Week Two in Coronado

Daddy headed back home and Mommy and the girls have had another week to enjoy time with the Grandparents in Coronado. We have really enjoyed our trips to the pool, the park, the children's museum, and to visit the cousins. We started our day with a trip to Zoomars with Cousin Chase. It is a petting zoo with a train and a playground...what fun. Miri loved chasing the bunnies around and trying to hold one (they were a little bit terrified) and the kids did a great job holding their own against the very hungry goats. We finished up the day with pool, pizza and ice cream. Yum! Having Grandma Jean there made the trip much easier and more fun. We had a great visit to Coronado!Robin enjoys feeding the rabbits. The kids hang out after a swim. Chase smiles on cue, which makes for some good pictures. Robin is hanging out and, as you can see, Miri still isn't so cooperative when it comes to smiling.

Coronado Time

We love coming to Coronado each summer. We get to step out of the high-stress busy-ness (and the heat & humidity) of DC and into a place where it's always 80 degrees, where everyone knows Erica and her folks, where we all can relax. It's a family-friendly area, with all kinds of things for the kids to do. Miri, Robin, and Cousin Chase had a great time at the San Diego Children's Museum -- they made a ridiculous mess of themselves!

Independence!

We're in Mommy's hometown of Coronado for our traditional 4th of July. It's a wonderfully patriotic place to celebrate the 4th, especially because Auntie Megan makes the kids (our girls, plus cousins Brynn and Chase) special outfits each year. Check 'em out:

Catching Up with the Freedom Project

It's been nearly five years since we left Mississippi and the Freedom Project, but we're lucky to still be in touch with many of the great kids we taught there. In the past month or so, we had the chance to catch up with a few of our all-stars:

Cornesha, Tashanna, and Ariel were inseparable as first years in the SCFP.

It's been years since we all got together.

Robin with Cornesha and Ariel.

We're lucky that Cornesha lives in DC -- she is a budding businesswoman!

Luke just graduated from UNC.

We had the chance to catch up with His Highness in Durham.

We even got to spend some time at the LEAD Center in Sunflower.

Check out the amazing mural! (Thanks, Mark!)

Road Trip: Mississippi

Enjoying lunch at The Crown (Chris, Tiffany, Mark, Erica, Michelle
Kids: Miri, Millie, Robin, HoneyB)

Day 5: Memphis, TN to the Mississippi Delta
We packed up early and headed back down to Mi'ssippi. On the drive, Miri learned to spell Mississippi while Robin slept. We pulled into Sunflower and went right to Mrs. Downey's house. For those of you who don't know, Mrs. Downey is Chris' Mississippi mom (she looked after him and fed him while he was there) and the grandmother of the Freedom Project. She helped Chris when we were just starting out, and her son, Les, coined the Freedom Project's motto: "Education is the Seed of Freedom."
Day 6 and 7: The Delta
We spent the next couple of days catching up with friends. Mark and Tiffany graciouly hosted us at their house and the girls loved playing with Millie and Cleo and all their toys — special hits included the backyard trampoline(!) and the pool. We forgot to mention that it was 105 there! We enjoyed lunch at the Crown (twice...mmm) and just hanging out in the Delta. It was great to be back.

It seemed like such a good idea at the time...but Millie & Miri just couldn't pull off the sleepover. At least Miri taught Millie how to suck her thumb, complete with the index-finger-on-the-nose trick.

Even Catfish wants to do some bedtime reading.

Road Trip: Tennessee

Day 3: Sapphire, NC to Nashville, TN
This was our longest driving day yet, and the kids (and parents) survived — and we were all glad to arrive at Cousin Susan and Cousin Peggy's house. They had some great toys for the girls and plenty of carpeted space to run around. Miri especially enjoyed painting and got appropriately messy while doing so. Robin liked climbing up and down the steps with the Slinky.

With Peggy and Susan on the porch.

Reading bedtime stories.

Day 4: Nashville, TN to Memphis, TN
After being attacked by 13-year cicadas in 100 degree heat at the playground and nature center (Daddy's idea of a good time), we went drivin' to Memphis to visit Erica's cousins, David and Rose — and their pool (Miri's idea of a good time). That night, we watched the DVD of Cousin Jonathan's one-man-show, "Walkin' in Memphis: The Life of a Southern Jew." Great stuff! Then it was back on the road to the Delta...

Sleeping on the road with the "summer cover."

First Waffle House trip for Robin. Miri sopped up that syrup like she remembered it from our last road trip. Love the waffles!

Road Trip: North Carolina

Rest stop in Virginia

We just returned home after a great ten day road trip. Way too much to write in one post, so consider this the first of many. Make sure you check out the video of Miri singing below.

Day 1 (DC to Durham, NC)
We left DC early and drove down to stay with the Q crew in Durham. Ashley, Alex, Aiden, Harper and Maeve were awesome hosts. The girls jumped right in and played with the kids and their toys, we enjoyed a great BBQ (and the screened in porch and the table the Q's built were amazing) and we had our first trip to the ER. Robin took a dive off a bar stool and then promptly threw up all over Mommy. Turned out she was fine -- tough kiddo. We stopped for a visit with Chris' mentor, Peter Wood, and headed onto our next stop.

Amazing that we got all the kids sitting for a picture (and looking in mostly the same direction).

On the porch with Peter Wood.

Day 2 (Durham, NC to Sapphire, NC)
We were hosted in the mountains of North Carolina by Chris' friend from college, Todd. His parents have a mountain home and were kind enough to let Team Asch crash. We met toddler Ryan, who adores his mama's coffee maker. At one point he sat on the couch, held the coffee maker, and cooed, "I love you coffee maker." So cute! We had some great food and a nice walk in the woods behind the house.

The girls LOVED playing on the bunkbeds. Miri and Robin climbed right up (after Miri got the ladder out of the closet, brought it over to the bed, and set it up so they could climb). Robin enjoyed hiking in the Smokies -- Miri just liked saying the word "Smoky"!