The Hill is Alive...

Things are weird in DC these days. 19 years olds are firing people in mass and taking over entire agencies. Planes are crashing. Military actions are being planned in chat rooms. International students are having their visas revoked and being taken into custody by ICE. Tariffs have been enacted on islands populated by penguins. 

And while some institutions might shrink from the authoritarian assault on human rights, Noa's incredibly progressive private school has instead leaned in: February was spent cosplaying Orwell's 1984 for two weeks (though I've been told that's an annual part of the sophomore class curriculum), and in March they staged their spring musical, The Sound of Music.

The Sound of Music has always been a little triggering for our family – having loved Mary Poppins, we gifted Owen with the movie when Noa was born, only to find that he identified a little too much with Rolf (who in all fairness, looked a lot like Owen and had a great voice). This resulted in having some conversations with our then four-year old that we didn't imagine would ever be necessary, but which sadly turned out to be really prescient and important for our current state of affairs.

Anyway, Noa was both part of the chorus (which meant that they were one of the singing nuns in the opening number which would have made their Great Grandpa Grady extremely proud) and a Baroness (though not the Baroness) who eventually sells their jewels for a shawl in order to escape with the Von Trapps over the Alps (where it is very cold).

Burke always does a two-week run so we were fortunate that Uncle Dave was in town for opening night and was able to go with me, and that the musical overlapped with Owen's Spring Break so that he was able to go with Allen, Mom Mom and Grandpa Don to the final performance (and seniors' night). 

It was a great show, though it was really hard not to sing along to the hits and a little disconcerting given its message that the catchiest tune was No Way to Stop It. Hopefully, it will inspire us all to stand up for what's right and remind us that when we're feeling sad to simply remember our favorite things.

(To see some pictures, click here.)

Extra Fancy!

It's nice having a lawyer in the family. When dad passed away, Don kindly helped out dealing with all the logistics of handling his estate, and all the complexities that resulted from Dad not having a will. In return all he asked for was to take him out for a fancy dinner. What better place then than Pineapples & Pearls who have Extra Fancy right on their matchbooks.

With the estate finally closed, we booked our evening at P&P and it did not disappoint. The Beggar's Purses a la Quilted Giraffe, the Pork & Pink Pineapple, the Caviar Sauce (with some other stuff),  every bite was delicious! We toasted dad and thanked Don and all enjoyed a lovely evening together.  

(click here for all the pictures)

Performative

Saturday was a long day for Noa. Following a late night at the Burke Winter Dance, they had orchestra bright and early the next morning. Afterwards, they opted to skip their usual post-DCYOP lunch in order to get home early for an extended nap in order to be semi-refreshed for their viola recital that evening, where they performed Marin Maras's Old French Dances, IV. Le Basque.

 

The recital was smaller than usual. Partially because they had the pianists perform earlier, but also because, as Dr. Enrique informed us before it started, the parents of several of his students lost their jobs and so their children weren't up for performing, and one student's family had just been deported to Argentina. And so he and his wife ended the recital with a Rachmanioff piece that kind of embodied how everyone around here feels.

Dance Party

It's been rough lately in the DC area, what with mass terminations, frozen contracts, plane crashes, and... other stuff. So it was bit of relief to have President's Day off to recover from the latest round of indignities that the federal workforce and those adjacent to it have suffered. Even better when your fifteen year old mentions they have a school dance that Friday and you get to distract yourself by spending the afternoon shopping with them for the perfect outfit.

Noa actually found their outfit of choice pretty quickly (and on sale!) having spied a very Lydia Deetz from Beetlejuice inspired dress that complimented their latest hair color perfectly. That meant we had plenty of time to round out our afternoon with a smoothie and a stop at the Lego store.

Noa had a lovely time at the dance (though apparently they didn't actually dance for most of it) and even stayed beyond the required minimum (for a progressive school, Burke is weirdly rigid with it's school dances and don't allow entrance after 8:30 pm or departure before 10:00 pm), though that meant they were pretty exhausted when we woke them up for DCYOP rehearsal the next morning...

Plunged

 

While we weren’t able to do a proper plunge on the Potomac this year due to the plane crash, we were able to do an ice bucket version. It was pouring down rain in DC, so Elaine got pretty wet too, but trust me that ice bucket was cold 🥶

(click here for all the pictures)

Purple & Blue!

When I was in high school, dying my hair purple was a rebellious act that caused my father to question my judgement and ask his friends what should be done in response. (Thankfully mom was more level headed and noted my grades were fine and hair dye would wash out.) It gives me no small amount of joy that now I get to share wholesome parenting moments with Noa dying their hair all sorts of wild colors, sharing insights from my slightly rebellious youth. I didn't dye my beard with them this time, but did share that I dyed my hair green during rehearsals for Les Miz, and while my director wasn't too pleased, it did wash out with plenty of time to spare before opening night. Hopefully Brent will be as understanding with The Sound of Music opening next month... 

 

Surprise!

I thought we were done celebrating my 50th until the mystery trip this summer, but Mom and Don invited us up for dinner on Saturday and surprised us with the best present ever – Owen! Don drove down to SMCM in the morning and brought Owen home for my birthday dinner, and we couldn't be happier to see him!

I'm 50!

  

Since it fell on a Tuesday, we kept my actual 50th birthday a bit low key, just opening a bottle of champagne to celebrate. But on Thursday Elaine took me out for a wonderful dinner at Jośe Andrés' Bazaar. We celebrated Elaine's 50th their so it felt appropriate, and what better way to celebrate than a lovely date night dinner with my favorite person in the world! The hope is to travel somewhere fun with friends to do a bigger celebration this summer, but that will be a surprise ;-)

Picture in an Exhibition

While getting Noa's painting, Sunrise Over Disturbed Waters, to Studio Gallery in time for it to be included in a student exhibit was more than a little stressful, going to see their work on display wasn't (well, if you don't count the fact that we initially went to the wrong gallery, which was locked, and immediately became confused and panicked – there are a lot of art galleries in Dupont Circle...). Mom Mom and Grandpa Don as well as Steve and Megan joined us for a tour as well as a dinner after to celebrate our artist in residence.

