It’s finally here! After 11 weeks of summer it’s finally time to go back to school.
Sophie started 7th grade and Lauren started 4th.
First Day of School!
Family Vacation in Rock Hall
This year, instead of Ocean City, the Rainer Fam came to Rock Hall for the week. The end of the week also happened to be Pirates and Wenches weekend, which was a bonus I guess 
The Sharps were out of town that week, so Doug, Vicki and Nana sayed at their house, and everyone else stayed at ours.
It was a nice, pretty low key week. We did some days at the beach, some days at the pool, and some just hanging out at the house.
And we did most of the Pirates and Wenches festivities as well.
Visit with Claire from Hawaii
Claire Marvin, Sophie’s friend from preschool who moved to Hawaii in first grade came back to Philly for a visit this summer. We got together with them for a day in Philly, along with Rachel Cornejo, another preschool buddy who Sophie is still friends with. The girls had a blast catching up – even recreating a picture taken about 9 years ago.
Birthday Celebration
My birthday was on a Friday this year and we spent it (big surprise) in Rock Hall. The kids had spent the previous week in Va. with my family and then drove up to spend the weekend with us.
On Friday night, Dave’s dad’s band, Unknown Legends, played at Waterman’s, so we all went there for dinner and to hear them. They’re pretty good and they even sang me happy birthday!
Afterward we went back to the house for some cake.
And we celebrated again the following night with the Townsends as well.
Happy 40th, Becky!
The girls and I headed down to Charlottesville to celebrate Becky’s 40th birthday on July 10th. We got a babysitter on Saturday and mom, Becky and I had a lovely spa day with facilas, massages, and mani/pedis. It was a day of pampering 
On Sunday we went to King Family Vineyard, where they have polo matches during the summer on Sundays. A few of Becky’s friends came as well and we had a picnic dinner with wine from the Vineyard. It was an absoltuly beautiful evening – the perfect temperature and lot of friends and family celebrating.
I also had time to visit with some friends while I was down there. I met Samantha son, Abe, who is just stinking cute! He’s one of the happeist babies I’ve ever met. And we also visited with Sarah and Sophie and Lexi were reunited. Lexi has a bearded dragon, which Sophie fell immediatly in love with and didn’t put down the entire visit.
I headed back to Maryland on Monday evening, and the girls stayed for the rest of the week for Nana and Pappap summer camp. We all had lovely weeks
4th of July 2022
We spent the long 4th weekend in Rock Hall. Zoe and Maddie came down for a few days and the Townsends were there as well. We enjoyed all of our typical Rock Hall activities – sailing, rafting up, swimming and a BBQ. Bonus this year – there were no broken legs!
We all gathered on our front lawn again for fireworks, which they put off on the 3rd of July.
And this year the girls got to particpate in the parade with their sailing school. They had a blast.
End of School Year Activities
Amazingly, another school year has come to an end! The girls wrapped with some final activities before the summer break.
Sophie had her Philadelphia Girls Choir spring concert at Temple Performing Arts Center in June. It was their first concert without masks. It was great to see their smiling faces and really hear their singing voices again!
Sophie also went to her first school dance!! I can’t believe it either. She had a good time, but we heard about some girls drama too – I guess it wouldn’t be a middle school dance without it.
Sophie also did band again this year, continuing with percussion. This was the first in-person concert we got to see since they were either recorded and shared with families, or submitted via zoom over the last two years.
Lauren did Girls on the Run again this spring and their 5K was held at Montgomery County Community College. There were a ton of schools participating this time and many runners. We’re not sure how many, but one of the coaches told us it was over 1,000 girls. Dave was her running buddy again and they killed it. Lauren came in 10th out of the girls running! She loves it and we’re so happy about it.
We also attended our first Bat Mitzvah for Sophie’s preschool friend Rachel. The party was held at Germantown Cricket Club and there was a special candle lighting ceremony for all of her preschool friends, which was really sweet.
Dave and I got away one night for a night out with the college crew, most of whom we haven’t seen in a long time. It was a really great night!
And finally, at the end of June, Dave, Don and I did the Rock Hall sprint triathlon – my first since my leg injury. I hadn’t planned on doing it, but decided to just give it a go – I’ve been feeling good – and ended up taking 2nd in my age group! Booyah! Actually, I was totally suprised and super excited about it. I’ve spend the last 11 months doing so much PT, strength training and mobility – I felt like it really paid off. I’m really looking to training throughout the summer to compete in an Olympic Distance in the fall.
The girls both had a great year, we all had a great spring, and we’re looking forward to this summer!
Girls Weekend in Rock Hall
In June Aleen, Sallie and I got together for our annual girls weekend. The last time the three of us got together was in Florida in March of 2020, literally days before the world shut down. We decided to keep it easy and they came to Rock Hall for the weekend. It was a fun, relaxing weekend, like it always is. I love how we just pick up where we left off.
We lucked out with an absolutely beautiful weekend!
I love these ladies!!
Last Day of School 2022!
It’s finally here – the last day of school! The girls both had really good years.
Lauren loved her teacher, Ms. D’Orazio, and made some good friends including Naomi, Lyla and Noa. She learned to love reading this year – beginning with graphic novels and moving onto chapter books.
Sophie did a program called Evolve, which she didn’t love so much, but made some good friends including Jojo, Max, Alex and Droury. She honed her presentation skills and gave a final school presention on sailing (which Dave was very proud of).
Easter 2022
The day after we got back from Arizona was Easter. We made it easy and just did brunch at the Union League – a new property they have called Liberty Hill. Zoe and Maddie joined us and we met the Devine’s there. There was an Easter egg hunt and a delicious brunch. It was really chilly – especially coming back from our week the desert. But great to get everyone together again!
