March for Our Lives

Since the 2016 election, there have been a lot of protests in DC. We don't make them all, but we try to participate in the ones that resonate most with us -- when the issue is personal or the goal is one we feel strongly about. By all measures, this is one we had to do.

Owen had been at Space Camp all week, but Nora and I were able to devote a snow day to making our signs. Fortunately, fresh from the school walkout the week before, Owen had some sign friendly slogans ready to go and quickly made his on Friday night. Allen attached the kids' signs to their scooters as we weren't sure they'd be able to walk that far, we dressed in orange (the color of the protest since it's what hunters wear so they won't be shot), packed a backpack with water and snacks, and headed over to SWS to meet with other like-minded families.

The walk to the protest was uneventful -- even fun. The temperature was a little chilly, but the sun was out and people would congratulate us and compliment our signs as we made our way downtown -- the kids leading the SWS crew on their scooters. Once we got close the the Department of Labor though, the enormity of the crowds started to hit. A few blocks further, we hit one of the checkpoints and things got a bit intense.

I'd done the first Women's March solo, so I had a sense of what the crowd would be like and so thought we'd join for a little bit and then head home when it got to be too much for the kids. But with this March, we sort of got trapped trying to enter Pennsylvania Avenue, and the crush of people was clearly starting to get to the kids. So an hour and a half into our March, we decided to head home.

We didn't go straight there, mind you. We stopped by DOL for a break and then headed to the Capitol and on our way passed lots of protestors who were just joining. It meant that we missed the speeches, and the songs and we only got to do our chants among the three of us (Allen had a funeral and missed the event), but I think the kids felt like they were part of the movement and had their views heard.

Now hopefully the country will act on them.

(To see all the pictures, click here.)

Space Camp

Every two years, Stuart-Hobson Middle School takes a crew of 80 or so sixth and seventh graders down to Huntsville, AL to participate in Space Camp. When the trip this year was announced, Owen was a bit reluctant and stated that since the slots were limited, he felt someone more into space should go in lieu of him. Now normally, we like to give our kids agency and respect their wishes and views. But this was Space Camp, and by God, Owen was going to go.

I think in the end he was glad we coerced him.

I'm not sure he was that excited as he got on one of two busses at 10 pm on a Sunday night in order to drive 14 hours to Alabama (I think it was closer to 15 since one of the busses got a flat tire), but once he actually made it to Camp, his enthusiasm began to grow.

Owen ended up in the Expedition Betelgeuse group. Their mission was to get astronauts Ronan and Anastasia to space in order to do a space walk. Owen's job was with mission command where he even got to lead the countdown. However, all was not well as the mission had to be delayed 8 minutes because the pilot was struggling to fix some problem. Hayden, the flight directed, made the executive decision to skip to where the clock was rather than make up for loss time which led to some confusion (and some missed cues in the script). Fortunately, Ronan and Anastasia made it back with the rest of the team, though oddly enough, the scientists returned before the ship theoretically landed. Something about the time-space continuum (or part of that confusion alluded to above).

In addition to the mission, there was plenty of time to train, get fingerprinted, eat, visit the exhibits and even shop. Owen's personal favorite activities while there were the G-Force Ride, the Space Shot, and the take-off and landing simulator (which his friend, Ronan captured, along with his thumb, in slow motion).

They left Wednesday afternoon (which turned out to be a snow day in DC) right aftergraduation and eventually made it home around five on Thursday morning. That meant, according to DCPS policy, Owen was excused and didn't have to go to school until Friday -- the last day before Spring Break.

In the end, he had a great time and amazing experience. And it's pretty impressive to make it to space and back and only miss three days of classes...

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

Family Selfie

Another in our long history of taking family cuddle selfies :-)

17 Minutes

On March 14th, students all over the country walked out of classes for 17 minutes to protest gun violence and honor the seventeen victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School shooting in Parkland, FL. Both of our kids participated.

The demonstration at SWS was fairly muted, as one would expect of an elementary school. Nora and her classmates (those that elected to participate) gathered around the adjoining field and sang songs about peace. But at Stuart-Hobson, some of Owen's classmates organized a "field trip" so that the art, theater and music classes could march to the Capitol and participate in the larger protest. The leaders sold homemade pins and donated the funds to Sandy Hook Promise. They even contacted the media and were interviewed in the Washington Post.

Owen was in first grade when Sandy Hook happened, and so the bulk of his education has involved lock-down drills (although SWS doesn't actually have locks for all their classroom doors so they mostly have "pray nothing bad happens" drills). It's really affected him, and I think marching to the Capitol with his friends and seeing all the other students arguing for action, made him feel like maybe school doesn't have to be like this.

In fact he was so moved by it, that at Meeting on Sunday, Owen stood up and spoke about the march. He told about his favorite chant, "No Hate; No Fear. Guns are not welcome here!" and how he thought we needed to restrict guns to just our military and that even the police only need something strong enough to "knock you unconscious so they can take you to prison" (he and Nora are still working out the details on that proposal).

I'll be honest, I've always felt a bit helpless with gun violence in general and school violence in particular. But it's hard to stand idly by when your 11 year old and others like him are leading the charge. So hopefully, this time we can all work together and make the world a safer, better place.



