Ethan's 10-year-old Interview and Stats

Ethan has grown up quite a bit this year.  He is good with his younger cousins and likes to help out (although still struggles with being overly helpful with Preston who doesn't appreciate it).  He likes whatever James likes such as if James mentions he likes a new song, Ethan will suddenly start listening to it again and again.  He is very concerned about everything being fair and making sure he gets his special time (being the middle child is tough!) but when we try to do fun things and dates with him he often wants to invite Preston to come too.  
He especially loves his teacher this school year which has helped him become much more responsible with his school work and better about controlling his impulsive behavior.
He is a natural leader.  One example is with volleyball he takes it upon himself to be the self proclaimed 'assistant coach' constantly communicating with his teammates about where to go and how to improve.  Last year he tried to play the whole court by himself as he had more experience but now is doing better and bringing everyone else's skill levels up and their team has been undefeated so far.
He is great to help around the house as long as the jobs can be done swiftly without any attention to details.  :)

Height: 60 inches
Weight: 84 lbs
Sleeping: 10 hours (8:30 pm-6:30 am) Asleep within minutes of his head hitting the pillow, but even when we get to bed to late he never sleeps in.
Hobbies: Has backed off from sports a bit this year to focus more on music, enjoying a couple of after school music classes and piano.  Still also does track and volleyball.  Loves animals, especially catching lizards and frogs, and doing anything outdoors.

Ethan 10-year-old interview

What is your name? Ethan
When is your birthday? March 9th
How old are you? 10 years old
What is your favorite color?  Blue and Green
What is your favorite song? Phoenix by The Fall Out Boy
What does Mom do? Mom works around the house and works with the kids
What does Dad do? Dad's a veterinarian at City of Hope
What do you want to do when you are a grown up? I want to be a veterinarian too
Where do you want to live when you grow up? In California
If you had 1 million dollars, what would you do with it? I would pay my tithing, then save it for other things, and trips.
What is your favorite food? Pizza
What is your least favorite food? Mushrooms
What is your dream car? A race car?
What is your favorite animal? Tiger
Where do we go to church? Duarte Ward
Why do we go to church? Because Heavenly Father wants us to
What is something you’re good at? Sports
What is your favorite movie? Planet Earth
What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Oreo
Where would you like to travel? Florida Keys
Where do you like to eat? Cafe Rio
Who is your favorite person? Preston?
Who is your best friend? Justin
What is your favorite book? The Boys in the Boat
What is your favorite thing to do? Play outside
What are you most excited to do this year as a 10-year-old? Go to Italy

2018 Books

My reading goal for 2018 was to track the books I read.  I didn't track any that I read or listened to with the kids, but I did track YA books that I read separately from them as I like to at least read a book or two of an author I'm not familiar with that my kids are reading on their own.  It is hard to keep up with them as they like to read a lot also.

I not sure if I got them all, but from what I recorded I read (mostly listened to) 103 books. My favorites are Historical Fiction and Christian Fiction.  I like uplifting happy and sometimes fluffy :) books to listen to as I do housework or exercise. Here are a few that stood out this year.

Historical Fiction

America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie
I read this book before going on a trip to Virginia and to Monticello.  I loved that the authors took so much time to study the history that they were able to portray a likely accurate account of what happened. They obviously took some liberties in dramatizing, but I found it very engaging. I listened to the book and loved the audio version. I often paused to look up information and enjoyed this way of learning more about our nations founding fathers and those that influenced them.

Last Christmas in Paris: A Novel of World War I by Hazel Gaynor
I loved this exchange of letters. I listened to the book and the audio version was fabulous with different actors for each character that really brought them to life and helped keep everything straight with who was writing to who. I loved the personalities and humor and how the author was able to bring in so much backstory through different exchanges.

Young Adult/Middle Grade

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
I really enjoyed this book. I've seen it recommended and have gotten it a couple times for kids to read. I finally decided to listen to it and am glad I did. It is based on a sad premiss, but the characters are so interesting and it is filled with hope and growth. I like many of these same type of books that describe challenges that people go through. (Out of My Mind, Fish in a Tree, Wonder…)

Chickens in the Headlights by Matthew Buckley
My kids had this book recommended to them by cousins.  Ethan got it for Christmas (and its sequel) and both Brielle and Ethan have read them both multiple times.  I thought they were both pretty funny and a great read for middle grade boys especially.  Ethan was excited when he was home sick a couple weeks ago and we turned on a movie to find it was based on this book.

Memoir

My Own Two Feet by Beverly Cleary
I really liked her perspective of this time in history-depression era.  I could imagine my grandparents living a very similar life.  My kids love all of her books especially the Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins series so we’ve listened to many of them in the car as we drive.  It was fun to hear about the author’s experiences and how she came to publish her first book.  I read a few other children's author memoirs, but didn't love the others.

