Summer Things- Mid summer catch up

 Our summer has gotten off to a fun start. 

Bridget took a trip to NYC with her Girl Scout Troop, received her Girl Scout Silver Award and celebrated with a party.  Her silver project happened during the pandemic and she sewed tons of face masks for the Cotactin Furnace Historical Society. She and I attended their festival back in Sept 2021 and brought a large supply of historical fabric inspired masks right as their supply was depleted. It was a well-deserved award.

Johanna wrapped up her 3rd grade year with Field Day and was soon in the pool doing summer swim. She has swim meets most Saturdays and is getting faster as the summer goes. Johanna also attended Howard County Girl Scout Day Camp for a week and came home singing all of the camp songs. She also did St Mark Drama Camps for 2 separate weeks. With Harry Potter and Encanto themes.

Rachael is working at Weiss Grocery in the bakery and making visits to Boston to visit Josh. She was so glad to be able to volunteer at HCGSDC on 2 days that she wasn't working.

Megan is working at the farm, bottling olive oil and is returning the favor to the Kureks as the driver to the farm. Joseph and Michael drove her to work previous years and now it is her opportunity to drive Katherine. The slightly rusty, no AC, crank window car is doing the trick.

Emma is working in the McKeldin section of Patapsco State Park this year, and is running art programs. This year after getting small craft certified she has added Canoe and Paint events. Megan joined her on one and had a blast.

We had a good 4th of July in Catonsville at the Shumakers. A good number of people/cousins were out of town and there was more coming and going but still a lot of fun. I missed the handing out of rocket pops while I was picking up Josh and Rachael after work, but I did get to eat one. Josh brought his fire spinning tools and did a demonstration for the party. It was pretty cool. Uncle Erik queued up some fire themed songs as Josh performed. For the first time I walked Johanna down to the high school with the bigger cousins to see the fireworks. It is an amazing show!

Then the next weekend amid near constant rain, we helped the Brinks set up for Crab Soup in their back yard. Jim headed over early on Saturday to help get the soup going, while I did a very rainy swim meet with Johanna. The rain turned more to a drizzle later in the afternoon and we got to enjoy the party. Megan held a good number of new babies, Bridget hung out with the young teens and Johanna got to swim in the pool after I went back home to get her swimsuit. Emma and Rachael were able to come by too.

Dance Recital, Covid, and a hair cut

 June 5, 2022

As the school year headed into it last days and deadlines got closer, our activities also came to a culmination. Bridget's dance practices got longer and the details became fine-tuned. Bridget hair had gotten super long and was down to her butt. She is talking about getting it cut to her chin and we decided for the sake of the dance bun getting it cut to a moderate length before the recital would be the first step. It looks great.

Memorial Day offered a bit of a break and Bridget wound up with a bigger break than expected. She didn't feel good on Friday and tested positive for Covid.  So she isolated in the basement with lots of food deliveries and snacks and drinks and medicine. She skipped the weekend activities.

I let her dance teacher know and told her we would keep her home for the 5 days recommended and then reassess. Ms. Carol emailed everyday to check on Bridget. She was concerned and also trying to avoid a bunch of students getting sick and putting the recital in jeopardy. Bridget had a fever for the first day, and was a bit achy but then felt pretty much herself. Bridge was glad for the memorial holiday because it meant that she would only miss 2 days of school as they prepped for finals. Bridget was able to catch back up on school and get in a good dance practice before recital weekend.

Bridget would still be wearing a mask for the recital per CDC guidelines but she was happy to be feeling good and have the timing work out well for her to be able to participate in the big events. since Bridget is older, she doesn't really need me to hang around for the dress rehearsal for 6 hours but I did come for part of it. It is a great way to watch the dances up close without distractions. 

The theme was "Hand in Hand" and was about different environmental biomes. Bridget's contemporary dance "Seals" for which she wore a blue dress, was gorgeous and she got to showcase her growth as a dancers doing moves she previously wasn't able to do. In the Desert act, Bridget's Jazz class was Scarab Beetles in a short gold sequin outfit. the dance had lots of sass and spunk and Bridget really conveyed the vibe of the dance with crisp movements. The Final act was the Jungle where Bridget did her ballet, Pointe, and ballet corps numbers, as guardians, and vines. she put a lot of effort and so much stretching into her year and achieved a beautiful result. 

On dance day I went with her early for a run through and to get dressed. Jim and the sisters were joining us at start time. Her bun didn't feel right that morning and I redid it a few times and she was stressed about it but we realized that missing a dose of her medicine wasn't helping the pre-recital nerves. Jim arrived with sisters and medicine.  Bridget calmed to a regular elevated state. The recital was fantastic and so much fun. It is great to watch her dance.

Afterward Bridget picked dinner out at our traditional after recital restaurant, Matthew's 1600. Bridget had a headache from the bun, so we stepped to the bathroom and let her hair down. We enjoyed a lovely dinner with easy conversation to celebrate a job well done.

Johanna on the Run

April 24, 2022

Johanna joined a running club called Girls on the Run, GOTR, that meet twice a week after school. She wasn't sure about signing up at first but once she realized a few of her classmates had registered she was open to the idea.

Each week they worked on setting goals, being encouraging, and running. Johanna came home in a good mood after each meeting. She didn't seem to love the running part of it and had a sprint then walk approach to getting her laps done.

The end of the program was a 5k and they did a test run right before Easter break. Johanna did it without much trouble but her time was on the slower side of the group. For the 5k itself they asked each girl to have a running buddy. Megan agreed to run it with her and Aunt Heather who is getting back into running signed up as well. Heather was a bit worried that she would be running too slow and didn't want to hold Johanna up. 

