Julia Ear Piercing

Julia was promised that she could get hers ears pierced when she turned 12. Sara took her and the process went smoothly with no pain.

 

Before the holes

New earrings in .. still smiling!

World Cup - Miami

Trip to Miami was a grand experience, featuring ... 

• Snorkeling trip
• Badia Spices tour
• Science museum 
• World Cup soccer - Argentina versus Cape Verde
• Hanging out with cousins

Day 1: Travel / Arrival

RJ in the Miami airport. He was frustrated by the lack of coconuts ... but we got hand-picked mangos!

Day 2: Snorkeling / Cousins

Sara and the kids enjoyed a snorkeling trip with the Martins to the reef off John Pennekamp National Park.

Prep for the snorkeling trip

Elevator on the way to dinner at Donna's or South Beach Club?

Day 3: Spice Factory / USA Soccer

Kids went into the activity with a typical teen-age level of interest. Once they hit the production line the level of interest changed.

Julia and Doug fixated on the machine that puts paper on the top of pallets. RJ was pretty amazed with the entire process. Sara's business side came out and she peppered (no spice pun intended) Robert from Tech Group with questions. 

Production line at Badia

Warehouse at Badia

Watching USA vs Bosnia game at Aunt Donna's later at night

Day 4: Science Center / Group Dinner

Frost Museum of Science was interactive and entertaining. We did a film in the planetarium, watched the fish in the aquariums, and stayed much later than we should have without eating lunch. Doug and Tom broke off to read lots of stuff and geek out.

Never under-estimate how fun it is to watch fish, sharks, rays, and a turtle

Trip to science museum was fun and interactive. 

Day 5: World Cup

We routed against Spain in the group stage so our World Cup experience would feature a good game between Spain and Argentina. Instead we got Cape Verde versus Argentina. 

But Cape Verde was a LOT better than we (and 60,000 Argentina fans) would have liked! We ALMOST got to see one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history ... but Argentina got a late goal and held on for a 3-2 win.

Team USA photo earlier in the day.

We arrived early to take advantage of a world class spread (sushi, steak, plus more!)

Prior to the game RJ shook is finger at the VAR review box. We were still bitter from the Croatia loss to Portugal.

The Johnson's and Martin's pre-game photo

Our entire crew during the welcome event

View from our seats ... pretty sweet!!

RJ and Julia in the 'alternate' seats - front row

Day 6: Travel Home

After a 12:30am bedtime following the game we were awakened at 3:30am to get to the airport. Ugh.

In addition to the 6-7 stuffed stowaways, Julia got another Squishmallow on the trip. Here we are in Atlanta

Caiden, RJ, Jett in the ATL airport after 2 hours of sleep

RJ's Steakhouse

RJ was in charge of cooking the filet minion - so he found a recipe with some flavor, got out the iron skillet, added a side of potatoes, and trashed the kitchen. 

Luckily the food was great. Here is a reviewer who happened to stop by the steakhouse that night.

Garlic Rosemary Filet Mignon with Potatoes

made by RJ

You won't need A1 to eat this flavorful filet mignon. Seared in a pan to perfection in a garlic and rosemary butter, this steak will have you begging for more. Carefully placed garlic cloves and rosemary sprigs displayed the steak that would rival any dish at J. Gilberts or Ruth Chris. The first bite was pure bliss. A perfect blend of flavorful seasonings. Perfectly tender and cooked to perfection with a side of garlic potatoes, this is a meal to to come back for. Try air frying the potatoes for a crispy complement to the juicy, tender steak.

Reviewed by Sara

Chef RJ and Julia using the iron skillet

Julia Turns 12

Sara, RJ, and Julia came back from Whitetail to celebrate Julia's birthday. Sara pulled together a super-fun day including a visit from the Kovacs for dinner. (Julia's actual birthday dinner was at Coastal Flatts on the 27th)

There was no chance we were going to miss Julia's birthday with the living room countdown

Gifts included Legos, karaoke machine, doll, suitcase (not pictured), gecko track, and more!

Julia reflects on her wish prior to devouring 2 cupcakes.

The girls had tons of fun running around in the yard after dinner. The boys (RJ and Milo) managed to stay out of the way.

Summer in Whitetail

Sara took the kids to Whitetail to celebrate the end of school. Henry and Caleb joined the fun.

Julia and the boys play a game of poker

The Carter's brought some fireworks for a pre-July 4th celebration

New Rule (or common sense): No Grilling Near the House

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>