Mike visits Mt. Rushmore

Mike recently traveled to Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, for a conference. He worked hard for a couple of days. On his last evening, he got to visit Mount Rushmore. He got some great pictures!

He said, on the whole, it was smaller than he expected. He was also surprised by all the tourist attractions just outside the national park.

Overall, he was thrilled to have a chance to visit!

Love,

4Vs

Backyard Visitors

We have a couple of deer that visit the area behind our house each evening. We are completely charmed!

Daisy is not as charmed. She thinks they might be dangerous and proceeds to howl each time she sees them... Fun for everyone!

Love,

4Vs

On the Pitch with Georgetown!

Northern Virginia has brought many things into our lives- a better appreciation of American History, the chance to visit lots of historical sites, improved our abilities to drive with some seriously aggressive drivers, youth swimming, travel basketball and RUGBY! While Gracie is still our only rugby player, as a family, we are hooked!

Mike and Brock went with our neighbors to watch a rugby game at Georgetown University in downtown DC. They had a great time!

The scrum!

I don't even know what this is called, but it looks like fun!

We are still learning the rules and plays in the game, but we had a good time.

Love,

4Vs

Views from the Old Post Office

We made a family visit to the Old Post Office Pavilion on Pennsylvania Avenue a couple of weekends ago. They have a bell tower that they allow people to visit and it has some great open air views of the city.

A view of the Washington Monument across a sea of federal buildings...

The bells are called the Congress Bells. They are a gift from Great Britain and are replicas of the bells in London's Westminster Abbey. They only ring them at the opening and closing of Congress annually and on special occasions and national holidays. They practice once a week, so we will have to plan a trip to hear them play!

Love,

4Vs

First Day of School!!

The first week of school is here! Brock is very excited about starting Irving Middle School. He has been to orientation, got a locker, got a schedule, got a PE uniform and even went to a "trial" day where he rode the bus, visited each class for 10 minutes and rode the bus home. He is READY!

There are about seven boys in the neighborhood who walk out together to catch the bus- so he is in good company! Good luck Brock!

Gracie is striking her 4th grade pose on the porch. She is glad to move upstairs to the big kid area of the elementary school- 4th/5th and 6th are all upstairs at Rolling Valley Elementary. She has Ms. Davis for 4th grade and likes her a lot. She has been practicing multiplication and division flashcards like crazy and is is ready to go! Good luck Gracie!

Of course, no school year is complete with a Brock and Gracie together picture. Unfortunately, Brock starts school about an hour before Grace. Now we have two breakfast and get ready shifts at the Vaughn house- Brock leaves at 7:25 and Grace leaves around 8:40. To get the first day of school sibling picture, Brock snuck into sleeping Gracie's room and we snapped a picture while she snoozed! (No one wants to wake a sleeping Gracie!)

Happy New School Year!

Love,

4Vs