(To see all the pictures, click here.)

And so it begins...

To be honest, after the election we made a conscience decision to take a step back and let the electorate experience what they claimed they wanted without interference. And while I'm not sure my moral compass would ultimately allow that course of action entirely, it seemed like a good way to approach the new year. But when you have an LGBTQ+ child who falls under the trans umbrella and is facing an Executive Order that it will now be the U.S. policy to recognize only two biologically distinct sexes and said child says that they want to participate in a march defending their rights, you stand beside that kid and march. You even make an emergency CVS run to ensure they have appropriate colored paper for their sign.

So on a cold and raining Saturday morning in the waning hours of the Biden administration, we gathered with hundreds of others at Franklin Park to march in support LGBTQIA, gender justice and bodily autonomy issues (the groups focused on immigration, climate, Palestine, and DC related issues gathered in other parks and then we merged together). It was a smaller march then some of our previous ones – no one was being bussed in from other parts of the country. But it was really important one for Noa and one that we really needed to attend with them, both to demonstrate that we will always support them, and to show them that we will protect them in whatever they face over the next few years.

(To see all of our pictures, click here.)

Exploring the Occult

 

It's always exciting when there is a cool astronomical event you can see from the city. It was bitterly cold out but Noa and I were able to set up the telescope inside Owen's room and get a good view of the Moon and Mars. The iPhone pictures through the viewfinder didn't turn out amazing, but it was cool to watch Mars disappear occulted by the Moon.

Back to School

It was wonderful having Owen back home for winter break, but we had to send him back to SMCM today. Thank you Grandpa Don for driving him back to school! 

Snow, Snow Everywhere and not a Trail to Ski

Since Owen had a month off for Winter Break and the kids' Spring Breaks don't line up, we decided to buck tradition and plan our (semi) regular family ski trip over New Years this year. Allen lobbied for Whistlers or Colorado, which has more reliable snow in December; I argued for Salt Lake City since it has a direct flight and the travel gods haven't always been on our side. Allen capitulated, and while I generally prefer Deer Valley (no ski boarders), we couldn't find accommodations there, so we booked a condo and lift tickets next door at Park City.

Despite Allen's misgivings and the lack of early December snow in Utah, the snow forecast for our trip was great – 30 inches of snow right before our trip with more while we were there. What we hadn't anticipated, however, was that Vail Resorts would not have settled their contract negotiations with the Ski Patrollers Association (who were asking for a $2 increase in their hourly wages) before the busiest part of the ski seasons and that in response the patrollers would go on strike. As a result, only 12 percent of Park City's mountain was open and lift lines were up to 40 minutes or more (meanwhile, everything was running swimmingly at Deer Valley).

It made for an odd ski trip. In truth, we should have known that things were off when we arrived at the SLC airport Monday evening and discovered that someone had inadvertently taken our bag. After a conversation with the Delta attendant, a call to the traveler's mom (who's bag he had borrowed and left at the airport), Delta finally convinced the millennial to return our bag to the airport (even though it meant he would have to pay for parking) and exchange it for his. Then attendant sent us off to our condo in Park City and said that they would deliver our bag in 2-6 hours. It arrived at midnight (2 am EST).

Since it had been such a late night, we decided to have a leisurely Tuesday morning. I was contemplating waking up Noa around 10 am MST when I received a message from one of their teachers at Burke. Noa had been asked to submit some paintings for consideration for a student exhibit at a local gallery. When Noa hadn't heard back on December 20th, they assumed that they hadn't been accepted. Only apparently Noa sent the wrong email address and the curator had been trying to get ahold of them for the past week – their piece, Sunrise Over Disturbed Waters, was selected, but we needed to get it to the gallery for installation... by 3 pm EST today.

Enter multiple phone calls and text to Noa's teacher, the museum curator and Mom Mom, who dropped everything (and stopped baking the potato casserole intended for their New Year's celebration that night) in order to break into our home, grab the picture, and drive to Dupont Circle where Noa's work was safely delivered to Studio Gallery an hour before the deadline.

With that finally completed, we headed off to the slopes, to wait in a series of lift lines and ski mostly the same runs. It was frustrating that with so much beautiful snow, there were very few trails to enjoy, and so the few that were open were extremely crowded.

We still managed to have a good time. The kids invented new card games (in the spirit of Hearts and Spades, Noa created "Diamonds" while Owen invented "Clubs"). The boys watched (well, Allen re-watched) Season 2 of Rings of Power. We met up with Jen, Ahzer and the kids at not their usual dining place in Park City (since the High West Saloon had become a 21 and over club since they'd last dined there). We rode a mountain roller coaster. And yes, we did get in a few good ski runs. 

But mostly, we just enjoyed each others company. And oddly, a lot of Shark Tank.

We had an early morning departure on Saturday which involved a long drive through a snow storm (thank goodness for car services), a bit of a wait to get the captain on-board and then de-ice the plane, and then another wait to find an open arrival gate in DC due to inclement weather impacting lots of other flights. Still, we made it home before 7 pm and well before the big storms hit the East Coast...

(To see all of our pictures, click here.)

Christmas in the City

Having spent Thanksgiving in Iowa, we were in DC for Christmas. We briefly considered a return to our pre-pandemic holiday party, but with Owen not getting home from school until the 13th, Noa's DCYOP rehearsal on Saturday and concert that Sunday followed us going to NYC the following weekend, we really didn't think we could take that on. So instead we hosted Mom Mom & Grandpa Don as well as Nancy & Danny for Christmas Eve and then headed to Mom Mom's and Grandpa Don's for Christmas.

For Christmas Eve, I made pasta dough, vodka sauce, salad, and cranberry pecan tart, Allen made cocktails, Allen and Noa made gemelli (using the pasta attachment Danny gave them for Christmas back in 2020), Noa baked the Christmas cake for the next day and also made pine nut, rosemary bread. Owen cleared the table. Afterwards there was a rousing game of marbles and an intense discussion about nuclear power, before everyone headed home and to bed.

