Park-Hopping and Good Fortune.

COVID lockdowns are back, holidays plans are awash with uncertainty, and- as Missy put it this weekend- everything is "just weird." 2020 continues to wreak havoc.

So we're staying closer to home, trying to plan small and enjoy big. I've canx'ed road trips for the near future, in favor of what Ford calls "park hopping."

I have procured multiple lists of the best parks in the DMV (District-Maryland-Virginia) area, and we are on a mission to check out every.single.one.

Seth has had school responsibilities (plus, let's be honest, the bass are biting), so Jayne and I have a terrific new routine in which we hit up a playground on one of the DMV's many greenways and I get in a long run while the kids play (and- sometimes- she gets to catch an Army football game at the park.) 

Which was super lucky Saturday in Wheaton, because she caught the "where are they now?" about Seth during the GSU game. (And I, on mile 8, was grateful to come back to lots of screenshots from friends.)

Ford is certain he's famous now. As if he weren't insufferable enough before... (This is him, pretending to be Chief Brody from "Jaws." Yes, he's using a candy cane like a "smoker." No, I do not want to hear it.)

We did manage a couple trips out to our absolute favorite place, Great Country Farms, 

which included farm fun and mazes,

an overdue and much-needed meet-up with old friends,

and a pilgrimage to the always-fabulous Dirt Farm Brewing.

We also pulled off pizza night and a zoom bible class with the kids' only new neighborhood friends (a serious godsend during a COVID move)

- also, because why not, Rockette lessons-

swim school and a "Lady and the Tramp" moment at Pistone's, a Falls Church institution, 

and a date night with my best girl, scootering to the new art exhibit at the Kennedy Center

and checking out the pop-up cafe and monuments by night.

We never, ever, ever forget how lucky we are.

Especially Finley.