Monday, March 30, 2026

Chase stayed home from school today with an upset stomach and diarrhea. Even with all that, Nanaw’s sweet boy was in a good mood . He was happy and entertaining and didn’t mind too much that Nanaw limited him to an hour and a half of phone time. He used some of that time to play on the laptop. Uncle Mike spent most of the day at Nanaw’s, watching over the guys from Helitech who were here to fix the leak in Nanaw’s basement. Uncle Mike said the guys worked hard and did a great job. Helitech had said it would take two days to do the job but they finished up in one day. Uncle Mike and Nanaw had Taco Bell for lunch, and Chase had chicken noodle soup. A little after three, Chase took a nap and Nanaw went up to school to get Chase’s homework. He was up from his nap when Nanaw got home. He worked on the homework till it was time to go home. In the evening, he had 20 minutes of hitting fast-pitched underhand baseball. Mama was going to stop at the library on the way home from baseball to pick up a book, and Nanaw asked her to pick up a book for her, too. Chase and his class are going on a field trip tomorrow to a church in Belleville for a Chrism mass. The Chrism Mass is a major Holy Week liturgy, usually celebrated by the bishop in the cathedral on Holy Thursday morning or shortly before, where the sacred oils (Chrism, Catechumens, Sick) are consecrated/blessed for use throughout the year. It highlights the church's unity, the priesthood, and the diocesan community.

Sunday, March 29, 2026

Chase had a confirmation retreat on Sunday, starting with mass at 11. When Nanaw went to visit Chase after he got home, Chase told Nanaw that various people spoke to the group. IDaddy spent the afternoon at the retreat with Chase. He sat at a table with Brady’s uncle and found out he works for a computer company that deals with finding fraud. Originally, they said the retreat would last till 5:30 or 6 but it turned out that it ended around 4. Chase was still tired from the DC trip so he took a nap when he got home from the retreat. Mama made stir fry for dinner, and Nanaw had some without Ramen noodles and it was really good. After dinner, Mama and Nanaw sat on the sofa and looked at Mama’s DC pictures on her phone. They also looked at videos and pictures on Chase’s phone. Nanaw is looking forward to looking at more of Chase’s photos on his DC project.

Saturday, March 28, 2026

Today was Chase's first baseball game of the season with the Bears. He had two games on Saturday morning at the field in Fenton. Unfortunately, his team lost both games. He pitched in both games but didn't do a good job. That was understandable and forgivable because the DC trip was exhausting for everybody, and Chase was really tired. On Saturday afternoon, Mama and Nanaw went to a birthday party for Brady's grandma Debbie at her son's beautiful house in Swansea, Illinois.(There's a picture of it below that Nanaw took yesterday when she made a reconnaissance trip to make sure she knew how to get there in case Mama couldn't go.) It was a great party with all kinds of interesting people, delicious food and super birthday decorations that Debbie's son Ryan created. Brady was there, having lots of fun. He had on a history-related tie that he probably bought in DC. Chase would have had fun with him but Chase probably preferred staying home to take a nap. Ryan has a swimming pool, and last summer Chase went swimming there with Brady and Emma and their cousins. Mama and Nanaw were talking about the cherry blossom trees in DC as they left the party, and later in the afternoon Mama sent Nanaw a random photo of the trees to show her that the blossoms are white not pink, like Nanaw thought they were. On the drive home, they listened to the Cardinals baseball game on the radio and were dismayed when the Cards lost their four-run lead in the 9th inning. But everything worked out beautifully, thanks to bubble-gum-chewing JJ Wetherholt and his walk-off hit, and the Cardinals won 6 to 5. Tomorrow Chase has a confirmation retreat at church from 11 to 6 and then Nanaw is going to go visit her boy. Also, on this coming Thursday, the 8th grade is having a Stations of the Cross and Chase is one of the readers so Nanaw is going to go see it. 

Friday, March 27, 2026

From the bus on the way home, Mama texted: "We left a couple of  hours ago, about 8 a.m. The guys are playing an online game and others are playing, too (like Henry, etc.) so that’s good. Yesterday after the archives we went to the Bureau of Engraving/Printing and saw money being made. After lunch, we went to Arlington National Cemetery and saw a few sights and saw the changing of the guard for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  We ended up touring memorials like MLK, Vietnam, etc. last night, and Lincoln was the last. One of the Dads, a hockey Dad, bought pizza for the kids last night when we were at the hotel. Chase went down and hung out with the crew in the lobby last night until they had to go up at 10." Mama said they're supposed to arrive back at school at 11, and Life 360 says they're at school so the great Washington, DC adventure is over. Nanaw is looking forward to seeing all the pictures they took. Mama didn't send any pictures of today so the picture below is from last night of Chase with his buddy Hunter. Today Nanaw tried to take Taylor along on Sylvester's walk but the smart little kitty.

