It was a good, long summer with lots of time in Maryland.
Over the last few weeks we had more friends come and visit, enjoyed several sunset sails, and listened to Dave’s dad band.
My family came for Pirates and Wenches Weekend again (it maybe become a tradition!).
The girls both had friends for the last weekend in August, and The Devine’s came down for Labor Day weekend. I’m always sad to leave when summer ends, but fall is also a great time down there as well 😉
This summer we didn’t take a trip anywhere and instead kept it kind of local. The girls spend a week in Charlottesville with my parents and then Dave and I came down to join them for a few days. On our way back to PA we stopped over in DC for two days to do some of the touristy stuff that we haven’t done in a while.
In Virginia we visited with Aleen and watched some polo at King Family Vineyard. We also toured Monticello, and we met up with the Davis’ at Pro Renata in Crozet. I love when we can get Sophie and Lexi together.
In DC we hit two museum, the Spy Museum and the Museum of the American Indian. We walked along the lawn and saw the Washington Monument, various memorials, and then veered off to see the White House. We also had some very excellent dinners, which was a good reward for all of the walking.
Overall the girls were pretty good, although I wouldn’t say it was their most favorite vacation. But I’m happy they can still be good sports for us.
This summer Sophie decided to try out a sleepaway camp. A lot of her friends go for the full summer and she finally decided that she wanted to give it a try. She picked Camp Kweebec, which is only about an hour away. She knew several girls who went there. We decided that the half summer option, which is 4 weeks, was the better option for the first time. She definitely had some ups and downs over the month – most of the kids have been going for years, so camp friend groups were well in place – but after a tough start she had a good time.
We dropped her at a bus pick up so all the kids can arrive together. It was an emotional good-bye, but her bus seatmate from a friend from school, so that helped.
She didn’t have her phone for the entire month so the only communication we had was via snail mail, which was weird for all of us. The camp also had an app where they posted pictures daily, so we could at least see what the kids were doing.
After a month away, she finally came home on July 23rd and spent the next three weeks as a counselor in training at Miquon Day Camp, which she loves. She hasn’t decide what she’ll do next year, but she knows that she can be a paid counsel next year, so the scales might tip in that direction. We’ll see.
Meanwhile, Lauren spent the first two weeks at sailing camp in Rock Hall with Bella. After that, we came back to PA and she did a month at Friend Central Middle School, where they had a day camp that she loved. There was swimming, sports, crafts and general hanging out with other kids all day, which is just up her ally. She also had two friends that went with her.
It’s been a long, filled summer and we’ve still got a few weeks to go! Camps end on Friday and the girls will be headed for a week down in Va. with my family.
The best part of our house in Rock Hall are all the friends who come and visit us throughout the summer. Over the 4th of July Don and his family came down and we did all the f things – sailing, tubing, BBQ and fireworks on the 3rd, and running in the Flat 5 Miler on the morning of the 4th, which is always a total scorcher.
Leading up to the 4th, we spend two weeks in Rock Hall while Lauren and Bella went sailing camp. The both really loved it this year. They were in the intermediate group with older kids, which I think they liked a lot. They also got to ride on the camp’s float for the 4th of July parade.
And in mid-July, Aleen, Sallie and her family came to visit us. It’s the first time we’ve gotten the full families together and it was so much fun! Lauren got along really well with Sallies boys, Lang and Wes, and everyone had fun on the boats. The weather was also perfect, which was just the cherry on top of the weekend.
The following weekend Justin and Steve came down. This was the first time they’ve been to the place and again, it was lovely. Perfect weather, a really great afternoon sail on Saturday, and after a crazy thunderstorm, a beautiful sunset on the beach.
We’ve got a few more fun filled summer weekends ahead of us. Summer always goes so fast, so I’m trying to slow down and savor every moment!
It’s finally here – the last day of school!
Here are the girls before they left for school. These pictures do justice to the girl’s current personalities right now.
A few days before the last day, we went to a small ceremony at the middle school where Sophie received a Student of the Quarter award. We were super proud! This was a tough year for her and she really put extra effort in at the end.
On the last day of school we headed over to the elementary school for Lauren’s promotion ceremony. All of the 4th graders filed in to Pomp and Circumstance and then each was called to receive their certificate. It was a great four years for Lauren at Cynwyd Elementary. We’re bummed she didn’t get to do 5th grade there, but looking forward to having the girls in the same school again.
That evening, Lauren had a sleepover with her three best friends. She wanted to camp in the back yard, but there were thunder storms in the area, so they camped in the living room, tent and all. It was touch and go on whether the tent would fit, but in the end it did, just barely.
Carley and Chris are getting married in September and celebrated the bride at a shower at the beginning of June. The party was at a cute restaurant in West Chester. There were a lot of family there and it was great to catch up with everyone.
Can’t wait for the wedding in September!
Over Memorial Day weekend, Julia and Madeline celebrated their marriage with a party at a restaurant in Fish Town. It was a great party with a lot of friends and family there to celebrate.
This spring we were competitive. Lauren participated in her school’s filed day and took 2nd in the 50 yard dash. Dave and I ran Broad Street with our neighbor, Mark. Lauren and Dave ran in the Gift of Life 5K, where Lauren took 3rd in her age group (15 and under), and Don and I did the French Creek Triathlon, where I took 3rd overall in the women’s sprint. I’m proud of all of us!
Over Mother’s Day weekend we volunteered at the Gift of Life Family House where we cooked a meal for 40 guests staying in the house that night. It was just the 4 of us cooking and we got it done! If only we could convince the girls to help in the kitchen on holidays.
