Labors of Love

Labor Day coincided with Noa's birthday and Owen's move-in day for college. Knowing this was the case, we had packed up the car (well, Owen and Allen had) and celebrated Noa's birthday (take-out from Toki Underground followed by gelato and a family game night) the night before. The next morning, we wished Noa a happy 16th, watched them open their presents, and then headed out with Owen for what we assumed would be a fairly straightforward move.

Funny thing about college move-ins: when you're a freshman there are all sorts of friendly people there to unload your car and carry your stuff and help with everything. When you're a sophomore, there's just you and your aging parents, parked really far away from your room, which no one direct you to and so it takes a surprisingly long time to find. Then when you do find it, you realize since you changed dorms at the last minute, you have the worst room in the suite, with only one window and no working overhead lights, and you have to move all the furniture since your roommate is not scheduled to arrive for another six hours (and when he does he realizes he forgot to pack sheets and pillows so he has to make an emergency run to Target).

Anyway, five hours later (which included a lovely lunch break), Owen was happily situated (though poorly lit) and we were finally on our way home where we arrived to find Noa and their friends enjoying a moving (having already played several games). We crashed upstairs while Noa made a lovely pesto pasta meal for the friends followed by ice cream and Munchkin before all their friends left the house and all that remained went to bed (after a quick check in with Owen).

It was a rather abrupt end of summer, but hopefully the start to a wonderful school year.

(To see all the pictures, click here.)

Sweet Sixteen

Fifteen was an interesting year. With Owen leaving for college, Noa suddenly became an "only" child and our primary focus, which they had mixed feelings about. Sure, it was great that meals involved more sauces and less meat, but it also meant that when we asked how school was, there was no way to hide. They grew frustrated and asked for more space, which we gave until their teachers grew frustrated and we had to intervene. So fifteen was a learning year for us all – we learned to trust but verify and Noa learned that inactions also have consequences.

And also how much they missed their brother.

But aside from that, it was a pretty amazing year. Noa (finally) had a named character in a high school production (granted that name was "Baroness Elberfeld," but still). They sang in the spotlight and exhibited their work at an actual art gallery. They protested the new administration's stance on trans rights. They made Dutch babies and potato mochi and cake batter (though not always cakes). They started an affinity group. They volunteered at a food kitchen. They went to NYC without us (but with their director, their friends and some of their friends' parents). They went to Homecoming and the Spring Dance. They played in ensembles and team sports. They studied funerals (still not clear on why, but it was for school). They made movies. And they spent a lot of time with some pretty amazing friends.

Which is all to say, Noa contains frickin' multitudes. So happy birthday, little one, we love you and hope sixteen is amazing. Now go do your homework.

1. It can be confusing when your emotional support animal is also your captor.
2. Always trust in our Lord and savior, Billy Joel 
3. I'd hug you too dad, but Mom is more conveniently located.
4. Sometimes, it's all about perspective.
5. Live in a rainbow of chaos.
6.  Setting the tavern on fire to get out of a conversation that was going well?!? Ok Lysander, there are consequences to our actions.
7. It's not a gambling problem if you always win.
8. Here's the thing about a barbecue...
9. Let's be honest, kids are a lot.
10. And in the immortal words of KPOP Demon Hunters, It's the beginning of a new chapter for us. For the whole world. We're so excited to show you what's next.

Family Selfie!

Sneaking in one more cuddle time family selfie before Noa turns 16 and Owen heads back to college :-)

At the Carwash...

Noa asked for two thing for their birthday: a fancy camera and a carwash. The latter made a far more entertaining video...

Janis Lynne Keplinger (1947 - 2025)

My aunt Janis passed away while we were at the beach this year. While she had her share of health problems, it still came as a shock. We got word she was taken to intensive care, and Mom was looking into flights to cut the beach trip short to go down to Texas, but but she didn't last the night. At least we were together as family to support each other, Noa even had a long long talk with Mom Mom about grief.