The next morning we had cinnamon rolls that Mom Mom had made the day before and then opened presents. While Duck went through detox from the catnip that was in their Christmas stocking and the rest of us chilled, Noa started decorating the Christmas cake. Several hours later, we headed up to Sharon & Don's to celebrate with them, Nancy & Danny, Jen & Ahzer and their kids.

There we enjoyed cocktails, Oyster Rockefeller, grilled leg of lamb with sides, presents, and Noa's cake for the piece de resistance. In between Noa entertained the seemingly inexhaustible Ollie and Ivan until Noa finally collapsed (Ollie and Ivan were still at it) and we headed home to recover before New Years in Utah...

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

Alls Well That Ends... Well

Having seen it closing night of its debut at Arena Stage, we were all really excited when we heard Swept Away was going to Broadway. So much so that Allen suggested we get tickets over Owen's Winter Break. The entire family agreed and so Allen got tickets to the matinee, booked a hotel room (right next to where Swept Away was playing, and purchased train tickets.

And then everything went wrong.

First, while we as a family are enthusiastic lovers of musicals about shipwrecks and cannibalism, apparently most theater critics aren't. After being middling reviews in the press, the show cuts its run short, and refunded our tickets. We briefly considered cancelling, but the train tickets weren't refundable, so we found a cannibalistic-adjacent musical, Little Shop of Horrors. Allen bought the tickets for the day and time of our Swept Away performance. But, apparently, there was an outcry over the cancellation so they re-opened the show, including for the day and time we had planned on going. But Little Shop of Horrors tickets aren't refundable either so we decided to leave it up to chance and if Allen and Owen could get night tickets to the evening show so they could go while Noa and I chilled. They couldn't.

After an uneventful train ride (well, not totally uneventful. We played "Hearts" and Allen "Shot the Moon" twice in a row after which we decided to teach the kids "Spades"), we headed up to our hotel where we left our bags and headed to brunch. We had more time to kill than we originally thought, so it ended up being a bit of a boozy one for Allen and I (Noa had a mocktail; Owen had water). We then headed to the show, which was lovely, though darker than I remember (the movie had a bit of a Hollywood ending, and I don't remember how the one our high school put on ended). Afterwards, we went to check into the hotel, only to find that they'd given our suite away and instead put us in two rooms, extremely far apart (and the kids' room was nicer). 

Still we rolled with it and let everyone chill for a bit – though potentially for too long as Noa fell into a deep sleep and didn't realize that they had agreed to go see the lights at Rockefeller Center in 21 degree weather before dinner. Fortunately, Owen was a witness and so given we had proof they'd agreed (plus they'd brought their school digital camera and wanted to get some cool pictures for class), Noa grudgingly joined as we walked form Broadway to Times Square to Rockefeller Center, took of pictures, and then encouraged us to head back for dinner before we crashed for the night.

Unfortunately, I woke up in the middle of the night with a migraine. Fortunately, check-out at the hotel wasn't until 11 am and our train wasn't until 3:30 pm, so we rested, checked out and then walked a few blocks to get breakfast. While there, Owen received a text saying that out train was cancelled though the rest of us did not. It's unclear why Amtrack decided Owen should be the bearer of this news, but there you are.

With some extra time and me still having a migraine, I headed back to the hotel lobby while the rest of the crew headed to the Nintendo store. While there, both Allen and I finally received alerts about the train, so we rebooked for a 6:30 train, headed to the Moynihan Train Hall where I found a quiet place to guard  the luggage and ride the migraine wave, while Allen, Owen and Noa headed to the Museum of Illusions (which Noa had heard about).

A good time and several hours later, they returned to find me finally feeling better. The kids copped a squat by me while Allen went for a little more sight-seeing. Only while he was gone, I saw that our 6:30 pm train was cancelled, so I texted Allen who was headed back and had just seen an alert. By the time he arrived he had miraculously booked us on a 5:15 pm train (which hadn't been available earlier). Since it was 5:05 pm, we rushed to where the trains were only to discover that that train was delayed for an unknown amount of time. Eventually, Allen heard through word of mouth that the train was an hour and 45 minutes behind schedule, and I was able to track down on the website that the 5:15 pm train was now expected at 7:30 pm, so we decided that we had enough time to get dinner at the food court.

Everyone ate on the floor of the Train Hall in front of the Departure Information Board where no information was being shared. Eventually, we realized that the train was heading to the station around 8:15 pm (it was running ~3 hours late due to a downed wire on the tracks outside Philadelphia and some frozen tracks throughout the Northeast Corridor) but we didn't know what track it was heading to, so while everyone else figured out it was going to Track 9, I had Allen waiting in line at Track 13. As a result, by the time we got into line and the train arrived, there weren't any seats together (and certainly not the reserved table we had from our original booking).

Fortunately, we were able to get a table in the dining car, where we played cards again for most of the trip home. We arrived at Union Station just before midnight and walked home while cracking jokes and workshopping Noa's latest movie idea before we finally arrived at the house and all crashed.

Which is all to say that while pretty much nothing went right on our trip, we really did have an amazng time together. It was trip to remember, though we are unlikely to head back to NYC in the Winter anytime soon.

(To see all the pictures, click here.) 

Reunited

Owen had his last final on Friday morning. Since he was kicked out of the dorm 45 minutes after finals ended and Allen and I both had to work, Grandpa Don was gracious enough to pick him up and drop him off at home. We celebrated his return by attending the annual Botanical Garden holiday party that evening followed by dinner from the Roost (though we accidentally forgot to include Owen's meal...). Despite the omission, we really are excited to have him home for the next month and get some 24-7 Owen time.

(To see all the pictures, click here.)

Thanksgiving 2024

Per our pre-determined schedule, we celebrate Thanksgiving in Iowa on even numbered years. However, 2024 was also Owen's first year of college which meant we had less control of his schedule and couldn't really argue that he skip classes in order to drive 28 hours roundtrip. So instead, we booked a flight from DC to Cedar Rapids on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and hoped for the best.