(To see all the pictures, click here.)

Ensemble!

Owen has been playing cello for over three years, but this last year he's taken it up a notch. In addition to moving up to the Young Artist Ensemble at DCYOP, playing with Stuart-Hobson's orchestra and he recently auditioned and was accepted into the Chamber Music Intensive at George Washington University's Corcoran School's Department of Music for this summer. But most recently, he was nominated and got to perform in DCPS's Honor Ensemble, I Am Empowered.

This was the second year for the concert and the first year that instruments were included.
Owen missed school on Friday (which, since he's missing most of the following week for Space Camp, was a lot) and DCYOP on Saturday morning in order to spend the days rehearsing two pieces at Duke Ellington High School for a one-time performance on Saturday night.

A note about Duke Ellington: It's a public school that was recently remodeled for $180 million. Alumni include Dave Chappelle, Samira Wiley, and Deynce Graves. The acceptance process involves the DCPS lottery, auditions, academic assessment test and a family interview. It's located in Georgetown which means the commute from Capitol Hill is a nightmare. However, it is an absolutely amazing school and is (currently) Owen's first choice for high school.

Owen preferred the first piece the ensemble played,With Great Valor, Victorious, which he felt had more emotional heft. The second piece, however, was the clear fan favorite. It was also the debut of an original work, which involved spoken word, some improvisation from the musicians, and Dr. Seuss.

Oh, The Places You'll Go! seemed like one of those performances I would hate, and yet I thoroughly enjoyed it. From the various solos, to the alternative playing techniques (one of which was Owen's suggestion, playing col legno) to the emoting of the narrator, it all really worked, and was my personal favorite song of the night (though I also loved the solo by Stuart-Hobson's own Alysia Lawson - aka Violet in Willy Wonka - in Here's Where I Stand and Nora loved the elementary kids singing, No One is Alone from the Into the Woods soundtrack).

It was really exciting seeing Owen do something he loves in a places he'd love to go to... someday.

(To see all pictures, click here.)

Sounding Her Barbaric Yalp

Grandma Z started a poetry club back when she taught middle school and has written poems for her grandchildren over the years, so it was inevitable that one of her descendants would develop the habit. While Nora has been playing with song lyrics for years (and years and years and years), poetry in its purest form only attracted her attention recently, when one of her afterschool counselors suggested they start a poetry club. Together with Barrett, Molly and Milena (and later Anais and Harper), Nora happily signed herself up and began poeting.

Her first work was a tribute to Oompa Lompas followed by an Ode to Angst, but Nora's current favorite is all about pride (and fish). See, she too is untranslatable.

We had one foot on the stage

A little while ago Channing posted a note saying the Grand Champeen was going to play a little reunion show on the Tuesday of SXSW, and they convinced Lil' Cap'n Travis and Prescott Curlywolf to also get back together and join them on the bill. I was feeling all wistful and sad that I'd miss the show, when it occurred to me that I might just have some unused frequent flyer miles lying around, and maybe instead of being sad I was going to miss the show, I should just go to the show! After a quick chat with Elaine, a check of my work calendar, and a few texts with Brandon, I had a free plane ticket in hand ready to go down to Austin!

I flew in on Monday night, and Brandon and I tried to catch a Superchunk show, but the line didn't look promising for anyone without SXSW badges or wristbands, and they were playing at Waterloo Records the next afternoon, so we skipped the show and headed to a bar in Brandon's neighborhood to catch up and marvel at how much Austin has changed. After some delicious breakfast tacos in the morning, and some playground time with Asa and Olive, Brandon and I did indeed catch the Superchunk in-store at Waterloo (they were great of course!), then went back to the house to meet up with Anneke before the show.

The whole evening at Hole in the Wall was brilliant. So many old friends showed up, the music rocked, and it really did feel like we were all back in our 20's. Can't wait to make it back to Austin and see everyone again, next time with the whole family!



(click here for all the pictures)

Another Auction

Another year, another auction, another chance for some fun in the photo booth :-)

Ruby Bridges

All the students at Stuart Hobson made a project for the National History Day competition this year, and Owen decided to focus his project on Ruby Bridges and the desegregation of New Orleans public schools. He did a ton of research, digging up a long list of primary sources, and despite his parents freaking out that the due date was a week before we thought it would be, Owen was totally prepared and put together a really nice project. Great job Owen!

Ken & Helen

For their winter vacation this year, Ken & Helen drove down to Florida to visit Martha and Margie, then up DC to stay Dad and us, completing the sibling tour. Dad took them around to see all the sites, we all had a lovely dinner up at Mom & Don's (that Nora helped cook!), and I got the chance to share some pens made out of corn from a meeting at work with the Corn Refiners Association. It was a fun visit, and hopefully they'll make it again before too long ;-)

Vermeer

Nora's big project this semester was all about Vermeer. It started with a field trip to the Vermeer exhibit at the National Gallery of Art, continued with reading Chasing Vermeer, went to the next level with a visit from an Art Conservationist who taught the kids how to spot a forgery, and culminated with a play Nora and Molly wrote and preformed about Vermeer's painting Guitar Player, with an interview of the eponymous subject of the painting.