Janis was the middle of three sisters that always fit into those roles – mom the super accomplished firstborn, Duronda the fun outgoing youngest, and Janis the quiet, kind, artistic middle child. Janis was the one Pop Pop said reminded him most of Mom Mom, not because of her personality or resemblance, but because of the way she made him a better person.

I flew down to Austin to be with family for Janis' memorial service. It was a quick trip, flying in Friday morning with just enough time to stop by campus to walk by the Econ department and grab some breakfast tacos before going to the service at 11am. Afterwards, Mom and I went back to stay with Joe & Holly at their new house in New Braunfels. Janis had moved in with them and it was really wonderful to hear about how excited Janis was about the new house and living with Joe & Holly. We're all glad they had that time together.

The memorial itself was lovely. It was good to see Duronda & Don, catch up with Carrie, and spend some time with Joe & Holly. Don spoke first at the service, then Mom shared some wonderful memories of her sister. She even used a quote from Noa to close her eulogy for Janis – "She had a great life and that reminds of the beautiful life ahead of us."

OBX 2025

Sometimes the stars align so that your children's school years don't start until after the discount summer beach rental season starts. And sometimes that alignment also corresponds with a Category 2 hurricane. Still, despite the storms, Grandpa Don not being able to walk much, and some sad family news, we still managed to have a lovely time and a lot of togetherness.

New to this year was each of the kids took over cooking duties for one night (Noa actually took over duties for one night, one brunch and assisted Owen in his night). We also celebrated Owen's 19th birthday which, due to him aging out (and not having a suitable floorspace), did not involve a banner but did involve one of Mom Mom's cakes. 

There was some body boarding before Hurricane Erin and  some skim boarding after. There were games and puzzles and lots of baseball watching (though not that much baseball winning by the Nats). There were fancy dinners out and fancy dinners in. There was a lovely pool with a not so lovely pool deck (which Owen discovered when he cut his foot kicking a beach ball). And there was bocci (which of course Allen won).

But mostly, there was a lot of much needed family time. And the best thing is, we have the same place next year around the same time (but hopefully without a hurricane).

(To see all the pictures, click here.)

The End of the Teens

Owen left for college a few days after his 18th birthday. As a result, we haven't necessarily directly observed a lot of what transpired this past year, but have been privy to the results. College was a bit of an adjustment, especially his first semester when some of his organizational challenges came home to roost (though the class he struggled with most, some variant of Intro to Life, might have been more of an indictment of Allen and my parenting skills). But Owen found his footing and finished his Freshman year thriving at SMCM. 

He joined the Climbing Club and Fencing Team and even became an officer in the Softball Club. He purchased mason jars at CVS and then drove to the shore in order to collect water samples for his Chemistry class. He registered and voted and then talked me down from the ledge when the results came in. He purchased Christmas presents for the whole family. He did his laundry regularly. He formed study groups. And he even came home for his Father's Birthday, for various holidays and Opening Day.

When he came home for the summer (or rather late Spring – St. Mary's gets out early), we found that over the course of two semesters, Owen had become a fully formed adult. He applied for a job and wrote a cover letter and arranged an interview and when he didn't get it, he pivoted to volunteer work at Meeting. He emptied the dishwasher unprompted. He made dinner. He made plans and drove around the monuments at night with friends.

But through it all, he still made time for his family. So while we're sad that he's heading back to St. Mary's soon (or rather soonish – St, Mary's also starts really late), we know that Owen will always come home. Happy birthday, Little Man, we love you so, so much.

