Max, a man about town.

As part of Max's H.S. graduation gift, we treated him to a weekend with us!  What more could an 18 year old ask for?!  We had a lot of fun and were able to try some things we have been wanting to check out for a while now...

We started off with dinner at Cava Mezze, one of our favorite local restaurants!

Poolside in the a.m.

 

Then off to ride the paddle boats in the Tidal Basin!

There it (always) is!

Of course we made time for fountain fun!

BBQ with some bad a$$ chefs. Ha.

It's official...

HAPPY Summer!

It's officially here!  

We celebrated with smiling wine and watermelon cookies from Wegmans.  :)

This is how we roll...

To continue the "End of the School Year Celebration," we spent Saturday poolside - literally, the entire day.  It was wonderful.  After a long evening nap, we ventured outside to check out our neighborhood sushi shop! 

Check out the tasty treats we received with our check!  The flavors lasted for about 10 chews, but who's counting?

Schoooool's out.for.summer!

Well, it's that time of year again; another school year is in the books.  And what a year it was - by far, my most challenging, for a number of reasons, but let's not dwell on those.  Leading up to Friday, I joked with Wes that this would be the first year I'd be happy to see them leave.  That I would understand what other teachers meant when they half-jokingly mumbled, "don't let the door hit ya on your way out."

No luck.  I still couldn't help but feel a enormous sense of emotion as each one of them exited my classroom on Friday afternoon.  The inevitable tears welled up and overflowed as I read to them Mrs. Spitzer's Garden, a story about a teacher who lovingly tends to her "garden," preparing it to flourish.

There are a lot of opinions about our school systems "failing our kids," these days, mine included, but I couldn't help but feel like we must be doing something right when I watched buses leave for the last time this year, filled with kids waving back to us with tears streaming down their faces.

I've come to realize that I work at a very special school, led by an unbelievable Principal.  I won't get into the laundry list of reasons why I feel this way, but here's just a small glimpse into the community he and his team have created...

Here he is running with students during recess, helping motivate them to increase their Running Club totals.

Check out the school's courtyard, which includes a small pond, a composter that kids add to each day after lunch (as young as Kindergarteners do this - all on their own!), and numerous gardens filled with fruits and vegetables that are actually used in school lunches!

6th graders chalked all along the front walkway on Friday, so that students could read inspiring messages as they left the building for the last time this school year.  

 

Teachers lined the bus loop to wave goodbye to the students as they drove away.  I wish I had video of this moment.

 

  Bus drivers were honking, kids were waving out bus windows back to their teachers.  Such an awesome tradition.

Speaking of traditions.  :)  In true, Wes & Jaime fashion, we celebrated the end to another successful year with our favorite meal and some bubbly!

Our Engagement Achievment Award

So, typically I (Jaime), spend my Monday afternoons sitting in glorious meetings.  This past Monday, rather than having the usual discussion on how to "save the children," our freaking awesome Principal put on a Staff Roast.  Words cannot even describe how hysterical this thing was.  Let's just say, the 3 stooges, Two and a Half Men, and beer funneling were involved (we have 3 male administrators).

As he reflected back on the school year that was, he would randomly call a staff member up to the front of the room to be "roasted."

Mid-way through the event, my name among a couple others, was called, to be acknowledged for getting engaged this year.  I was about to sit down, when he made me come up to the front of the room so he could briefly tell the story/poke fun of our engagement.  As he handed me the below award, he told me that if I were to ever meet his wife, I was not to speak a word about how Wes proposed.  :)

This sure beats the Earth Science Award I received in 8th grade.

Crabs, Grads, and Dads (and moms), oh my!

 Wes' cousin Max graduated from High School this past weekend, which meant that we had visitors in town!!!!

 

We strolled down King Street in Old Town on Sunday after all of the festivities.

But first...

 

Friday night was reason to celebrate, now that we had family in town!!

 

It was an early Saturday morning, but we made it to see Max walk across the stage.

 

Speaking of High School.  Here's a fun fact.  Wes and I attended rival high schools in Greece.  I was a Spartan and he was a Trojan. :)  

 

Congrats Max!  So proud of you!! 

 

Not quite sure what this pose means.  I think I told them to "show me your muscles" and this is what I got.  Anyway, I missed out on the photo-op, but this little man you see here, was wearing a serious seersucker suit.  P.R.I.C.E.L.E.S.S 

 

Time to celebrate!

 

 Wes made friends with the locals.

  

...and then ate 'em right up!

Our Dream Home!

Wes met me after my yoga class this evening, so I could have some company on the walk home.  There are about 10 different ways to get home, but we tend to take the same route each time.  However, tonight we ventured off the beaten path and stumbled upon the coziest little neighborhood - a happy little surprise, if you will.  We loved just about every house we walked past, but fell in love with this one:

      

 

Now if only we could find a truck big enough to transport this beauty back to Rochester! ;)

Childhood Snack Nostalgia

Check out our homemade peanut butter crackers!  Certain snacks just bring you back to your childhood.  How about Ants on a Log?  Who knows what we're talking about?  Anyone...anyone???  Anyway, instead of the popular Ritz shell, we opted for Trader Joe's DELICIOUS 12 Grain cracker.  Since we're "older and wiser," we figured our snack needed a slight upgrade.  :)  What's your favorite childhood snack?   

Run Forest!

Our day started bright and early with a 5k run for Breast Cancer.

The Metro was packed with participants.  They opened the Metro 2 hours early to accommodate the anticipated increase in traffic.

Heading to the starting line...where else, but the Washington Monument?

There it is.  We swear, it follows us.  We're thinking of changing our wedding location, in fact. :)

And we're off!

We ran the race in 31 minutes.  Wes was nice enough to stay with me throughout the race, otherwise his time would have been much more impressive.  What a guy.  :)