Busch Gardens 2026

Immediately following Sara's last day of school, we headed to Busch Gardens to meet Hillary, Logan, Francis, and Ken. Drive down was easy, we stopped to get breakfast at Jersey Mike's.

The required picture at the entrance

Height check changed a bit this year, we tried to deal with it

We opted in for the all you can drink souvenir cup. Turns out that you actually want to switch to water or watered down lemonade after about 4-5 sodas.

Plenty of fish and turtles but no Lock Ness monster

After some convincing Julia rode the Lock Ness Monster ... about 8 times in a row

After a late lunch the boys rode Griffon about 10 times

Boys are on the edge of the second row.

Next day was cloudy/rainy ... perfect for Water Country ... but this is as close as we got

Our least favorite ride ... Busch Garden - the Ride Back (RJ climbed this wall during our lunch stop)

Buried Power Lines

Dominion Power decided to bury the power lines in our neighborhood. As a result there was some cool looking circus props in the neighborhood.

Circus Act - reaching the stop sign

The pic above is at the end of the street. Below shows them getting started near Bradley's house.

The other spool (below) held the underground tubing ... but moved a little slower ... 

Fried Rice

Sara and RJ made dinner (fried rice and curry chicken). Everybody loved the plan and we all voted to make it again.

 

RJ makes the fried rice. The clean up wasn't too bad.

Goodbye Chickens

Sadly we had to say goodbye to the chickens. They were getting big ... too big for the where we were keeping them. Pokey got injured - we think because conditions were too crowded.

So RJ and Doug drove them to seem an awesome setup in Waterford, VA. 

• Planning (link to post) 
• Hatching (link to post)
• Playing (link to post)
• Leaving ... 

 

RJ and Logan with the chickens in their new home

Julia and RJ may need to make a trip to see Logan soon!

One last picture from May near the Stone's yard

Keep on Chipping

 After cleaning a ton of magnolia leaves Doug tried to stop the wood chipper. It kept running. After turning off the fuel line, it kept running. After choking and covering the air intake ... it stopped.

Engine with plastic plate removed near throttle

Solution: clean out the area that was covered in chipped magnolia leaves near the throttle lever. Apparently a leave got in the way of the kill switch.

Graduation - 8th Grade

 After 1 1/2 years at St. Luke and 7 1/2 years at St. Agnes, RJ is ready for high school. There was a bon-voyage ceremony, a mass, a party, and a short kids-only after party at a park.

Post mass photo in gowns (we did not steam the gown)

Grades 1-7 sang going away songs ... one of the props was big head pictures

Maybe a Christmas card photo?

RJ, Liam, Milo, Samuel

The foosball table was a hit ... even the girls got in on the action

Party photo booth was lame, but AI fixed the washed-out sign Sara was holding

Boys before sign was confiscated

RJ was happy enough to pose for a photo with Sara

Pre-gown photo of graduates

After the party from 5-8, the shuttle bus ... (a) picked up Julia from Sadona's house (Porter, the dog, ate some stuffed animals while the 5th grade girls were on watch, (b) drove Amelia to her house, (c) drove to get RJ from Yorktown, (d) drove Liam and Desi home ... with the backpack that was recovered for a second time, (e) made it home after a full day of fun and a few tears.

Memories from the class of 2026

Sports in May/June

Julia: CYO Volleyball

After the first game it looked like the CYO 5th-6th grade girls were going to destroy the league. As it turns out ... the league was pretty competitive ... and results varied according to the lineup.

The games were a lot more exciting than last year's serve-fault, serve-miss, serve-fault, serve-miss, serve-return (major rally).

There was no doing cartwheels during points this year! 

Julia: Rec Soccer

Blue Dolphins after a win in the last game

Rec soccer involved waking up early on Saturday morning (Doug had to get Julia to games by 8:30am) and playing on a dirt field (Powhatan Springs) while listening to 1980's heavy metal music from middle-aged men reliving their glory days at the skate park.

Team has a good season (3 - 3 - 1 in top rec division). Julia enjoyed playing and scored a few goals.

Julia: ADP Soccer

This might be Julia's last year of ADP soccer, but my guess is ... if we have the money ... they will figure out a way to get her into the league next year.

Team after last game and before soccer fest

ADP team had a much better record than they had in the past (6-3-2). Julia played hard (most of the time) but only got one goal. 

Julia powered up with 'super water' between games at scrimmage fest

Julia with a throw-in during scrimmage fest (they won 4-2, tied 2-2)

RJ: Rec Soccer

Golazos almost won conference (not in picture: Jiro the mascot)

Team had a chance to win the division but on second to the last game they didn't have the best lineup and gave up two goals in the last 5 minutes. Final record (4 - 2 - 2)

RJ: Hockey CHA 3 Tourney

Period break at game 2 of the tournament

Pittsburgh tourney ended up with 1 win, 1 tie, 2 losses. They were outclassed in the 2 losses. The team got better as they went along. RJ got clobbered in game 3. Kid got a penalty ... but the league should notify his probation officer as well.

<coming soon - AA Tourney in DC>