Spring Breaking

We've been traveling a lot lately, so instead of using the kids' Spring Break for a weeklong adventure in some exotic locale, we opted to spend a long weekend in New York and then devote the rest of the week to dragging Owen to local college campuses to jumpstart the college visit phase of his childhood. He was less than thrilled. In order to make the process not entirely painful, we recruited his friend Gabriel to join him and then teamed the visits with a fun counter activity (granted some were less fun and more utilitarian). 

American was up first and was the only visit that also included a tour (note to parents: Spring Break is when all the accepted students tour campus so maybe don't try to book tours the week of). The boys weren't really into the tour itself (too many people and a too perky guide), but it at least gave them a reference point for the rest of the week, and for Owen it was a nice reprieve before his dental appointment later that afternoon.

Next was Johns Hopkins which in theory involved the whole family and the Telfair-Chas, but in practice meant that Nora hung out and read on the Decker Quad while the rest of walked around campus. The boys primarily perked up outside the biochemistry building when they happened upon a number of liquid nitrogen tanks on its loading dock as well as picking up some handouts from Hopkin's Consent campaign to decorate their friends lockers at school. Once we finished our self-guided tour and picked up Nora, we headed out for lunch followed by a trip to the Baltimore Aquarium before returning home and heading to the Kennedy Center for Mean Girls.

The boys finished the week with a trip to Maryland and a semi-guided tour by one of Allen's Center for Global Sustainability colleagues. Despite the size of the campus, it was the boys favorite (and the cheapest of the three). But the after-tour was clearly the best part of the day, when we all met up for some axe-throwing. While everyone made at least one hit, team "Anti-Geneva" dominated team "Future Axe Murderers," winning all three rounds and even making the final "kill shot" (though some people contributed more than others).

The next day we headed up to Katherine's for a day (or rather, an afternoon) of yard work in preparation of the most epic Easter Egg Hunt ever (or at least the most cash rich one we've ever participated in) followed a lovely Easter dinner at Mom Mom's. 

The kids had one last day off of school (officially for teachers to enter grades; unofficially for the kids to all submit negative COVID tests before returning, so Owen and his Duke friends organized a morning of climbing followed by lunch and a movie, and graciously allowed Nora to join. The kids returned pretty exhausted, but pretty happy and ready to start the final term of the year.

(To see all the Spring Break post-New York pictures, click here.)

Giving Regards to Broadway

It had been nearly three years since our last trip to NYC (though Owen had been more recently, with a drama club field trip back in 2020). We'd actually had to cancel a trip during the Pandemic and while we'd gotten our musical theater fix via the Kennedy Center, it wasn't the same. So, with the whole family fully vaccinated and boosted, infection rates... at least lower, and the end of the term, we decided a return was long overdue. And while we might have been a little apprehensive about it, going to Broadway is like riding a bicycle – only now it requires proof of vaccination and a mask.

We started off the kids' Spring Break with an early train to the city in order to drop our stuff off at the hotel, check out the insane line at the Stardust Diner before opting for lunch at a pizza place near the theater in order to make the matinee of Dear Evan Hansen (which was on both kids' wish lists but was clearly Owen's favorite). Afterwards, we formally checked into the hotel and then headed out to Central Park and a lovely dinner overlooking Columbus Circle.

The next morning, the kids indulged me for a chilly constitutional along the High Line. They weren't really into it (it probably would gone over better had Nora had actually packed a coat...), but after a stop at Starbuck for a well timed mocha, Nora perked up and agreed to venture into Washington Square to see the arch (and a pseudo college tour of NYU) before heading back to the hotel to regroup before dinner and our show.

Nora had been waiting years to see Six (the global sensation), which ironically was supposed to open on Broadway the night the lights went out for the Pandemic. Having listened the soundtrack endlessly and even an interview with the writers, we were a little worried that the show couldn't possibly live up to Nora's expectations. But our fears were meritless – we hadn't seen Nora that happy and excited (it didn't totally translate on film) in a long time (topping the night off with gelato flowers probably didn't hurt either...).

The next morning we got donuts and headed to Central Park for some climbing and a lovely walk before Nora stepped in dog poop. Thankfully, there was a bathroom nearby, Nora was wearing zippy pants, and it was warmer than it had been the day before. We cleaned up, grabbed lunch, headed back to Penn Station and took the train home (to start the rest of Spring Break).

(To see all of the NYC pictures, click here.)

Junior Honors

When we found out Nora was nominated for the National Junior Honor Society, I tried to reminisce about my own experience being a member in high school, but my only recollections of our activities was a picture for the year book and a blood drive. Apparently, America's youth has much higher standards because for induction to the Junior Honor Society, Nora had to: write an essay, write another essay, participate in some team building exercises, attend lots of meetings, have a headshot taken, find a quote about one of the pillars of the society, take an oath, and then finally be inducted.

It was a lot, but it was also the first school ceremony Nora's had at Stuart and it was pretty exciting to see them and their friends acting normal at a school function (albeit while wearing masks). Plus there were cupcakes! 

Opening Day!

It's hard to believe, but the last time the Nats had an Opening Day with fans in the stands was three years ago. It's crazy to think back to how different the team was then, with Scherzer and Turner, Zim and Rendon, and so many other beloved faces for the team that would go on to bring us our first World Series Championship! Now we're finally back, never having had the chance to properly celebrate that World Series with an Opening Day as World Champions, raising the pennant in front of a raucous crowd, cheering our returning heroes... Instead we're finally here with a team that is a shadow of it's former self, Strasburg is off somewhere rehabbing his shoulder, Turner and Rendon are playing on the west coast, Zim is retired, and Scherzer is here, but our cheers for him are just wistful reminders of days gone by as he doffs his new Mets cap and disappears into the visitors dugout...

Sleepless Nights for WGIII

Back in 2018 I went to South Korea as part of the US delegation for the approval session for the IPCC Special Report on 1.5C. It was an intense but rewarding experience, and the State Department convinced me to sign up again and serve on the US delegation for the IPCC Working Group III Summary for Policymakers approval. This time the meetings were on Zoom, but even though there wasn't any travel involved the 'jet lag' was just as bad if not worse than the in person approvals! The virtual meetings were spread out over two weeks and needed to accommodate participants in time zones all over the world. The first week our meetings started a 6am and went until 7pm, with 3 hour sessions and 2 hour breaks (assuming we didn't go over...). On Sunday we rested, then the second week we started with meetings from 1am to 2pm. Realizing how much work was left, on Thursday we went from 1am to 7pm, but enough countries complained that we stopped a 2pm again on Friday. Really though they just wanted us to get a little rest before the final push with a marathon negotiating session from 1am on Saturday until 4pm on Sunday! All told it was 174 hours of work over the two weeks, but we approved the report! Now I just need to rest up before doing it all again for the Synthesis Report approval in September ;-)