Annual Review for D M Jones

Name: Daphne (known as Daph or Daffodil)

Hair: Short, blondish-brown, adorable

Eyes: Sparkly light blue, like her Aunt Lindsay
 

Interests: 
Playing: A magical unicorn named Horn Attack, a ninja, a kitty, or a puppy named Morning Daisy (companion to Pip's puppy named Patches-Spot).

Conversing: She's got a lot to say on every subject, and prefers an active, engaged audience. None of this passive, "Hm, that's nice, dear."

Reading - like any typical young girl, she devours science books

Visiting: The more friends, the better. The longer, the better. The more activity, the better. When bedtime comes and she's alone in her room, she's bored.

Taylor Swift: She's up for a visit and a conversation about her favorite Taylor Swift songs.


Busyness: This fall, she's starting piano, 4H, a one-day enrichment class, AWANA, and school. The prospect delights her.
 
Notes: Is ready to be a friend to everyone, with the possible exception of her older brother. Thinks that Taylor Swift has a knack for choosing really bad boyfriends, based on all the songs she writes about broken hearts. Talks a lot. Reads a lot.

Recommendation: Way too much personality to stay at current age level. Immediate upgrade recommended.

Happy sixth birthday to Daphne! We love you!

(I'm going to try to upload this picture again later, giving Blogger a second chance)

-- DJ, SJ, AMJ, SMJ, PGJ

Getaway and Zip (with Pictures)

Ziplining is fun.

Climbing up ladders and waiting for your turn to go is less fun, but a couple of personable guides and great views of the Shenandoah River help pass the time. Also, pretending to be in an Ewok tree village.

You're always tethered to something, so you're not going to fall. There's nothing to worry about. So when you're standing on a 4x4-foot platform looking down at the tops of the trees, and there's no way off except by a cable that ends somewhere out of sight, there's absolutely nothing to worry about. Who was worried?

Deidre and I went with River Riders in Harper's Ferry. It was definitely more fun going with a friend. The guides went over safety rules with us, then asked which of our group of seven would sign the form attesting that, yes, we'd heard the safety rules. I signed it, at which point they announced, "Congratulations! By signing this form, you've also adopted our newest guide!" As another explained, "River Riders has a deal with the local orphanage. Every time you pay for a Canopy Tour package, you get a new child!" But I left him there after all. He told very bad West Virginia jokes.

The rest of my weekend was all mine, and all good. On Sunday, I spent eight hours writing. And let me tell you, two hours stuck in the house with fractious kids lasts a whole lot longer than eight hours spent in wordcraft. The only break I took from writing was when I drove Addi to 4H camp, and that didn't take a whole lot out of my day because she dismissed me as soon as she was settled on her top bunk.

I can't say I was rarin' to get back home, but this morning I did play tea party with Daphne and read an Encyclopedia Brown story aloud to Stuart. So I must have recharged a little. And maybe I was feeling a lack of Darren.

But I figure I could stand a few more weekends like this in my life.

(The following pictures are all blurry because the guide's camera was on the wrong setting. On the upside, we got them free.)

Deidre (the grin wearing the Battlestar Gallactica shirt on the far left) and I (wearing the green shirt) pose with our group before setting out.

I hated the helmet. My hair afterward was beyond Medusa Hair. Deige's looked just fine, not that I noticed.

This is the point where I felt Darren freaking out in spirit. But I was absolutely fine. P.S. Dear Deidre, good call not to jump up and down on the bridge. Our friendship would have ended twenty feet in the air.

Here we are, with Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia in view behind us.

Yes, Doofenshmirtz fans, that's right: It was THE TRI-STATE AREA!

Deige goes flying.

See the trees, how high up we are? See how the picture is taken from a HIGHER spot? Yes, we're one level down from where we actually zipped. 

The actual moments that you're flying down the cable are pure heaven. It goes by so fast, though. It really made me wish I could do that scene in the novel Divergent, where they zipline off what used to be Chicago's Sears Tower. Maybe my next weekend alone.

-- SJ