Just Going to Leave This Right Here

October 2007 (?) & October 2016

It goes up to 11.

Life's going way to freaking fast.

So since last time... Family Camp in NH, 5th grade started, All-city Band, Fall & Winter Lacrosse as a long-stick with the A team, a good first effort at the city basketball league (only to be foiled by poor coaching tactics and even worse youth sports philosophy), New Years adventure to Key West (and more), and now helping anchor the 1st-place defense of the ALC U11 AAA team.

Harry's birthday party this year consisted of a bunch of his buddies (and a few little sisters) bouncing their collective heads off at Flight Trampoline Park, and a valiant effort to sit through an unseasonably cold & wet rivalry B1G Ten matchup pitting JHU Blue Jays at University of Maryland's Byrd Stadium.  We almost made it through the first quarter.  Cold we were ready for... not the wet.  Luckily we made it back home in time to catch the finish on TV (and even spotted ourselves on the DVR version).  Depending on who you ask, Hopkins winning the game may have been good or bad.

Harry continues to grow into the most wonderful boy you could ask for. His respect for just about everyone he knows (even those who could probably use a dose of reality) is impressive.  The best part (okay there are about a zillion best parts) is that it all seems to be rubbing off on his sister.  They're both such incredible kids, and they compliment each other so well, even when they're needling each other to no end.  It's tough to see him having trouble relating to some, and having the same issues he's always had with others.  He's such a good kid, who doesn't want to walk away from anyone, even if they're being a jerk... again. 

Here's to another incredible year, and looking forward to many more... they're just welcome to slow down a bit.  Even just a little.

And so it goes...

There have been PLENTY of items in the house that have gone the way of the local consignment shop, so I'm not exactly sure why this one was such a gut punch...

The boy is moving way too quickly towards not being a little boy anymore... so incredibly wonderful, but at the same time, gut wrenching.

This was one of the first new things to go in his new room, when we were only three (plus Bailey), and we moved into this house.  such a perfect fit for him.  They watched as he went from a crib, to a big-kid bed, to a loft (and back several times over)... saw him in a body cast, watched his head bounce off the radiator, and recover from too many ear infections... listened to him learn to read and to play the recorder... witnessed his Thomas the Train table, getting replaced by a desk and a Kindle... heard the familiar rattle of a zillion Legos and countless bedtime stories.  They listened intently as a new family member arrived, and quickly found out that Harry now had a sister... many holiday sleepovers with PopPop, and so many boys from the 'hood... watched over as Bailey faded away, and Max warmed our hearts (and chewed her toys).

He's getting to be a big kid now, and I know I've got to start to let that go... I'm just not so sure I'm totally up for all that... not quite yet.

On to bigger and better...

So it's been a while... again.

Let's try to catch up.

Harry started playing the saxophone... valiant effort with Magoo's (and by extension my...) sax from back in the day, but it needed some work, and we had trouble tracking down the recommended service provider.

Harry started playing the drums... the band teacher wouldn't let him off that easily, so now he's in the percussion section.

Fall soccer came and went... nothing particularly earth-shattering, but another fun season in the books.

Max, Harry and I all got good at taking long, reflective walks down into Old Town, having some very introspective discussions on various topics of life

One of those walks even included me in a kilt, in support of Alexandria Rugby in the Scottish Christmas Walk

The Polar Vortex hit hard, and we all froze solid for a few months.

Harry passed his 3rd Degree Brown Belt

Harry made the ALC U11 Upper B team (middle level of 3 teams)... we were both bummed to find out that NVYLL rules preclude the B-level and lower from using long sticks.  He'd been practicing hard with  a donated one from the Bushwood boys, and picking it up quite well.


Family outings all over Nashville for Spring break, to include an awesome zipline tour (that unfortunately Ainsley bailed out of, which kept Kim from participating in too), and a reasonably (?) close bear sighting at Cades Cove park

Harry turned 10.

I chaperoned (accompanied) Harry's 4th grade class trip to Jamestown VA for a gorgeous day away from the fray (we never did find the longhouse lacrosse sticks), which turned immediately into the most self-sufficient birthday party ever -- video game truck thing

Just this weekend, Harry passed his Junior Black Belt.  He's the youngest Jr. Black in the history of the entire Potomac Kempo dojo system, and he and his pal Max are the first Jr. Black belts from the Foxchase dojo.

phew.

End of an Era

It's been just over a week now since Bailey passed along to go catch up with her friends Festus, Kody, and Casey, and so many others.  She had an almost 16-year run, and made every bit of every day.  That said, at the time of her passing, she seemed comfortable, and at peace.

This has been Harry's first real experience losing a loved one.  We lost his good pal, and neighbor, Dan a few years back, but this is the first one that's really hit home. 

As expected, Harry continues to be an incredibly compassionate boy, who is deeply thoughtful and reflective.  As with most relationships of his that have changed (albeit all others from folks moving away), one of his deepest concerns is forgetting about those who have gone.  He doesn't want to forget anyone or anything.

