Author's Posts

After a weird hiatus in 2020, Halloween was officially back this year! It landed on a Saturday, which meant the kids didn’t have to start trick-or-treating until after everyone got home from work (and there wasn’t an annoying half-day of school where the kids are ready to start at noon!).

Since we’re still in a pandemic, instead of having pre-trick-or-treating pizza at our house, some neighbors arranged a block party on Brentwood beforehand.

Lauren went as the Grim Reaper. She had decided this spring that that’s what she wanted to be, and stuck with it. I’m trying not to think too much into it. And Sophie went as some sort of deranged jester. After spending about an hour in the costume store, it was what she landed on.

  • The scary ghouls

After last year, where there were few houses, and really few kids, who were participating in trick-or-treating, the neighborhood went all out and the girls cleaned up!

The Sharps came over for the festivities and to give candy out at our house.

Candy management. Don’t mess with them!

We’ve had a very mild fall, so the weather was lovely all night.

Read more

To celebrate her 96th birthday, Nana rented a beautiful waterfront house in Rock Hall (how convenient!) for the whole family. Between our house and the rented house we were able to have the whole group together. Some people were there for a whole week, and others just the weekend. We didn’t want to take the kids out of school (they’re far enough behind as it is), so we were part of the weekend crew.

It was a beautiful fall weekend and we spent a lot of it outside.

  • Lauren, Sophie, Ari, Kishore, Ashwini
  • Nana and Mom on the lawn in front of the house
  • Dave, Dan, Doug on the house’s dock
  • Ashwini, Kishore, Maithili

Lauren and Ari got a lot of time to play and love each other. The time together is never long enough for those two.

The great-grandkids also got in some good Gigi time.

We had a big Italian birthday dinner on Saturday night and I made an apple bourbon cake for dinner. It was a very happy and festive celebration!

We also got in some sailing. Dave captained two crews. On Saturday there was wind and they were able to do some sailing. Doug, Vicki, Carly, Chris, Julia, Maithili, Dad and Sophie went on that trip. And on Sunday there was little wind, but it was still beautiful, so Mom, Becky, Dan, Maithili, me and all the kids went. It was Ari’s first time on a boat and at first she was nervous, but eventually got comfortable, and event went up to the bow to sit with Sophie for a bit. We toured around the harbor and enjoyed some wine and snacks. It was lovely.

On Saturday right before the birthday dinner there was a beautiful rainbow that spanned the entire back of the house. Very fitting.

Happy 96th Birthday, Nana!!

Read more

Picture Day! The school year has been going well and everything is running almost normal – the kids still need to wear masks all day, lunch is physically separated in the gym or outside – but for the most part it feels pretty normal.

  • Lauren, age 8, 3rd grade
  • Sophia, age 11, 6th grade
Read more

The first weekend in October was the annual fall triathlon in Rock Hall. The event was cancelled last year, so this was the first year back since 2019. Sadly I’m still on the long road to recovery so was cheering on the sidelines this time, which was also a lot of fun.

The Morris’ came down for the weekend and Don did the race with Dave.

Just two men in their tight wetsuits

The start was a little different this year, with everyone lining up and jumping in one at a time. This was the first year that Dave wore a wetsuit and it was pretty terrible for him. The suit was too tight and he had trouble breathing. He didn’t swim nearly as fast as he has in past years, but fortunately made it up on the bike ride.

  • swim to bike transition
  • out for the bike ride
  • start of the run

He ended up doing pretty well, coming in 4th in his age group. And Don did really well, placing third in the Clydesdales category.

Don placed 3rd in the Clydesdales category!

Petunia also felt she deserved recognition, although we all know she can’t swim, and really is pretty terrible on a bike too.

Petunia taking 1st place

It was a quick weekend, but we did manage to get in some good Rock Hall time with a walk to the beach for sunset and a sail on Sunday after the race. October is beautiful down there, and the weekend did not disappoint.

Oliver doing their “normal” and “crazy” poses
Sophie hamming it up
Read more

It’s finally back to school time! This summer felt like a long one – and it was. School didn’t start until September 9th.

Sophie officially started middle school and so far so good. She’s in a program called Evolve, which is a more hands-on, experiential experience. She seems to really enjoy it so far. The school is big (1200 kids) and she said she’s gotten lost a few times, but didn’t seem to phased by it.

Lauren started 3rd grade and has Ms. D’Orazio, whom she loves (Dave and I do too). She also has gotten off to a great start and seems to really love school. She also made a new friend, Harper Peters, who sits next to her in the classroom.

First day outfits!

Middle school starts an hour before elementary, so Sophie leaves the house at 7:40 and then we walk with Lauren at 8:40. Sophie gets out of school at 3 and then picks up Lauren at 3:30, which is super convenient.

Read more

Sticking with the low key theme that has been our theme for the last 18 months, Dave welcomed 42 with a small family birthday celebration. And, we didn’t even celebrate on this actual birthday as he had to be in Atlanta, so we had dinner, cake and presents on the Friday after. While his travel hasn’t started up fully yet, it’s begun in earnest with a few trips so far.

