Fired up! Ready to go!

The kids have been calling and responding "Fired up! Ready to go!" every time we get ready to go on an outing this summer.

We are charging through the last of June! Here are a few of our doings this summer.

We attended the Solstice Festival on June 20th, as is our habit in Blacksburg. We were all suffering somewhat from a wicked summer cold, but we got a few hours of fun out of it nonetheless.

First, the kids were thrilled to see Elsa again! Thank you, nameless volunteer, for suffering in the heat in that sequined outfit to make kids smile.

Once again, the NRV Varmints were there with their exotic/farm animal petting zoo. Here, Miles baffles a llama.

We've been watching the water catapults with interest for years now. Finally it seemed like the right time to get in the game! Well, Miles & Papa did, anyway. My cold was prohibitive for water events.

We all always enjoy belly dancing. And it seems like the right thing for the Solstice Festival. Humans need pagan revelry!

A few days later, I along with the rest of the nation were horrified to learn about the attack on Emanuel AME in Charleston. This was an attack no only on those individuals and that community, but on black churches as a whole, and on hospitality itself. The shooter was a guest at an AME church, as Miles and I had been just the week before, a recipient of hospitality. I love our friends at our local church and feel very strongly that it's about time to stand up to racism wherever it's found (even in our own institutions. especially in our own institutions). Therefore, we attended the AME church again last Sunday the 21st, and the vigil which followed on VT's campus. Miles made the following sign by himself:

I am currently long-distance watching The Episcopal Church's General Convention Proceedings in Salt Lake City, and thrilled by the election of Bishop Michael Curry and the House of Delegates passage of Resolution C019, which condemns and repents of racism while making a conscious deliberate and funded plan to fight it. I have been a proud Episcopalian this week! Considering waving an Episcopal flag this Friday. Or maybe a rainbow one...

Monday we steered southward to pay a visit to my beloved aunt and uncle in Wilmington, NC. They always puts us up with such generosity and hospitality, and we love being around them and getting to catch up over delicious wine.

And, of course, there's a definite advantage to being situated so close to the beach!

Last time we went to Wrightsville Beach, Adele was afraid of the water, and it was too chilly to go in.
What a difference 18 months makes!

Family shot

You'll be glad to know I recently ordered a new camera with my birthday money.

The kids spent ALL of Tuesday and most of Wednesday running in the waves. They believe the ocean is constantly playing a delicious joke on them and they frolicked along with it for hours at a time. We had all we could do to keep them hydrated and their sunscreen refreshed. It was a delight to be at the shore together!

Isn't my aunt and uncle's house so sweet??

At Carolina Beach on Wednesday

She just really loved this parrot at a Carolina Beach restaurant. 

Back home, we've been trying to get a grip on the beginnings of our packing by starting some deep cleaning. It's been dusty, unpleasant work! Fortunately, we can take breaks with these guys and enjoy some weather that, after NC's tropics, is truly refreshing.

This guy had a bit of an urgent care experience when he stood up into the corner of our big mailbox unit. He had a bleeding head, which scared him intensely. Thankfully, it was such a tiny wound that a little glue and some clever hair knots secured it and it seems to be healing nicely. What is life without a bit of adventure?

More outdoor pursuits: finally making use of some garage sale bought weaponry.

Miles takes revenge on the offending mailbox

Yesterday was my Sister Parish Guatemala luncheon, in which we tried to convince the congregation of the value of our relationship with the San Andres Itzapa church using delicious home cooked Guatemalan food, lovely decorations, art (see below), pictures, and testimonials. It went loooong, but it went very well. Another reason to be optimistic about our church, and to be glad that it seems we'll be staying here at least another year.