Poker Hill Graduate

This girl is a graduate of Poker Hill School!  We can't even believe it.  It has been such an unbelievable place for her to grow as a little person.  Two years ago, she was a three-year old who had a reputation for being bossy at her daycare and whom we thought might have gotten our non-musical genes.  Now, she is a compassionate, social, musical, confident, inquisitive, independent person.  She marches to the beat of her own drum and I can thank Poker Hill for much of that.

Poker Hill doesn't believe in a formal graduation, but they do have an end of the year hike up the teepee and sing-a-long/ice cream social for the families.  It was so fun to see Cal show Hazen around and explain the "ins and outs" of Poker Hill to him.  We are so excited to have our next chapter there with him.

We aren't really sure what inspired her, maybe it was moving on from preschool or the hot weather, but the week after Poker Hill got out, Cal asked to get her hair chopped.  We decided this was a job for the professionals, so we brought her down to Bridge Street Hair, where one of my first biology students gave her a "bob".  

My end of the year was kind of crazy.  The weekend guests and traveling, combined with taking an online class, hosting the Mt. Mansfield Union High School "Ladies Luncheon" for ~50 colleagues, and the regular hustle of grading and wrapping things up at school made things rather hectic -hence the lack of blog posts for about six weeks.  When it was finally all over, on June 19th we celebrated at our friend's Marcia and Tim's house. 

  

Yeah Summer!

Father's Day Weekend at Ricker Pond

The kids have been asking to go camping for months.  We hadn't been since September.  So, weeks ago, I coordinated with a few families and reserved a few campsites at Ricker Pond (in Groton State Forest)  for Father's Day Weekend.  I didn't factor into the equation that I would be in the middle of exams at school, hosting the "Ladies Luncheon" for my faculty at my house, needing to grade 60 final projects, and taking an online class.  But you only live once, so I got my ducks in a row and we made it happen.

And it was so, so worth it.  Camping is the best.  Especially when you are with a fun crew.  It strips life down to the basics.  I'm not going to lie, it's a pain in the neck to get the gear together and pack it up and set it up and unpack it, but so, so worth it.  I'm so glad that we made it all work out. 

And the father's felt loved and appreciated with a big fat brunch and the green light to go for an epic mountain bike ride in Stowe.

This family loves to camp and we love the guy that the kids call Dad, but we realized that a group camping trip was no way to really show our appreciation for all that he does and is for us.  So, we got a waiver and decided to celebrate father's day for the entire week after the actual day!  He deserves it!

Reunion

I love my family.  But I also love my friend.  The friends that I met in college are some of the greatest friends I have-- even if 20 years have elapsed.  Because my alma mater is only an hour from my home, it doesn't take much to get me to any of my reunions.  Fortunately, many of my friends have a soft spot in their hearts for Vermont, so they gladly make the trek up here.  But because many of them are coming from far-- California, Virginia, Idaho, NYC, etc., we decided to prolong the event and make a four day event out of the whole thing.  With the help of these friends (and my fabulous husband)

I was able to spend some time with these lovely ladies and lots of other fascinating classmates during a beautiful weekend in June.  John was able to join me for the first night of festivities because Tom and Cara had the kids over for a slumber party and then took them to a fund raising event at Oakledge Park in Burlington for the day on Saturday.  

 It was so great to see old friends and even connect with folks I hadn't stayed in touch with for the past 20 years.  We stayed in dorm rooms, ate cafeteria food, and really felt like we were in college again-- pretending for just a weekend that we didn't have all the responsibilities that we have now, realizing how amazing it was to be in college-- where coffee was made for you everyday, dishes were washed for you, and your biggest stress was writing a paper and getting enough sleep.

 

Meanwhile, John was playing a superstar role as husband.... he stocked the refrigerator and cupboards at High Meadow where five of us returned for two nights of relaxation.  He took the kids climbing, drove them to school, delivered us a fruit salad, and let my friends meet the kids for just the right amount of time.

