May 2023

GOOD-BYE TO MUSIC TEACHERS

Abby had her last lesson with her amazing flute teacher Noreen Friedman.

Madeline said good-bye to her harp teacher, Ursula Ratcliff.

GREAT FALLS

We took another nice trip to Great Falls and the C and O canal.

BROOKLYN'S KINDERGARTEN

Brooklyn did a great job singing in her Kindergarten music program!

Brooklyn was always so well behaved that she got to be part of the lunch bunch with Miss Graham every month.

Brooklyn had fun doing field day with her Kindergarten class.

ANNAPOLIS

John Paul Jones' Tomb

We had fun walking around and seeing the Naval Academy.

We absolutely loved the Blue Angels show!

The naval history museum was interesting.

FUN AT HOME

Bike riding

Scootering

Violin playing

Piano playing

Bagpiping

Dressing up

Drawing

FORT FREDERICK

Maddy and Abby visited Fort Fredrick

MONTICELLO

Jared and I have always wanted to visit Monticello so we made a daytrip down to celebrate our birthdays.

Jefferson's collections

We loved how much natural lighting the rooms had. 

Also, all of his books!

Interesting wall beds

Jefferson's study

Jared impressed out tour guide by knowing the names of all three of the men in these portraits (from left to right: Sir Francis Bacon, Sir Isaac Newton, and John Locke).

Jefferson's clever dumb waiter design.

The dome room

A secret hideaway

Jefferson considered stairs to be wasted space, so his staircases were extremely narrow and steep, which must have been hard for his servants and all the ladies with large dresses who lived upstairs. 

Upstairs rooms

The kitchen

We really enjoyed listening to the actor who portrayed Thomas Jefferson. He has huge passages from Jefferson's writings memorized. 

We really enjoyed the garden tour and seeing all of the beautiful plants, flowers, and trees that Jefferson planted. 

It was sad to see how Sally Hemmings and the other enslaved people lived. 

Jefferson's grave

WARD TALENT NIGHT

Audrey and Brooklyn had fun dressing up silly and dancing with the Primary kids

Abby performed Pirates of the Caribbean.

Brooklyn and Audrey with their art

Abby and Maddy did a fun synchronized swimming routine. 

WHITE OAK CO OP

We had so much fun this year at the White Oak Co-op. It is hard to so good-bye to such a wonderful group. 

Nathan learned a lot in his electronics class. 

Audrey had fun in her science and history classes. 

I got to teach Nathan's ancient history class, which was fun.

Nathan also had fun in a creative writing class. 

SHADY GROVE ACADEMY

Abby, Maddy, and Nathan also took some great classes at Shady Grove Academy.

Maddy doing dissection in her Biology class

Nathan had a lot of fun in his Geography class. Here he is giving a report on Canada.

JARED'S 43rd BIRTHDAY

Jared enjoyed eating falafel for his birthday.

MOTHER'S DAY

We had a nice pasta dinner at our house for Mother's day. It has been so nice living so close to my sisters. I will miss them when we move to Japan.

BRYAN AND AFTON VISIT

We were excited to have Bryan and Afton come visit us for a day. We had fun visiting the National Zoo and panda watching with them. 

PROM

The rain made pictures hard, but Abby and Avery looked great together! It was nice having Aunt Afton in town to help her with hair and make up.

THE LAWN

These pictures are to remind Nathan of the giant lawn he had to mow ALL the time!

BEAUTIFUL MARYLAND!

We had the most beautiful irises in our garden. Maryland really is beautiful!

KENNEDY CENTER PIANO CONCERT

Maddy and Abby got a trip to The Kennedy Center with their dad to hear Evgeny Kissin and Renee Fleming perform! We love the wonderful opportunities to experience excellent performances out here. 

POTOMAC VALLEY YOUTH ORCHESTRA

Abby did a great job in her PVYO flute choir this year. She got to try out both base and alto flute, and she learned a lot from the experience.

OBX

Bryan and Afton were awesome and invited us to join them in their beach house again. 

The kids had fun hanging out at the beach with their Grandma and Grandpa Collett.

Brooklyn and Audrey had fun playing in the waves with their fun Uncle Bryan.

Sand angels

Getting buried

Little Mermaids

Nathan built a chair for relaxing

Family time at the beach is the best!

Sea Turtle in the sand

The kids had fun finding ghost crabs in the sand at night, although there weren't as many as last time we visited. 

 

We made a trip to Duck Donuts and took some pictures in the Super Wings chair before saying good-bye. 

We sure love our Collett family!