It’s been a packed spring with races, performances and various end of year activities.
Lauren and I did a 5K race for Gift of Life, called the Donor Dash. And Lauren killed it. She came in 3rd in her age group of 15 and under. We’ve got a star runner in the making!
The next weekend Dave and I, along with Justin, Don, and Rebecca did the Broad St. Run. The weather wasn’t great, but it wasn’t the worst we’ve run in either. First weekend in May, you never know.
I also did a sprint distance triathlon in Rock Hall. Dave unfortunately couldn’t come down to do it because of a crazy schedule, but Don joined me. This year I’ve moved up in age groups to 45-49 (ugh). But it went well and I ended up taking first in the group – first our of 18 in the age group and 61 out of 380 overall!
There were also spring concerts – Lauren’s 5th grade band concert and Sophie’s Philadelphia Girls Choir concert. Both were excellent and both girls did a great job.
Lauren had her 5th grade dance, which she went to with her “crew” of friends.
After two years Sophie finally got her braces off! We finally get to see the full smile again – teeth and all!
And finally, in exciting family news, Shannon Boyle is getting married! Lauren and Kathy represented the Sharp contingent at her shower. We’re looking forward to the wedding in September!
This year for spring break we headed out to California. We spent the first part of the week in Yosemite National Park and the second half in San Francisco. The travel day getting there was very long – we left our house around 6AM and didn’t get to our AirBNB until about 9PM California time, but we made it work and were able to spend four good days in the park. We were also surprised to drive into a snow storm about 30 minutes after we got into the park. By the time we got to our house about 90 minutes later there was about two feet of snow on the ground. Not what we expected, but we rolled with it – though it would have be nice to have a few warmer pieces of clothing.
Lauren surveying the area in her “snow outfit”Fortunately the house had a hot tub, which we enjoyed very much!
The first hike we took was to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, which was amazing. Because of the weather there weren’t many people, which made it that much better. In general, we were a few weeks ahead of the big crowds, which was great. We definitely had a chance to enjoy the hikes more.
in front of a giant SequoiaThe Grizzly Giant
Over the next two days we did a few different hikes, including to the base of El Capitan (Dave and Sophie were brave and ventured a little further than Lauren and me), Yosemite Falls, and around the Merced River and Coulterville.
Climbing to the base of El CapitanGroup shot at the base of El CapitanYosemite Falls View of El Capitan from afar
After Yosemite we headed back San Francisco for a few days. We rented a house that was right off the Pacific Coast Highway and overlooked the ocean, which was beautiful. Unfortunately, we didn’t have great weather – it was chilly and rained a bit – but we forged ahead and still did everything we had planned.
We spent some time in the intertidal zone looking for cool things that emerge during low tide, and did a few light hikes to different areas overlooking the water. One day we headed into the city and checked all of the touristy boxes like Pier 39, Chinatown, and Lombard Street.
our housewatching the sunset exploring the intertidal zone at Seal Cove Beachlooking for whales at Moss BeachSea Lions at Pier 39
On our last day we went to the Muir Woods in a complete downpour. While I wish we could have spent more time there, what we saw was still completely amazing.
Muir Woods
Our last stop before heading out was the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, which is across the bridge from San Francisco. It’s a huge facility that nurses back to health any stranded marine animal, which when we were there was mostly sea lions. We also got to watch a dolphin dissection, which was both gross and cool.
Looking forward to the next time we can get out there – especially Yosemite!
For Soph’s birthday this year we took her and a few friends to a restaurant called POD, which is on Penn’s campus in West Philly. It’s a restaurant that Dave and I frequented in college, then it closed for a bit, and now it’s back and has the same vibe. You can reserve a sort of private area called a pod, which is what we did for Soph and her friends. Dave, Lauren, my mom and I sat at a table far enough away so that we didn’t cramp their style, but we could still spy 😉
At our house beforehandIn their own POD
The next day we celebrated at home with a cake and family and her friend Jojo.