Deer Valley 2018

2018 and time for another ski trip out west with the Hyatts and Mettenburgs. This year we decided to go to Deer Valley, our first trip ever to Utah. We flew into Salt Lake City on Saturday with a quick direct flight arriving well before lunch time (thanks Grandpa Don for driving us to the airport super early ;-). That gave us plenty of time to see Jen & Azher, play with Ivan, and meet their new baby Oliver! We all had a lovely lunch, the kids got to play for a bit, and then we were off to the Mountain!

The drive up to Deer Valley was actually depressingly brown for this time of year in Utah. It had been one of the worst snow seasons in decades, and despite 8" of snow up at Deer Valley earlier in the week, the mountains on the drive from SLC were unusually barren. The good news though was that the forecast looked very promising. We made it up to the amazing house -- the Snow Bomber -- a beautiful ski-in (mostly) / ski-out (yes) cabin near the Silver Lake area of Deer Valley. Joe, Gigi & Hugh made it to the house shortly after us (Cate decided to go to Japan instead), and Nabeel, Megan, Kaden and Liam followed up after a grocery stop (the forecast called for a big snow storm the next day, so we were glad to have plenty of food in the house!).



On our first day out skiing, the snow started to fall early afternoon, and it didn't stop until we had 18" of fresh powder the next day. We decided to ski out a little early to have some time on the slopes with the kids before lessons, and it's a good thing we did. All the kids except Liam were having a really hard time skiing in the powder, to the point that they couldn't even get enough momentum to go down relatively steep hills. On the little trail out of the houses, I ended up carrying Nora, and Owen took his skis off and hiked. We thought it would be better when we got to the groomed runs, but there was a lot of fresh snow on them, and the kids still were having major problems. Eventually, Nora stopped, sat down, and rolling over on her side I noticed the bottom of her skis had an inch of ice and snow built up on the bottom. At the same time, a ski instructor stopped by Owen and Elaine uphill, and gave the tip that we needed to scrape the kids' skis with a credit card. Apparently when the kids took their warm skis out of the house and put them on in the powder, they melted some of the fresh snow underneath them. And since the kids stood in place for a while after putting skis on, the melted snow had time to refreeze and stick to their skis. Then things literally snowballed as more and more snow stuck to the bottom of their skis. Liam and the grown ups weren't impacted, since we all moved quickly after putting on skis, not giving the ice a time to stick. Once all the skis were scraped we were able to ski quickly down to the bottom, just in time for lessons and a great day hunting powder. It ended snowing just about every day, and Deer Valley got almost 3 feet of snow over the course of the week. Honestly, the days later in the week were a little better since the groomers had time to do their thing, and you could still find some powder stashes in the trees.

The kids all did lessons the first three days, then the boys (except Hugh) skied with the adults on Wednesday, and Gigi and Nora joined us on Thursday. Owen moved up to the Advanced level by his last day and started to ski some single black diamonds, while Nora moved up to Intermediate and was skiing solidly on the blues. Kaden of course was skiing double blacks in lessons, and decided we were holding him back on Wednesday, so he went back for more lessons on the double blacks Thursday and Friday.



Grandpa Don had a trip out to see Jen & Azher that overlapped with our trip, so on Thursday night they all came up to the cabin and we grilled steaks. The kids had lots of fun playing with Ivan (fortunately the epic three day game of Munchkin had just wrapped up;-). Of course, we had lots of fun, and made many memories: watching Owen ski black diamond moguls we wouldn't try; finding our favorite lunch spot by the fire at Empire Canyon Lodge three days in a row; skiing through the gentle Aspen glades with Nora; skiing through the not so gentle Ontario Bowl glades with Kaden; late nights talking about climate change, radiology, and Nabeel's latest endeavors; and just having a wonderful time with amazing friends!



(click here for all the pictures)

Still Dreaming...

We thought when Owen performed the "I Have a Dream" Speech with his classmates last year at the Lincoln Memorial it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. But then this year, Stuart Hobson partnered with the fifth graders at SWS (and a few other schools) to celebrate the first day of Black History Month back at the Lincoln Memorial, this time reciting President Lincoln's House Divided Speech (CW Harris Elementary), the Emancipation Proclamation (Harriet Tubman Elementary), Letter from Eleanor Roosevilt (Harris Elementary), Dr. King's "Give Us the Ballot" Speech  (Marth Luther King Elementary), "I Have a Dream" Speech (SWS) and President Obama's, "Let Freedom Ring Anniversary Speech (Stuart Hobson). We didn't get to hear Owen deliver the line, "With that courage, we can stand together for the right of every child," but Nora got to cheer him on, and the local news even live streamed it (Owen's around the 43 minute mark).


(To see the pictures, click here.)

Women's March (Plus a Few Good Men)

We were going to skip the Women's March this year -- it was hard to come up with one overriding issue to protest, there was a shut down and there wasn't a whole lot of information available beforehand. But then Friday afternoon I had to skip a conference session I really wanted to attend in order to do shutdown prep and then as I left work in a flurry to make Nora's play performance (it took place on another planet in a different galaxy that has all different animals -- I wasn't completely clear on the plot but Nora was a dog that becomes partially human), I had to navigate past all the "March for Life Protestors" who quite frankly, aren't particular considerate of the "born."

