the game and the kids but I always tell him he's definitely made an impact on these kid's lives (he does not miss the parent drama or the other crap that came with coaching, just the game.    He misses being on the field).  KJ is toying with the idea of picking up her stick again.  But she wants her daddy to coach.  Hmmmmmm......not sure how I feel about that.

Found out this week that Champ is flying T-bone home for an Easter surprise.  I was so happy to hear that!   I thought she would stay in MS or go to dinner with friend's but she's definitely coming to DC and I think she's bring a friend with her.  She's had a wonderful Spring Break and is heading back to Oxford today. She went with a really nice group of girls and there was zero to no drama.  She got to see some Hoover friends on the beach / Whale's Tail so she was happy.

Cosmo and KJ haven't seen T since Christmas.  If she doesn't come home for Easter, they won't see her again until May or July (she's got several commitments from now until the Miss Miss pageant and only has a week in May to possibly come home.  So as to maximize our time with her, we're in the beginning stages of planning a family vacay.  Just not sure where we want to go or what we want to do.  I think we may be taking a cruise out of Baltimore.  The only airfare we'd have would be getting T from MS to MD and we all just want to relax and spend time together.  KJ, of course, wants to go to Disney but I think we've talked her into the cruise.  We're probably going to go to the Bahamas and she's looking forward to being at Atlantis and doing the aquatics there -- big water slide, swim with the dolphins, etc.

A little Fall Fun

KJ had a great Halloween and trick or treated with a couple of girls from the neighborhood despite the light rain.  We had a ton of kids at the house which was pretty fun and I had just enough candy.  My favorite costume of the night was Troy Polamalu.  One of the boys KJ goes to school with wore a Steeler's jersey and had a huge wig on.  Too funny!  She didn't have school on Friday so we got to sleep in for a bit.  We met Cosmo for lunch and did a little shopping in the afternoon.  KJ picked out a Michael Kors bag and it will be put away for a Christmas present.  She also bought two cute dresses and a couple of shirts. 

Saturday KJ was invited to the movies and shopping with a girl from her Math class so Cosmo and I took advantage of the free time and had a date day.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous, mid-60's with plenty of sunshine.  We had a GREAT lunch at the DC Boathouse in Georgetown
http://dcboathouserestaurant.com/ and walked around the campus for a while.  We found the football stadium and caught a bit of the game vs. Lafayette.  Nice stadium, very small (nothing like Bryant-Denney!) but nice nonetheless.  Can't wait to see some lax games there!  I was so mad at myself . . . I lugged my camera around all day but it didn't have a memory card in it but did get a couple of good pics with my phone.  I luv, luv, luv Georgetown.  I've told Cosmo repeatedly that I'd give my right arm to live there. 

MD

Totally forgot to blog about my quick trip to MD last month!  I flew in to BWI Thursday evening and Coach and I had a great dinner at Uncle Julio's at the Washingtonian.  Friday I did a few things while Coach was at work and that night we had a wonderful time walking around Mount Airy and had an alfresco dinner at the Laurienzo Brick Oven Café.  I had the lobster and shrimp ravioli and it was to die for!  I totally lucked out and had the most amazing weather while I was in MD and it was so nice to sit outside and enjoy my husband's company! 

Saturday evening we had dinner at a sports bar so we could watch the lacrosse game and then we went to see Despicable Me 2.  Sunday morning we drove into Georgetown for brunch at Martin's Tavern.  We sat in the Madeline Albright booth and had mimosas.  http://www.martins-tavern.com/index.cfm 

We walked over to Georgetown Cupcakes but didn't go in.  It hadn't opened yet for the day and the line was about 50 deep already.  Next trip I'd like to go to http://www.macaronbee.com/

After brunch we headed to DC and went to the Marine Corps War Memorial just outside Arlington.  From there we headed over to Jefferson Memorial.  We found a great parking spot and walked around the Tidal Basin.  After a quick little nap we headed to the airport and I had a great flight home!  Quick weekend but just what I needed!