So he now has a great photo of Bailey on his wall, when she was only about 4 or 5, head popping up out of the underbrush, while chasing who-knows-what, at my childhood home.  Truly in her prime, and how we will all remember her. 

best big brother ever

4th grade started this week.  Kindergarten for Miss A started too.  As excited as she's been to get herself going, he's been even more excited to get her going.  This is the first of likely the only 2 years ever, that they'll be in the same building for school.  He's making the most of it. 

He's such a great big brother. 

Making sure she's been ok at the bus stop, getting a seat on the bus in the morning (credit to Ms Woods for making sure she gets a wave before pulling away), getting to her classroom, and even handling after-school REC with great aplomb. 

Even after school, when recounting her day, he's there to make sure she got everything right (almost like he's shadowing her all day)

As Kim likes to point out, they're Tom & Jerry lately.  One second the best of friends, the next they're at each others' throats.  He continues to grow more and more every day into a wonderful young man.  we're so proud of him, everything he's accomplished, and everything he's looking forward to doing.

New Paradigm

So today marks the first, of what will hopefully be many, of Harry & Ainsley’s adventures together, but without one of us to accompany (and more importantly to document).  Today the local YMCA camps that each are attending, are coming together as a larger group with all of the YMCA’s around the region… they’re all piling on buses, heading across the river, for a big thing called Thingamajig.

This is really the first time that I’ve really come to the conclusion that I really wish one of them had a camera, a phone, something… What are they doing?  Where are they? Are they together? Are they having fun? 

It’s not that I’m worried about them, I’m sure they’re in great hands, and their counselors are wonderful (and even if there was a problem, Harry has become quite the shepherd for his little sister). I’m not sure that came across as me convincing myself or not… So back since about a month before Harry was born, I started this little blogging endeavor, and similarly for Ainsley.  Granted these days of 16 gazillion various social media outlets (yes I’m looking mostly at you, Facebook & Twitter), the entries have certainly fallen off a bit, but rest assured there’s a digital record somewhere of just about every event/happening/occurance/participation in varying levels of significance, from the last 9 years.

What will we have for THIS event?!?!?! 

The thing is, I feel pretty confident that 2 things will happen upon their return today… 1) neither of them will offer up a straight answer on what they did, did they have fun, etc, even when pressed, and 2) neither of them will remember (to the point of being able to recall) any of it by tomorrow.

Who’s taking pictures this time?  Who’s updating statuses? Who’s tweeting???

Wait… wtf just happened there?

3rd Last.

Well, this is a little embarrassing.  We went an entire school year without a single blog post.  Not one picture made it up.  Zippy.

Well, that is certainly not to say that nothing happened this year.  On the contrary, so much has happened, so many places gone, people & things seen, that unfortunately the blogosphere (or whatever social media archetype it's morphed into) has taken a backseat to... well to a whole lot.

Harry continues to grow into the wonderfully charming big brother we all knew he would.  He puts up with a LOT from Ainsley (and her friends)  He had another outstanding year in school with Ms Davidson, participating in several after-school clubs & activities, having a great showing in the 3rd Grade Recorder concert.  While karate, lacrosse, and soccer continue to be the athletic pursuits of choice, there's still somehow time to squeeze in rugby and time at the pool.

His summer is in full swing at several camps, but the propensity of afternoon "tropical downpours" have given us a new appreciation for hot afternoons.  We enjoyed a great hike on the Billy Goat trail for the 4th, with Harry as the designated trail guide.  It also served as Ainsley's "test hike" for family camp.  Consensus is that she'll be on the "easy" hike this year, while Harry & Kim take on greater challenges with the big kids.

As I think back on my own foggy memories of this time, I seem to continually point out to Harry that 3rd grade was a very formative time for me.  I don't remember many faces or names from before 3rd grade, but seem to remember everyone, from then on.  Unfortunately, the message he seems to get from this, is that he's going to forget everyone he already knows... I think it will be quite the opposite for him.  He continues to make fast friends, and lots of them.

Such a wonderful boy.

3rd of 12.

Yeah, this one was excited at all to get out the door today.  We'll see how that holds up next week (or even tomorrow).

So I know there's a post missing in here about Family Camp, I should've gotten that up before school started, but it's been quite a summer.

With that said, Harry begins 3rd grade today.  We met his teacher last week at Open House, and well, she seems to be very enthusiastic & engaging.  How refreshing!  Wonderful to see all of the familiar names on the other desks around the classroom... from Soccer, from Lacrosse, from Karate, from the neighborhood.  It's all good.

Max went a little nuts this morning while we all waited at the bus stop with Harry.  Bailey looked excited too, as much as she can these days.

3rd grade was a milestone for me as a kid, as it coincided with a move to the country for our family.  We left our suburban cul-de-sac neighborhood in West Chester, for the cornfields and rolling hills of Embreeville.  These are the people I still know in my head.  The people from that point in my life, on.  I'd like to think these are the times Harry will remember forever.  He's such a great kid, and for good or bad, there's so much of me I keep seeing in him.  I want to help him along, steer him there over here, but then again, maybe I had better not. 

3 months isn’t so bad

So just how many things have happened since Harry turned 8?   