Anyway, I was frustrated and announced that I felt we should participate in the Women's March as a family. Nora announced she didn't want to and was then conveniently invited to her friend Violet's for a playdate. Which given she's less of a marcher and more of a complainer, we decided that might not be a bad thing.

The rest of us went ahead and made our signs, changed into comfortable shoes and prepared to join the throngs. Unfortunately, since I thought the march started at 11 am and it ended up happening closer to 1:30, we missed most of the throngs. But we still got to have our voices heard, see a lot of people that shared our frustration with the current state of our union and Owen even got to stand on ice.

Hopefully next year, it won't even be necessary.

7 Winters

A Cluster contingency has used the MLK Weekend for the past few years to enjoy family skiing at Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Pennsylvania (though we didn't join until last year). Now the last time we went skiing at Seven Springs it was a balmy 60 degrees, and given it was 70 degrees in DC at two o-clock when we left, we thought this trip might be a repeat. However, the temperature dropped 40 degrees en route, which meant that while the driving was stressful, the skiing outlook was improving.

It was freezing cold MLK weekend (the highs were between 8 and 11 degrees) and the visibility was challenging given some low cloud coverage, precipitation, and the resort's decision to continually make snow to mitigate any melt (and cover up the ice), but given the kids had just gotten skis (and helmets) for Christmas, nothing was going to keep them off the slopes. Fortunately, Owen had just inherited a neon green skiing ensemble from my boss's son, so we pretty much just followed him down the hill.

Owen, -- who's become a pretty good skier -- was off with his friends for the most part (Allen occasionally joined them, especially for a night skiing adventure), but Nora, aside from a brief lesson on the first morning, stuck with us and her friend Mirabel. Both kids did great and managed two full days of skiing and probably could have done a third morning, but Allen and I balked and decided we should spend the morning sleeping, packing and de-icing the car before bidding the mountain adieu.

Fortunately, we'll be back on the slopes in February (and Utah has finally gotten some snow)!



(To see all the pictures, click here.)

Scrooged

It started out so lovely -- we made the drive to Iowa in under 14 hours and found cousins and spaghetti (and wine!) waiting for us upon arrival. Uncle Bernie stopped by, Dave and Kara arrived from Colorado via Chicago and Indiana. It really looked like it was going to be an amazing Christmas.

And then Sam got sick.

Really, with that many cousins and that many Christmas cookies, it's sort of inevitable that at least one of the kids will have some sort of stomach ailment, and Sam quickly recovered -- he was able to go to The Last Jedi that afternoon. And so we might have been lulled into a belief that we could still have a Merry Christmas.

And then Nora announced on Christmas Eve that she didn't feel well.

The announcement was made following a large dinner, a concert performance with her cousins (including choreography and lots of jumping) and a nontrivial amount of ice cream for dessert. So while not terribly concerned, we did send her upstairs with a bucket as a preventative action. Then we went downstairs to find Owen wasn't feeling great, returned upstairs to find that the bucket wasn't so much preventative as essential, and then went downstairs to discover that Owen was similarly situated.

So Allen spent the night upstairs with Nora while I spent the evening downstairs with Owen. None of us were up for Christmas mass though Nora did rally for presents (Owen had a fever and slept the day away). But as quickly and dramatically as the illness came, by Boxing day they were fully recovered and even managed a skating expedition the following day with Grace and Grant.

By the time we left Iowa, we were three days symptom free and so decided that we should take an extra day to stop in Pittsburgh to see the Mettenburgs. Joe and Cate made an amazing meal (with a lot of wine) and we all had a thoroughly enjoyable night...until around midnight when Allen suddenly found himself violently ill. It went on until about six am when he was finally able to get some sleep. But while Allen was sleeping, Western Pennsylvania was getting a generous dusting which meant that by the time we had Allen showered and we got him encamped in our car (where he spent most of the trip in and out of consciousness), the roads had gotten bad (as had the Mettenburg's driveway --it's kind of our White Whale), so while Allen slept, Allen's dad and I spent the next four hours white knuckling it on the Turnpike to make it back to DC.

The next day we were due for Christmas at Sharon and Don's followed by New Years at Katherine's. We were a little anxious (especially me -- I figured I was next) and kind of useless (traveling while sick is exhausting), but the excellent food (and presents, including period costumes) had a nurturing effect. At least for me and the kids -- Allen started feeling bad that night and decided not to partake in the cornbread waffles with poached eggs and all the makings for huevos rancheros.

Still, we got to spend the holidays with our loved ones and eventually everyone was fine, so really it was a great Christmas... we're just glad it's Christmas past.

(To see all the holiday pictures, such as they were, click here).

Flightless Birds

Flightless birds, those wings are not for flapping
Flightless birds, their nest are not for napping
Flightless birds, they swim across the sea
And when they catch their fish, they feed them to their babies

Flightless birds, they huddle up for warmth
Flightless birds, their instincts are from birth
Flightless birds, they live 'till their like eighty
And when they finally say goodbye, they make their way to Hades

Flightless Birds!!!

