Catch-Up (By No Means a Catch-All) [2 of 2]

Sometime later this spring, Kyle and Owen did their first triathlon. They had been wanting to do a triathlon for a couple of years now, but I hadn’t been able to find one that would work for us (schedule-wise). Finally I found one that worked out for them to do. They placed 3rd and 4th (10-year-old twin girls beat them!!!). They had a blast and they are now chomping at the bit to do another one. Swim. Bike. Run.

In a totally separate experience, a few weeks before that triathlon, Meera had her first swim race. The bambinos have been taking swimming lessons this spring, and Meera — especially — loves swimming (not just playing in the water, but actual swimming). When she found out about the swim meet, she was eager to do it. We entered her in the freestyle event and she did great! You go Meera! (This was a big moment for her — the discovery that she, too, not just her brothers, can participate in competitive sports and do well). I was super proud of her ~

Speaking of athletes, I was so incredibly proud and gratified and just beaming-with-joy as one of my favorite students of all time, Mackey McKnight, graduated from Lehigh this spring. It was a special honor to be invited to celebrate his graduation with his family the night of commencement. Last year we went to Sarah’s graduation party (that was so special), and it was so special again this year to be invited to another student’s party (it is uncommon at Lehigh — to say the least — for professors to join students’ families at their private graduation parties). Mackey’s family are from New Orleans and Texas, so the party was a dinner out at a very nice restaurant. The bambinos and I went, and it was truly one of the greatest experiences with a student I’ve ever had. I cannot articulate how proud I am of this kid. (“Kid” = misnomer, for sure. But to me, he’s one of my “kids”) ~

Somewhere in there was Grandparents Day at the Swain School. MorMor and MorFar were the bambinos’ special guests ~

And then there is baseball, of course. Spring = Baseball. Our experience with the South Side Bandits Little League is an experience large enough for a full-length book. I cannot even scrape the surface here and do any justice to it. So, I won’t even try. Suffice it to say: our full immersion into South Side Little League is a big part of our family life.

Here’s Kyle at bat ~

Here’s Owen pitching ~

We are still going strong with Little League. We are now in post-season play-offs and the Bandits are holding their own. And once that ends, the “All Star” season begins (heaven help us, K & O have been invited to play on the All Star Team this year, so baseball season is even more never-ending than usual now). Poor Meera. She is dragged to baseball constantly (the schedule is grueling). Luckily there are lots of other little brothers and sisters being dragged to baseball too. They either do this (iPad) ~

Or they do this (run around like little crazy people; if you look closely you can see Meera in a dark dress, playing with all the kids, running down the hill) ~

As I look through all the photos I’ve taken over the course of this whirlwind-of-a-spring (note: the vast majority of our photos these days are snapshots taken with our iPhones), I see lots of food photos. Yes, we are those people who take photos of our food. Often. I’m sure that this means something about us, I’m just not sure what (other than that we have a great appreciation for food?). I have tons and tons of food photos on my iPhone. On this particular night (photo below) we had take-out from Wegmans. Deep into eating sushi and dumplings and green beans (3 of Owen’s most favorite foods), Owen exclaimed: “It is like heaven is in my mouth!”

Sometimes Braydon and I steal away for a lunch date, just the two of us, mid-week. Here’s our Thai lunch and tea one of those days. That is my version of heaven ~

Here are the boys, out of Mexican food, the two of them thoroughly enjoying a bowl of queso dip ~

Lots of food at home too. Spring is the quintessential fresh artichoke season. These two are artichoke lovers (or are they just anything-dipped-in-butter lovers?) ~

The end of May/early June is the height of strawberry season here. The seasons and months and time-passing are marked by certain foods for us. Strawberries are a big right of passage from late spring to early summer for us. The bambinos especially love our annual ritual of eating these beautiful berries dipped in sour cream and brown sugar.

But don’t get the wrong idea. There are plenty of nights that Braydon and I feed the bambinos macaroni and cheese from a box, get them to bed, and then eat something like this for our dinner ~

Moving on from food… there has been lots of flying the remote control airplane that K & O got for their birthday ~

And lots of playing in the sprinkler ~

One day I kept the boys home from school and we played hooky together. Here they are at the start of our day, at Waffle House. That was a special, memorable day. I hope this blog helps me to remember some of these amazing times long after they happen. These are moments I don’t want to forget.

Meera’s end-of-year kindergarten picnic ~

K & O’s end-of-year final 3rd grade field trip ~

Oh, and in there somewhere were the birthdays. Kyle and Owen’s, and Meera’s, and the big birthday party (which would be enough in and of itself to keep me from blogging). May is all good, but it is a crazy-kind-of-busy-good. We couldn’t do a whole year of May’s, but we can do one month of May. And I wouldn’t trade that crazy-whirlwind-of-a-spring for anything.

So much, so fast, so that it all goes by in a blurry haze of ups and downs and highs and lows and joyful painful all-around-good-living life. By the end of the spring, as we are entering summer, the woods now look like this ~

And we are ready for summer to really kick in. Tomorrow’s the last day of school! And we’ve got an amazing summer planned!