This may take a while… in a nutshell, we’re back at the pool, and he won’t leave the diving board.  Okay, he leaves the diving board during adult swim, but it’s only to hang on the diving board ladder until 15 minutes have ticked by, or if he needs something to eat (and that’s even an effort).  Okay, so there was one other time that he left the diving board, but that was only to get someone to hold onto the tooth that had fallen out, so he could go back to the diving board…

Second grade is over… finally.  I don’t’ mean it to sound so bad, but it’s like most of the stuff he was doing for the last year, he had already learned the year before.  Did we peak too early with teacher quality?  Was Dr. Vick just that good? Was Ms. Lansing really just... not?  Either way, time to move on.  Harry’s since been identified and accepted into the Talented and Gifted program (TAG) for math, and he’s very excited about it.  He’s all for challenges lately, and this seems like a good one.

So Summer’s begun, well really it’s now in full swing… which means camps, camps, camps, and rugby, rugby, rugby!  So far he’s been to soccer camp, REC camp, a few random day trips to go fishing with PopPop, and to hit the beach a few times.

We had our fun with the Derecho, and “got to” experience life without electricity for 83 hours straight.  Quite the experience, from start to finish.  Glad we made it through it without any significant losses, to include our sanity.  Harry and Ainsley were troopers throughout, and are now great fans of Little House on the Prairie. 

This past weekend included some old favorites. Harry passed his test for his Green Belt in Karate at Potomac Kempo, and did a little rock-wall climbing at SportRock.

The Green Belt was impressive in its own right.  Harry continues to progress, and handles himself very well.  As one of the younger students, he has quickly become one of the most senior-ranked.  Not bad.

Then there was the rock-climbing.  Kim got him set up for Kids Night at SportRock, the local indoor climbing gym, with one of his buddies from soccer, Max.  

Now, Kim has seen Harry climb before… she’s seen him boulder, scramble, harness up, all that stuff.  I, however, had not.  Watching him roll right up to the wall, take a quick look at the holds, and just hop up on the wall, well that was kinda cool.  Little did I know.

After the rest of the kids arrived, and the guides gathered everyone up to suit up properly, and get their routes ready.  As we turned to leave, to take Ainsley for some Ice cream, Kim nonchalantly said, “Oh, you haven’t seen him do this… did you want to watch for a few minutes?”  Sounded like a good idea.

I went back to the corner where they had obviously already gotten underway, because Harry was literally halfway up a 20-or-so foot wall.  I’ve been impressed in the past with his ability at karate, and enjoyed watching him play sports like soccer and lacrosse, that I have and can appreciate, but this was entirely different.  

This was awesome. 

Like smoove.  He just went.  And then he stopped, tried a few things, tried a few different things, then kept going…. Wow.

We went off to satiate Ms. A, and returned in time to find him now 2/3 of the way up what seemed like a 30 or 40 foot wall, on the other side of the gym.  I’ve never seen him up so high, I’ve never been up that high.  It was incredible to watch.

I love my boy, and am always impressed by him and his accomplishments, but this was easily the coolest thing I’ve ever seen him do.  I’m incredibly excited for him, that he gets to spend an entire day there tomorrow, for day camp. 

8 is great!

Harry turned 8 on Sunday.

When we last visited, Harry had just met his new pup, Max.  They're both getting on quite well.  Max has already outgrown Bailey, and loves nothing more, than to jump on her.

Originally, the plan was the Max's arrival would preclude the typical sizable birthday celebrations we've become accustomed to, and we all seemed to be on board with that.  However, we ended up with a fun-filled weekend, that I think ended up being on par with parties of the past.

Friday ended up the week with our typical lacrosse practice, after what's become a typical ACPS teacher workday (read: another day off, another Harry Potter movie).  Saturday started off early with a first-time-in-a-while visit from Gradmom Becky and PopPop Allen, in from Minnesota.  While the girls went off to gymnastics, the boys headed to soccer.  Harry went straight from there, to a teammates afternoon birthday party, while we readied for the afternoon & evening's activities.  After a quick lunch, we picked Harry back up, and headed straight for our lacrosse game.  Harry had a huge 1st half in goal, and they finished up tied at 3 (or 4 maybe... we're not allowed to keep score yet).  From there, we headed home to fire up the grill for dogs, burgers, and smoothies for a few friends, before heading to Clarendon to see Chimpanzee

Fortunately, the rain that was supposed to be in our faces all afternoon, waited until after we arrived at the theater, and was finished just prior to our departure.  Miles spent the night, and enjoyed pancakes Sunday morning, before heading off to Sunday School.  Grandmom accompanied Ainsley to ballet, while the boys tried to figure out how to fly Harry's new RC helicopter on minimal battery charge.  For the official birthday lunch, we all headed over to Johnny Rockets for more burgers & shakes, and an incredible backwards rendition of "Happy Birthday," the likes of which we'd never seen. The rainy Sunday afternoon turned into a perfect opportunity for a movie on the couch.

Harry continues to be a voracious reader, with an unstoppable imagination.  This weekend brings another karate tournament, and his first competitive foray into sword forms.  He's such an incredible kid, and I, we, couldn't be prouder.

Happy birthday Harry!