Monday, July 31, 2017

Bunk'd

Camp Shiloh
We tried to send Owen (with his friend Gabriel) to sleep-away camp last year, but a wealth of camping minded Quakers beat us to it, and there weren't any spaces available. This year, we were committed, so much so that Gabriel's mom and I registered the boys in January for a week in Shiloh right before we head to the beach.

This is not glamping. Shiloh is in the Shenandoah National Park and the campers spend a few nights in the camp before a two night hiking trip in the woods. They're not allowed phones, computers, junk food, or any other creature comforts. There are chores. There are bugs (though there was a mandatory lice check at drop off, so not all bugs). There might even be bears (I've been assured that they have a whole protocol for that).

We prepared Owen as much as we could, which for us meant getting a lot of gear and treating his clothes with bug spray, and for him meant rationalizing his and Nora's marathon viewing of Bunk'd. I'm not sure any of it was sufficient, as Owen looked a little dazed when we left him and Gabriel at the friendship circle, but we're still cautiously optimistic. Hopefully, on Sunday we'll pick up two boys who don't hate their parents and enjoyed the experience so much that they help us convince their sisters to go next year. We'll see...
Camp Shiloh

(To see all the pictures, click here.)

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Iowa Odds & Ends

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Between Logan & Jessica's wedding, Mike & Ginny's 50th Anniversary Party, and the 4th of July, our Iowa trip was full of events this year, and already extensively blogged about ;-) There were other things that happened though: lazy days swimming in the Pond; playdates with Grace; re-plumbing the cabin AC drainboiling a coyote headloading graindesigning fountain heads; and of course, putting a new roof on the cabin. We wouldn't want anyone to think we weren't busy during our couple of weeks in Iowa this year...

Monday, July 10, 2017

A Golden Day

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Long ago, right before the start of  a new school year, Mike Zimmerman dropped off his half of a less than successful double date early, only to rejoin his companions and meet the other half of the double date's new roommate, Ginny Grady. The rest of the evening went a lot better. The pair fell in love and on August 5, 1967, Mike and Ginny got married.

Forty-nine years, eleven months and three days later (summer schedules are tough!), friends and family gathered in West Branch, IA to celebrate their union. There was a mass, readings by grandchildren, a homily by Uncle Bernie (which included some mildly embarrassing anecdotes), hymns led by siblings and nieces, and a Papal Blessing. Afterward, the throngs headed out to the pond for lunch, some reminiscing, Texans, lawn games, swimming, swings, cowgirls, cousins, a video montage, a non-trivial amount of wine, some haircuts (we probably should have rethought that order), and a lot of laughs.

It was kind of amazing. We'd been planning the day for a couple of years, and in the run-up had mostly focused on logistics. But in the moment, watching so many people that have touched Mom & Dad's life gathered in one place and celebrating, laughing and crying over everything that's come to pass in fifty years, it really was an incredible experience.

Marriage is no joke. And sticking with it for fifty years -- through medical emergencies, and job changes, and moves, and deaths, and unruly teenagers -- is not for the faint of heart. But they did it, and I'm so glad that we got to be there to witness it.

I just hope that Owen & Nora took a lot of notes for ours...

Golden

(To see all the pictures, please click here.)

Wednesday, July 05, 2017

We Love a Parade

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Our celebration of Independence Day has been varied. We done fireworks at the Capitol. We've gone to the beach. We've watched neighbors set off explosives in the street (it's a DC thing -- and Mogadishu). But this year, we decided to take part in that most Americana of 4th Celebrations: a small town parade.

Leanna had mention that while Iowa City had already had it's Fourth of July parade (ironically not on July 4th), Coraville's was the morning of the 4th. So we, along with Aunt Marian, headed to the suburbs where we stood on a curb as local politicians, meat princesses, funeral homes, Shriners and churches, threw candy, water, and oddly enough, hot-cold therapy packs at us. The kids LOVED it.

Afterwards, we headed to the pond for dinner and some fire lanterns. It was a pretty great day.

Happy Birthday, America!

(To see all the pictures, please click here).

Monday, July 03, 2017

Dearly Beloved

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We left for Iowa at 4:33 am on Friday and drove 13 hours and 50 minutes in order to make the rehearsal dinner of Allen's cousin Logan and his betrothed, Jessica, before their wedding the next day. Their's was to be the third wedding ever at the pond and the first we attended that we weren't starring in. And while I initially wasn't sure how it would feel to attend a wedding so similar to my own (except for some instances they vastly improved upon -- haystacks for seating and program fans proved to be brilliant additions, and if only we'd had the covered wagon back in 2003...), I found that merely being a witness to the formal joining of two people that love each other is itself an incredibly beautiful and moving experience. And far less stressful.

Congratulations to Logan and Jessica. Can't wait to see you back at the pond.

(To see all the wedding pictures, click here.)