Every once in a while, Cally asks me why I have to leave to see friends for an evening or several days.  My response is always the same.  I hope she develops great friendships like the ones I am so lucky to have.  Where time can elapse and distance can come between us, but we always have each other in our hearts. 

Memorial Day Weekend= Running

For the past decade, Memorial Day weekend has usually been synonymous with running for me (and sometimes John).  We've either run the entire race or been a part of a 2 or 5-person relay team.  It's a great event and something that motivates me to get in shape in the spring.

Cally has been asking me when she gets to run a race for a while.  She has seen me train and thinks it looks fun.  I had heard about the YAM scram, a youth race organized the day before the real marathon on the waterfront in Burlington.  Last year it was pouring rain, so I was glad we didn't do it.  This year, I signed Cally up for the 1/2 mile race a month before the event.  Of course, that meant nothing in terms of "training" on her part and I was a little bit nervous about her actually being able to run that far.  But, my how she showed me!

Cal and John ran the entire way, with smiles on their faces!

The weather was gorgeous, her good friend Boden got into the race at the last minute, she got a medal, was fed good food, and most importantly, she LOVED it!

We spent the rest of the morning showing our friends, the Dormer's all the fun things to do on Burlington's waterfront-- the fishing peer and skate park among our new favorites.

The following day, I sweat through 13.1 miles while Cally hiked Mt. Mansfield with the Dormer's.  John and Hazen, once again attempted to watch me race, but never saw me run the course at all.  I think they should go for a hike next year instead of trying to navigate that scene.

We always love having the Dormer crew in town.  The kids play so well with each other and we have so much fun with Carlota and Matt.

We wrapped our running weekend up with the annual Jericho-Underhill Memorial Day Parade or "Candy Parade", as the kids fondly refer to it.  It's certainly not a long parade, but fun to see fire trucks, miniature ponies, the high school marching parade, etc.

I'm thrilled that Cally had such a fun time running.  It's something that has been an important anchor in my life-- a great outlet for stress and something I can do almost anywhere that I've been.  I picked up this little habit from my dad, who now warns me about it's potential harm and advises me to do more cross training-- to save my body. I am certainly not pushing Cal to go crazy with the running, but it's great to see he excited about it.

Mother's Day Bliss

There are rarely dull moments being the mom of these two!  I can't even believe what a wild ride it has been.  I feel so incredibly fortunate to be able to call Hazen my son, Cally my daughter, and John my husband.  We really do have an amazing little unit-- kids who initiate family meetings, a family that randomly screams the team Abbott cheer, hugs and kisses that are thrown out like passing breezes...... All of this makes my heart feel so full and complete.  I had no idea that motherhood would be so amazing.

My mother's day was perfect!  John has figured it all out and knows exactly what this mama needs-- a lie in until almost 9am, coffee and the New York Times delivered to my bed, eggs benedict with grilled asparagus for breakfast, a morning spent in the garden with my kids, and an afternoon spent riding bikes and playing on the playground with these monkeys.

 

Being a mom is hard. There isn't a day that goes by that my patience isn't tried and I feel rested and relaxed. The only thing easy about being a mother is loving these kids. I wouldn't trade this experience for the world.  And being a Mom with John as my partner is the best decision I ever made.  It was definitely worth the wait!  Thank you Universe, for aligning all this together.  I'm so happy!

Cousin Chris-- The Graduate!

We had great reason to celebrate this weekend!  Cousin Chris graduated with a degree in elementary education.  He's going to be a great elementary school teacher or special educator, but we are going to miss having him around.  It's been so fun to have him around for the past four years.  The kids have basically grown up seeing him fairly regularly.

Since tickets to the main event were limited, we watched from an auditorium nearby:

But the kids didn't quite make it through the 2 hour and 45 minute ceremony, so they took a break to bike, but made it back right when the sun came out and the ceremony was ending:

His family was really proud of him and we were so excited to see everyone!

We'll miss you Chris, but we know you'll make a difference wherever you end up.

And one of the benefits of having a big family event, was getting to spend time with Nana and Grandpa.  Even if for only one night, the kids LOVED having them around.