• Sharp Family Blog

    Sharp Family Blog

On September 9th we went to the wedding of Justin and Steve, who have been dating for 10 years.  The event was a Greensgrow in Fishtown and it brought together our whole college gang. 

Me, Dave, Justin, Steve, Crystal, and John

Most of the whole gang

The hansom couple. This picture was taken before the ceremony, so they were both super nervous (although look cool as ever)

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In the middle of August a group of white supremacists gathered in Charlottesville to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee located in a park recently renamed Emancipation Park. The horrific display of hatred was met with anti-hate protesters, all a block from the Downtown Mall. As the crowd grew, a white supremacist drove his car into the crowd of anti-hate protesters and killed a woman named Heather Heyer. The event has been a national news item for weeks, sparking heated political debate, causing our asinine president to make ignorant and mindnumpingly stupid remarks, and associating the town of Charlottesville with a horrible, tragic, and sadly historical event.

It’s heartbreaking for so many reasons, one of which for me personally is the link that Charlottesville now has to this event. Since then (it’s only been a couple of weeks), when asked where I’m originally from, I now get a look of sadness, or even alarm, when I say Charlottesville.

The weekend after it all happened, I took the girls down for a visit with Becky and Ari (mom and dad were in Norway for 2 weeks). We had a good weekend together and went and visited the site where it all happened, which is now a makeshift memorial. The girls of course didn’t totally understand what happened, but I find it hard to believe that I even have to explain white supremacy and killing because of racism in 2017.

The makeshift memorial where Heather Heyer was killed. Chalk was left out so people could write messages of hope and love. 

Sophie, Lauren and Ari in front of a “LOVE” sign erected on the Downtown Mall

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She tried and tried all summer and finally she got it! Lauren is officially riding a two wheel bike without training wheels. She was determined to get it and with some coaching from Dave (she would take none of my coaching) she got it. 
Here she is a little wobbly, but riding with confidence anyway. She hasn’t quite mastered breaking yet, so she’s either slowing down and jumping off, or using her shoes. We’re hoping the breaking happens soon, before we need to purchase all new shoes. 

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Well, summer is finally over (author sadly wipes tear from eye as writing), and school is back in session. The Tuesday after Labor Day Sophie started 2nd grade at Cynwyd Elementary. This year she has Mrs. Murphy and so far loves her. A few of her classmates were in Ms. Henry’s class last year, and she’s also met some new friends.

The big second grader on her first day! She was the appropriate mixture of excited and nervous. I can remember so well these first day stomach butterflies!

Sophie with her school’s mascot. They make drop-off on the first day really fun, blasting music, balloons, and all teachers standing outside to greet everyone. 

And then a week later, on September 11, Lauren started her last year of pre-school. She was much more excited than nervous for the first day. Here’s the big girl ready to get back into Mrs. Kiernan’s class at Bala House Montessori! When we arrived she ran right into the classroom – no time for goodbyes for Mom and Dad. 

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On August 21 we got to experience a total solar eclipse, the first time this has happened in 99 years. Although Philadelphia was not in the “path of totality” – meaning that the sun wasn’t completely covered for us – it was about 85% covered, which was still pretty cool. Lydia took the girls and Eleanor to a park to watch the event. They weren’t as impressed as perhaps they should have been – Sophie commented that she was disappointed that it didn’t get completely dark – but a life experience for them nonetheless.

The girls looking at the sun with their special eclipse glasses (which became quite the hot item in the days leading up to the eclipse, with stores and websites selling out)

A shot I took outside my office when the sun was behind some clouds. This was about the maximum coverage that we saw in Philadelphia. 

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We took our week long vacation the second week in August and did a little New England tour. The Sharp’s brought their sailboat, Stolen Moments, up to Newport for the whole month of August, and we were happy to get to live on it for a week. We started in Newport and then went to Menemsha, Nantucket, Edgartown (Martha’s Vineyard), Cuttyhunk, and then back to Newport. Lydia also came with us. This was only her second time on a boat, and certainly the longest. She did great – feeling seasick only a few times (eek!).

Here’s a shot of Menemsha. It’s a very small, picturesque fishing village where the moving Jaws was filmed. It consisted of just a main street with some shops, one restaurant, and one ice-cream place. Really all that we needed.
Dave and the girls caught this monster fish off the back of the boat. If we were going slow enough we put out a fishing rod with some bait to see what we could get. Unfortunately it was a blue fish, which taste disgusting, so we threw it back (no so unfortunate for the fish I guess). 

I took every opportunity to do what I like to do most on the boat – drink wine and read. I read a book called The Vanishing Year, which was a thriller and so good! 

