Arlington, VA (USA)

[was supposed to see the kids last night, but Nicky wasn't in the mood to let me see them - woke up early and took care of some emails, bills - eventually (0845), went to the post office to pick up my new book (finally!) - then drove to the twins' high school to see their science fair - found out that I couldn't go in until 1030, so waited in the parking lot and had loooong conversation with Nicky - saved by a text from Erin to come in and meet her - was very impressed by the kids' knowledge of their subject matter (Brenna: oxidation of hydrogen peroxide; Erin: soy beans and salinity - finished up with them around 1130 and then went to pick up Mollie - had lunch with her at McDonalds and then went back to my apartment to wait for them to arrive - watched TV until Nicky dropped off Erin and Brenna - it was great to see them again! - the twins started working on homework while Mollie and I drove over to an area near the Clarendon Metro Station (Arlington) I expected to find an Eastern Mountain Sports store (I had Carolyn's gift card) - made some wrong turns when I used I-395, George Washington Parkway, Spot Run Parkway and Lee Highway - eventually located the place where the store was supposed to be (according to the Web) - found free parking on the street (meter broken?) - then walked to the purported location - store had gone out of business, though! - after being stymied, drove back to Alexandria - got gas at 1500 - Mollie and I parked at the trailhead for Huntley Meadows and hiked in for about 2-3 miles - it was a nice day and we went off trail a bit - saw some nice burned out areas where the birds were clustered - finished up around 1600 and then picked up my drycleaning - headed back to apartment and gathered up all the kids so we could go to church - Erin and Brenna had a giant fight about a pair of shoes - Nicky met us at St. Lawrence and we sorted out the shoe issue before Mass (1700) - finished up around 1800 and we ate dinner at Magic Wok (next door) - great food and we didn't have any leftovers - dropped the twins off for a babysitting gig and then took Mollie back to the apartment - we watched "Edge of Tomorrow" and "Ironman 3" on TV for several hours before I went back to get the kids (2345) - got them home and they all set up for a sleepover at the apartment (fun!)]