The School Year so Far

The girls have both settled into their new schools pretty well at this point. They seem to both have made some good friends and like their teachers. 

Two weeks ago Lauren's school hosted Grandparents Day, and PopPop came in for a visit. She showed him around the classroom, introduced him to her friends, and they both enjoyed snack.

Lauren and PopPop

Last week all of the first graders at Sophie's school put on a concert called Mighty Minds. It was pretty cute. Here's a quick clip of one of the songs. Sophie is on the end, second from the top.

Here's Sophie's first grade picture. Looking a bit sly, I think. Unfortunately Lauren missed her picture day when she was in the hospital with a broken arm, and they don't do any makeups(!). So sadly, we won't have a school picture of her this year. 

Oh, Christmas Tree!

We arrived back from Virginia on Saturday and on Sunday went right into Christmas mode. This year we went to a cut-your-own Christmas tree farm in Collegeville and did just that. We pulled out all of the holiday boxes, and by Sunday night the house was fully decked. One full month of Christmas bliss :)

Sophie helping Dave cut down the tree

The girls and Dave with the freshly cut tree

Fully decorated. As you can see, we don't really abide by the "don't touch" rule for the Elf on the Shelf. He's more of a "helper" in our house.. 

The following weekend we went to see Santa at the Northwestern Stables in Fairmount Park. To be a little more accurate, it's Santa and his horse, Otis.

Lauren wasn't too thrilled about the situation.

Thanksgiving 2016

We headed down to my parent's house in Virginia for Thanksgiving this year. We had the usual group of folks: Doug, Vicky, Carley (no Quinn b/c she's still on her gap year), Nana, Becky, James, and Ariana. We were also joined by Tom and Ginger this year. Dave cooked the bulk of the dinner - as he always does - and it was delicious! 

 Mom and Dad also took the opportunity to snap their Christmas Car pictures with their three grandkids

Election 2016

On November 8th, I headed to the poles with the girls to proudly vote for who we all assumed would be the first woman president, Hillary Clinton. As the day progressed into the evening it became clear that a lot of the country did not feel the same way. I was up early on the morning of the 9th and felt a loss and devastation that I haven't experienced before. I didn't know what to tell the girls after months of talking about the importance of this election, specifically the importance for women and girls. Not only had Hillary not been elected, but instead a sexist, xenophobic, intolerant scumbag had been elected. I literally did not have the words to explain it to them. It's now a month after the election and I'm past the mourning, but far from acceptance. In our home we continue to emphasize powerful female leaders and acceptance of all, but what they're exposed to outside our house can be a different story. The girls are going to change and grow up a lot over the next four years and it is our goal to talk about and expose them to people and organizations who are working for equality acceptance so that this may never happen again.

Me and the girls after casting our vote for Hillary Clinton

The Cast if Off!

After 4 weeks Lauren finally got her cast off today! The docs took another round of x-rays and said all looks good and the bone is healing nicely. She now has a soft cast on for another 4 weeks, but at least we can take it off during the day and she can move her arm around. We were given a few exercises for her to do to help make it strong again. 

The happy girl. 

These were the screws that were in her arm! Can you believe how big they are?! They took them out like they were removing a nail - just pulled them right on out. Dave was with her and said she didn't cry a tear. Better than I could have done! 

Halloween 2016

Another successful Halloween in the books! 

The girls got to dress up twice. Once for the Union League Halloween party where they both were superheroes - Sophie was Wonder Woman and Lauren was Super Girl. 

The party duo

And then dressed up again for actual Halloween. Sophie remained Wonder Woman, but Lauren decided to go as a purple princess.

As you can see from this picture, Dave decided to go all out for Halloween again - fog machine, black light, and all. Too bad we didn't have very many trick-or-treaters. More candy for the girls I guess. 

Earlier in the day we went to Sophie's school, where they celebrate Halloween big time (with a half day of school... seriously). Here's Soph in her classroom. The Queen of Hearts behind her is her teacher, Ms. Henry, who apparently also goes all out for Halloween. 

Another cast!

Our own series unfortunate events. Lauren and I are now both sporting right arm casts – though hers is much more fabulous than mine. 

The events: Lauren breaks arm; though they're not supposed to be, girls are wrestling; Lauren kicks Sophie in the mouth, front tooth comes out; tooth fairy climbs to top bunk, slips and falls on descent, breaks wrist. Dave has decided to keep his distance.

Beaven Raft Up Weekend

In the middle of October we went for our last sail of the season. We met 3 other boats in the Chesapeake for the annual Beaven Raft Up, named after a sailor in the ULYC. The weather was gorgeous and it was just a beautiful weekend. 

Me and the girls. 

Sophie at the helm. 

We had a fishing pole off the back of the boat on the way home and ended up catching this big Rockfish. We threw him back - after taking this glamour shot of course. 

Pumpkin Picking

We took our annual trip to Milky Way Farm to pick out pumpkins. Unfortunately we went on a dreary, rainy day, but it was still fun - especially eating the home made ice cream after doing the picking!

The girls making their selection. 

This looks like a good Christmas card contender to me! 