Thursday, March 26, 2026

The first two photos below are at the Jefferson Memorial, which looks really cool. In the second photo, you can see the Washington Monument. After that, they went to the National Archives -- where the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights are stored. Mama texted Nanaw that Nanaw would enjoy all the stuff they're learning. Nanaw told her she'll have to teach Nanaw all she's learning. The third picture is the Declaration of Independence. Nanaw thinks it's so wonderful that the kids are getting to see all the things they studied in class. It has to be making a big impression on them. This was their last full day in DC. I'm sure they'll be sorry to go because it's been such a monumental adventure. Mama was a little light on pictures and update texts today but that's understandable after such a full week. Several things on the itinerary for Thursday that Mama didn't mention are the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Arlington Cemetery, the U.S. Marine Corp Iwo Jima Memorial, Embassy Row, and Monuments and Memorials at the National Mall. One of the pictures is of Mama wearing Hunter's hat. Tomorrow they'll leave for home at 8:45 a.m. and arrive in Columbia at midnight. 

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Nanaw texted Mama about seeing Chase's kindergarten teacher Mrs. H. at Schnuck's this morning. Mrs. H. left Chase's school several years ago as a kindergarten teacher to take care of her grandson Brooke, just like Nanaw did. She sent her love to Chase and said she can't believe he's graduating this year. She has always been his favorite teacher, and she got him off to a wonderful start at school. She said he would love Gibault; she and her husband and their four children all went there and loved it. Uncle Mike came over today and worked on getting the basement ready for Monday when Helitech comes to fix the leak. Mama only sent two pictures today. Her phone battery was low, and they were off the bus for a long time so she couldn't charge it. She said she took a lot of pictures and maybe she'll send some tomorrow. For sure, they will come in handy for the project Chase has to do when they get back -- the project needs 75 photos so hopefully Mama has that many. In the morning, they went to Ford Theater where Lincoln was shot and then to the Petersen House where Lincoln died. One of the two pictures Mama sent today was a huge stack of all the books written about Lincoln -- very cool. The other picture she sent was the Capitol Building, with the three of them in it. They got to sit where the Senate is but not too many people were there. They went to the Library of Congress where there were a ton of books. They ran out of time so they didn't get to go to the Smithsonian. The White House was on their plan but they skipped it because they were out of time. Nanaw wanted Mama to take a picture of where the East Wing was destroyed so that won't happen. They went to the Kennedy Center instead of the White House. The class got to go bowling after dinner, and Mama said they had fun. Mama had lounge duty tonight, which means watching the kids from 9:15 to 9:45.

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

Tuesday's agenda of sites to see included George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Holocaust Museum, Washington National Cathedral, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and 9/11 Pentagon Memorial. Mrs. H. had mentioned in one of her emails that one of the parents was trying to arrange for a visit to a special place, and that turned out to be the Holocaust Museum. They replaced the visit to the National Air and Space Museum with a visit to the Holocaust Museum. Chase is getting to spend lots of time with the crew on this trip, something he definitely enjoys. Mama was excited about the black sheep she saw at Mount Vernon; their picture is below. Mama texted to Nanaw that: "After Mount Vernon, we did the Holocaust Museum. So sad. Then the National Cathedral, then mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The kids hung out in the lobby when they got back before dinner. They ate in the mall and Chase and I got Auntie Anne's pretzels, and Will got Mama a Stromboli from a pizza place. Their mall is crazy busy like ours used to be. After dinner we went to the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial. I didn't take any photos but I sent one from online. The Memorial is outside the building. On each bench is the name of someone who was on the plane or in the building working who died. So sad. After that, we came back to the hotel. The kids hung out in the lobby till 9:30, which is our curfew to go to their rooms. (We're on Eastern time.) Tomorrow we have to eat at 7:45 and leave at 8:15 for another busy day." Nanaw took Sylvester over to his house around noon because the cleaning lady came to Nanaw's house today. Nanaw managed to get all four cats downstairs, which is a miracle. Below, towards the end, is a picture of Sylvester in the Gascar chair and then one on his walk. Nanaw wasn't able to get Taylor in the cat stroller today so it was just Nanaw and Sly. He saw three other dogs and a runner so he had lots to bark at.