Top 10 List From Last Week's Trip to VA

10. I got the kids disposable cameras and told them that once their pictures were all taken, that was it. Ok? Did they understand? Grace? I told her that meant to take pictures of really interesting things, and not, say, one wall of the condo's living room with the corner of a blank tv-screen. We just got the photos back. What was Grace's first picture? A picture of one wall of the condo's living room with the corner of a blank tv-screen.

9. Kids riding the Metro for the first time. But what did they call it? The "Metronome." Of course.

8. Trying to explain the difference between Washington, DC and Washington state. Repeatedly. (You'd think Nana Kathy woulda grasped the concept the first time) ;)

7. Trying to explain the differences between US Presidents George Washington and the two George Bushes.

6. Telling Johnny to stick with us. Repeatedly. Telling Grace when we were going to get ice cream. Repeatedly.

5. When we finally got to the day's Agenda Item: Get ice cream or frozen treat before getting on the Metro heading back to the condo before the Team Challenge Pasta Party, Grace took one bite of her watermelon shaved ice and said, "I'm finished. When are we getting on the Metronome?"

4. Late-Night back at the condo after the Team Challenge Pasta Party: All hands on deck either helping whip up homemade 'after-run' peppermint sugar scrub, decorating Good Luck signs to put on the doors of my mentees, or cutting strips of orange and blue tissue paper used to decorate the mentees' doors.

3. Getting to the finish line, seeing the sea of orange, and sharing in the after-party glory of finishing a first, seventh, or umpteenth Team Challenge 1/2 Marathon and raising money and awareness for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. And having Johnny and Grace immediately say, "We're hungry. Where can we get some food?"

2. On the drive back to NC, we decided it was a good idea to pull out the 3rd row of seats so Johnny and Grace could be separated. And after a very fair and deliberate method of figuring out that Johnny would sit in the 'way back' first, Grace chimed in, "No, I want to sit in the way-back first!"

1. Realizing, without an ounce of guilt, that while I got involved with Team Challenge for my daughter (and son), there's a good reason (many, actually) that I'll be traveling to Kona, Hawaii in two weeks without my children.