Greetings from Maryland

We are home! Our final stop on our trip was the University of Virginia so that Adam could check out their undergraduate curriculum (it's not a top choice because freshmen can't be admitted directly to the marketing program but must apply at the end of the sophomore year). Though we'd been to Charlottesville, I had never visited the school, which is as pretty as people had told me -- lots of Georgian red brick like UMCP but with gorgeous views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and with crape myrtle growing all around the campus. It was nearly as hot as when we visited Duke with Daniel, so the walking tour wasn't as much fun as it could have been, but apart from nearly losing Adam's retainer after lunch, it was a good visit.

















Despite some expected early rush hour traffic heading toward DC in the late afternoon, where there are now baby tiger cubs at the National Zoo, we made good time home. Adam's elementary school friend Emiliano, who moved to Venezuela when the boys were still young, is visiting for a few days, so Adam, Emiliano, and Daniel W went to the pool and went out to dinner together. I am working on many, many laundries and am only half unpacked, since I fear that everything smushed at the bottom of the bags, even unworn clothes, may need to be laundered as well after a few days accumulating sand and salt air. We've had football on this evening -- a Tebow-Vick match-up makes me want to root for a Cowboys invasion. More chores tomorrow!