1. Life is all about balance.
2. When God closes a door, He opens a window.
3. Some portals are magical. Others are filled with inaccurate scheduling information on Intro to Chemistry classes.
4. You've got a fast car (ok, maybe not that that fast...)
5. Disengage, beat, disengage, lunge.
6. When faced with being a Cassian or a Syril, always be a Cassian.
7. Don't just make a Mario level, make a whole world.
8. Wouldn't pitcher wins be a better stat if each game's outcome was recalculated with league average runs support?
9. You can never have enough parsley (unless it's dry and from Costco).
10. And in the immortal words of the 12th Doctor, I'm not trying to win. I'm not doing this because I want to beat someone, or because I hate someone, or because I want to blame someone. It's not because it's fun. God knows it's not because it's easy. It's not even because it works because it hardly ever does... I DO WHAT I DO BECAUSE IT'S RIGHT! Because it's decent! And above all, it's kind! It's just that... Just kind.

Down East

I intended to do something significant to commemorate Allen's fiftieth birthday, but as the occasion occurred just a few weeks into the new administration and things were going badly (though in retrospect, not as badly as they would go...), I wasn't really up for party planning. So I punted. We went out for a lovely dinner and I reached out to the wives of his closest friends to see if they were interested in a joint birthday trip in the summer to celebrate their spouses' 50ths as well (well, except Nabeel, who as the baby of the group would only be celebrating his 48th). They were interested, but after a few months of throwing out dates and locations (Asheville, pre-flood; Iceland, pre-international incidents; Chicago pre-military threat...), I gave up. And then Megan suggested Maine, a long weekend in August, and made a reservation at a lovely bed and breakfast, and we were back in business. Thank you Megan!

So shortly after returning from Iowa, Allen and I left the kids (I mean, Owen is an adult) and flew off to Kennebunkport, Maine to hang with Nabeel & Megan and Joe & Cate for a collective 50th birthday (or honorary 50th for Nabeel).

Joe & Cate had flown out early for some hiking and more rustic accommodations, and so were kind enough to pick us up from the airport, before we all went out for the first of many lobster rolls.  We then headed to the Captains Collection to check in, play a little bridge and wait for Nabeel & Megan, who were driving up from Boston where Megan was visiting a friend while waiting for Nabeel to arrive from a gaming convention in Indianapolis where he and his sons debuted the new deckbuilding game they had created, and Nabeel stocked up on provisions for the weekend.

Once we were checked in, we headed to the shore to explore before dining at Mabel's Lobster Claw followed by the first night of games for the boys (Dorfromantik). Some people opted for an early walk/jog and coffee the next morning, while others of us took a more leisurely morn followed by breakfast at the hotel (breakfast sandwiches, homemade yogurt, fruit, and various pastries) before we embarked on the Marginal Way cliff walk which culminated in an ice cream break (followed by a boys' Innovation session when we got back to the hotel).

After some naps and several hours of gaming for the boys, we headed to Earth for the official belated (or prospective in the case of Nabeel) birthday dinner. As an added birthday present, the ladies joined in for a round of Oh No, We Crashed! before we left the boys to enjoy Joe's contribution to the fun fest, Deep Regrets.

When planning activities for the trip, Joe had suggested a whale watching expedition, but Allen knowing that I get horribly seas sick (though apparently not as badly as Nabeel) thought the 4 hour excursion to see whales would be rough and instead suggested a 2 hour tour closer to shore on the schooner Eleanor, built by its Captain. We agreed and got a lovely tour of the coast including a siting of the Bush Compound before heading back to land for a late lunch.

After some more nap time (and maybe some Campy Creatures?) we had our last dinner at Chez Rosa before an epic evening of sleep for some of us, and Graft for others.

The next morning we had an early breakfast at the hotel while the gamers got in one last birthday round of Innovation before enjoying Food & Wine's top rated lobster roll and heading back to our respective homes with lots of fun memories, and ironically, no Deep Regrets!

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

Iowa 2025

Given how our trip to Iowa went last summer, I was a bit anxious about returning this year, particularly with Dad having had a stroke back in April in addition to all of his memory issues. But this year Allen didn't have to travel to Washington mid-visit, Mom willingly went to her doctor's appointment (and got a relatively clean bill of health), and Dad seems to have stabilized a bit, so even though I had to spend most of the visit working on a regulation (though because remote work no longer counts in the government, I still had to take leave) and Allen was on work calls throughout our stay, we were still able to enjoy much of our time in Iowa.

