How I Spent My Summer

Did you miss us? Blog Project 3.0 was on hiatus for a few months, but now we're back! This group has been going on for about two years, even though one of the group members changed after a few months. I love blogging with this group and I hope we can continue to inspire each other.

This week, Moma Rock chose the topic: Catch us up on what you've been doing these past few months.

First, read what everyone else had to share on this topic. I will be only posting links to posts on this same topic from my group. So check back if you were hoping to read their blogs and don't see a link yet.

Darwin Shrugged
Froggie
Moma Rock

I'm not much of a summer person. I hate hot weather and don't go on beach vacations. I spent most of my summer doing my usual work routine. I drove the boys to camp every morning and played Broadway soundtracks for them. Since my husband only just recently got a new job, he was able to help with the kids when they had days off from camp or in the afternoons. In the meantime, he started an in-home catering business, making individual and family-sized meals for people in our community who were looking for more of a gourmet Kosher experience. He did different themes for each meal. I helped him on the business and customer service side. Now that he's working again, he has less time for this endeavor, but people are asking him about it, so he may do something once a month after the holidays.

This is one of the food items he made for his Asian theme...Hunan Orange Chicken:

Here are some highlights from my summer (in no particular order):

*Saw Newsies at the National Theater. It was a wonderful production. "Read all about it" here.

Excited to see Newsies (and actually have a date)

*Went to the "Beach" at the National Building Museum, It was an interesting experience, even though it cost a lot for a family of five (but we don't go to the museum enough for us to want to be members) and then the line was extremely long. Once we got into the beach area, it was fun. The ball pit was smaller than I was expecting, but still overwhelming. My older son lost his cochlear implant processor when he first jumped in, but I was able to find it. I'm not sure how he didn't lose it when he went there with his camp. When I got into the deeper area, I kept getting stuck when I tried to get out. For some reason, I found that to be amusing. The kids had a blast though, so it was all worth it in the end.

*Of course, we took our kids to a water park. It was the same water park we went to last year. This year I didn't bother going down the big slide since it goes so fast and I almost drowned last time. I enjoyed the wave pool though. I had to wait to go in with my older son on our own, since my daughter was scared of it. And of course, I got sunburned.

*Took the kids to see Inside Out. It was good and reminded me of a cross between Monsters, Inc. and Wreck-It Ralph. While it was clever and emotionally powerful, I don't know that I'd rank it as a favorite. I loved Mindy Kaling as Disgust though.

*Watched lots of Parenthood (over halfway through season three now, see my thoughts on season one and season two), Odd Mom Out, Orange is the New Black (season three) and Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp.

*Read a lot, of course. My favorite from this summer was The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street. However, there have been other really enjoyable reads, as well.

*Went to Chicago twice. First time was a road trip with the family for Fourth of July weekend. It was a short trip, but I got to see "Will" again while he was in town and also saw a few other friends, including my BFF. My friend whom I visited in NYC was also in Chicago and it was nice to see her again, as well. The other time, I flew in for a short weekend visit to attend (my paternal grandma) Nana's funeral and shiva. I got to see my BFF again (and she even brought over stuff for us to do Shabbos dinner together) and spent time bonding with my aunt. The funeral itself was nice, as it was more about celebrating Nana's life than mourning her passing. The receiving line was kind of awkward as relatives I hadn't seen in ages were there, interspersed with my uncle's work colleagues. We had to stand there while everyone moved along slowly to pay their respects. Some friends of mine and my sister's showed up, so that was nice. The shiva was nice, as well. My aunt and uncle hosted it and their house is gorgeous. I got to spend some time talking with my cousins, as well as my cousin's new husband.

Not a selfie this time!

*Toward the beginning of the summer, Jen Tucker was in town, as her husband had a work conference in DC. We all met up with them at their hotel and went swimming. Francine LaSala (another author friend of mine) was also there for a while. Then Jen bravely conquered the Metro to come visit us a couple of days later. It was so great to see her again. I even got to take her to my favorite used book store! And we can't forget the "ool." Or creepy floating things in tea.

*Toward the end of our road trip in July, we got to meet up with my friend Nancy, whom I had been talking to online because of our shared love for books. It was great meeting her in person. She is so nice and down-to-earth. I really wish we lived closer. (Even though I could never keep up with how organized and crafty she is. :) )

*Over Labor Day weekend, we went to a hotel for my older son's 10th birthday. (His actual birthday is on Rosh Hashanah, so we had to celebrate the weekend before.) He loves hotels, as long as they have pools (and as long as those pools are "ools"). The pool at this hotel was warm and not too deep. We all had fun just splashing around and letting the kids try out their stunts. Then we had dinner and walked around downtown Annapolis and got ice cream out there. The next day, we went to the Renaissance Faire with our cousins. It was fun to go back there again, but so hot out.

*Apparently, I blogged more than I was expecting to! I even made some new blogger friends and one is actually not a book blogger either!

How was your summer?