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!
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!
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!
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.”
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!
This 4th we spent the holiday in our NEW house in Rock Hall! Over Memorial Day weekend we closed on a house of our own on Bayside Avenue, just a few blocks from The Sharps. Dave spent the first few weekends doing some work on it. The room that’s now Sophie’s needed a lot of work, so Dave spent two full weekends fixing it up, and it turned out really nice. He’ll slowly work his way through the rest of the house pulling up carpets, painting, and generally updating.
My family came up from Virginia and stayed until Monday, so it was a good long weekend.
The first night we walked across the street to the Harbor Shack (yes, we’re across the street from our favorite restaurant!), and while we were waiting for our table got some good family pics.
the girls being silly
Dad & Mom
Nana and Pappap with the grandkids
We spent a lot of time at the beach. The weather was really nice all weekend. The first day we had most of the beach to ourselves, but once the weekend got going it was packed. This is definitely the town if you’re looking for a small town 4th!
the cool girls
Maddie & Mom
Rock Hall celebrates the 4th on the 3rd of July, with a parade in the morning and fireworks that evening. The parade goes down Main Street and is mostly fire trucks, local businesses, and people with cool cars driving down the street throwing candy. Very small and very Americana.
The gang waiting for the parade to go by
That afternoon the Sharp’s hosted a BBQ at their house. In addition to my family, Zoe and her daughter Maddie, Ed, Dot, Crystal, John and Bella were there too.
Zoe & Mo
After dinner, everyone walked down the street to our house where we set out chairs at the end of the driveway and watched the fireworks, which they shot off right across the street in the harbor.
Maddie watching with Mommom
Fireworks right across the street
The driveway gang!
There was one unfortunate mishap during the weekend. At the BBQ Becky brought her dog Penny and Zoe brought her dog Mo and we had Petunia. They were happy dogs, running around like happy dogs do. I made the unfortunate and mistimed decision to get a picture of Sophie and Maddie on the swing set at the exact moment that Petunia was shooting across the yard. She nailed me with her head right in the knee and I went down. Hard. I’m writing this several days later, after x-rays and a CT scan have confirmed that I have a tibial plateau fracture that will require surgery to fix. Just a moment later, or an inch to one side and it would be a different outcome. But it’s done and there’s nothing I can do now (except curse the damn dog!).
Insane dogs moments before “the incident”
Before hobbling back to a chair I did manage to snap the picture I wanted to get. May it live in infamy!
THE picture. I’ll remind both of these kids for the rest of their lives the story behind it!
Before my family left on Monday we had a little July birthday celebration for Mom, Becky and me. It was such a great weekend (with one low point), and I hope we can make it a tradition!
June 17th was officially the last day of school and Sophie’s 5th grade promotion ceremony, which unfortunately was still held virtually.
We all logged in to Zoom at 10:30 to hear her name called as she walked up to the stage (in 3 inch heels!) to accept her certificate of completion.
Sophie walking to the stage to accept her certificate of achievement for elementary school
That night we had a small family party with the Sharps and my mom, who flew up for the occasion. We all celebrated with pizza and cake and beautiful weather!
Over Memorial Day weekend my family came up from Virginia and we hosted a party – a PARTY! – to celebrate Doug’s 60th birthday and Julia’s graduation from Bryn Mawr college with a Masters in Social Work. We were maskless and it was wonderful!
Quinn was in town from Arizona for Doug’s birthday and she brought her boyfriend, Gabe, whom the family was meeting for the first time. We had full on “Rainer” fun, and he was a good sport!
Sophie leading Harry Potter trivia
Carley and Quinn – back together again!
Unfortunately the weather was terrible, so despite the BBQ theme, we were all inside.
On May 15, we participated in our first regatta since 2019 with the Union League Yacht Club. Bonus: it was in Rock Hall! The Sharps have been working hard on the boat over the last year and it’s beautiful! As usual, the ULYC regatta was a low-key, family friendly affair with 5 boats. It was a beautiful day – although not a lot of wind – so the race was a slooooow one. Regardless, it was great to be out on the water.
Captain Lauren
Captain Sophia
The “Kind of Blue” crew!
After the race we got dressed up and headed to the after party, which was held outside at a beach club on the Chesapeake. It was the first time in well over a year we had the opportunity to get dressed up!
Finally fancy again!
It was such a great weekend – mostly because it just felt “normal.” Because most adults are vaccinated, no one wore masks at the party, and it was the first time we’ve been in a group that large without masks. This whole pandemic has put a different lens on what used to be every day things – like meeting new people, making small talk, catching up with acquaintances. It’s been 14 months since I’ve just “caught up” with someone I haven’t seen in a while. Nearly all interactions have been through Zoom, which is the opposite of informal, and I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed small talk. We’re still at baby steps to “normal,” whatever that is anymore. But it was a great weekend of baby steps!
The trip we took for spring break 2021 was two years in the making. For spring break of 2020 we had been planning to charter a catamaran in the British Virgin Islands (a trip that Dave and I took for New Year’s of 2000). It’s a trip that requires a lot of planning, so we had begun to map it all out in 2019. Then of course the pandemic hit in March of 2020 and all trips were cancelled. This March of 2021, we decided that we really (really really really) needed to get away. Even though no one was vaccinated yet, we decided to go ahead and take it. The BVIs were out however because of their very strict quarantining rules, so we decided to move the vacation to the Exumas, which is where we visited the Sharps in 2018. We were also taking the trip with the Townsend’s and they’ve never been before.
The wait was worth it.
On March 28th we got a direct flight from Philly to Nassau. It was a packed flight, full of college spring breakers, which made us all feel a little uneasy, but fortunately it was quick and no one got sick. Once we landed, we rented a car and headed to Palm Key Marina where we got the boat. The Townsends were already there by the time we arrived.