Owen's DCYOP Winter Concert

Owen moved up this year to the Young Artists Orchestra which meant he got to play more challenging music, for a longer period of time, with fewer baseball conflicts. It was a win-win for everyone (particularly since he now has a phone to play with during breaks). And while Owen almost missed his Winter Concert due to some confusion regarding call times and heavy holiday traffic in upper Northwest (coinciding with opening weekend at the Uptown for The Last Jedi didn't help either), we eventually all made his extremely successful debut.

Nora's First Viola Recital

While Owen has been an enthusiastic cello player from the get go, Nora was more borderline with her love of the viola. We decided this year was a bit of a make it/break it for her and thought maybe some private instruction might keep her inspired. Sadly, Owen's cello teacher from SWS, Mr. James, moved over the summer, which meant we had to look elsewhere. Enter "Music on the Hill" and Mr. Enrique.

At her first lesson, Nora feigned a stomach ache and tried to bail on the whole thing, but Mr. Enrique won her over and eventually had her not squishing the tomato (I don't know what that means, but he's very emphatic about it so I think it's important and Nora's gotten a lot better about it), lengthening her bowing, and practicing Edelweiss enthusiastically while preparing for a recital at Ebeneizer's Coffee House.

I thought she's be nervous to play by herself in front of a crowd, but in typical Nora fashion she marched on stage, played confidently and then took her bow as her adoring fans (mostly, Allen, Owen, Grandpa Fawcett, Grandpa Don and myself) applauded. Encore!

A Day at the Museums

Sometime in October, there was a notice in the Stuart-Hobson newsletter about special tickets to "Morning at the Museum" at the African American History Museum for some time in December. I was so excited about the prospect of getting tickets to the museum (which has been open for a year but is nearly impossible to get into) that I immediately signed up without looking at the fine print (or really not so fine print): turns out the program is designed for kids with sensory issues that can't handle museum crowds and so they allow them to attend before hours for a less overwhelming experience.

Still, free tickets to the Museum -- you can't really pass that up, even if it is under false pretenses. So we woke up semi-early on Sunday morning (after Owen's third performance of Willy Wonka and Nora's DCYO concert) headed downtown, searched for parking and eventually made it in.

The museum is pretty amazing. The suggested order is to start several stories below ground with exhibits on the slave trade and the Middle Passage and then progress upward through the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights era. Owen tried to leverage his studies last year to act as curator, but there was so much more there than what any of us had covered in school. We were there for more than three hours and barely made a dent.

We went home, had lunch, the kids did some homework and Owen went to climbing before we packed up for dinner and headed to our second Smithsonian of the day.

The National Botanic Gardens has always been Owen's favorite place on the Mall, but it becomes all of ours during the holiday season when its annual miniature trains exhibit is on full display (and when, as members, we get to visit it at night). After such a sober morning experience, it was nice to end the day with a lighter, more festive cultural experience (especially with our friends, the Romans).

And of course, a photo bomb of the Capitol Christmas Tree.


(To see all the African American Museum pictures, click here.)
(To see all the Botanic Gardens pictures, click here.)

Nora's DCYOP Winter Concert

Nora's debut with DCYO debut orchestra almost didn't happen. There was inclement weather and a Willy Wonka performance to compete with and then we couldn't find her teacher. But in the end, it all came together, and she did so well that her teacher informed her she'd be moving on to the Level C orchestra in the spring!

Willie Wonka Jr.

One of the exciting things about middle school at Stuart-Hobson is the chance to be part of the musical. Back in Kindergarten, Nora's class got a chance to be part of the Stuart-Hobson production of Annie, and just last year Owen's 5th grades class at SWS was part of Into the Woods, so when Owen had a chance to be a part of this year's production of Willie Wonka Jr. he jumped at the chance.

We thought Owen might want to ease into things and be part of the stage crew for his first play as a 6th grader, but he decided to go ahead and audition for a role. He chose to try for the role of Grandpa Joe because he didn't have to sing for the audition, but it's actually one of the bigger roles in the play with several songs to sing. When he got the part, Owen jumped into the role enthusiastically. We were a bit nervous about him memorizing all the lines, and singing on stage in front of a huge crowd, but he did a great job preparing for it. (It might have helped that Nora devoured his script memorizing much of the play too, so she could lead her friends in a recess production of Willie Wonka Jr. Jr., so Owen had a willing partner to practice with at home ;-)

The premiere on Friday night was amazing, the theater was packed, the sets were beautiful, the kids running the lights and sound did a great job, the cast was wonderful, and we couldn't have been more proud of Owen. With two more shows on Saturday (a matinee as one of the kids while we were at Nora's orchestra concert, and another evening performance as Grandpa Joe), Owen had a whole great weekend to relish the attention. It really was a great experience for him being part of such a huge production, and pulling it off! We can't wait to see what they'll do next :-)

(click here for all the pictures)

Brazil!

