Happy Chanukah!

Check out the awesome yule log Z and E made!

Chanukah was a little different this year. For one, no one could figure out, or maybe remember, when it actually started. No one here might just have been me, but it was a little discombobulated. Aunt Whitney came in clutch with awesome, perfectly Chanukah sized presents each night. I was also recovering from COVID, so the first night festivities were definitely muted. And we spent more than usual time with The Tobiases, since Avrom was also recovering from COVID and they had expected to be on an Iceland adventure, but were folied by illness AND weather. Unrelated to Chanukah, we started a nice sosltice bonfire tradition.

Winter Concerts

Amity is in both choir and orchestra, but the cello pics were better, so that's what you get to see this time. She had a solo (really a duet) and has generally been killing the arts (in a good way) all trimester.

Zara is also in Orchestra (and the Honors chamber group subset, Counterpoints) as well as both the treble voices a capella group (Treblemakers) and the all voices group (Elements of Sound) AND the honors Choir group. Despite their presence on stage in like 90% of this concert, this is the only vaguely decent photo of them.

As always, the real MVPs of winter concert season are the faithful support parents/siblings/grandparents etc, pictured here ;)

Thanksgiving in NC

After a few years hiatus (not just the pandemic even!) we finally made it to visit Debbi and Craig for Thanksgiving. We deeply enjoyed hanging with the not so new pigs, Frick and Frack, who are far cuter than I ever imagined pigs could be! We tried to take a picture with the dogs, but they would not cooperate. As always, we had tons of fun.

Aunt Debbi's Horses

We love visiting Debbi and Craig and all of the dogs and goats, but I think what the kiddos love most of all is the opportunity to get in some quality horse time with Spirit (Zara) and Lena (Amity).

Halloween

Zara made their own Totoro costume - which doubles as a really super cool hoodie. As a senior, they got to wear the costume to school and trick or treat at the various advisories. Amity will get to dress up at school next year (8th graders are the seniors of the LV) but d/t soccer this year, we didn't know if she was even going trick or treating until the day before. Luckily practice was cancelled, so she was a cactus and Ansel was a venus fly trap. Notable this year, Z went trick or treating with Isabel (Mario in the above picture), A and A went to Catherine's house, and Wes and I stayed home, gave out candy (in between rain showers) and had a lovely "grown up" dinner. We've defiitely moved into a new phase of halloween around here, but a good time was had by all.

Apple Picking

Kiddos had a day off from school, so in between play rehersals and soccer practices we took a super quick jaunt up to Carter Mountain. Drank hot apple cider, ate donuts, picked apples, admired the beautiful place we live in, etc. Just your typical early fall, late morning jaunt.

Ohio College Visits

We all had a blast visiting Oberlin - how could you not love a school where the halftime show features the Taiko drummers, and a member of the women's varsity soccer team also happens to be a drummer?

Here's Z in Tappan Square.

And A posing, too.

Amity's favorite part was definitely "the grass" aka the practice field she trained on while Z and W toured campus.

We also played soccer while our other half toured Case Western... and posed on signs.

Corn Maze for Days

Amity was surpsingly devoid of soccer games this weekend, so we took advantage of the lull in her schedule to venture out on a full family college visit to Northeastern Ohio! But first, we stopped for some afternoon adventures.

This maze came with a pretty comprehensive map, and it turns out at least some of us a very good at map reading. Amity seemed mildly annoyed that Zara and Wes were running the show, but every time she was offered an opoportunity to map read or lead, she basically declined. Below is a re-creation of what it tended to look like when we'd stop and plot.

However a good time was generally had by all. It was a beautiful day, and it handily broke up the drive between C'ville and Oberlin.

The maze was fun, but since they marked all 18 places you were supposed to visit in order to complete the game, it was really no match for our mad skills. There was a smaller subset that had unmarked clues, but we smiliarly conquered that quest, too.

What We Did on Our Holiday

Z and their crew hanging in the Tarring Gym before Convocation.

A and her crew sporting their 2nd place medals at yet another tournament. This is her new club team, the very (un)creatively named SOCA 2010G Blue, but oddly enough this is the first "real" game (well, 4 games) she's played since the last game (also 4 games) in her previous tournament.

Also of interest, these events did not happen on the same day. A's tournament was over Labor Day weekend, and Z's convocation was last Friday. But for the sake or either brevity or parity, I'm presenting them here, and now.