Religious Non-Fiction

The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ by multiple authors
This is probably the most read book in my life as I typically don't re-read anything.  I've never thought to track how many times I've read this, but when I finish I go back and start again and it seems like a new book every time.  I did track this last time as I re-started when President Nelson challenged us in the Women's session of General Conference this past October to read it again before the end of the year. This time as I read it I focused on the Savior and His love and mercy stood out to me.

Religious Fiction

In the Field of Grace by Tessa Afshar
A good fictionalized version of the Bible story of Ruth that helped me better understand and think about what life would be like in that time period.  I read a few books by the same author and like them all.  We were studying the Old Testament in church, so as I read some of these fictionalized versions it helped solidify names of people and places in my head and make them more real.

Fiction

Daddy-Long Legs by Jean Webster
Apparently I like books that are letter exchange format because this was another one of that style.  I was impressed by how much personality could be shown in one person writing letters, and there were so many lines in the book I loved. “The world is full of happiness, and plenty to go round, if you are only willing to take the kind that comes your way.”

Chantilly, Virginia

Monday was our last day.  We packed up and left Keswick to head back up to Baltimore where we were flying back home from.

We stopped in Chantilly to go to the Air and Space Museum annex.  It was huge with so many airplanes on display.

And the Discovery space shuttle.

It was a colder and rainy day, we were glad for such a fun indoor space to be able to move a bit before our airplane ride back west.  

There was some traffic because of the rain, so we cut it close getting to the airport, but made it.  We spent most of the flight catching up on journals and independent study homework.

Shenandoah National Park

I made cinnamon rolls and eggs for breakfast and then we went to church north of Charlottesville.  After church we drove to Shenandoah national park for the Skyline drive scenic view.

 It was a beautiful day, but the trees in the mountains were just past peak for the fall foliage and weren’t nearly as pretty as those down by the house.  We stopped a long way at a few overlooks.

And went on a hike through the trees.

 We drove by UVA for a view of the rotunda and went back to Monticello to better capture pictures of some of the trees in full color. 

Monticello-Home of Thomas Jefferson

Every morning started with a walk.  The kids were in heaven with the responsibility of taking care of the dogs.

We then went to Michies' Tavern for an 'authentic' colonial meal.  We were glad we got there right at 11:30 when it opened.  The line got really long quickly and when we came out it was almost wrapped around the building.  The food was very good and filled us up quickly.

Monticello was amazing.  The visitor's center was all new since the last time we had been. 

The kids loved the discovery room where there was a lot of hands on activities.  Here Ethan is using the copier machine Thomas Jefferson designed.

And Preston is building his own Monticello.

After touring the house and grounds we headed up Carter's mountain.  It was a great view for sunset and also Bea and Ben recommended that we go there and get apple cider donuts for dessert.  We got there just before they closed at 6.  The donuts were better than I expected (I don’t usually like donuts, especially cake type).  They were especially yummy after dinner that night, toasted with ice cream.

Bea made dinner, a yummy tortellini, sausage and veggie stew with fresh baguettes and salad.

Keswick, Virginia

After a packed week it was nice to have a true recovery day.  We enjoyed time with our friends at their beautiful home and enjoyed the fall colors in their neighborhood.

We started the day with a long relaxing walk. The kids were beyond thrilled to take the dogs out, and they became one of the favorite parts of the trip.

It was 4 miles to go out and around the lake and back.

The kids loved the chance to hang at the lake and play.

Throwing sticks and catching frogs.

There was time to play at the park

James and I caught up on some work (and filled out our mail in voting ballots) while the kids enjoyed the swimming pool.

The girls went for pedicures while the boys played a game of pool.  And then that night the adults had date night at the club restaurant while the kids enjoyed playing fuseball, marble tracks, indoor basketball and more swimming time at the club house.  Fun for everyone!

x

National Zoo and Monuments

Thursday morning we cleaned up and packed up the hotel while James went to his final session at his Conference.

We picked him up and headed back into D.C. --which was much faster when not going at rush hour like the previous morning!  We decided to spend a few hours at the Zoo.  It was a gorgeous day.

The Giant Pandas are always a fun stop and they didn't disappoint today.

We then decided to go back and actually see the monuments that I had just driven the kids past the night before.  Luckily with a good night's sleep and a slower paced morning they were up for more walking.

The Washington Monument is closed for renovations, so we didn't go up it this trip.

But we started at the Lincoln Memorial and made our way around the tidal basin stopping at the Memorials along the way.

We looked at going to the Bureau of Engraving, but it wasn't open while we were there.  So we'll have to plan that again on a different trip also.

We also tried going to Arlington Cemetery for the changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier, but with a map fail we just missed the last one of the day there also.

We decided to wait out the worst of the rush hour traffic and had a picnic dinner at Gravely Point where the airplanes fly right over your head.  It was then on to Keswick Virginia to visit with friends.