After last year's IAMC meeting in Beijing, this year's meeting in Recife, Brazil was literally a breath of fresh air. Recife was lovely, the beach was gorgeous, the water was warm (though according to the locals, too shark infested to swim in), and the meetings were fascinating. It was a quick trip, without any real time for exploring, but there was one cool adventure on the first night of the meeting. Our host informed us that because of the Supermoon, they would have the lowest low tide of the year. So we all walked a few miles down the beach at about 10 pm, right at low tide, to a spot where the reef comes up to the shore. With the lowest of low tides, the ocean retreated about half a kilometer from the shore exposing the reef, and we all could walk out exploring all the fascinating life in the exposed tidal pools. I just have to thank the moon for another super cool experience in 2017 :-)

Tea for Three

Last year, our friend Jacqui asked if she could take Nora (and me if I'd like to tag along) for a holiday tea party. We enjoyed it so much that we've decided to make it an annual event (complete with Allen being out of the country for it and my forgetting how much caffeine is actually in a pot of tea). Nora even poured (and danced) and found other forms of entertainment when she got bored.



It's the perfect way to start the holiday season and we can't wait for next year!

(To see all the pictures, click here.)

BrewLights

Every year the National Zoo is decked out with a huge holiday light display for ZooLights, and every year we manage to be too busy to actually make it up there to see it. So why was this year different you might wonder? There's a simple answer of course...beer. As Friends of the National Zoo we got the invite to experience ZooLights in a new way, BrewLights!

(Well technically, Elaine got the BrewLights invite, thought this would be a perfect birthday present for Dad, and thought Katherine and I should go with him for a little Father, Daughter, Son bonding. So, if you somehow harbored any doubts about Elaine being the most wonderful and thoughtful daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, and wife, please put them to rest now.)

On the appointed night, we caught a Lyft up to the Zoo, got our wristbands and light up BrewLights cups, and proceeded to sample twenty or so local brews while enjoying the beautiful light displays, and even seeing a few animals ;-) (Really, there was so much beer, we even skipped a station!) After such a festive evening, we couldn't pass up the chance for 'sledding', so we took a ride on the tubes, and managed to catch a ride home right before the rain started. Happy Birthday Dad! (And thanks again Elaine!)

(click here for all the pictures)

Thanksgiving 2017

Another wonderful Thanksgiving hosted by Nancy & Danny. 

(click here for all the pictures)

Running Girls

We signed up Nora for "Girls on the Run" in the fall hoping that she'd finally embrace an organized sport. She loved it and dutifully ran her laps twice a week while discussing self esteem and weird facts about herself ("The toilet is my happy place"). I neglected to notice when I enrolled Nora, however, that the semester culminated in a 5k which required an adult buddy.

Now back in the day, I was quite the runner and even trained once for a marathon. Funny story: I never actually ran the marathon because I messed up my knee during my first 20 mile training run. I haven't really run since.

But I love my daughter and I want to support her and all girls (and Allen assured me that she probably wasn't as fast as she claimed -- plus she had a nasty fall a few days prior which had to slow her down somewhat). So we headed out as a family on Sunday morning to Anacostia Park where Nora and I ran (more or less) five kilometers. It wasn't always pretty (especially when Nora realized that she'd lost her sunglasses around the one mile mark and wanted to turn around and look for them despite the hoard of girls running towards us), but we did it and we're pretty proud of ourselves. Girls rock!



(To see all the pictures, click here.)

Climb On

For the past few years, we've celebrated Veterans Day by heading to Great Falls and enjoying a hike or climb in the great outdoors. This year proved to be a bit too chilly and wet to enthusiastically commune with nature, and so we decided to go the man-made approach and headed to Earth Treks.

Owen's been taking weekly climbing lessons at Earth Treks for the past two years, but Nora had only been once before (and had been begging to go back). We briefly thought that even Aunt Katherine would join us, but she opted for a more spectator role. After warming up (perhaps a bit too long) in the bouldering area, we headed to the climbing walls where Owen conquered a 5.10b which had eluded him in class, while the rest of us opted for some less demanding options (at least in theory).

Two and a half hours later, we were exhausted and our hands were all pink, so we headed back to take care of the chickens, have a viola lesson, and head up to Aunt Katherine's for a long overdue overnight...

(To see all the climbing pictures click here).

Halloween 2017

For Halloween this year I convinced the kids that the paper craft cereal box masks I made for Elaine and I last year were cool enough that I should make masks for them too this year. Owen picked out a Spartan warrior helmet, Nora wanted Elaine's fox mask from last year (though she rebranded it as a wolf mask so she could be a werewolf), and Elaine picked out a rabbit mask (and the kids promptly rebranded it as a caracal). Several weeks of collecting cereal boxes, and many hours of cutting and folding later, we had a cool family themed costume, the Cereal Killers. We thought we'd even be in the running for a prize at Brad & Marlo's annual Hotter 'n Hades Halloween party, but with orchestra and baseball activities, we didn't make it to the party until after most of the votes were already cast.

