RIP Project Playset

I didn't take a ton of pictures, but about 11.5 years after the play structure we gave Zara for their 5th birthday was assembled, Z helped Wes and I take it back down. We've frankly been done with it for about 2 years now (since Amity was about 10), but nostalgia and inertia and maybe even some laziness seems to have delayed it's final swan song. It was a good play structure, it served us well, and we've got a TON of happy memories of days swung by.

What should we put in its place once Amity gives us some yard back from her soccer take over?

This is how we Christmas

4 of us, with a total of ten feet, went for our annual Christmas run. We'd typically go out to the movies and then grab chinese food, but the combo of super high levels of covid transmission in town and the fact *everyone* seems to have appropriated our chinese food on christmas tradition caused a zag in this year's festivities. We opted for family board game afternoon (Wingspan) and then Z treated us all to a 5 course meal they made, more or less, on their own. Wes helped a bit, but Z was the driving force to be sure. Someone's got pictures of the other courses, but for now please enjoy this charcuterie board.

Ginter Lights, Take 3

You just never know when something that seems like a whimsical trip with friends might morph into a beloved wintertime tradition.

Big Foots

Z is definitely still a few inches taller than A (who is still shorter than me, but by a very small margin at this point)... but feet sizewise, I think we can all wear each other's shoes.

Dog Party

We interupt your regularly scheduled Z and A content (and sometimes a bit about their grown ups or friends) to bring you this breaking news story. After many years of tolerating each other, Zelda and Maizie may actually like each other. Maybe?

Happy Chanukah!

Someone else probably took some better Chanukah pictures this year, but these will have to suffice for now. We'll likely stumble upon said better pics when we're search for photos for the ineveitable Amity Bat Mitzvah montage, coming your way in Februrary 2023. In the meantime, here's some kiddos bringing just a little more light to the world.

Twice as nice!

And, just like that, we've now got a collective 10 covid vaccines in the books. We're currently 60/40 m:p, and Z will add to the Pfizer tally when they get their booster in a few weeks. But for now, everyone is as fully up to date as they can possibly be. Big exhale.... (Also, Amity's arm was more sore from the flu shot than it was from this second covid shot. She pretty much had ZERO side effects!)

(W)rec(k) Soccer!

Z played their third season of high school rec soccer this fall. They had an awesome coach (who is also their pediatrician) and a pretty sweet group of kiddos including a teammate from the previous 2 seasons. It was the first time they've played 11v11 on a full sized field (not counting school soccer) and, not unrelatedly, it was probably also the season when they *played* the most. Z's attendance at the games was perfect, and despite the fact I think they had 18? 19? rostered players the team was almost ALWAYS short of subs and sometimes couldn't even field a full 11. See the above picture here, for instance - 1 whole sub! Yes, high schoolers are busy, yes, rec soccer is a fun and low key commitment, but it's still a bit frustrating. While they were often on the losing end of the score line, I think they all (mostly) had fun and even enjoyed a win late in the season. Go Blue!

Ball Kid

Through the "Girls Can Club" Amity was given the opportunity to be a ball kid for UVA's 2nd round NCAA play off game. Here she is, hanging out just a few feet away from one of her favorite defenders.

Finally!

Today was the day! Amity's been on the books since the day they announced approval for 5-11 year olds, but her appointment wasn't until next Saturday, keeping with the idea that more vulnerable kiddos and families should go first. However, fortune favors the flexible, and when we got a call that her pediatrician's office had one extra dose, we jumped at the opportunity (and in the car). Many many thanks to the amazing pediatricians and staff and their herculean efforts these last 20 months. We love our pediatricians so! Let the 5 week countdown begin!

Navy Storm

One of the other parents of Amity's soccer team took some pretty sweet photos, so I'm just gonna post them here. We watch/play a lot of soccer around here, we'll see if we can get some of Zara soon, too.

The IMPOSSIBLE Corn Maze

Apparently, and we're not sure how this came to be, Chani (who is from the midwest) has never been to a corn maze. To be fair I don't think I was much for corn mazes before we had kids and lived in Virginia, but I still think it seems like a very midwestern thing to do. In any case, we'd previously attempted (and completed) the "hard" maze at this farm, but we did it by flashlight (at night) which was super fun. Always up for a challenge, we wanted to try the "impossible" maze ( i think they maybe call it the mystery maze, but we prefer the appellation "impossible." What makes it a mystery is a lack of a map, however we figured out that with a big enough party (5 of us) and a keen strategy (someone marks our spot while everyone else fans out at any decision point to check all possible paths and find the correct one) we made it through in under 2 hours. It was supremely fun, depsite a little hot, and we are very likley to do it again!