First Day of School: 7th and 12th

And we're back! For the curious among you, no, those are not eggs. They are figs. Because we have a fig tree, and it's late August. Otherwise it was a pretty typical back to school morning. No one was ready to be awake when the alarms went off, most people ate something resembling breakfast, the dog got fed, everyone who wanted it drank coffee, only one computer charger was left behind (and the laptop was fully charged, so hopefully it makes it through the day), kids briefly pretended to like each other (they actually do, but shh, we don't talk about it) and I think everyone made it on time. I wouldn't actually know for sure, though, since Wes took A and Z drove on their own and will be spending the year parking in the SENIOR lot.

ZFC, EMT-B

Zara skipped going to camp this summer (hardest decision EVER) in favor of working as a lifeguard, pool tech, swim coach and most importantly becoming an EMT! They successfully passed the course (hands on exam as well as a billion multiple choice) and then also passed the national exam, so they are like legit and official and all that. They'd love to run with the local rescue squad, but they'd have to be 18, which they are not. So, just as soon as they get their college applications in, they'll be choosing which Albemarle County firehouse will get the honor of their presence as a volunteer. Go, Z!

Camp (for One)

Camp drop off was a little different this year. First off, while we all made the trip, only Amity stayed at camp, and this was the first time since Z was 8 that camp was happening and they didn't attend. This was an emotionally fraught decision, but also Z had other things going on this summer (primarily becoming an EMT!) and so camp just didn't fit in with the schedule. This was also Amity's first year without her beloved sib in attendance, but since Amity's been going to camp since she was 7, this adjustment proved to be pretty minor. Other new this year things - Zara drove! This was, in part, in preparation for next summer when they are planning on being a counselor for THE ENTIRE SUMMER and want to take a car with them on said adevnture. Well, if you're gonna drive to camp next summer by yourself, you should drive to camp this summer with the whole mishpocha kibbutzing along the way. Unsusrprisngly, Z did a great job and they are a fabulous driver. As is often the case, I didn't take an pictures actually *at* camp but the thought was certainly there.

Stop! Dolphin Time!

Amity's true love is definitely soccer, but she deigns to swim now and again, too. We're trying to convince her of the utility of cross training, but she's not necessarily having it. She claims she's not going to swim for FSBC next year b/c practice starts at 8:30am, but I think since so many friends also swim (and because she's very social) she'll end up going to at least a few morning practices a week, and maybe an occasional afternoon one, too. I would not be sad if she didn't want to compete in swim meets anymore, however....

Happy 17th Birthday, Zara!

So apparently I haven't made a Z's birthday post for the last 5 years? Man, I'm a slacker. Got to go back and retcon that. In the meantime, we took almost no pictures but had a pretty fun day. Amity missed out for only the second time in her 12 years tenure as Zara's sister (first time was the summer Z tuned 13 in Ireland), becuase she was at UVA Women's Soccer residential camp. So the 3 of us went to RVA for the day - did a fun Alice in Wonderland themed escape room, toured VCU (in the rain), ate some ridiculous birthday desserts and then polished it off with some sushi at Lucky AF. Happy 17, sweet Zoo!

All my 90s dreams come true

We took a 24 hour trip to Charlotte, NC to see some of my favoritest bands from when I was the same age as A and Z are now. For the curious among you, that's Toad the Wet Sprocket, Gin Blossoms and Barenaked Ladies. Despite their nostalgia cred, at least both BNL and Toad have been putting out new music fairly steadily in the last 10 years, not sure about Gin Blossoms but who doesn't love a rousing rendition of "Hey Jealousy"? Anwyay, despite some whining (us) and some rude concert going behavior (not us) and the number of people who seem to still smoke IRL cigarettes??? (def not us) we all had SO MUCH FUN!

When we root, we root for the....

So as part of summer fun-a-palooza, we got tickets for a Washington Spirit game. They are probably our closest NWSL team, especially when they play at Segra field, which is actually a terrible place to play. So on the one hand I hope they don't play there next year, and on the other hand it'll be a much bigger schlep to Audi Field (DC proper) so maybe we'll be headed to more NC Courage games next year? Who knows. They were playing the Red Stars, who we also kinda like, so we were a bit coonflicted on who to root for. @e were not conflicted as to the need to get some more tuneful singers/chanters in the Spirit supporters section, but we'll forever treasure the memories of, and yes also make fun of, the off key droning that was the soundtrack to the game. Amity got a few autographs afterwards - I didn't take a picture of them but Aubrey Kingsbury was especially sweet and took time to chat. This last pic here is Amity with Trinity Rodman.