A Visit from Allison and Lucas

In late July, our daughter Allison visited for two weeks with her boyfriend, Lucas. He had never been to this area of the country, so they visited such places as Washington, DC, and Williamsburg, VA. We also took him to several of the “must-see” places in Southern Maryland. Yes, there really are places like that around here (Bert’s 50s Diner, St. Mary’s Landing, and Sandgates, to name a few) The one below is the Tequila Grill where we went for Charles' 15th birthday.

Peter’s sister and her family took all of us out on their boat to a peaceful spot on the Patuxent River. The kids have now experienced the torment of jelly fish.

Lucas also had an invitation to earn money helping us out at the farm. He is young, tall, and full of stamina, so we happily enlisted his help. I wasn’t with him every time he worked, but I do know that he impressed the older family members with his work ethic and abilities. He helped us mow using the Skag, put up acres of bird netting, run catch wires for the new vines, and various other farm tasks. Overall, I think we got about 60 hours of work out of him. Did I mention that he was here during a stretch of 90+ degree days? He now knows what it’s like to sweat through clothes without even lifting a finger. He understands how humidity increases ones perception of heat and interferes with the body’s ability to cool down naturally. He said he won’t complain anymore about working in 70 degree heat for his parents back in Bellevue.

Allison also helped out some at the farm, but I chose to use her organizational talents to help me put the house together. She has a little OCD, so she was a perfect candidate for such work. With her help, we emptied most of our boxes and even found homes for most of the belongings that were in them. Several areas of the house begged to be reorganized to accommodate us, and Allison went to work sorting and organizing.

We aren't really the taskmasters that you think. The kids spent significant amounts of time asleep, playing XBox, and playing in the pool.

This is really just a long way of saying that Allison and Lucas were wonderful helpers to us during our initial weeks in our house. They worked hard and maintained a positive attitude and a sense of humor throughout it all. They also got to have a significant amount of time together before they left for colleges in different states.

Thank you, Allison and Lucas. We loved having you and look forward to more visits in the future.