First Day of School - K and 5

Amity and Zara, for the first time in anyone's life, now attend the same school (at the same time). I teach there, too. Amity started Kindergarten, Zara started Middle School (5th grade) and I'm back for my 3rd year as a high school teacher.

Haircuts!

In honor of going back to school, we all got our hairs cut. I'm hoping this will reduce some of the activation energy required for getting out of the house and off to school... plus, we're cute, no?

Happy 5 1/2, Amity!

5 and a half years old, and already missing 3 teeth - 2 on the bottom and 1 on top! Here we are at the Summit Diner (off the PA Turnpike, not the one in New Jersey) taking a quick lunch break.

JSL Champs

Zara and Amity both swam for Fry's Spring Beach Club this summer, and Zara chose to swim in the JSL Champs meet at UVA. She had an amazing experience and can't wait until swim team starts back up next summer. Here she is smashing her seed time in backstroke by more than 10 seconds. She was the heat winner (first time ever). Good on you, Z!

Superheroes

Amity and friends have been studying/being superheroes at school these past few weeks. Here's a glimpse.

St. Patrick's Day

Wes and Z (and the rest of BRIMS) performing at Fellini's for St. Patrick's Day.

Planting Trees

Tu B'shevat (the Jewish holiday known to preschoolers as "birthday of the trees") falls a little too early for tree planting here in VA. We therefore celebrated a bit belatedly by planting an apricot (replacing the one we lost a year ago) and a pear (a new fruit tree for us). Thanks to Z's buddy Vic for helping out and getting muddy with us.

Maymont Forever

Z and I had a relaxing staycation Spring Break as the rest of the family was in school. We all took a day trip to Richmond, which of course included a trip to Maymont. We periodically measure their wingspan, and it's definitely getting longer...

Homage to Terry

Sad news today with the death of Terry Pratchett. But of course, "No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away..." Read on, Z.

Welcome, Zelda!

After an unprecedentedly long period of non-dog ownership (coinciding with a period of having 2 small kiddos, one of whom has just started really sleeping through the night), we decided it was time to add a canine member to the family. While originally leaning towards a Doodle puppy of some sort (lab/golden-poodle mix was top of my list), we ended up opting instead for a rescue dog. Not finding any super local ones that fit the bill, we went online and found our pup via "internet dating" (for dogs). She hails from Tennessee, where they have no shelters but instead provide foster homes for the multitudes of strays in the area.
Despite what the white in her muzzle (and it is white, not grey!) might otherwise imply, she's about 8 months old. She's absolutely the sweetest, most patient, tolerant, and wonderfully chill dog. We clearly won the dog lottery with this one. She's a keeper! Many, many more photos to follow...