While Crystal and I unpacked everyone into thier spaces, John and Dave went to the grocery store to provision us for the week. We knew there was only one place we were stopping all week that would potentially have food, so there was a lot they had to buy.
We chartered a 45 foot catamaran that had 4 bedrooms. Lauren and Bella shared a room, Sophie had her own room, and then each couple had a room. It had a great outdoor dining areas, as well as an indoor dining area, kitchen, and top deck seating area (where I drank coffee and watched the sun rise almost every morning).
The catamaran
inside playing cards
Crystal in the kitchen
Dave and John grilling off the back
outside dining table
my morning coffee buddy in our favorite spot up top
On Saturday we headed out for the week, with our longest distance ahead of us to Shroud Cay. It was a rough ride – we were against the wind the entire time and the waves were big and relentless. Everyone but Dave and Sophie felt sick, with yours truly yacking off the side a few times. Not the best start to the trip, but we knew it would be a rough day, and fortunately the only one.
We arrived in Shroud Cay in the late afternoon and had time to do some exploring. We took the dinghy through a protected mangrove area where we found ourselves at the most picturesque beach. On our way to the beach we saw a few sea turtles and a lot of cool birds.
The girls on the front of the dinghy
mangroves
Entrance to Shroud Cay
view of the beach from the top of the hill
Sophie snorkeling
The next day we headed from Shroud to Waderick Wells Cay where we we got a mooring ball – one of the few available because there is such a small area that is deep enough during low tide.
Waderick Wells Cay
Crystal & Sophie paddle boarding
catamaran in the background
That afternoon we did some hiking to an amazing beach we had all to ourselves (which was fortunately most beaches we found) where we had afternoon cocktails and snacks. Dave brought his drone so he got some pretty amazing shots of our whole trip, including this beach.
exploring the marine life at low tide
Lauren next to her own tower of rocks on the beach
The next morning we hiked again, to another part of the island called Boo Boo Hill where boat owners leave wooden signs with the names of thier boats on them. We had left a sign with the name of Sharps boat, So Many Stars, in 2018, but couldn’t find it again. There are hundres of signs there, so I’m sure it was just buried somewhere.
looking for the So Many Stars sign from 2018
Sophie, Lauren & Bella
After Waderick Wells, we made our way to Staniel Cay, one of the only islands with inhabitants on it. On our way we made a detour to see the swimming pigs. When we got there we were the only dinghy on the beach and the pigs were very happy to see us – one in particular. The girls feds them lots of carrots, and when they started to try to climb into the boat, we had to back away a bit.
bring carrots and they will come
Feed me!
Once we made it to Staniel Cay we anchored in the harbour, which was the most crowded place we’d been to yet, and took the dinghy in to get COVID tests, which was requried on our 5th day in the country. The testing “clinic” was more of a pop up tent in the parking lot of the Staniel Cay yacht club, but they all came back negative and were submitted to the government, so we’ll take it! After that Crystal and I took the girls to the beach and Dave and John went to the liquor/laundry mat to replenish our refreshments.
the “clinic” where we got our 5-day COVID tests
the girls swimming in Staniel Cay
Sophie with a mango daiquiri
Right outside of Staniel Cay Yacht Club is where fisherman clean their catch from the day, which attracts a slew of sharks. They’re mostly Nurse sharks, so not super aggressive – unless you’re fish guts.
the table where the fisherman clean their fish
sharks waiting for the scraps
lots and lots of them!
After that we went snorkeling in Thunderball Grotto, a famous place to snorkel that is a cave with an opening at the top to let light in. In the water are thousands of cool fish and above water is this amazing cave to explore. It’s a little chilly because no sun reaches it – but worth it!
The next day we left Staniel and headed to Cambridge Cay. On our way we made a stop where we found another smaller, but still very cool cave to go snorkeling called Rocky Dundas. It had stalactite and stalagmite formations and an opening at the top to let light in. We also explored a place called Rachel’s Bubble Bath, which is a calm lagoon separated by the sea by a rock bar. Every so often the waves will crash over the rock bar into the lagoon, making a bubble bath effect.
Rachel’s Bubble Bath
We then continued the trip to Cambridge Cay where we got a mooring ball in a mooring field with about a dozen other boats. After we hung out for a bit we took the dinghy to an area called The Aquarium, which is known for it’s snorkeling. It did not dissapoint.
Sophie above the aquarium
drone shot of the aquarium
That evening we hiked to a beach for sunset cocktails and snacks. Dave took his drone out again and got some good shots.
path to the beach
group shot with the drone
the fam (again)
The next morning we headed out early to an area called Highborn where we anchored next to an island known as Bitter Iguana Cay, which is filled with iguanas. I’ve never seen an iguana in the wild, and this island had hundreds of them. It was nuts! We kayaked over and the girls fed them lettuce. As soon as the boat landed on the island the iguana emerged from every corner – creeping from behind trees and climbing over rocks – it was super creepy. But they were just there for the lettuce.
girls feeding the iguanas lettuce
That afternoon was yet another beach with cocktails and snacks. Fortunately, we found a beach with fewer iguanas. The girls spent hours looking for creatures (and came back with quite a few).
drone shot of the girls looking for creatures
the anchorage at Highborn
That night the adults stayed up late on the top deck star gazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many starts in my entire life. It was amazing. The next morning we visited the iguanas one more time before we had to make the trip back to Nassau. Fortunately the trip back was much (much) calmer. The wind was with us this time and we ended up sailing most of the way.
We spent our final night at the marina, dinner of a combo of leftovers and food from the restaurant, and a late night dance party. It was an amazing trip! We can’t wait to go back!
