Day 117

Another very busy day. First, the big and good news. Jonny had his MRI done and had a visit with Dr. Grant. All is good! See you in a year. Fina went to Ballet all morning. She and Papa picked up Chick-Fil-A for lunch on the way home. After lunch, Papa took Fina for her first behind-the-wheel driving experience. And we all survived, car included! AJ went to Water Camp all day at Catamount, which he's loving. Jamie had a good test run with the California Short Line Railroad Association for their online meeting tomorrow. And yet another afternoon thunderstorm. Tracy whipped up fried eggs and sausage for dinner; big hit. Jamie also put the finishing touches on his Creation class for tomorrow night. The Harry Potter puzzle has been quite challenging. It doesn't help that many of the pieces blend in with the counter top. We watched Desperados (a Fina selection).

The news from Stanford was all good.

Fina behind the wheel for the first time.

This one's a toughy.

Day 116

The activity level of normal stuff is building back up. So is road traffic. So are gas prices. We dropped AJ at his first day of Catamount Institute day camp for the week. And Fina's got Ballet going full bore. Matt and Jonny took off for Jonny's well-check at Stanford. Tracy made her pressure cooker chicken, peas, pasta dish for dinner. Tracy took the baby to Denver for his post-op checkup. No time for shows or movies tonight, Tracy had a TimberCreek staff meeting after dinner and then we had to plan the next two days worth of taxi driving. That led to the modeling career; I'm really not sure how (see below).

Upgraded to First Class, baby!

At the hotel. What doting?!

Jamie's friend was back, as always.

She's taking up modeling.

Day 115

Pretty quiet, easy-going Sunday. Watched Hamilton again. And a few more episodes of NUMB3RS. Matt made breakfast burritos in the morning and it was P.F. Chang for dinner. Another nice rain in the afternoon, along with some thunder and lightning.

Nana got some fresh flowers for the 4th of July weekend.

Day 114 (Independence Day)

It was pretty much an All-American 4th of July for the Compound. Wonderful time at the pool in the morning, including lunch poolside, a family fave. Then putzing about the house doing whatever, watching a few more episodes of NUMB3RS (which has run away with the title "most watched show during the lockdown"). Matt grilled some hot dogs for the Hot Dog Smörgåsbord, another family favorite. The pièce de résistance, however, was the chocolate peanut butter pie Tracy whipped up and the red, white, and blue shortcake dessert Lynn did. Then it was fireworks time. There were nine fireworks shows across the Colorado Springs area, all synced to music broadcast by a handful of radio stations. Pretty cool. And Flying Horse was one of the nine shows, which occurred not a mile from our back deck. More of the day's photos are here.

A pair of fighters flew over while we were at the pool.

Lots of games for the kids.

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AJ won first place in the egg-on-a-spoon race.

Belly flop competition. We thought Lexi did really well.
She's just not big enough to make much of a splash.

NUMB3RS

Tracy's chocolate peanut butter pie.

Lynn's red, white, and blue shortcake dessert.

A Fina creation for the day.

A little pre-fireworks basketball.

Dancing on the new wall post fireworks!

Day 113

There are but two things to talk about today. Two very big things. It was a perfect pool time at the Club this morning. And Hamilton was fantastic. The whole family watched (well, not Lexi so much). I think it may have overtaken Les Miserables as my all-time favorite production. We've all known the music since it came out. The three older kids can sing along to much of it (all of it in Fina's case). And some of us had seen it live on stage previously. Today was a first for me, AJ, and younger. Wow. My biggest impression?... How well all the choreography, and it was practically all choreographed, added to the story. Lastly, some champagne while we watched the Mt. Rushmore 4th of July before bed.

Oh, Garcon!

HAMILTON

Miraculously, Sasquatch Cookies showed up at intermission!

Day 112

Matteo had his reading session (MTTh), and Starbucks on the way home! Everyone managed to keep themselves fairly occupied (see below). The unique activity of the day was Matt and Jamie going down to Magnum Shooting Center to try out some handguns. First time Jamie could remember shooting a handgun (rifles, shotguns, yes, but maybe never a handgun before today). The time flew. Tracy and Matt went over to the join the TimberCreek worship group to tape the service for Sunday morning. Nana and Papa had no trouble managing the kids as they were still well occupied. Jamie also continued work on his Creation lesson for the 8th. He finished watching The Ten Commandments a couple days ago (3.5 hours!). The Ten Commandments could well be the next session, if there is a next session. Dinner was scrounge. More NUMB3RS, more Hart of Dixie today.

Quilting continues. There are two in the works.

Art Center activity.

Getting there...

Something arrived for Lexi. Drew a crowd.

Not bad for first handgun use. Five yards away.