There was Cornfest (Allen narrowly beat Thomas for a third place showing in the corn-eating contest, though likely only because Ethan wasn't able to compete this year), and corn picking, corn shucking, and corn harvesting (which are seperate but related action items). There were family floats in the pond and covered wagon trips. There were visits with distant Gradys and nearby Fawcetts. There were projects that we weren't actually drafted into helping but we did, in the spirit of John, inspect.

Moreover, after two months of Mom and Dad not having a landline (which, since Mom refuses to get a cell phone, meant there was no way to contact her and only limited ways to contact Dad), we finally got them a workaround. Granted, the workaround (which involved using their internet rather than a traditional landline) only worked for a day before their internet provider (who had been providing their landline) decided that transferring the landline meant that we were cancelling internet service which upon following up with them, would take two weeks to reinstall. Fortunately, Allen got ahold of a real person who got actual people to come out that day and get everything back online.

Plus, dad got a haircut (which is hard to do in Iowa City than one might think), we did another Good Will run, and we even managed to get in an early anniversary dinner for Mom and Dad. That plus some amazing Iowa sunsets, made for a lovely visit and a needed reprieve from DC life.

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

Folk Life

While Noa typically eschews summer music programs, they were surprisingly amenable to performing with DCYOP for the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival and even willingly went to hours long practices (some of which ran even longer) in the middle of the day at a random middle school. The day of the actual performance they were less excited, which may have been due to the heat, or the thunderstorms, or the delayed sound check that the crowd thought was the actual performance with a fastidious conductor that kept cutting off the orchestra mid-piece.

Nevertheless, Noa persisted and made it through the entire performance of Dvorak's Legend, Nabor's Distant Worlds, and Vaughn William's English Folk Song, before the heavens opened up and we all rushed home.

Baseball Fireworks

For our own little Independence Day celebration, Owen and I went to the Nats v. Tigers game on the 3rd to see the both the literal and figurative fireworks. The Tigers jumped on top with three runs in the first, but the Nats answered with five runs in the bottom of the first, and Owen and I enjoyed it all having dinner out at the Red Porch. James Wood had a career best 5-for-5 game with a home run to celebrate announcing he was going to join the home run derby at the All Star Game, and the Nats beat the Tigers 11 to 7. To cap it all off we stuck around for the real fireworks show after the game too :-)

Time for some wrinkles

Noa wasn't a huge fan of how much the Wrinkle in Time musical strayed from the book, but it was fun having a family night out with Owen home from college! 

Ice Cave!

I had another trip to Snowmass for a conference this summer and with our free afternoon on the last day of the conference I convinced Jim, Ben, and Destiny to go for a hike where we would take the Silver Queen Gondola to the top of Aspen Highlands and hike back down to town for dinner. Destiny was torn between joining us and another group that was looking for an outing with minimal exertion, but the promise of it being a downhill hike won her over. Our plans were thwarted though when we got into Aspen and found that the gondola was closed for a private event as part of the Aspen Food & Wine Festival.

Looking for an alternate plan, we briefly considered renting e-bikes to ride up to Maroon Bells, but Ben came up with a better idea when he suggested we hike the grottos trail to the ice caves. We called a Lyft and on the short drive to the grottos up towards Independence pass we lost all cell service and started to wonder how we would get back. Happily, after a quick negotiation with our driver, she agreed to come back and pick us up in an hour and a half at the spot she dropped us off. After she left though, we realized we were not at the head of the grottos trail, but at the rock fall by the road above the actual caves. We realized this wasn't the right spot after some fun rock scrambling that was a bit more than Destiny bargained for. Thankfully it wasn't too much of a walk back down the road to the real entrance to the trail, and the actual hike was an easy short loop that also took us by some glacial erratics and waterfalls. 