The kids both carved their own pumpkins this year (though I was still stuck scooping pumpkin guts), and on Halloween night we all went out trick-or-treating together. We met up with Adam and his dad while we were out, and joined forces bringing in a huge candy haul. The kids also both trick-or-treated for UNICEF again this year and met the goal they set for themselves at FMW First Day school. All told, another great Halloween :-)

(click here for all the pictures)

NLDS 2017

The Nats made it to the playoffs for the 4th time this year, and adding to the excitement we we're playing the Cubs. Strasburg pitched brilliantly in Game 1, striking out 10, but the Nats couldn't score, giving the Cubs a one game to none series lead. Game 2 was more to our liking: the Nats jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on a Rendon homer. The Cubs tied it up in the second, then took a 3-1 lead in the 4th on a questionable home run call. We saved the real drama for the 8th when Harper tied the game with a 2-run homer, then Zimmerman gave us the lead with a 3-run blast, and Doolittle sealed the win with the save in the 9th.

The series then shifted to Chicago. In Game 3 Zimmerman put us on the board with a double in the 6th, and Max Scherzer took a no-hitter into the 7th before Zobrist tied the game with a double. Then in the 8th Anthony Rizzo demanded respect with a pop-up bloop hit that gave the Cubs the lead and the win. Game 4 was all Nats as Strasburg overcame flu-like symptoms to strike out 12 as the Nats shut out the cubs, with the big play from the Nats offense coming from Michael A. Taylor's 8th inning grand slam.



With the series tied at 2 games a piece, we were all set for another decisive game 5 at Nats Park. Elaine and Mom Mom joined Owen and I at the Park, and cousin Sam joined us in spirit with an epic string of texts back-and-forth with Owen throughout the game.  The first was a bit rocky for Gio, but he escaped only giving up one run on a ground out. Things were looking up for the Nats when Murphy and Taylor both hit 2-run homers in the bottom of the 2nd giving us a 4-1 lead. In the third, Gio was looking shaky again, giving up another run on a groundout, then letting the Cubs crawl back to within a run on a wild pitch. Max Scherzer was ready to pitch in relief though, so we were feeling good when he ran out to the mound in the top of the 5th with the Nats holding a one run lead. Scherzer got two quick outs from Bryant and Rizzo, but then Contreras managed an infield single that Turner couldn't quite turn into an out, and Zobrist singled on a soft fly ball that Jayson Werth couldn't quite get to either. Then Russell doubled in a run on a sharp grounder that just got past Rendon at third, two runs score, 5-4 Cubs. Max intentionally walked Heyward next, and then things really got wild.

Javier Baez struck out swinging (inning over right?), but the ball got by Wieters, who was shaken up when Baez hit him in the head with his bat on his back swing. Weiters raced to get the ball, but threw it away into right field trying to get Baez out at first, and another run scored, 6-4 Cubs. But wait, Baez hit Weiters in the the mask with his bat, shouldn't he be out?!? No, according to the umpires at the park that night, but after the series MLB confirmed that the umps got it wrong, Baez should have been out, the run shouldn't have scored, and the inning should have been over. Weiters was clearly shaken after a play where he was wrongly charged with a passed ball and an error, and then he was charged with catcher's interference on the very next batter loading the bases. Scherzer must have been in disbelief because he hit the next batter forcing in a run, 7-4 Cubs. ESPN calculated that of all the things that went wrong in the 5th inning the odds that all of them would have been outs was about 1-in-4, and the odds that none of them would be outs was 1-in-2,183,406,113.

The game wasn't over though! The Cubs scored again in the top of the 6th taking a commanding 8-4 lead, but the Nats scored two in the bottom half, 8-6 Cubs. Top of the 7th, Cubs score again on a questionable play where slide interference could have been called, 9-6 Cubs. Nats loaded the bases for Bryce Harper int the bottom of the 7th, but he only managed a long sacrifice fly, 9-7 Cubs, and then Zimmerman struck out to end the inning. In the bottom of the 8th, the Nats had two on no outs, but Lind grounded into a double play, then Taylor had an RBI single and the Nats only trailed by one, 9-8 Cubs. Lobaton hit a two out single to put runners on first and second, but then the Cubs catcher made a snap throw to first with Trea Turner batting to try to pick off Lobaton. He was called safe at first, but of course with the Nats luck he was called out on review. The bottom of the ninth the Nats brought up Turner, Werth and Harper to try to get something going, but they went quietly, with Harper striking out to end the game.

In the end, the Nats outscored the Cubs (like they outscored the Dodgers last year), but couldn't score 'em at the right times. Having grown up a Cubs fan, I thought I knew something about baseball heartbreak and misery, but Washington hasn't won a World Series since Walter Johnson brought home the title in 1924, and in these past six years the Nats have put on a master class in soul-crushing losses.

(click here for all the pictures)

This catalog of Nats postseason misery demanded an update (sorry, Nats fans).

This catalog of Nats postseason misery demanded an update (sorry, Nats fans).

Last 10 playoff losses: 8 by 1 run, all soul-crushing. How? pic.twitter.com/yHfBCQywxR

— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) October 13, 2017

Chickin' Sittin'

Nora has had a strange obsession with chickens for some time. No one really knows what prompted her ardor or what specifically it is about them, but she loves chickens. Not like Gonzo or Colonel Sanders, but in a sweet little girl kind of way, which she demonstrates by writing them songs, incorporating their moves into dance, and occasionally pretending to join the flock.