It actually worked out well. I picked up Owen from school Tuesday night and despite Noa nursing a cold that caused them to skip their viola lesson, we still indulged in family game night with a rousing game of Munchkin (Noa won). The next morning we grabbed an Uber to the airport for our direct flight to Cedar Rapids. The flight was smooth enough, but Noa's cold worsened (and weirdly, their back started hurting too), so we got our rental car and quickly drove to Mom & Dad's (after briefly trying to get sandwiches at Nodos – it was closed for the holidays), only to discover that they and Dave (who's arrived the night before) weren't there. Fortunately we were able to break in and get Noa settled so that Allen and Owen could drive to West Branch for lunch, see the Fawcetts, explore the construction on Thomas and Jen's house, and visit John's grave in honor of what would have been his 81st birthday.

While they were out, Mom, Dad and Dave arrived home from the grocery store. We did a quick inventory to see if we needed anything else for the big day and made up a game plan for Thursday (once we found out when Steve and his crew were coming). Once the boys returned, we sent Owen on a walk with Grandpa Z (Grandpa was anxious for an outing and none of the rest of us felt like braving the cold). After they returned, we largely settled in – had dinner, cleaned up, and moved Noa from our room to the basement for the night.

The next morning we started cooking, although at a more leisurely pace than previous years and with a better distribution of labor: Allen did the turkey and gravy; Mom did the stuffing, green beans and cranberry sauce (she had already made the pies); and I did the rolls, mashed potatoes and roasted sweet potatoes. In addition, Dave made turkey cupcakes (though Kara, who couldn't come but sent tons of treats, had intended that to be a cooperative effort).

Steve and his crew arrived around 12:30, having only recently returned from Scotland and Olivia's Master's Graduation Ceremony and the University of Edinburgh. After some general frivolity (even Noa felt well enough to join in) we sat down for a lovely dinner (well, except Noa. They asked if they could lay down about 10 minutes before we sat down so we assumed they were down for the night, not realizing that they intended for us to call them when we were ready to eat...). Afterwards, we indulged in pie, turkey cupcakes, cookies, and some family pictures before Steve and his crew (sans Sam who decided to stay at Grandma & Grandpa's) headed to their hotel and crashed.

The next morning, Dave headed out early to drive back to Des Moines in order to catch his flight to Colorado Springs. Steve & Becky stopped by shortly after to collect Sam and depart to Schaumburg. We helped Grandma & Grandpa Z put up the Christmas tree and got in a family game night of hearts (I kind of destroyed the rest of the family).

The next morning we headed back (though maybe we headed to the airport a little earlier than necessary). When we got home, everyone else headed to their rooms (Allen was starting to come down with what Noa had) while I went to the store and then made dinner. Afterwards, we had another family game night (marbles, Owen won).

Sunday morning I baked some cinnamon rolls that Noa had made and frozen the week before (school bake sale extras) while Allen and Owen headed to Eastern Market to get Owen a much needed haircut and us a Christmas tree). The plan was once they returned and got the tree up, I would take Owen back to school since Allen wasn't feeling great, while Noa met up with their friends to see Wicked. Only while the boys were off doing their errands, Allen discovered we had a nail in our back tire (which made me really grateful that we didn't drive to Iowa for the holiday). 

After attempting and failing to get the car fixed at the local tire shop, we opted for Plan B and called Mom Mom and Grandpa Don who agreed to drive Owen (and Allen) back to school. In the end Noa headed to the movie and went out for dinner afterwards, Owen and Allen went with Mom Mom and Grandpa Don to St. Mary's (which meant they got to see Owen before Christmas and enjoy some crab cake sandwiches along the way), while I decorated the tree by myself.

It was a lovely, although hectic, start to the holiday season and we can't wait for Owen to finish finals so we can really celebrate when he can be home for more than 24 hours.

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

EV,IL

Late last summer, my former two seat, roommate and bridesmaid, reached out to organize a crew reunion for this year's alumni row, coinciding with her 30th college reunion. I immediately said "yes" since I hadn't seen Amy in a while and I've haven't seen the NU boathouse since they moved from the the Chicago to the Skokie River, or really anything NU Crew related since I graduated. Unfortunately, I hadn't factored in that it wasn't my 30th reunion and so while Amy and any others from our boat would be hanging out with their classmates and sorority sisters for most of the weekend, I was on my own.

So I contacted Audra and asked if she'd be interested in meeting me in Evanston and hanging out in the in-between times.

It sort of worked out perfectly.

On Friday morning I flew to Chicago., Audra picked me up from Midway and we drove around campus for a really long time before eventually making it to our airbnb. Audra hadn't eaten much, so we decided to grab a quick bite and drink at 4 pm which ended up being dinner because we are old. After a stop at Trader Joes for provisions, we walked back to the airbnb, facetimed Cecily and then crashed.

The next morning, Audra and I picked up Amy and Geoff and then drove to Dammrich Rowing Center in Skokie to see Northwestern Rowing's boat house (which has tanks!) where Audra dropped the rest of us off and headed back to NU for her own alumni swim. Rowers from as far back as 1984 and as recent as 2023 gathered at the boat house and 7 brave souls (plus Amy's daughter, Kate, who as Amy's daughter and alumni chair, had no choice) agreed to let me cox a boat. While I wisely asked a current cox to get the shell off the racks and into the water, I did get eight people (including a male stroke from 2013 who was in his feelings) up to full power for 20+ strokes and docked it without hitting anything!

Afterwards, Audra and I walked around campus some more (including a couple of gallery exhibits) and then met up with the other alumni for a happy hour. Sadly, none of the other rowers from my day showed, but it meant that I got some extra time in with Amy and Geoff (and Audra) to catch up before saying goodbye and heading back the next morning.

To be honest, I was pretty anxious about going -- post election I haven't been up for socializing outside of a very small circle -- but it was really nice to see some old friends, however briefly, be on the water, and just take a break from the beltway.

Maybe I'll even come back for my 30th...

(To see all of the pictures, including the rowing ones courtesy of NU Crew, click here.)