The highlight though was the ice caves themselves. Formed by glacial forces, the grottos were beautiful. It was a bit of scrambling to climb down into the grottos, and footing was tricky on the ice. The rest of the crew was tempted to just look in from above, but once I saw the view from around the bend into the caves, I told everyone this wasn't to be missed. 

When it was time to head back, Ben and I agreed to hike back up to the drop off spot to meet our driver and we'd come back to pick up Jim and Destiny. After our pick up time passed we started to get a bit nervous about getting back to Aspen, so I scrambled up the rocks to try to get a clear view of the sky for a satellite connection. It took some work, but I was able to get a signal and text our driver, and sure enough she was on her way just running a bit late. She picked us up, and we were shortly back in Aspen having a wonderful dinner. 

And on Saturday I flew home just in time for Elaine and I to at least spend the evening of our 22nd anniversary together. Hopefully one of these years Elaine will actually be able to join me for a summer Snowmass trip!

(click here for all the pictures)

The Dove

On our trip to St. Mary's for Parent's Weekend last fall we did a tour of the Maryland Dove – a replica of the Boyer rigged pinnace that along with the Ark began the Maryland Colony in 1634. While I was discussing the sail plan, standing and running rigging, and the challenges of an elm pump not made of elm with the deck hands, Elaine thought to ask about public sails. She filed that away, and for Father's Day this year Elaine arranged for Owen, Don, and I to go sailing on the Dove!

The weather looked questionable the week leading up to our sail, but we ended up having a beautiful sunny day. A little more wind would have been nice, but as Captain Laaro said, we'd let the wind take us where she wanted to at the speed of discovery. It was great fun unfurling the main topsail, and setting the mizzen lateen sail, the staysail, the jib, and the sprit mainsail. We went down stream for a bit jibing a few times before the wind shifted and we headed back upstream past Church Point and into view of campus and the Saint Mary's boathouse. The crew handled the pinnace impressively and gave us a nice history lesson to boot. 

After the sail we went back up to Mom & Don's and spent the night avoiding the parade downtown while Noa was off having a sleepover with friends. Mom picked up bagels and lox for our Father's Day breakfast, then we headed home for a chill rest of our Father's Day before my trip out to Snowmass on Monday.

(click here for all the pictures)

Nerdy Prudes Must Die!

For their art credit for spring semester at Burke, Noa signed up for Music Composition. When the administration cancelled that class, they placed Noa into Singing in the Spotlight. Noa was not particularly pleased with this development, as it was not on any list of classes that Noa indicated they wanted to take. But inertia is a thing, and teenagers that are informed they can either take the class they are currently enrolled in, or drop the class, find a suitable replacement that fits into their schedule, and submit all the associated paperwork to do so, tend to just go with the flow. Hence, Noa's performance of Just for Once from Nerdy Prudes Must Die.

Allen was out of town which meant I was charged with recording Noa, a fact I did surreptitiously because I wasn't sure if they were ok with it (they were). I was assured afterwards that my poor craftsmanship didn't matter since the school had also recorded the program (using a tripod and filters and other helpful, quality improving tools) and would make their recording available. However, they did not. So here is Noa, mostly in frame though blurry, performing their solo from Singing in the Spotlight. Enjoy!

(To see all the stills of Noa performing that Burke did provide, click here.)

Chess Club

When you've both started playing online chess, it's good to have your sibling home to play in person :-)

Rivalry Week

With Owen's deep dive into baseball fandom this year, he made a plan for all the games he wanted to see this summer. First on the list was a drive up to Baltimore to see a Nats v. O's rivalry week game. Owen reached out to his oldest friend Leo and the two of them made plans together and kindly invited the dad's to join along. So Leo, Owen, Micah and I made the trek up to Camden Yards for a 4pm game on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The Nats made it worth the trip, jumping out to a 6-0 lead in the top of the first, piling on a bad week for the O's who just fired their manager after a disappointing start to a season with high expectations. The middle innings were mostly quiet (and a perfect opportunity for a delicious crab cake sandwich) with a bit of excitement in the 9th as the Nats scored three more runs for a 10-2 lead, and the Jackson Holliday hit a 3-run homer for the O's in the bottom of the 9th before the Nats closed it out for a 10-6 win.