Walkout

Amity's participating in the "Girls Can Club" with the UVA Women's Soccer team. Terrible name, but awesome program where she gets tickets to all of the home games and the opportunity to walk out with the players before most weekend afternoon games. She also was paried with a mentor player who she got to hang out with after a game and also have lunch with. I negelected to get a proper picture of her with Kira, so instead here's a screen grab from her first walk out. Standing behind her in red is Laurel Ivory (Amity's goalkeeping idol), and we expect to see Laurel as well as some of the others in the NWSL in the very near future. Pretty great that Amity will have "known them when."

First Day of School: 6th and 11th

And we're back! Z's off to their junior year of high school, making this the penultimate back to school post for them of the K-12 era. I suppose I could ask them to send us a pic once they're off to college, but we won't dwell on such things right now. Meanwhile Amity's getting her first opportunity to actually middle school it up, i.e. she'll get to change classes and have different people in each of her classes... something that she missed out on entirely since she was cohorted for the previous school year.

Let Your Troubles Roll By

 

Our first "back in person" concert was, of course, Carbon Leaf. I mean I'm pretty sure we've caught upwards of 50 CL shows in the 19 years we've been fans so it's probably not shocking. I think the only year we didn't go to at least one Leaf show was 2014, but I'm not exactly sure why - maybe no C'ville shows, no near-ish by outdoor shows and parents of a preschooler and elementary schooler? Who remembers.

Anyway, show was great, love Leaf with Z, I miss live music SO SO SO much and yay Toonces at concerts again.

Shot #2

So, 3 weeks later, we're back at "Big Shots" again for Pfizer dose #2. And in 2 weeks we'll be at 75% coverage for the household, and that's not half bad. Actually, it's about three-quarter's good!

Williamsburg Cup

While Zoo and I were chilling in C'ville at the (indoors and raining) Sunburn Tournament, Amity and Wes braved the rain in Williamsburg, VA for her first ever tournament. This one was mostly travel teams, however after a season of near total domination of our local challenge league (advanced rec?), she and her fellow teammates on Royal Courage were ready for some real competition. They went 1-1-1, which is not too shabby all things considered.....

Sunburn 2021

No sunburns at this year's tournament because it was in the 50s and raining all weekend, and on top of that we played at the Field House which is more or less indoors.

Z's team (who I sub-coached) took silver, posting a 2-1 record in the preliminary round and then losing a somewhat crushing game 3-0 in the final. It was still scoreless at the half, and they were down one of their better players, so we can all dream it would have turned out differently. In the end, however, the players seemed to have a fair bit of fun, and they played some pretty good soccer. Out of 11 players, 6 are "seniors" (several actually gradated the year before but as it's a U19 team they had one more year to play) so this was their last hurrah in the youth league. It was a pretty good note to go out on, and all things considered the fact they were able to play a normal-ish (7v7 instead of 11v11) season was a real silver lining to the thunderstorms of the previous 14 months.

Not throwing away my shot!

Zara's brought our household covid vaccination up to 5/8ths! Again with the million thanks to SCIENCE and SCIENTISTS and the FDA/CDC etc for the EUA on 12-15 year olds. Now can we please just include 11 year olds?

Kline's Dairy Bar

What's sweeter than a 3-2 victory over archrivals Sky Blue? A full team trip to Kline's Dairy Bar, of course, which is pretty much one of the only reasons to be in Waynesboro.

(photos courtesy of Lindsay Friesen who will always be known as Coach Mrs. Dr. Jane's mom in our house)

My Guitar Hero

Z just keeps getting better and better on the guitar. It is what you'd expect from practice, but they really pick it up so quickly. They also have a tremdously beautiful voice and it's a joy to watch and listen.

Spring Break: OBX Style

This was the first vacation we've taken in just about a year, and the first time we had seen Auntie Clare since Thanksgiving 2019 i think. That is far too long to go without seeing your Clare, FYI, in case anyone was wondering. We had a blast with a quick 3 day trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, which we have managed to not make it to even though we've lived in C'ville for 15 years or something now. Suffice to say, much fun was had, with trips to the beach, mini golf, ice cream, sand dunes, kayaking and kitty hawk/wright brother's national monument/museum. We will for sure be back again, hopefully with Auntie C!

Chess Masters

We went through a somehwat short lived Chess phase around here - mostly the non-me members of the household. I don't think it was soley due to the influence of The Queen's Gambit but I can't say that it was uninfluential, either. In any case, I will let you all make up the story of what's going on here. I think the pictures speak for themselves.