John Proctor is the Villain

It's been a rough week for a lot of us, and so while maybe not the obvious choice, escaping the real world for a highschool play about 2018 rural Georgia where a #MeToo reckoning is taking place with the backdrop of a English/Sex Education class reading The Crucible, was actually a treat. Noa (as Allison Wilcox) and all their friends (especially Bea, Ari and Ash as Raelynn, Beth and Nels) were pretty amazing as they worked through that despite what Arthur Miller might have intended, in the end John Proctor is the Villain (and spoiler, so is their English Teacher). And don't worry, if you missed the Burke production, the play is heading to Broadway soon...

Foiled

For four years, Owen attended a performing arts school (actually given his first year was during the pandemic, he less "attended" than was "enrolled"). As such, Owen's school days consisted of an hour commute, six hours of academic classes, another three hours of cello-related classes, followed by an hour commute home, and supplemented with the odd late night rehearsal and/or performance. This meant that there was no time for high school baseball, that climbing was restricted to Earth Trek's "beginners team" since all the other team practices occurred while he was still in extended classes, and that extracurriculars pretty much didn't exist.

In college, Owen has had a bit of a course correction. His non-academic time has been filled with climbing club (non surprisingly), a pick-up softball team (which he serendipitously discovered while biking across campus) and the fencing club. While the latter is a bit far afield from Owen's pre-high school activities, he always loved sword play and we had tried to get him in a fencing class at one point (which again, schedule...). Anyway, after attending a club fair, Owen decide to give fencing a chance, or more specifically foil.

Two months in, the SMCM fencing cub had its first tournament of the 2024-25 season and Owen made his foil debut. Conveniently for us, he did so at St. John's College in Annapolis, roughly 35 minutes from our place.

So we dropped Noa off at orchestra (they metroed home) and headed to Annapolis, arriving in time to see Owen before his first bout. He was a little anxious, but resolute and managed to win two out of three bouts versus Navy. Things took an odd turn when competing against the University of Delaware and was introduced to a new style which seemed to involve a lot of spirited jumping. While Owen initially took the lead, he eventually lost that bout. After a lunch break, Owen and the rest of the team faced University of Maryland Baltimore County who were really good and ended the day playing the home team Druids (although with a reduced number of bouts owing to some illness on each side).

To be honest, Allen and I had no idea what was going on, but Owen looked great and seemed to be having a lot of fun and his teammates and community seemed quite lovely. And after a week processing the potential end of the world, it was really nice to see Owen and know that if it ever comes to it, he can totally use a sword.

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

The Definition of Insanity...

The election effects us both personally and professionally and quite frankly, we're not really up for discussing it with those outside our inner circle. For the record, Owen successfully voted for the first time, despite some challenges with Maryland's registration system. Allen was in Korea at a conference and so had to process the results on another continent – we're grateful he returned. Noa and I were at home, both trying to avoid the news (they were more successful than I was) while giving each other hugs when needed. There were even more hugs the next morning, which I suspect is going to be the only way we get through the next four years.

(To see related pictures, click here.)

Hawktoberfest

It's been roughly two months since we dropped Owen dropped off at college, and since Noa missed our last trip, attending parent's weekend (or as the kids call it, Hawkoberfest) seemed like a no-brainer.

While the festivities were all on Saturday, we had tickets to Billy Bragg that night which, coupled with the fact that Noa didn't have school on Friday, suggested that we front load our St. Mary's celebration. After Noa's parent teacher conference on Thursday (note: they attended while wearing a fake mustache, but since they had all As and A-s, we decided to just go with it) we headed down to St. Mary's, picked up Owen and went out for a lovely dinner, and checked into our airbnb before we all crashed for the night.

The next morning, Allen scoped out scenes for our annual holiday photo with some input from Noa. We usually use our friend Maria, but this year we weren't sure we'd be able to get in a DC-based photo in with Owen and have the pictures done in time to for the holidays, (and importing Maria to St. Marys seemed impractical). So instead, Allen decided we would all suffer through an extended photo shoot over the weekend, using a tripod that he specially ordered. Which also looks suspiciously like a selfie stick.

Allen insisted the morning shots were just tests as he was adamant that the light would be better at sunset. So while we played around with the best angles and poses, we didn't worry about Noa having their headphones on. Once satisfied, We headed off to Point Lookout State Park to take in the views and learn about how to housed a Confederate prison during the Civil War. 

Then we headed back to campus where Owen showed off his fencing gear and gave us a campus tour, including the cemetery (where we looked for the "Hidden" grave). Noa enjoyed the cemetery so much that they opted to hang out there and read a book while Owen, Allen and I went on a tour of the replica of the Maryland Dove – a 17th Century cargo ship that miraculously made it from England to Maryland and then disappeared on a return trip a year later. Afterwards, we grabbed takeout for dinner, did our official and unofficial photos, attempted to watch the comet, enjoyed a fire, and then had a lovely game night of Headbanz.

The next morning, we grabbed breakfast and packed up before heading to St. Mary's for Hawktoberfest. As soon as we got there, Allen was recruited to record a testimonial as a Seahawk dad. Afterwards, we attempted to watch the St. Mary's varsity vs. alumni baseball game, but as it started an hour late and we were then inundated by a barrage of foul balls, we decided to head to an art show and then have lunch. Afterwards, we went to the river and sampled the food trucks before boarding our river cruise, which Noa was less than excited for. Afterwards, we dropped Noa off at Owen's room for a nap to recover while the rest of us went to play pool in the commons and then enjoyed the "Great Bamboo Race" where teams build a boat out of bamboo, plastic bags and duct tape, and then one of its members races it on the river. It was pretty exciting and while four boats sank, no rowers were harmed in the racing.

Afterwards we grabbed Noa and headed to dinner. We knew that Noa wouldn't be into a crab boil, so we purchased a vegetarian option for them. What we didn't realize is that 1) Noa wouldn't enjoy sitting with other people as they enjoyed the crab boil; and 2) while Owen loves crab cakes, he was pretty horrified to see how the sausage gets made. In the end, the kids sat on bench outside the eating tent while Allen sucked down twelve crabs after which we bid Owen farewell (he headed to the dining hall to grab a less adventurous meal), jumped into the car (while still covered with crab bits) drove back to DC, dropped off Noa and headed off to see Billy Bragg.