A week after his birthday, he ran in the Philly Distance Run, which is an annual 1/2 marathon through Center City and Fairmount. And he got a PR! This man makes 42 look good!

Heading out to run the Philly Distance Run
Read more

The last week of August we took a week vacation on the boat in the Chesapeake. My leg is healing and I can hobble around a bit more, so we thought we’d give it a go. Aside from getting on and off of the boat, there’s not actually a lot of walking around needed, so that was a plus.

We met up with the Townsends for the first part of the week and rafted up for two nights.

This was also the first time we’ve taken Petunia on the boat for more than a few hours. I was a little nervous about it, but she was great. She may actually be a better boat dog than land dog to be honest.

Boat dog

She actually got out on the kayaks with us a few times. I don’t think that she absolutely loved it, but she was game.

The week mostly consisted of kayaking, paddle boarding, and relaxing.

Unfortunately, the sea nettles had invaded the area, so swimming wasn’t a great option. Instead of swimming, the girls did a lot of swinging off the side of the boat with the bosuns chair. Fortunately they can entertain themselves for hours with that chair!

Lauren off the side of the boat in the bosuns chair

Along the Wye River we found a swing that someone had made with some rope and a big stick. The kids had hours of fun on it, while Dave and I kept an eye out for sea nettles.

Here are a few more shots from the week. It was a fabulous, low key time with the family and what we needed before diving back into the new school year!

Read more

This summer we took our Ocean City vacation a little later than usual and were there the second week in August. We had an unusually laid out house, but it was ocean front with a big porch, which is where we spent a majority of our time.

We had almost a perfect weather week, with just one day of rain.

I’m still on crutches, and using them on the sand is nearly impossible, so each day I traveled to the beach like a royalty, in a giant wheeled throne (nana and I shared the same moving throne!). Poor Becky ended up being the one who did most of the pushing. She certainly got the workout that I was missing.

Becky wheeling me in my beach throne!

The house was a ways from the Boardwalk, and we didn’t really want to spend much time there anyway since we’re still in the throws of this pandemic, so we ventured up there only a few times. We hit Wonderland one night so the kids could go one some rides.

  • Vicki and Lauren on the balloon ride
  • Ari and Lauren on the boats
  • wheelchair twinsies!

Lauren and Ari were of course close as thieves. I love that they’re such besties and hate that they don’t get to see each other as much as they want.

But mostly we spent time at the beach, which was just what we all needed!

It was a great week!

Read more

We spent a good portion of the summer in Rock Hall and while we were down there we registered the girls for sailing camp. The first week both girls were in the beginner group where they learned on Optis. After the first week Sophie was “promoted” to the intermediate group and did another 2 weeks of camp. Lauren decided she wasn’t that into it and did “grandparent” camp instead.

The intermediate camp was a little more challenging for Sophie, but by the end of it she was really happy and confident. Which is great because she’s definitely the #2 sailor on our boat vacations. (I’m definitely the #4).

Here are a few shots of Soph in her Opti.

At the end of each session the girls got an award. Lauren was “Silent but Deadly” – appropriate in more ways than one. The first session Sophie was the top “Knot Tie-er,” and the second session she was “Fiesty & Fearless.”

Read more

I mentioned in the previous post that at the 4th of July BBQ at The Sharps, Petunia ran right into the side of my knee. After having several sets of x-rays I found out my tibial plateau was fractured and required surgery to repair it.

On July 12th, I had that surgery at Penn. The surgeon begin arthroscopically, but ended up needing to make an incision to tamp the bone back into place, and then two screws were placed beneath it to hold everything together. Unless there’s an issue down the road, those screws will remain in my knee indefinitely.

The surgery was outpatient and took about 2 hours and I was home by the afternoon.

  • Pre-surgery
  • Car ride back home after surgery

Below are x-rays from before and after. In the before x-ray you can see that the bone looks a little crushed down on the right (which is actually the left side of my left leg), which was then pushed back into place and held up with screws.

The first week after surgery I stayed downstairs exclusively and barely moved from the sleeper couch in our living room. Once the nerve block wore off I was in a lot of pain until I got the right combo of pain pills going. After about four days I started feeling better, and after a week I didn’t need to take pain pills anymore.

My view the first week home

I have another set of x-rays scheduled for next week and will have a better idea of my recovery plan, but for now I know I’m on crutches for at least six weeks, with little to no pressure on my left leg while the bone heals. It’s been both mentally and physically very challenging, but Dave and the girls have been my hands and legs. And my mom even flew in for five days to help out when Dave had to travel to Chicago (his first travel since the pandemic!).

My 42nd birthday also landed three days after surgery, when I was still pretty immobile on the sleeper couch. So we did a birthday dinner in the living room. As is my birthday tradition, I always have a hamburger, so Dave made a delicious one bedside!

Couch-side birthday dinner!

Read more