There was only one day of bad weather (where both girls got seasick). Unfortunately it was our longest day on the water, traveling from Menemsha to Nantucket. I think Lydia might have been regretting her decision to come on this vacation at this point. 
Once we got to Nantucket it was gorgeous. Here is Dave and the girls in front of the lighthouse that welcomes you into the harbor. Nantucket was the only spot that we paid for a dock slip. The rest of the time we were on moorings out in the water. We took the opportunity to use their showers and laundry.

Right off the beach in Edgartown the girls caught little puffer fish in their nets. They were so tiny, and when you picked them up they puffed right up – providing hours of entertainment. 

Family shot on the lookout in Edgartown, which was my favorite spot of all the places we visited. We were actually there a few years ago, when I was pregnant with Lauren and Sophie was just 2 1/2. 

Our last stop before heading back to Newport was Cuttyhunk – a little island with less than 100 residents. This is a shot of the mooring we stayed in from a hill on the top of the island. This was also the second time that we’ve been there. It’s such a unique place – a one room school house for all children who live on the island, one little “grocery” store, an ice-cream stand (of course), and of course ample opportunity to eat oysters and lobster. 
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Our old neighbors and Sophie’s BFF from Greene Towne, the Marvin’s, came to visit from Hawaii. We met them for a quick brunch and visit in the old neighborhood.

Claire, Sophie, Lauren, and Emma outside of our old house. The new owners painted the door black, from our beautiful purple – how could they?! 
We spent another weekend on the Chesapeake with the Townsends, this time on the boat. We sailed to Cacaway Island and anchored for the night. The weather was beautiful and the water was really warm (almost bath warm). We kayaked, swam, grilled and hung out. It was an excellent weekend.
Sophie manning her own kayak with Crystal carrying Lauren and Bella.

Lauren at the helm
The last weekend in July Dave and I rode in the Tour de Shore, a 67 mile bike ride from Philly to Atlantic City. A friend wanted us to do it with her to celebrate her 35th birthday, so we did. It was a long, long ride, but we made it (in 5.5 hours!). I was dead tired when it was done and sword I’d never do it again – but now that I’m fully recovered, I might consider it again 😉

The “team:” me, Tom, Robyn, Dave
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We had our annual trip to the Jersey Shore over 4th of July week. Always a fun, busy, family-filled this weekend. This year Eleanor and Lydia joined us for the week. Along with Doug, Vicki, Quinn, Carley, Mom, Dad, Becky, Ari, and Nana – it was a full house. The weather was nice for the start of the week, but got overcast and rained for the last few days, so we had to find ways to entertain ourselves.

Ari and Lauren as the “cool kids” with colored hair. These two were pretty much inseparable the whole week. 

We hit Wonderland or Playland almost every day. 

Lauren and Sophie with the boardwalk parrots. For a hefty price you can hold these birds – Nana was nice enough to indulge the kids 😉

Sandcastles! 

The dynamic quads – Sophie, Eleanor, Ari, Lauren

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We’re a few good weeks into summer and have been enjoying every second of it. At the end of May we went down to Charlottesville for a visit. As always, the cousins loved spending time together.

Lauren, Ari, and Sophie strolling downtown. 
And then for Memorial Day weekend we headed to Rock Hall with the our friends John, Crystanl and their daughter Bella, and Pete, Leslie and their kids Hudson and Rose. The weather was still a little chilly, so there wasn’t a lot of beach time, but everyone still had a lot of fun. 

 Below Hudson, Bella, and Lauren keeping warm with a blanket at Waterman’s Crab House. And Sophie, Lauren, and Bella “fishing” off a little marsh dock.

We went back down to Rock Hall in June for a weekend with the Sharp and to check out their new power boat, which they got to make their trip to the Bahamas later this year. It was a blast. The girls jumped off the side of it for about an hour strait. 
This was the first time Lydia came to Maryland and she had a great time. The weather was warm and beautiful and we spent time at the beach and on the boat. For Father’s Day we had a BBQ on the boat and enjoyed a beautiful sunset. It was perfect. 
And on a recent Friday night we all cooked at the Gift of Life Family House. Here we are with the meal we prepared. We decided on Greek, which seemed doable for a group of 45. We had to scramble at the end, but we did it – and it was delicious. 
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The girls had their end of year ballet recital recently. My family and the Sharps were all there and the girls both did a great job.  Here are a few shots from the dressing room before the show started.

Striking a pose

Sophie with some of her friends pre-show.

Lauren and her friend Hofsa, who also goes to Bala House Montessori with her. 
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