1. Your glasses fog up when you go from an air conditioned car or house or gym into the outside air.
2. Target's store front windows are all completely steamed up.
3. You sit under an umbrella or shade of a tree doing nothing and sweat drips down your forehead, your chest and your back requiring yet another shower.
4. The pool water is a cool 92 degrees.
5. When the temperature gage on the van reads 81 degrees at 10:30pm and the drive home takes you through pockets of thick fog.
6. You shower in the gym, walk out to the pool to grab your children, and by the time you get to the car, you have sweat literally dripping down your face.
7. When the afternoon rain storms come through and steam comes off the blacktop into the air like water being poured over the coals in a sauna.
Summer in Virginia was late in coming this year, which I'm not complaining about being that we got to enjoy unseasonably cooler and less humid days in the Spring and early part of summer. But it is in full swing at this point and our days too have been full to the brim.
The past few weeks have had a pretty regular rhythm with swim team practice in the morning, tennis team until noon and some pretty exciting meets and tournaments. With tennis finished up, swimming champs are this weekend and for the first time in 31 years our team is looking to oust the reigning champs. The thought makes my stomach tense up......I'm just so excited for them. Gavin is ranked #1 going into the meet on backstroke, which just blows my mind! But, unlike me, this kid handles the pressure beautifully. Like his tennis coach said when he won the tournament last week, Gavin is all business out there, and it's true. This kid just gets it done, whatever the "it" happens to be!
But we did take a weekend trip to the first annual Red Wing Roots Festival in Natural Chimneys, Virginia near Staunton and Harrisonburg. It was a mere 90 minutes from our front door, so it was a no brainer and of course Jared has been dreaming of this day since he first went to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival as a single dude and then with me as part of our honeymoon where I too was won over. The line-up included a lot of bands we had never heard of, but came to love so of course are now listening to as we drive around. I realized that it has been quite some time since we have listened to more traditional bluegrass as the likes of Taylor Swift, FUN, RUSH, Ray Lamontagne or anything cousin Spencer has sent us. Then there were a few bands we had high expectations for: the Dhukes, a great band from Quebec, Canada as well as The Sam Bush Band. The Dhukes were amazing and because we've been listening to them for some time, we got to sing along with a handful of songs. The boys were on the front row leaning over the stage watching the amazing fiddler and the drummer who played mostly on a beat box. The Sam Bush Band didn't start until 10:30, so Jonah and I skipped out on that one, but the rest of the boys had stars in their eyes when they finally made it home at midnight.
In true festival form, we spent a lot of time sitting, playing games, and listening to great music. We parked ourselves in the cool of some shade and wandered around from time to time. The boys explored The Natural Chimneys after playing several rounds of card games. And then there as the frisbee throwing that took up a to of the afternoons. Gavin and Jonah were particularly drawn to the open space of grass near our blanket. It was usually a safe place to throw until one band finished and the crowds were moving.
And then there as the frisbee throwing that took up a to of the afternoons. Gavin and Jonah were particularly drawn to the open space of grass near our blanket. It was usually a safe place to throw until one band finished and the crowds were moving. Jonah was serious about this game and is great at throwing and receiving. The following series of pictures are priceless as you watch in real time the collision Jonah has with a woman he has no idea is there.
The Chimney was lit at night and set the stage for a beautify night of music. Below the boys are transfixed with a band we'd never heard but fell in love with: The Steel Wheels.
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