It was a pretty amazing first parent's weekend, though we might tweak a few things for next year...

(To see all the pictures, click here.)

A Tale of Two Homecomings

When we were touring schools with Owen, we were advised by multiple colleges that we should make sure that our child spends at least the first six weeks of college on campus, rather than going home, in order to ensure that they develop those relationships that will get them through tough times and mid-terms. And so even though Owen actually came to DC (or rather to Movement in Crystal City) with the climbing club one month into his college experience, we didn't let him stop by the house to say "hi" (also, he didn't ask to) out of deference for his academic and social success.

But we still miss the kid and have been wanting to see him (not to mention we did sort of still owe him a birthday present), and while the administration had warned us about him coming home, nobody had said anything about us going to him. So we made a plan to get the band back together one Saturday after orchestra, where we could see Owen, drop off a brand new bike, and then take him out for a nice meal. Allen picked up a bike from the Daily Rider with all the extra accoutrements Owen requested (a kickstand and a water bottle holder) and made a reservation for the four of us at a lovely seafood place that also has some great vegetarian options.

And then Noa informed us that Burke's Homecoming was Saturday night and not the Friday that we had thought.

I was a little bummed not to get to see Noa get ready for the dance and take the obligatory pictures (they even borrowed a top for me for the "Hollywood" theme), but they promised to take at least one picture at the dance for us to see. So we got back from DCYOP, Allen and I headed to St. Mary's where we met Owen in the driveway in front of his dorm (apparently he inherited his grandfather's love of Find a Friend. After taking his new bike for a spin and securing it in the bike room, he took us on a tour of his favorite haunts on campus (including a demo of the climbing wall), demonstrated alternative entries to his dorm room, and then showed us how quickly he can get to the climbing wall and back after realizing he'd left his phone there. After he reclaimed it, we headed off to a lovely restaurant on the water where we talked politics, Allen and Owen talked baseball, and we all discussed how the semester was going. After splitting a slide of chocolate cake, we headed back to his hall where we got in a lot of hugs and told him we'd see him in a few weeks for Parent's Weekend.

Meanwhile, Noa got ready all by themselves and took the metro up to Burke to meet their friends for Pho before the dance itself. Once there, they rocked on, took a lot of photo booth pics and had a great time.

We headed back right around the time the dance was starting, got home and was about 30 minutes into the most recent episode of Rings of Power before we got a text from Noa asking for a ride home. So we headed back to the car, and drove 45 minutes to Burke where we found an elated and exhausted Noa who chatted with us for some of the drive home before we all crashed.

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

50 Percent More than 10!

Fourteen started rough. September is always a hard month for Noa, but this past year it included entering high school as a freshman at a place they didn't originally want to attend and where they didn't have any friends. It was all very challenging. And then some other stuff happened. Things became overwhelming, which culminated in a break and a reset. 

Fortunately, October was better – upon re-entry they joined the school play as a Everybody's Dorito eating "Evil Acts" and became part of the theater clique. Noa went to Homecoming with a friend and started playing Diplomacy with a whole crew over lunch. Noa joined multiple craft and affinity groups. In the winter they were cast as an extra with a very involved backstory in Mean Girls. They once again jumped in the Potomac for charity (and this time they didn't fall). They joined Burke's softball team. Noa made baked goods for their friends (with various levels of success, but always mindful of food sensitivities). They made art and not so short stories and roasted eggplant. They were promoted to DCYOP's Youth Philharmonic. They applied for and got a job (which was only for a week and unpaid, but still!). The took more art classes and saved fellow students from exhaustion and poisonous plants. They finished the Capaldi arc of Doctor Who. They helped their big brother move into college and realized that they have strong thoughts about the brick ratio at academic institutions. And somewhere along the way, they found their smile again.

And so, we are cautiously optimistic about fifteen. In the past 12 months Noa has become a lot more comfortable with who they are and have surrounded themselves with some pretty great people that appreciate their awesomeness. And while I'm sure there will be bumps in the road, it feels like Noa has gotten better at navigating them.

So happy birthday, little one. We love you and hope your next trip around the sun is filled with light.

1. "I am a golfing god."
2. So many spheres!
3. There is only one true father. There are, however, a number of "dads" up for grabs at Burke. 
4. In case of emergency, there is a "Mark as Lost" feature on your iPhone. It is your best friend.
5. You can put a Duck on a leash, but you can't make them walk.
6. Feed the faceless baby.
7. Will ski for socks.
8. Ovens are terrifying. Stoves are fine. And toaster ovens are amazing. 
9. Sometimes your brother will convince you to watch a Doctor Who that ends with you in tears. And sometimes said brother needs to then by reminded that, "It's your fault for getting me invested!"
10. And in the immortal words of Quentin Tarantino in True Romance, "That's the way it goes. But don't forget, it goes the other way too."

 

SMCM Move-In Day

The day finally came when our first-born is leaving the nest and moving in to his dorm for college. We've been getting in all the Owen time we can this past week, with 18th birthday celebrations (steak at St. Anslem), one last EPA softball game (Owen hit a home run!), lots of Doctor Who (we finished the Capaldi era!), and of course family cuddle time before packing up the car. But I'm not sure you can every get enough Owen time.

When the morning finally arrived we hit the road early to arrive at Owen's dorm in time for his 9:30am move in window. Unfortunately, so did seemingly every other freshman's family (except maybe for Owen's roommate Theo) and so there was a bit of a wait to actually get to his dorm. Once there (and once we finally located the email with his actual room number), the St. Mary's Move-In Crew helpfully unloaded our car for us and carried Owen's belongings to the his hall. 