The birthday girlSoph and Jojoshowing off her new kicks
Lauren has continued to play the clarinet with the school band. She’s waffled a little on whether she still likes it, but we’ll have her do it as long as she wants to. The Middle School has a strong music program, with a full concert band and orchestra for each of the four grades, in addition to two jazz bands.
In mid-January the 5th grade concert band had their winter concert, after 2 cancelled days of school because of snow. They were great! I’m continually impressed with what one music teacher can do with so many beginner musicians.
After almost two years without snow, we finally got some mid-January. The kids, especially Lauren, were thrilled. School was closed for two days and our backyard was filled with neighborhood kids sledding. This was also Buddy’s first snow and he is a big fan.
Three days after Christmas we celebrated Lauren’s 11th birthday! Dave took her, Sophie and her friend Michelle skiing. Despite the terrible conditions they had a lot of fun. Sophie switched over to snowboarding last winter and according to Dave, she’s really picked it up. They both really love it.
That night we all went out to dinner at her favorite Mexican restaurant in Manayunk. Lauren’s friend Naomi joined us and then had a sleepover. Overall, it was a pretty good birthday!
Skiing at Blue MountainLauren, Sophie and MichelleThe gang at dinnerThe birthday girl!
Since Lauren’s birthday always falls during the school break and a lot of friends are away, this year we had her birthday party with friends the first weekend in January. She decided that she wanted to do something at an arcade, so we went to Dave and Busters. Talk about stimulation overload! She had a blast and it was exactly what she wanted.
Like me, she likes to stretch her birthday celebrations for as along as possible. We did a pretty good job this year 🙂
We hosted Christmas again this year, with a crowd of 27. It was a little chaotic and lot of fun.
We started with a quiet morning with just the family. Lauren was up at 5:30, but waited to wake us up until 6:30, and then we had to wake up Soph, who was slightly grumpy about it, even on Christmas morning!
The crowd came over around 1 and we had dinner around 3:30 (to be sure to catch the Eagles game at 4:30). Dave and his mom cooked the entire thing again and it was delicious.
After dinner we ate dessert and opened presents. The crowd was gone by 7 or so, and we had the rest of the evening to clean and relax. It was an excellent Christmas!
This December was full of holiday festivities, including the Philadelphia Girls Choir holiday concerts and this year also three performances in the Nutcracker with Philadelphia Ballet. Mom, Becky and Ari came up to celebrate an early Christmas and watch one of Sophie’s concerts.
Phila Girls Choir Holiday ConcertSinging in the NutcrackerSoph after a Nutcracker performance Early Christmas!
The concerts were excellent and always get us in the holiday spirit. The girls are really good. This is Sophie’s last year with Cantata before she moves up to Concerto, which is the oldest group.
As is our tradition, we headed to Yaeger’s Tree Farm to cut down our Christmas tree the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It was slim pickings this year – which was the case everywhere I think. We did find a good one though that everyone agreed on. Dave cut it down, and we headed to a celebratory lunch afterward.
the chosen tree! Sophie was thrilled to decorate, trulyPetunia Clause
This year we did something different for Thanksgiving. Instead of heading down to Va., we rented houses in Ocean City. Mom, Dad, Becky and Ari came up from Va., Dave, the girls and I, Joan, Dan, Maithili, Kishore, Ashwini, Julia, and Madeline came in from Philly, and Doug, Vicki, Carley and Chris came from W. Chester.
It was really a lot of fun. Warm at the beginning of the week, but chilly later one, and there wasn’t much open, but it was still lovely. We spent time on the beach, walking the boards, and then the day after Thanksgiving kicked off Christmas shopping on Asbury, where they had a parade.
On our last day we also spread some of Nana’s ashes into the ocean and along the beach. It was one of her favorite places, and the last time we were all there was for her birthday last October.
The Thanksgiving crew! The trip wouldn’t be complete without a trip to Manco & Manco’s!
