Seaside Classic

Emily is playing summer soccer and they played their first tournament last weekend, the Seaside Classic in Rhode Island.  The team played up two age brackets, to better prepare them for the upcoming season of playing 11v11 on a significantly larger field.  The GVSA 06 girls played three 05 teams and one 04 team and going into the tournament, we expected them to lose all four games (and lose badly).  The 05 and 04 teams have been playing on the larger field for at least a year and we knew the transition would be a difficult one for our girls.  They ended up going 1-3 and two of the losses were close - 2-1 and 2-0.  They were definitely in all of the games and you could see them get better, faster and smarter over the course of the weekend.  We are excited to see what they can do next month and then how they carry this knowledge over to the fall.

The teams and uniforms might change, but the carpool crew stays the same. 

Emily played both midfield and defense in every game.  It's unclear where her coach is going to play her this fall (and she might continue to play both positions) so she is learning to transition back and forth between them both. Defense on the big field is much different - and outside back may very well be where she ends up.  

I got a new lens, my first camera-related purchase in 11 years.  I was a good 40 yards away from the girls when I took this shot.  Emily, who knows her mother better than almost anyone, had a feeling their was a photo op happening and flashed me the peace sign... 

Tired and happy.

Fourteen

Elizabeth is fourteen today and what a year she's had.  Over the last twelve months, she's experienced great disappointments, tremendous sadness, jubilation and pride, and learned to find the silver lining in every cloud.  We could not be more proud of her hard work - in school and on the playing field - and her dedication to everything she does.  She is a wonderful flute player; a tenacious lacrosse player; an enthusiastic basketball player; and a reluctantly good runner.  We are continually impressed by her academic success and pray that it continues in high school, as she has selected the most difficult classes available to a freshman.  We know that she will give it her all, as that is the only way she knows how to live her life.  Happy fourteenth birthday to our Elizabeth.  We are so happy that to be on this wild ride with you.

June Odds and Ends

Some photos that didn't make it into a June post:

Last ever CFC carpool.  The shenanigans will continue next year for these three at Sporting. 

Always a jokester. 

Morning snuggles. 

Hedgehog cupcakes for Emily's 12th birthday. 

What happens when you have to pick up Lee between events and you are already carpooling (so there's no room in the front). 

With the best.

Last day of 6th grade.

High Honor Friends

Traveling for ice cream in style with Uncle Peter.

Braggalope Bay 2018

The last Saturday in June, Elizabeth and I got together with my high school friends at Braggalope Bay.  This is an annual tradition that I just love so much.  We graduated from high school 25 years ago, yet we still are able to make time to be together each year.  Emily and Lee were unable to make it - Emily was at Choate and Lee was busy working on a complete re-do of the girls' room (in extreme heat!) - but Elizabeth and I had a wonderful time.

Elizabeth and Ethan 

Mrs. Crawford purchased this float and it kept the kids entertained all day. 

Forever friends 

Annual photo 

Elizabeth and Ethan - these two first met 14 years ago this month.  It makes me so happy (and Janet, too, I know) that they are such good friends, always picking up where they left off, no matter how much time has passed.

Choate

Emily just returned from two weeks of Invention & Design at Choate Rosemary Hall.  First of all, we are so incredibly proud of her for stepping outside of her comfort zone to apply to and go to this program.  Emily has never even been to a sleep over, yet she bravely made the decision to live at Choate for two weeks.  She had a fantastic experience - so much so that she even forgot to call us some nights - and learned so much about coding and building.  It was amazing to see how disciplined she was and how hard she worked, even without parents around to encourage her.  She spent long hours in the lab, often getting back to her dorm right before curfew.  Her final project was an LED Lava Lamp - the full impact of which was hard to see in a well-lit classroom - and she was very pleased.

Setting up her electronics. 

There were 569 students from 33 countries and 27 states at Session I of #choatesummer 

Walking with Phoenix, her roommate from Beijing. 

She lived in Mead Hall, which was a much nicer dorm than the one Elizabeth lived in. 

Facetime screens shots. 

Final presentations in the ID lab. 

With her partner on her final project, Breezy.