Sophie had her spring Philadelphia Girls Choir concert at Temple Performing Arts Center. The girls were fabulous, per usual. This coming year will be Sophie’s last year in the Cantata group, and then she’ll audition for the Concerto group, which is the most senior group.
And I met Aleen and Sallie in DC for a girls weekend. We went to the National Portrait Gallery, which none of us had ever been to before, and we ate several very good meals. As always, it was a lovely weekend with my besties.
Lauren has been taking piano for about 4 years, but has never performed in recital. Her first teacher did not do them, and she started with her current teacher during COVID, so this was a big deal, and she fought us hard to not do it. But we held strong and she did it and was happy that she did (small parenting win). The recital was in a cute little church in Mt. Airy. It was very informal and most of the students had only been playing for a few years, so everyone was comfortable.
Lauren played two songs and did a great job. I was hoping that this would spark her love for playing, but alas, we’re still struggling a bit there. Oh well, at least it was a good experience 😉
It also helped that her friend Noa also played. They were super cute sitting together waiting to play. I can remember how intense those nerves are until it’s your turn. And then it’s over and what a relief!
For spring break this year we headed to Costa Rica, a destination that’s been on our bucket list for a while now. We decided to focus our time in the rain forest and not visit either coast. That just means we’ll have to go back again! We had some flight issues getting out and ended up staying a night in Charlotte, which meant that we lost a day and a half, but what can you do?
The first part of the week we stayed near the volcano Arenal. While the volcano was technically in sight of our house, we never actually saw it because it was covered by clouds the entire time. Apparently that’s pretty typical. We finally got to the house late Sunday night, so didn’t get to see the grounds until the morning, and when we did it was beautiful. There was a lake in the distance and a lush backyard filled with all kinds of birds. There were a ton of different hummingbirds, all much larger than we see at home, Toucans and parakeets.
On Monday we headed out and did a whitewater rafting tour. It was a ton of fun. In our raft we were paired with a father and daughter from Madrid and led by our guide Juan Miguel. It ended up being a little rougher than at least I was expecting, but I’ve also never done it before. We had a blast. Along the way we stopped at a little island and they guides cut up fresh fruit (the fruit all week was the best I’ve ever had), and we also saw a 2-toed sloth in a tree along the way.
After rafting we hopped in buses and they took us back to their basecamp, where they fed us a traditional Costa Rican lunch, the first of many we would have throughout the week. It consists of a protein (chicken, beef, pork, fish), rice, beans, a vegetable and friend plantains.
That evening we had dinner at the house, and headed out the next morning to hike down to one of the better known waterfalls in the area. It was the first of many we saw. The hike down was quick and included a lot of steps. When we got there Dave and Sophie decided to jump in and swim. Lauren and I watched, nice and dry, from the side. They said the current was really hard to swim against, but it was nice and cool. We then had to walk all of those steps back up, which took quite a bit longer.
Later that day we headed to Ecotermales of Fortuna, which are essentially natural hot tubs headed by the volcano. There were a series of pools that were fed by waterfalls, each getting a little cooler as you got further away from the volcano. You can buy a timed ticket to sit in them. We got there a little early and had the place to ourselves for a bit. Apparently there are minerals in the water which are supposed to be good for health. We did enjoy a cocktail while sitting in the water, so maybe it balanced it out?
We had dinner back at the house and had to pack to move on to our next destination the following morning.
The next day we traveled to Monteverde, which was about a three hour drive. On the way, we stopped off for a hike to another waterfall. This one was actually much taller than the one we’d seen earlier, but a little more complicated to get to, and way less touristy. We only saw two other groups of people the entire hike.
We finally made it to our next house and it was an interesting one. We assume it was owned by a musician or other music group because of the way it was designed and that fact that it had a huge amphitheater on the property. It was wild. Also wild was the wildlife. A ton of cool birds again, and also monkeys! They came to visit us on our porch every day, and wanted to get in the house very badly, so we had to be strategic about opening the doors.
The next day we went to an adventure center that had sky bridges above the tree canopy and ziplining. It was a lot chillier than we were expecting, so we definitely weren’t dressed as warmly as we would have liked. The area is called the Cloud Forest, and true to the name, much of it is in the clouds, which means a lot of drizzly rain.
We all walked across the sky bridges, which I did basically because I had no choice. They were incredibly high in the air and swung back and forth a bit when you walked on them. But I sucked it up and did it. However, after that it was time for zip lining and Lauren and I both decided that the bridges were enough for us. We sat and drank some lovely coffee and hot chocolate while Dave and Sophie zip lined. They said it was really cool, but also, they couldn’t see much because they were completely in the clouds.
Before heading back to the house we did another hike through a reserve area. It was incredibly lush and beautiful. And we also ran into almost no other people the entire time. Amazing.
The next day we took a tour of a coffee and cacoa farm. It was the most “educational” thing we did all week, and the girls were not thrilled, but they did get to make their own caramel from cane on the farm, and we all drank coffee from their beans, which was delicious.
That evening we did a night tour of the rain forest. We were with a guide and a group of about 10 people who all had flashlights. We walked through the forest looking for animals that come out at night. We saw a huge tarantula, a few sleeping birds, and a lot of night insects and bugs. Not a jaguar in sight. Actually, our tour guide told us he’d been giving these tours for 20 years and has yet to see one, so we weren’t too hopeful.
On our final full day we did the best hike all week. It took us about 4 hours and was deep into a canyon with about 6 waterfalls along the way. Once we got to the bottom, we hopped on horses that took us back up to the top. Once we got to the top they fed us, a traditional Costa Rican meal of coarse. It was an amazing way to end the week.
I’m already dreaming about getting back there. Maybe checking out the coasts next time. The nature was amazing, the food delicious, and the people welcoming.