August

We were still in Massachusetts on Wednesday the 1st. Nina and Ava were with Jill’s mom and two other cousins, so we took the remaining kids to Cheesecake Factory for lunch, then Dave & Busters (I like the Star Wars Battle Pod a lot, played it 3 times). Jill and I did some camp shopping before heading back to East Longmeadow, where a family barbeque brought lots of folks over (and me on burger duty). Later I went grocery shopping at Big Y.

Nina

Thursday we packed the car super full and got on the road towards the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. They had closed the roads due to rain the day before, but happily everything was clear by the time we got there and soon we had our tent up. Nina has happiest when the Cannons arrived so soon there was lots of screaming and running around. Jill and I made fajitas, then that night was concert #25: Ryanhood, Abbie Gardner & Dan Navarro at Lounge Stage (really felt Stuart’s spirit at that one, don’t think I’ve ever seen Abbie and Dan together), followed later by concert #26: Seth Morgan at the Budgiedome.

Nina

Friday it rained a lot early and took most of the day to dry out. A number of us had to supplement security and shut down the muddy roads. Nina got to yell “Ice!” from the ice truck. The Cannons made dinner, and later we took the girls to concert #27: Gandalf Murphy & The Slambovian Circus Of Dreams at the Dance Tent (they all want to be jellyfish next year after seeing the umbrella parade). After bedtime was concert #28: a singalong at Shantytowne (with new favorite original composition by Seth: “Don’t Put Fireworks (Up Your Butt)”).

Jill Kerry Nina

Saturday was much nicer weather, but not much excitement on the music front. We made corn for the potluck dinner (this year Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy themed) and posed for the family picture (Nina had to have Patty’s dolphin mask). Later a bunch of folks went over for concert #29: Jason Spooner and Dar Williams at Main Stage, then a final concert #30: another singalong at Shantytowne.

Nina

Sunday the 5th was the usual fun of packing up and getting on the road. As we do so often these days, we detoured through Pennsylvania rather than face New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland gridlock. Monday Nina started skateboarding camp but wanted to go swimming afterwards so Jill took her to Lifetime. She ran into a friend there, so they had dinner and since power was out at home I was forced to go eat at the bar at Red’s Table (poor me – meat and cheese plate and onion rings). After a week of skateboarding camp, she’d learned to ride pretty good. I got fun questions at bedtime that night though: “Do you put all the presents under the tree? The other kids say Santa’s not real and parents put out presents. Can I go to Antarctica and see if Santa’s there?”

Nina

That Sunday I’d found one concert I wanted to use free lawn seats for thanks to a Ticketmaster settlement, and that was concert #31: Pentatonix and Echosmith at Jiffy Lube Live. I knew I liked Echosmith, and I was curious to see how Pentatonix would fare at a shed. They turned into a boy band (choreography, outfits, etc.) and did quite well. Most kids I’ve seen at a show all year.

Nina

Thursday the 16th I’d been listening to the Hamilton soundtrack in the car, which had sparked some interesting conversations and knowledge (I didn’t remember all these candidates). But that morning the soundtrack ended and I had Hamildrops next in the playlist. I was expecting some of the songs to be NSFW, but not The Decemberists’ one. I thought I hit the volume down fast, before I heard from the back seat “Do you know who the funk I am?”. Sigh. Later I found out Aretha Franklin had passed. This was my Twitter feed that day. Respect.

Aretha

Friday was the end of Nina’s week in art camp, so the parents were invited to watch performances by each of the five groups they’d sorted themselves into. Unfortunately they were all non-verbal with no explanations. Nina’s group was “Girls’ Club”, and she was a mermaid. Saturday Jill and I went out to eat at Honeysuckle (luckily it was Restaurant Week – a delicious lamb tartare and confit duck leg for me) before seeing concert #32: Hamilton at the Kennedy Center. Worth the wait.

Jill Kerry

Monday it was back to Lifetime camp, more of a problem as a boy she calls her bully was there (he looks at her at lunch and teases her). She was ok since he wasn’t in her group but she wasn’t looking forward to camp that week. Wednesday the 22nd Nina and I went to Wolf Trap for a buffet for members, then concert #33: Peter Cetera. 13 year old me would have been very happy. 47 year old me was escorting around an almost 7 year old, which probably would have surprised 13 year old me more than the music. Nina got to meet her teacher, Mrs. Gregston, at a back to school event the next day, then that night was concert #34: Joseph, Shovels & Rope and Dawes, also at Wolf Trap. Nice indie combo, and all bands I’d been wanting to see. I even glimpsed Mrs. Cannon riding up in a cart. I stayed late but it was too chilly for me in short sleeves as Dawes neared the end.

Nina

Saturday Jill took Nina to a birthday party, then her sister, niece, and mother arrived and we had dinner from Hunan East. Sunday they were all helping the niece move in and I took Nina to the inaugural Fairfax Comic Con (in Chantilly, of course). She had a blast, making masks and capes with other kids, seeing Star Wars cosplay, doing archery and participating in the costume contest. My sister texted me while I was there and asked about getting Nina a birthday present, and I responded that I was getting pressure to buy her things there, so that worked out. Plus I got to meet John Cassaday. The next day Jill’s mom took Nina to the National Zoo.

Nina

Tuesday the 28th was Nina’s first day of second grade, and she got to walk over with a friend from class. Scrolling through social media, the internet was won for the day with this:
https://twitter.com/markhoppus/status/1033407567651729410
We went to Glory Days Grill for the second time in 5 days as Nina was determined to take advantage of the face painting on Wednesday (the food isn’t bad and I enjoy the new Impossible burger there).

Nina

Friday the 31st we’d been remiss in introducing Nina to Harry Potter fandom, so we’d been listening to the first book in the car and tonight went to see the first movie in a theatre with Jill’s mom after dinner at Uncle Julio’s and splashing at Fairfax Corner (they were reshowing them all for the 20th anniversary of the first book). Afterwards I gave her a Hermione wand and Hogwarts letter I bought for her when she was 3 months old, and heard “Wingardium Leviosa” from the back seat all the way home (the next day the Barbies went to Hogwarts – Ken is Harry, 2 Barbies are Hermione and Professor McGonagall).

Nina