We quickly started wiping things down, moving things around, and putting stuff away. We ran into a couple of hiccups with his refrigerator (too big to put under his bed, not a long enough cord to plug in anywhere else) and in hanging things on the wall (we didn't have the correct adhesive for Owen's Zelda canvas) so after we got things initially set up and briefly met Owen's roommate and his parents, we headed to the bookstore to pick up those items and a book Noa wanted.

We headed back and got the last thing put away and then went to the dining hall for lunch. After another stop at the bookstore to get a few things off Owen's syllabi (The Gulag Archipelago, Suicide of the West, and Intro to Macroeconomics), we took an extended tour of campus, including the waterfront.

By the time we headed back to Owen's dorm, they were getting ready for a hall meeting and were officially kicking parents out. We got in our last hugs and a final selfie before Owen walked us out the door. We didn't cry at the time, which was kind of amazing (though likely because I had cried profusely the night before while I wrote Owen a letter, and Allen and Noa being of stoic, Fawcett stock), but it was a pretty quiet drive home which was mostly spent wondering what Owen was doing now. 

Which was literally going over the rules of the dorm, but figuratively starting a whole new and exciting chapter, that we happily toasted to at the local wine bar.

(To see all the move-in pictures, click here.)

One last family cuddle before college

One more in our long history of taking family cuddle selfies before Owen leaves for college :-)

Home Run!

Owen has been involved in EPA Softball since he was in the womb and Elaine was still playing on the team. He went to Bad Air Daze games as a baby and I like to thinks some of his love of baseball has to do with all his time around our little informal softball league. He got his first hit in a real game just after he turned eight and has been playing in games ever since. Post-pandemic the format of games has been a little different as we most offices don't have enough players to field a full team, so we've been mostly doing pick-up games. We've been hoping to get one last game in before he goes off to college, but things were looking dicey for a while as weather cancellations and travel kept foiling our plans. But everything came together on the day between Owen's 18th birthday and the day he leaves for college and we were able to get one last game in. Owen and I biked down to the Mall, chatted with old EPA colleagues and teammates, tossed the ball around to warm up, and played some softball on a gorgeous day. Best of all, Owen hit his first home run! What a way to wrap up the season, and hope we can both play again next year when he's home from college for the summer :-) 

Adulting

When Owen was born, I remember reading a number of articles about how most baseball and hockey stars had birthdays in the fall, just after the age cutoff for their leagues. The timing meant that they would always be the oldest and biggest kids in their age group, and would therefore dominate their sports. Owen, being born more than a month prior to the cutoff, would never enjoy this benefit, but given that neither Allen nor I were particularly sporty people, this didn't seem like such a huge loss. What took me slightly longer to realize and internalize is that because of Owen's summer birthday, we effectively get one less year of him at home compared to all those October and November babies. Now as we prepare to send him off to college two days after his 18th birthday, I'm regretting not waiting a little longer to start our family.

Though I will say that we have crammed a lot into those years, particularly this past one. Owen composed and performed opuses. He received a provisional license. He went to a school dance (though he didn't actually dance...). Owen flew across the country by himself, went to a music festival in NYC with his friends. He applied, got in, and selected a college. Owen graduated. He rediscovered his love of baseball. He combed his hair.

Which is to say, Owen is totally ready for his next great adventure. And while I'm sad that we won't be there for the day to day of it all, I'm so glad to have had all the time that we did with him, so proud of what he's become, and excited to see what he does next.

So happy birthday, little man, we love you so, so much. Now go start your next chapter (and don't forget to call).

1. Never underestimate the healing power of Neosporen.
2. En passant isn't for posers.
3. Football is life. Unless it's Minecraft and you're the poor armadillo they're using as the ball.
4. Always remember there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share a name. And that cannibalism sucks.
5. Strike a pose.
6. In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate but equally important groups: the police who investigate crime; and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. Also, on occasion, the art thief turned government witness.
7. "The six inning minimum is just an extreme suggestion to negotiate from. It's MLB announcing that they want starters to go deeper into games. When it all plays out we'll probably end up with the double hook."
8. I'll get by with a little help from my friends.
9. In the end, it all comes down to parallel parking.
10. And in the immortal words of the 11th Doctor, We're all stories, in the end. Just make it a good one, eh.

Walk Off!

We thought that this Saturday might be the day for Owen's birthday party, but when Owen found out his friends had conflicts, our schedule was surprisingly open giving us the perfect chance for one last Nats game before Owen leaves for college. I was able to get five last minute tickets to the Nats v. Angels game behind the visitors dugout (all the better to see Anthony Rendon's first series back in DC since the 2019 World Series), plus it was Caturday at Nats Park so Noa was even willing to join us. Elaine and Noa did leave a bit early, after Noa enjoyed both their savory and sweet crepes and got their fill of watching the birds, but Owen, Mom Mom, and I stuck it out. We saw James Wood hit his fourth career home run and drive in another with a double to help the Nats come back to tie the game. Then in the 10th, Jose Tena hit a walk off single off of the center field wall for the Nats second walk-off extra innings win in a row. Let's go Nats!

 

But your kids are going to love it...

During our various trips to NYC last year, Noa decided they wanted to see Back to the Future the Musical. While we weren't quite up for another trip up to Broadway for it, when I saw the touring company was coming to the Kennedy Center, the kids were totally on board with getting tickets. Things got a bit more complicated when we found out the alley work that was supposed to happen while we were in Iowa was happening this week and we didn't move our car out in time to avoid being trapped for who know how long. Fortunately it's pretty easy to get around DC without a car, and and we were able to have a lovely dinner at our usual pre-theater spot and catch the show. Noa even agreed to take a nice family selfie at the Kennedy Center (in exchange for a mini key chain harmonica from the gift shop that they are far more talented at playing than any of the rest of us!).

The show was fun. It's a great story of course, though Owen was predictably uncomfortable with the mother son sexual tension back in 1955. The music wasn't particularly memorable – outside of the diegetic Johnny B. Goode and Power of Love – but the DeLorean looked great and Noa in particular thought the show lived up to expectations. Now we just need a family movie night to see the original!

