Late Spring 2023
Somehow, the school year ended, and summer is upon us! May and June were beautiful, though, and full of friends and bikes and music and family and fun.
In June I was able to go on a couple of field trips with Samantha's class, first to build a fish weir on the Boston Common and then also for a living history day there. It was neat to see the kids and teachers up close, and my fish weir skills have now leveled up dramatically (from, um, nothing). 
Marcus finished out the spring ultimate frisbee season strong, happy and learning more and more, and Helen also loved soccer right to the end. He didn't love the school tennis team as much (I think there wasn't that much "team" in it, really), and she decided climbing trees or doing almost anything else was more interesting than baseball, but that's okay--they both tried. Meanwhile, Robert's softball season opened with such a freezing, rainy day that we were huddled on the sidelines.
We've been trying to spend more time with Grandma and Pop-pop, and celebrated their 63rd anniversary, among other nice days.
Music is still a big part of the kids' lives. Marcus had a good recital with Tristan, and is continuing with lessons over the summer. Samantha's orchestra played the national anthem at the Red Sox game on Mother's Day, which was a lot of fun for everyone (including spectator sisters Helen and Goldie), and then the girls' orchestras participated in a big outdoor concert day on the Greenway a few weeks later.
We manage to stay busy, but meanwhile there are moments of downtime.
Robert and Marcus climbed to the top of this old water tower in Roxbury one day when it was opened for its annual showing, and they had fun and got some great views. 
And Helen had her dance recital, including an hours-long dress rehearsal, and then the recital itself with friends. She also had an end-of-the-year performance in the lion dance class she was taking.
On Memorial Day weekend, we had a 50th birthday party for Sean and (belatedly) for Robert. Sarah coordinated an amazing blind root beer tasting with 15 different contenders, and Jef and Jayden did all the pouring, while Jennifer served. When it got dark, we set up a projector outside and showed "The Empire Strikes Back" on the garage door while little girls dozed and dads were happy. And of course there was food--a birthday cake charcuterie, a whole pig roast, smoked brisket, a pickle bar, and much more.
On the rest of the weekend, we went to the MFA for paper-making on their lawn and a quick peek at the Dutch cabinet dollhouse inside, and then had a BBQ in Newton with old friends. Robert's sister Jennifer was visiting, and over the next few days we got to walk her around the city and even try a grand opening restaurant.
Samantha has done a lot of events with her Girl Scout troop, including camping in New Hampshire at Camp Runels, a farm work day right in Boston, and the new "Little Mermaid" movie on Friday night (Helen and I tagged along for that one, and Helen was in heaven--a movie, with mermaids, and big girls, and snacks, in a theatre, at night? Bliss).
Another day, we sampled "New Zealand-style" ice cream in Brookline. The girls got a kick out of it (fresh fruit is poured into the soft-serve machine and blended with the ice cream. It was nice, but Sally says that while that style of ice cream exists there, it is not what she'd think of as NZ ice cream, and it's not what any Kiwis crave when returning home from Australia, say).
We kicked off summer by picnicking in Franklin Park with Shin and Judah and their family. Hammocks and croquet ruled the day.
Helen and I went on an adventure through South Boston to City Hall Plaza to the Museum of Science one rainy Saturday.
Desmond up the block's bunny has become an outdoor bunny, with a house in their sideyard, and she wanders down the block to eat our veggies (our kale has been decimated) and to let everyone pet her. Nikki is adorable and very tame, but for the sake of my garden, I'm wishing she didn't have quite the free range!
On Juneteenth we went to the African American Artists Museum just about a 10-minute bike ride away to see the end of the Juneteenth parade and celebrate a little. We drank blackberry lemonade as our red beverage, and Helen ran into Ashlynn from school and they had a ball.
Finally, on the last day of real school, Samantha had a little "moving up" ceremony to mark the end of elementary school, and then we all went out for all-you-can-eat sushi afterwards. Meanwhile, Helen loved the end-of-year BBQ and play evening in the schoolyard, and she will of course desperately miss Ms. Seeto! Happy summer, all!
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Created: 6/21/23. Last Modified: 6/21/23.