SWS also likes chickens and started seasonally renting them spring of Owen's third grade year. Each year the chickens would magically appear sometime in the fall, disappear over the winter, re-emerge for the spring and then disperse for the summer. Last year the kindergartners and fifth graders even conspired to design and build a new coop for them (the fifth graders nixed the swimming pools and flat screen tvs, but did keep the castle theme). The new coop made its debut this fall along with their new residents, Angel and Thyme.

The chickens are well loved and taken care during the week, but what about when the school is closed? That's where we come in. After happening upon Ms. Fineran, the Food Prints teacher, one Saturday afternoon shepherding the chicks back into their coop, we mentioned that we lived just down the street and would be happy to take-over chicken duty on the weekends.

Ms. Fineran was amenable, the kids were thrilled, and began reporting for chicken duty the following weekend. Now we get a few fresh eggs for our trouble a week, until winter...

(Click here for all our chicken pictures.)

Tokyo 2017

Quick work trip to Tokyo with a lovely morning exploring the Imperial Palace East Garden.

(click here for all the pictures)

Back to the Woods

Camping is like sailing to me (without the accompanying nausea) -- it's one of those activities I want to like in theory -- I know it's good for the soul and that the kids love it -- but I don't, and so Allen is lucky to get me to agree to it once a year. Having met my quota for 2017 back in June, I was confident that the rest of my year would include electricity and running water. So when we received an invite for annual Friends Meeting of Washington's Family Camping Trip for the weekend of the 16th, I figured we'd take a pass.

But then we learned that the "Mother of All Rally's Patriot Unification Gathering" had been scheduled in DC that same weekend, along with a counter-protest, the "Juggalo March on Washington," a parade for Fiesta DC and the H Street Festival. Suddenly, hanging with Quakers in the woods seemed far more appealing.

So Allen packed up the car while I took the kids to orchestra, after which we drove to Catoctin. Allen set up the tent while Nora searched for salamanders and Owen tried to paddle a leaky canoe. We dined al fresco on homemade pizza from the camp's pizza oven, had s'mores by the campfire, enjoyed the stars, and helped Owen digest the ending of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (he's going to need a break before book six...).

In the morning, we ate pumpkin bread, had Meeting by the campfire, found more salamanders, broke camp and still managed to make it back to DC (which was miraculously still standing) in time for Owen's climbing class.

It was kind of perfect -- Allen might even get me to go three times next year...

(To see a few more pictures, click here.)

Might be an improvement...

Party Party

Planning birthdays day celebrations for the younger members of the Fawcett-Zimmerman household is always a stressful endeavor as Owen's birthday is always right before the start of the school year and Nora's is always Labor Day weekend. As the child of a teacher, I'm constantly surprised that Owen's best friends regularly choose to decamp DC just days before classes in order to extract the most of their summer vacation; the fact that Nora's friends also choose to leave town on the anniversary is less surprising, but no less frustrating.

While this year we were spared the drama of the venue cancelling on us the eve of the event, we found out early on that three of Owen's closest friends were not going to be around for his actual birthday. After a little debate, we decided to move the day to a more user friendly one and celebrate Owen's birthday after the first week of school. Fortunately, Zava Zone was able to accommodate the request (and 14 of Owen's closest friends).

Having delayed Owen's birthday a week, we couldn't really handle putting off Nora's as well (not to mention that doing so meant that we would be encroaching on the beginning of all the extracurricular activities of her friends which would probably lead to even less turnout). In the end, we settled for a few really good friends and some classmates whose presence we enjoy -- which honestly, is more than most kids get -- celebrating her a mere day after the actual event at Climb Zone (her zone of choice). Which for us is pretty impressive.

Anyway, both kids had a great times. Both parties were viewed as successes and so ends the Fawcett-Zimmerman summer/fall party planning responsibilities.

(To see Owen's birthday pictures, click here.)
(To see Nora's birthday pictures, click here.)

Great Eight!

Nora really came into her own at seven, or rather, it became increasingly clear to the rest of us who she is. She is one to always have a bon mot (and has just enough French to know what that means), tends towards the silly, does not like it when you go off-script, is working on becoming a better loser, still likes a good cuddle, and really likes to shake her booty. Nora developed a core group of friends at school this year but kept her old friends close. She learned how to play the viola and how to do double-dutch. She boogey boarded for the first time. Nora discovered Zelda and Youtube. She had her First Communion and saw a total solar eclipse. In between, she wrote some plays, a few books, some questionable poetry, and a lot of songs.

We don't always know what Nora is going to do or say -- which makes living with her both exciting and at times exasperating -- but we know that it's something that will usually make you stop and think, and often smile (sometimes despite yourself). Happy birthday, baby girl, now have fun stormin' the castle.

1. "I'm not sure which is better: hunting a llama or having a llama."
2. We go high.
3. Sometimes you just need a disco dance party, even if it's in the bathroom.
4. Science is fun! Baseball, is more a matter of taste.
5. "I'll wrestle sharks tomorrow..."
6. Yippee-Kai-Yay.
7. "Thank you, thank you very much."
8. "This is the most amazing experience of my entire life! I have never seen anything as amazing as the solar eclipse!"
9. Buckethead: Two buckets; one head! 
10. Always remember, the "Importance of Balance."