A Tale of Two Cornfests

Every year we go to Iowa for two weeks during the summer to visit family, swim in the pond, and eat a lot of sweet corn. This year was going to be a little different as Allen had to spend most of our first week in Richland, WA for work. But still, the plan was afternoons at the pond swimming, eating sweet corn, and hanging out with family.

And we did get to do that last one, just not necessarily in the way we planned. Having spent the previous summer finding mom a new doctor only to have her fail to make any follow-up appointments and observing that she wasn't looking well, I spent a few hours after we arrived talking to her health plan an eventually getting her doctor to squeeze her in for an appointment (and to finally take care of some of the lab worked she skipped), only to be sent almost immediately to the ER once they finally drew her blood so that she could get an emergency transfusion and be admitted to the hospital.

Mom was less than thrilled with the development while Dad was just confused as to what was going on. Fortunately, Owen now has his provisional driver's license and so he and Noa could at least get a little pond time in while I spent my days at the hospital and Allen was still in Richland. Allen made it home. We cancelled a visit from Blaine. Steve decided to come out a little earlier and without Erin and Sam in order to be there for a procedure to try and figure out why mom get losing blood. We cancelled a trip to Marshalltown to see Ellen, Bernie, Pete and Jeannine. 

In the end Allen and the kids were still able to make corn fest (Allen came in third in the sweet corn eating contest behind Ethan and Simon). I made a twenty minute appearance to say hi and pick-up Noa (they weren't up for all the late night fun that Allen and Owen were). Mom was eventually discharged from the hospital four days after she was admitted – looking and feeling a lot better – and willingly agreed to take her medicine, use a cane and even have a follow-up visit with her doctor. We got a few days of family pond time in and even picked some sweet corn so Mom and Dad could enjoy it as well. And while Dad is disappointed that Mom's been barred from drinking wine, he's excited to have her home (and I think a bit relieved that I was heading out and wouldn't be there to boss them around so much).

Though Dave is coming out for Dad's next medical appointment later this week...

(To see all of our Iowa pictures, click here.)

Driver

Owen got his learner's permit before Christmas 2022 and started on his required 40 hours of driving with some lessons with Grandpa Don. Over the course of the next year and a half, he did hours of professional driving lessons, lots of driving shifts on the way to and from Iowa, plenty of driving from Iowa City to the pond and back, some late night drives back from the Telfair-Cha's (thanks Owen!), and a several hours of intensive parallel parking practice before his first try at the road test. 

He had finished all the required hours so we scheduled a test before he left for Stanford. Owen drove us over to the DMV and instructor confirmed he could use our car (the parking brake requirements weren't entirely clear). The first thing they had him do was parallel park between two sets of cones in the DMV parking lot. It turns out all the practicing we did regarding real world parallel parking conditions wasn't quite what we needed to prepare Owen for the DMV requirements: you can only reverse once and pull forward once during your attempt, and the cones and cement block didn't quite provide the visual cues Owen had practiced with. Owen was more than 12" from the 'curb' and so the test was immediately terminated and they told him to come back and try again. Just for good measure, I tried parking between the cones and didn't manage to get close enough on my attempt, so it really wasn't easy.

We scheduled another try for the morning after Owen got home from Stanford (wanting to give us enough time for one more try before Iowa if needed). After reviewing a few DMV approved parallel parking tips, Owen was up for another try. This time the instructor told us we couldn't use our car, so Owen had to use one of the DMV cars for his test. I was nervous, but Owen wasn't phased and he nailed the parallel parking on his first attempt. 

Last time they didn't let him try any of the rest of the driving exam, so he wasn't sure what he was in for, but it turned out all he had to do was drive a few blocks around the neighborhood and he was done. We had a little scare when going through the paperwork to verify his 40 hours, it turned out that the 10 hours of night driving didn't count (the 40 hours need to be before 9pm, and the 10 hours of night driving are needed for your full license, not your provisional license), but he was just 30 minutes shy of 40 and the friendly people at the DMV let me add the time he was driving that morning to get him to 40, and we officially have a licensed driver!

Legal Eagle

Despite our best efforts, neither of our offspring has expressed any interest in going into economics. And while it's been a bit of a bitter pill to swallow, Allen and I are trying to be supportive of Owen's interest in the law. During the pandemic he started following a series of lawyers on Youtube that discussed various civil rights issues and court cases. Then last summer he participated in a week long program at Howard Law School which only fueled the fire. So this year, when he was invited to a 10 day Law Intensive at Stanford, it was kind of a no brainer.

They didn't lie about the intensive part. Owen started his day at 8:30 in the morning and didn't make it back to his dorm room until after 9 pm, which was after his Eastern Time Zone parents' bedtime. There was coursework and prep work and lots of reading. And while there was a little time at Fisherman's Wharf and general merriment, most of Owen's time was spent preparing for their trial, where Owen played an art thief who turned states evidence (a role he was oddly good at). 

Owen really loved it, and it was a nice way to ease in to the whole college life thing. Hopefully, the experience will cement his intention to study the law, and keep him on the right side of it...

(click here for all the pictures)

Here's to Good Friends...

When Owen started at Duke Ellington, he kind of had to give up baseball – Duke didn't have a team, and Owen's class schedule didn't exactly support joining a travel one. At the same time, the Nationals were in a bit of a rebuilding period, and so there wasn't a whole lot of interesting baseball to watch.

But with school ending, James Woods joining the Nationals and the prospect of college intramural baseball in the offing, Owen's gotten back into baseball which has meant watching lots of highlights, quoting stats to his father, and even meeting up with his daycare best friend Leo for a game.

Owen was supposed to see Leo at Leo's Eagle Scout Ceremony, but I messed up the time and location resulting in our briefly hanging out by ourselves in his yard playing stickball before leaving his card in the mailbox and heading home. We tried to meet up after, but Owen had prom and left for the beach while Leo had graduation and immediately left to be counselor at Boy Scouts Camp.

But the stars eventually did align and Owen and Leo were able to spend Leo's 18th birthday watching the Nats beat the Met's in what's being referred to as the best game of the season, which is only right since they spent Owen's 6th birthday watching the the same thing.