A Picture Worth a Thousand Words

For Mother's Day this year, Aunt Katherine organized a "paint and sip" party where the whole Fawcett-Feige-Suggs-Zimmerman family embraced their artistic sides (to varying degrees of successfulness). Nora, in particular, loved the experience and asked if we could recreate it with her friends for her birthday. So after a lot of planning, some borrowing of tables and chairs (thanks Katherine and Mom Mom) and prayers to the weather gods (which mostly worked -- it was clear but a little on the warm side...) Ms. Brandi returned to give a painting lesson to twelve young ladies while they sipped sparkling (non-alcoholic) rosé and pear cider.

At our previous sip-n-paint party, things may have gotten a little competitive with some of us not feeling so great about our trees or root systems and secretly wondering what was so great about Allen's leaves. The girls, however, were extremely supportive of each other and genuinely admired each other's work while still maintaining their own viewpoint (and they all have really strong views). The result was a veritable bouquet of perspectives and a bunch of really happy budding artists who couldn't wait to show off their masterpieces (once they cooled off inside, and had pizza and cupcakes).

It was great party and a wonderful, albeit exhausting, day. Which culminated in Allen and I enjoying our own sips later that evening... absent any paint.

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

Men and Lasers

Owen has wanted to laser tag birthday party for years. And we've tried: We actually booked Owen's 10th birthday party at Ultrazone, only to have them contact us the night before to say they forgot to pay their rent so, "oops."

We made due with climbing and ultimate warrior and baseball. But despite the intervening years, Owen still really wanted lasers, so we booked Ultrazone's competitor, Shadowland, invited ten 13 year old boys and Grandpa Don (plus Nora and Mirabel) for a rumble in the suburbs.

The first game started out slow -- a couple of people (Grandpa Don) weren't paying attention during the pre-game briefing and picked the wrong equipment and may also have been hampered by being color blind -- but Owen made a respectable 5th, Grandpa Don managed to defeat Adinath to get 11th and Allen just lost first place to Max.

For the second round, Owen really wanted to just team up with his father, but Allen was not again to be defeated by a bunch of teens. So while Owen struggled to find Allen and join a welcoming team (sometimes the equipment is a little slower than the intent, which is why as Owen was in the process of joining the green team, they all shot him), Allen turned things up a notch, using all his cunning to dominate a bunch of kids at a birthday party, resulting in him getting first place (take that Adam and Max!).

In the end, it was a good party. The venue was solvent, Allen demonstrated his mastery and Owen finally got to play laser tag with all his friends.

(click here for all the pictures)

Teen Titan

Seventh grade got real. Our sweet, innocent sixth grader was replaced by a cynical tween who sometimes forgot to turn in assignments, didn't always own up to mistakes and even elicited a meeting with the principal. Age twelve included curt conversations, locked doors and a lot of deeps sighs on both sides of the generational divide.

But despite the unintended drama, there was much to celebrate this year too. Owen got straight As (even after skipping ahead an entire year of math), a starring role in the spring musical, participated in honor ensembles, made the school baseball team (again), and was second chair in DCYOP. He wrote a 20 page tome on the hero's journey (which may or may not have been semi-biographical), learned to sail and ate 10 ears of corn in a single afternoon. Owen grew up a lot.

And that's the thing: despite having entered that period of life when familial tensions seem to be heightened, we navigated it together, learned a bunch and, overall, had a really good year. Given Owen's our oldest, we're new to adolescent angst and have struggled a bit with a more independent and opinionated Owen. But we're optimistic that we'll all come out of it ok, because the truth is, that while at times maddening, Owen is a really good kid and our "real boy" is becoming a pretty cool young man. Happy birthday, Owen. We love you so, so much and hope that thirteen is truly lucky for you.

1. We're gonna make a change, in about two years time...
2. Bowling is the second fanciest sport. Golf is obviously the fanciest.
3. Screen time limits, nemesis of the you-tube generation.
4. "I don't mean to brag, but I'm somewhat of a fish expert." 
5. You can take a lot of literary license as long as you remember, Arizona is not the land of gangsters. 
6. If you're going to live rustic, why bother showering?
7. Never underestimate the importance of a well established root system.
8. Bring on the double black diamonds.
9. "T-Rexs do not abide by the five second rule."
10. And always and forever, let your freak flag fly.

Carmen - Ode to Darkness

(Lyrics by Nora and Owen Fawcett)

The world seems sad

The world seems grim

The walls are crashing

And their closing in

The world is gone

A light is near

I would approach it

But I'm filled with fear

Is this the end

Or a brand new start?

The curtain's closing

And the lights go dark

Is this death

Or just a dream

Nothing seems to be

What it seems

The sun is dead

The world's gone too

Tears are streaming

And they stick like glue

(musical interlude)

OBX 2019

Our fourth year at the Pelican Perch in Duck had to be right up there with some of the best beach week weather ever. The temperatures were comfortably in the mid-80's all week, the water was warm, and the few storms that we had come through all kindly waited until the afternoon after a long and beautiful day on the beach. The big innovation for this year was a kegerator for the house with a keg of refreshing Weeping Radish OBX beer, and Katherine grudgingly consented to Lee opening his present from us on the first day, a 128 oz vacuum insulated DrinkTanks growler, the perfect companion for sitting out on the beach. 



If there was one drawback of the gorgeous weather, it was that we didn't get in quite as many games for the Pelican Cup. I won the opening night bocci tournament, Don won mini-golf, Grandpa Fawcett won the marble game tournament, the boys won the sand castle competition, and Makayla won the closing bocci match. Aside from those games, there were just a few scattered throughout the week, and my winning two games of cornhole was enough to give me the Pelican Cup for the second time, putting me in a tie with Owen for the all time lead. Can't wait to go back next year!



(click here for all the pictures)

Snoring Beauty

As if Camp Shenanigans putting on a musical camp wasn't catering to Nora's preferences enough, Ms. Shannon also scheduled a comedy camp. There were some concerns amongst the camp councilors the first couple days, but Ms. Shannon put them straight, "Don't worry, we have Nora!"

Bon Appetite

As much as we missed Owen during his week of hard labor at Aunt Katherine's (also known as the week his mother neglected to schedule a camp for him or the week Owen made $200 learning to weed, pick up sticks and power wash), it did provide us with the opportunity to exploit Nora's more adventurist palate by enjoying dinner at Le Grenier. Nora loved her Crepe Provence, baguettes et buerre, jambon fromage, elderflower citron and the piece de la resistance, profiteroles. She's anxious to return with Owen (assuming he's ok with Bavette à l'échalote -- aka hanger steak and french fries) just so she can order Escargots de Bourgogne (Ooh la la!).