The day of the race was beautiful. Jim, Bridget, and I would be cheering the group on as they ran through Druid Hill Park. There were over 1500 girls and their running buddies, so they started in 3 heats. Before the start they had some warmup/dance time, hair painting and general excitement. We did a potty stop and then Johanna headed toward the start line. And they were off.

Jim, Bridget and I found spots on the course and watched as the runners streamed by. Johanna, Megan and Heather were looking good when they came by. Jim Bridget and I changed locations to cheer them on again. We settled in and scores of runners went by, the runners had spread out and walkers were coming by. More and more people came by and still no Johanna. By the time we did see her, they were walking and she looked like she was in a ton of pain. she was complaining of cramping and tried to make a stop at a port-a-potty, but it was locked. The poor girl was all hunched over and really hurting. Megan gave her a piggy back, for a short stretch. 

We moved our support team to the finish line and they approached the finish line looking a little stronger with a jog, but Johanna still looked miserable. She did it, with much encouragement and support. Her team was all gathered and they gave out medals and took a team photo. 

I hurried her to the bathrooms, skipping the individual picture her coach wanted to take. We circled back for the photo and then I got in line to buy her the snowball treat she was looking forward to. Heather said that it was a tough race but Megan was a gentle encourager and Johanna got through it. It took a little while but the pains went away and Johanna was able to smile.

We are so proud of Johanna finishing her race, and we look forward to her doing it again next year.

Harper's Ferry- Spring 2022

 March 2022

One of the good things that came out of the pandemic was a tradition of camping. Since that first trip of desperation to get out of isolation, hang out with friends and be outside, we have made the short drive to Harper's Ferry KOA 4 times and we don't see any reason to discontinue it. Each time we have booked the same grouping of cabins with the Brinks and Shumakers, and each get away has been great.

We had Lenten Friday soup and bread. Enjoyed the fire together and snuggled into our cabins for the night. Johanna and I kept waking up at night due to a nibbling sound. Sure enough a mouse had gotten into the Oreos as we tried to sleep. From then on food was stored locked in the van.

Saturday morning Jim made pancakes and sausage for breakfast, as we got ready for our day. This trip we made a point to get to the historic city of Harper's Ferry and take advantage of the National Park shuttles, Museums, and Ranger knowledge. On Saturday most of us went over to the the ranger station, where Johanna got the Junior Ranger badge book and loaded into the shuttles to head into town. We had packed lunches and split up when we arrived, arranging a time to meet for lunch. 

Johanna was ready to work on her badge, so I joined her going from museum to museum, reading plaques, checking out maps, looking for specific historic figures and events to learn about and record in her book. Jim, most of the adults and the big kids freely roamed the town. The kids played a game in the stores, looking for the most absurd item and getting bubble tea. When we met back for lunch everyone was smiling and despite a brisk wind and chill we happily ate outside in the park. After lunch we decided to hike up to Jefferson Rock. Jim bowed out because of his knees and he made a good call on that one. That hill was torture.

It wasn't a long hike but it was challenging on the knees. Midway is the historic Catholic church so we stopped for a few pictures, Then headed up on the Appalachian trail to Jefferson Rock. The views were impressive and the beautiful day highlighted the majesty. We continued a little further on to walk through the historic cemetery. Johanna was not fond of this but relaxed as we walked around. The big kids got a kick out reading the names before heading back down the trail into town. 

When we descended, Johanna and I went off to finish the badge requirements. She struggled with the horror of the John Brown raid and stories of the slaves he was trying to free. As a parent I was able to summarize and get her through. She said she wouldn't have done what he did but she understood why he did it. We grouped up again and as we did big snow flakes fell, cold wind blew in and hail made brief appearances. It was crazy spring weather. We decided that was our queue to head back to the shuttles. 

We got back to crazy wind and most of us headed into the dry warmth of our cabins before regrouping for dinner. We were lucky that the rain we did get was short lived. Jimmy prepared amazing grilled meats for tacos for dinner. It was so yummy. the kids hit the gaga ball pit, and that night Evy taught Bridget how to ride a skateboard. Around the fire that night we sat around having each person pick a song for us to listen too. We got into a funny show tune genre kick. It was cold and the fire was really smoky. One of the great parts was that we spent a lot of time together kids and adults. Joe Brink (freshman in HS) was playing games on his phone and sharing with Johanna. Those two had a blast together.

These camping trips may just be a lovely part of this stage of our lives and for it I am grateful, however long it may last.

Dance Recital- At the Farm

 Bridget was so grateful to have dance classes this past year. It was her one in-person activity and it was a balm to the isolation. They practiced with windows open and masks on, with reduced class sizes and temp checks at the door. But a small class is a different beast from a recital. The studio owner talked with the families and made the decision to host the recital on her farm.

It was a huge production to not only organize the dancers, music, sound, and staging, but to add stage set up, parking, porta pottys and so on. Since it was out doors and it was the summer of the 17 year cicadas she pushed it back a few weeks until they had passed their peak. And it was all worth it!

We were blessed with blue skies and the heat of a Baltimore June day. Families brought tents and umbrellas and we sat outside and watched the girls dance. Performing the skills they had worked on all year. Bridget was taking en pointe so she had an additional dance plus the corpe ballet. Bridget worked really hard and looked strong and graceful. I was so impressed. I am so grateful for Carol hosting the event and all of the extra she did to make it happen.