Summer Treat

I read that today is National Ice Cream Day.

Thinking back to our recent family vacation to Washington D.C., we certainly did our part to show our support for the venerable frozen confection. We enjoyed some yummy ice cream at the Pavillion at the Old Post Office; we purchased some ice cream bars from a street vendor selling from a van on the corner near the Washington Monument.

Anyway, if you are an ice cream fan, I hope you have the chance to mark this occasion in a fun and satisfying way.

As for the vacation, my plans were to come home last weekend, sort through some nice photos and put together a trip retrospective in the Coach Jeff Blog that went live on Monday. But, as you may have read earlier this week, I was in outpatient surgery on Monday.

The week of July 15-19 definitely did NOT (ahem) pass as planned. 

Anyway, it’s still a good story and the memories of our family vacation are still fresh enough that I can wrap up this week and head into the next one with some feel-good moments from our recent trip to D.C.

In a way, it’s fitting that we went to Washington this summer. It’s our most frequent vacation destination.  Further, there are some new attractions our family had not enjoyed – such as the Newseum (figures that our family of word nerds would spend a day there, right) and The Racing Presidents, that I mentioned on Wednesday.

The biggest change, along the D.C. skyline, was the scaffold-shrouded obelisk. The Washington Monument is a defining figure, undoubtedly, and it certainly takes on a different characteristic with the metallic sweater.

Otherwise, D.C. was, as you’d expect it to be in July – hot, humid, and full of happy tourists. Count the four of us among that crowd.

 

I especially wanted Vacation 2013 to be a special one. With Paul heading to college in a few weeks, and Holly heading back to France in the fall, we had the feeling that this summer’s vacation would mark the last in its chapter. We may well take future vacations together and they will quite likely be just as wonderful as the previous ones. Still, both of the young adults living in our home are about to take big steps in their lives that will certainly provide opportunities for growth and change.

Before they embark on those new chapters, it was important for the four of us to get out of town for a week and go spend some special time together – to see some sights; to make some memories.

And, yes, to eat some yummy ice cream.

JG

(Source: USA Today)

Originally posted 7/21/2013