 

Birthday Girls

We had a pretty quiet celebration of Elaine's real birthday at home on Tuesday, just some sushi at home and a very nice bottle of Sancerre. Mother's Day celebration on Sunday with Noa and I making brunch and homemade pasta for dinner, plus a long day of work on Tuesday meant we didn't plan too much for the actual day. However, we did make plans to jointly celebrate Elaine and Megan's birthdays on Friday with a lovely meal at Rose's Luxury. One of the benefits of our Pineapples & Pearls dinner for Don was a gift certificate to Rose's, and what better way to use it than going out with Steve & Megan to celebrate the birthdays of two amazing and wonderful women. The dinner was amazing and it is wonderful to have such good friends to share it with.

Return of the Teen

It was just two weeks ago that Owen headed back to school following Easter dinner, so it seems kind of crazy that he is already home, having successfully completed his freshman year of college (technically he's still waiting on his Chemistry grade, but still...). Even crazier, Owen had the last possible final at St. Marys (7 pm on Monday May 5th), which meant that most of campus had already cleared out before he was even done. It also meant that when we arrived at 10 am on Tuesday morning, Owen had already packed, staged all his his stuff (having done his laundry the might before), and cleaned the room, so that it only took 30 minutes to load up the cars and take him home for the summer (it would have been even faster if one of the glass shelves in his refrigerator hadn't broken).

Once we arrived back and unloaded the cars, Allen and I went off to do some work while Owen reacquainted himself with his room. Fortunately, Allen only had to work for a few hours before he and Owen left to catch the last few innings of the first of a Nats-Guardians double header, which was fortunate as the first game ended with a come from behind National's victory while the second...didn't. And while that's probably not how Owen hoped the night would end, overall it was still a pretty good start to his summer.

He has Driven

One of the best things about Owen attending St. Mary's, is that he's only 90 minutes away, which means he can easily come home for important things, like Allen's birthday, Opening Day, and Easter. As something as an homage to all three, Owen had scheduled St. Mary's Club Softball practice for midday on Holy Saturday, which meant that Allen got to play softball with a bunch of college kids before driving Owen back to DC for 24 hours of family fun. Once there, we ordered take-out and had a mandatory family game night – Munchkin Edition – which ended epically when Noa took down Owen by playing the Wand of Dousing to find the Divine Intervention card allowing all clerics to go up a level giving the joint win to Noa and Allen (who really was just along for the ride, but Noa was feeling nice).

The next morning we had a lovely family brunch before heading up to Mom Mom and Grandpa Don's for Easter dinner with special guests Nancy and Danny. Sharon made an impressive spread including salmon, couscous, roasted carrots, salad, and a delicious white chocolate cake. We even got to end the night with a round of marbles with Sharon emerging victorious (despite all of Nancy's efforts to destroy her).

After saying our farewells, we headed home where Allen quickly packed up his car and then drove the 90 minutes back to St. Marys for his last two weeks of his freshman year of college.

Opening Day!

It's always beautiful when peak bloom lines up with Opening Day. Owen drove up from SMCM after his last class in the morning and Mom Mom & Grandpa Don joined us to watch the Nats take on the Phillies. The weather had been iffy all week, but sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 50s made for a gorgeous day at the Nats Park. Keibert Ruiz homered to give the Nats an early lead, and MacKenzie Gore pitched a gem with 13Ks, 0 BBs, and only giving up one hit in six dominant innings. The Phillies scored in the top of the 7th and 8th to take the lead, and the Nats battled back to tie it in the bottom of the 8th. The game went to extra innings and things fell apart for the Nats eventually losing 7-3, but it was an encouraging start to what we hope will be an exciting season of baseball!

(click here for all the pictures)

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.)