The Faculty Fun Committee organized an afternoon of bowling at Sunray Lanes, not far from our house. Maggie opted out, but the rest of us had a great time. (And Griffin beat Andrew!)
Faculty Family Bowling
Kid Dinner Night
Earlier this year, the kids agreed to cook at least one dinner per week for the family. They have chosen a number of bold recipes, including their first lasagna this week! It was delicious.
Cabin Retreat
In 2020, on the cusp of the pandemic, some of my gaming group joined me at the cabin for a wonderful retreat (pictured in this post). We’ve been wanting to repeat the trip ever since, but scheduling is difficult. This year, miraculously, we were able to make a second go of it in the midst of spring break.
This time we weren’t receiving apocalyptic text messages as the state shut down in the face of Covid, but it was a bit surreal arriving to the cabin in March with no snow and just a thin layer of ice on the lake. (It wasn’t nearly strong enough to walk on.) On our second day, however, temperatures dropped and we had a bit of snow.
It’s a wonderful thing to be able to get out into the woods to relax and hang out with friends. We played through J.C. Connors’ ice age horror adventure, Canyon of the Snow Cairns. This involved a mammoth hunt, mysterious disappearances, survival in a forbidding wilderness, cultists, and confrontations with things that man-was-not-meant-to-know. In other words: fun.
Almost 15
I was just thinking about this kid this morning, as I lay in Oliver’s bed to wake him up (he likes to snuggle awake, which I will take as long as possible). I adore Griffin as an almost 15 year old, and I continue to be amazed at the person he is becoming. He is remarkable in all ways, and I love growing with him. I have no desire for him to be little again.
Except.
I do desire to be the mom I am now to the kid he was then. I know so much more than I did then about myself, about children, about life. I want to scoop that little boy up and let his little head fit perfectly into the space between my neck and my shoulder and whisper to him: I love you. I love you. I love you.
Wyre
Griffin and his friend, James (and a few other friends), dove into a programming contest last week: the New Year, New Skills Game Jam. The contest ran for exactly one week, from January 7 to 14. They worked hard and developed a prototype game called Wyre. James was the lead coder and Griffin composed the music and designed many of the graphics.
You can play the game here and see the contest submission here. A few screenshots posted below.
Congratulations Griffin and James! This took a lot of work to put together.
A Bit of Culture
We spent a fabulous day exploring the Hirshhorn Museum on the National Mall. We were wowed by sculptures by Simone Leigh, Yayoi Kusama, and Rodin. We also explored other worlds through an exhibit of contemporary Chinese photography, Laurie Anderson’s “Four Talks,” Mark Bradford’s 400-foot long “Picket’s Charge,” and John Akomfrah’s “Purple.” And food trucks. Obviously.
Christmas 2023
Due to our school calendar, we barely made it to Bethesda in time for Christmas. Fortunately, traveling on Christmas Eve is surprisingly pleasant — no crowds at the airport and plenty of room on the plane. This visit included Anthony and Andrew’s families plus Max. Dave, Nancy, and Raven spent the holiday in Utah. We missed them!
Festive Sweater Cookie Party
The Olson-Hammers outdid themselves once again with a magnificent holiday party featuring sweater-shaped cookies and a massive array of decorating materials. My sweater was intended to be creative, but I ended up accidentally crushing it in my hand just before the photo.
(Griffin’s photo is missing at the moment. We’ll remedy as soon as we track it down! )
Not All Men
Piece by a former student—now a junior—hanging in the art gallery at school. It gives me chills.
(The weird angle of my photo was to reduce glass reflections; sorry for the distraction.)
Fluffy
This is another song that Oliver wrote at school last month. Here’s the transcript followed by the original.
Fluffy monkey puppy pants.
Ya ya ya.
If you don’t like it, you will be a saw.
Ha ha ha.
Fluffy monkey puppy pants.
Ya ya ya.
If you don’t like it, you will be a saw.
Ha ha ha.