Lauren's broken arm

On Tuesday Lauren fell from the monkey bars at Sophie's school playground and broke her elbow. She was with the babysitter at the time and I got the call at work. I met them at the hospital and after x-rays they told us she needed to have surgery so that they could put two pins in her arm to secure the bone. We slept at the hospital on Tuesday night and she had her surgery on Wednesday. Apparently it's an extremely common monkey bar injury, and in fact, the surgeon was doing three of the same procedure that day. 

Here we are on Wednesday morning waiting for the go ahead to head to the pre-op room. We both had about 4 hours of sleep the night before, which I think is pretty apparent from this picture. 

Here she is post-surgery and post-blue popsicle. The surgery took about 45 minutes and we're told it went perfectly. I actually rode with her on the bed into the operating room because she was so freaked out. Once the anesthesia kicked in I was escorted back to the waiting room. 

We were able to go home on Wednesday night. Sophie was very happy to have her sister back home with her. 

We decided to do a little bedazzling to the cast. She'll have it on for 4 weeks, and then we need to go back to get the pins taken out, and she'll be in a splint for another 4 weeks. By January her arm should be back to normal again and she'll be able to get back to all of her usual rambunctious play. For now, no running, playgrounds, bikes, etc. It's going to be a long three months! 

Sophie Loses her First Tooth!

Sophie finally lost her first tooth! It was loose for weeks and finally fell out on September 29th. The grown-up tooth behind it is already mostly there, so she doesn't have much of a gap. The tooth fairy brought her a Eisenhower dollar. She immediately stashed it away - the start of a new collection I'm sure.

First day of School 2016

 And here we are - in September already! Sophie started at her new school, Cynwyd Elementary, which is about a 4 block walk from our house. She's in Miss Henry's 1st grade class and so far loves it. Lauren started at Bala House Montessori School in their primary program. She has two years to go before starting Kindergarten. She's in Miss Kiernan's class and also loves it.

The girls on their first day.

Miss Henry's first grade class - first day of school

Lauren doing counting work in Miss Kiernan's class.

Montreal/Lake George Week

The last week in August we drove up to Montreal and spent four days there and then drove down to Lake George and spent three days there. Both amazing places! A good mix of exploring, eating good food and relaxing before the school year begins. 

We went to the Ben & Jerry's factory where they make about a third of their ice cream. Unfortunately the production lines weren't running on the weekend, but we did see the factory where the ice cream was made and also enjoyed free samples at the end. 

In Montreal we went to a ropes course one day where the girls tested their high walking skills. Dave and Sophie went way up high and Lauren and I stayed closer to the ground. 

We did some sight seeing - here overlooking the City of Montreal. 

After Montreal we went to Lake George and to a very old school amusement park. The rides were last updated around the 1950s. They went way faster than rides today - evidence in this photo where the girls are almost flung out of the car. 

The girls first roller coaster ride. I think I'm freaking out the most in this picture. I wasn't completely sure that the car was going to stay on the tracks. Fortunately we all survived :)

We rented a cabin on Lake Luzerne, which was totally relaxing. There was a dock where we did a lot of fishing...

and also a lot of marshmallow roasting.  What a great vacation and a great way to end a wonderful summer! 

Summer Fun

The summer has been full of camps, friends, family, and long weekends. Here's just a snapshot. 

Sophie did a week long Handiworks camp where she learned how to sew. She loved it! Here she is (bottom left) wearing a hat she made with her friend Rachel. 

For 6 weeks Sophie went to Miquon Day Camp where she swam twice a day (among other nature camp activities). She worked all summer long and in her last week finally passed the deep water test and got her prized green band. Look at that proud face. 

In mid-July we had a fun afternoon with two entomologist from the Academy of Natural Sciences, who did a bug hunt on our property. The found about a dozen bugs, two of which will be kept in the permanent collect at the museum. 

In August we headed down to Rock Hall for the annual Pirates and Wenches weekend where Dave and the girls took first place in the dinghy contest. The winning dinghy was decorated like a pirate ship, complete with a shark on the side. Here's the crew - Both Dave's, Sophie, Lauren, and Shannon. Argh! 

Summer Vacations 2016

The girls have had a great summer - and it's not over yet! In June they spent a week with Dave and the Sharps on the boat in the Chesapeake. They got to swim every day and explored haunts of Dave's childhood. 

The girls jumping off the side of the boat. At the beginning of the summer Lauren wouldn't even swim in the water and by the end of the week she was jumping off the side of the boat. It was pretty amazing. 

 Roasting marshmallows on the beach. 

The girls riding along behind the boat in the dinghy.

Kayaking in one of the many coves.

And then in July the girls came with me for a week to Ocean City for the Coughlin/Rainer annual summer vacation. Fresh off the boat (ha!), the girls were expert swimmers with no fear jumping into the water. 

Nana with her granddaughters. 

Pap Pap teaching Sophie how to fly a kite. 

Spring Dance Recital

The day after graduation the girls had their spring dance recital. This was Sophie's second time on stage and Lauren's first. They both did really well!

Sophie and her friend Rachel

Lauren and her class prancing across stage. Their class danced to Dr. Seuss songs - it was totally adorable. 

Sophie's class was divided into birds and flowers. Here's Sophie as a bird standing behind her flower.