Your hair is gorgeous!

My almost 13 year old swims four morning per week. It requires making a new routine. I don't think there is a big change from last spring when there no swim. The biggest difference is Friday which is a non swimming day. We all view it as a day off but we shouldn't. It just feels so nice to not wake up early for swim, we just want to continue that laziness.

I personally like the 3rd one uncropped.

We're military so move a lot. Over the years, I've learned that finding friends is the most important predictor of being happy in a location. You might only know in hindsight if a move was good.

I love my USA Pan so much, I'm considering upgrading my other pans even though they are adequate. I have 2 loaf pans, one is a USA Pan and the other is Calphalon or something like that. I made a double batch of bread last week. The USA Pan wasn't even dirty. The other had some dough stick to it. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0029JQEIC/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1510888324&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=usa+pans&dpPl=1&dpID=41YMYohnAcL&ref=plSrch

I'm glad for you. Those are great prices.

That audiobook is priced at $37.06 for me.

My son has a class on Blackboard that doesn't work with Chromebooks. He can do all parts of it but the streaming video of the teacher's lecture.

This was definitely a CPS worker. The hospital is in another state and she drove up. She did apologize. She said normally they would see the report and know it didn't warrant an investigation. Because of the time of day, nobody was around to do that. She didn't have the authority to disregard it, so she drove over an hour to interview us that night.

The burned daughter is doing well. She was called a model burn patient. Everyone was impressed with her bravery and work ethic. The paramedics came back and brought her presents. She worked very hard on her physical therapy and has no range of motion issues. Her skin will take months to fully heal but it's looking good now. They don't think she'll scar. My other daughter went through months of counseling. She's doing much better. I don't want to disclose more due to privacy concerns. Thanks for asking.

I guess I'm technically under investigation right now. My 7 year old was in the kitchen with me when she suddenly fell off a chair. She fell in the direction of the stove and pulled a pot of boiling water onto herself. I was about five feet away. The burns were extensive enough that she was flown to Children's hospital. A police officer questioned me outside the ambulance while we were waiting for the helicopter. He then went to my house and questioned the other two kids. CPS interviewed me in the ER. She said it was just routine. That was about 6 weeks ago. I haven't heard from them. I was on the other end of a COS investigation in the fall. My older daughter was the victim of a crime. The defendant is a minor. My daughter was interviewed as part of the investigation.

We used Redfin for buying our house last year. The biggest difference is that we didn't receive a gift from the realtor. They use more of a team approach so there were times we dealt w with a team member instead of our actual realtor. That wasn't an issue. We looked into Redfin for selling a house. The agent they gave us was in the middle of office drama so we went with someone else. I think he was fired or left. That could happen anywhere so I don't look poorly at the company for that.

Fabric is expensive. Quilting is expensive. A quilt kit might be a good way to go because you won't have the cost of extra fabric. I should clarify. Good quality fabric is expensive. It is possible to find cheaper fabric but it tends to be lower thread count. That means it can wear out sooner. When I've put a lot of work into something, I want it to last. When you see the price on quilt kits, that is still not the full price. You still need to buy batting, binding fabric, and often backing fabric. For a first quilt I would do something lap sized. It takes less time and can more easily be quilted at home. By quilting, I am referring to sewing the top layer, middle batting layer, and bottom backing layer together. There are numerous quilt blogs with tutorials and patterns. She should start by reading these to get an idea of what she wants to make and what style she likes. I like Hawthorne threads for fabric. They also have quilt kits if you want to do that. www.hawthornethreads.com/quilt_kits/view_all

They weren't aggressive at all. One time they ran past the campsite. Other than that we only saw them near the road. We were on the ocean side and found out later that they prefer the bay side except in summer.

I went camping on Assateague Island. I saw wild horses.

Another vote for the microplane rasp grater.

That's a good question. Part of going to DC is paying for parking. If you're used to free but now need to pay $20, that might seem like a lot. I would be happy to pay $20 per night. I think it would need to be over $30 before I started looking at other options.

You can check Parking Panda for a cheaper rate either near your hotel or a Subway stop. Somewhere near the hotel seems way more convenient. You could also park offsite at Reagan but I don't think that's worth the hassle either. Something near your hotel shouldn't be that much more expensive. Some VRE stations offer free overnight parking. VRE hours are very limited since it is a commuter train.

I have a kid with an early December birthday. It sounded weird to me. Even though it may just be 4.5 weeks later, it seems like more.

I still don't quite understand. Are you saying that if I told her my beloved cat died, she wouldn't understand that I was sad? Or would it be more like watching the news about the Las Vegas shooting and laughing? The first scenario is not a big deal. Maybe she doesn't understand loving a pet that much or she's really practical about death. I suppose you could teach her that other people value things differently and just comfort somebody even if you don't understand. Which parent hasn't done that for a kid whose world is ending because the right shirt isn't clean? If she's more like the second scenario, I would be very concerned.

We haven't gone since the renovations. When we went,the museum was very small and focused on rocks, minerals, and mining. Could you do the Fernbank in Atlanta instead? They have dinosaurs. http://www.fernbankmuseum.org/explore/permanent-exhibitions/giants-of-the-mesozoic/ The Tellus museum in Cartersville, GA has some dinosaurs. http://tellusmuseum.org/galleries-more/fossil-gallery/ The Greensboro Science Center has dinosaur stuff. It's also a neat science museum because it is part zoo. http://greensboroscience.org/visit/ We've been to all four science museums but I can't rate the dinosaur exhibits. None of my kids like dinosaurs so at best we quickly walk through.

When you do the Staten Island ferry, as soon as you disembark get into the line to get back on or you're going to be sitting there for like 30 minutes. When you get off, you'll take a left, walk past the gift shop, and then take another left.

I've been accused of being a robot by two different people on separate occasions. It was hurtful. Just because a person isn't as outwardly emotional as others, doesn't mean there is something wrong. Make sure you aren't judging appropriate empathy by just your standards.

When I do Broadway, I buy rush tickets. These are cheap tickets available from the box office the day of the show. Not all shows have them but many do. If a show is popular, people start lining up very early in the morning. For a less popular show, you might get tickets hours after the box office opens. Seats vary by show and day from center orchestra to partial view. Come From Away is really good but might be a bit old for your 9 year old. My 7 year old hated it, my 10 year old liked it, and my 12 year old loved it. There are a few bad words. It's a very popular show but since it's October there won't be as many people trying to get tickets. The original cast is still there and I always prefer the original cast. http://comefromaway.com/ My second recommendation is School of Rock. It's a pretty good show and a great introduction to Broadway. It's extremely loud in parts. Bring earplugs. Getting rush tickets for this show shouldn't be a problem. https://us.schoolofrockthemusical.com/?_ga=2.135351729.1263471058.1507231139-455789029.1507231139 Check Broadway schedules. Most shows are dark on Monday but not School of Rock. If you buy rush tickets you need to specifically ask for them. They have a limit of 2 but I have never had a problem buying for myself and 3 kids. http://www.playbill.com/article/weekly-schedule-of-current-broadway-shows-com-142774 Another option is Hello Dolly. Tickets are much cheaper on the days Bette Midler is not in. That theatre is really big and you do not want balcony seats. We haven't seen it yet. We'll catch it later this fall along with The Band's Visit. Let me know if you have any questions.

How old are your kids? I can recommend a Broadway show with more info.