August 2021

 

We spent the last days of July and the start of August with these amazing people...

...and their pretty cool kids

...on Henderson Bay (off Lake Ontario)

Because why wouldn't we be together for Christmas in July?

The holiday was complete with a boat parade with all the boats decked out in Christmas lights. 

The fun started when the kids found that massive stuffed horse named Buttercup.

The fun really started when Buttercup became the central mascot of our Christmas celebration. And it won't make any sense to you because you weren't there, and you're probably wondering why this picture is even included, but I never want to forget this night of ridiculous silliness and laughing with the best of friends and Buttercup.

When I started residency in 2002, it was with two of the friends sitting at this table. Together, we went through the three most challenging years of my life -- endless hours of work, sleepless nights, learning and growing, moving through self doubt and insecurity, being the first hands to hold new life as it entered the world, and holding hands of those taking their last breaths. And those two friends brought with them two amazing spouses. And with others from residency, we were a family. Clifton came on the scene a couple years later and was immediately part of the family. 

Little did I know during those nights when we were sitting in the residency lounge waiting for an admission at 3am, planning a presentation for morning rounds, or more likely avoiding planning a presentation by watching Strongbad emails or playing text twist, that the friendship forged in those years would still be going strong, and that almost 20 years later we'd be sitting around a table with our pretty cool kids who are now friends with each other, playing a game like it was yesterday. It's the best.

Some of us got tattoos to commemorate the week.

Some of us let our kid draw a Trogdor tattoo.

This is the cream team who made amazing ice cream for us throughout the week.

But by far the bulk of our time was spent in the water.

Floating...

...and going out on the seadoo...

Working on tricks...

And tubing. So much tubing. No mercy from Matt either. I spent as much time in the air and water as I did on the tube.

I was in labor and delivery with this kid and now he's driving me around.

I love that these kids love each other.

It wouldn't be summer without smores.

Okay, so here's the thing. It's like we're still 25 when we're together. A night by the campfire turns into a dance party. The sillier the better. Our kids tolerate us. But I bet they are secretly hoping that they have friends like this when they are supposed to be acting like adults.

Tie dying!

We ditched the kids for a night.

Asher's birthday breakfast out at Tin Pan Galley -- you must go here if you ever find yourself in Sacket's Harbor. We always go and we only sometimes regret how much we eat.

Sarah made sure that everyone got their snuggles for the week.

After breakfast, mini golf and bumper boats, which was all fun and games until the kids realized they could gang up on the parents with the water guns.

The moms

Asher's birthday party

The dads and the big kids went white water rafting one morning.

Naomi looks like she's on her way out of the boat in this picture.

The rest of us spent a morning at the beach.

We brought back the Molympics, which is a ridiculous series of events we created during residency that we believe was last played in 2006. This is the one eye, one arm, one leg egg toss.

The ear pull -- you've really got to see videos of this one to appreciate it.

There was a three legged race. 

Annika's looking a little too cocky here.

The butt hop, where you can propel yourself only by the power of your own butt muscles.

And the hose head smack off, in which you wear thigh highs on your head with a tennis ball at the end and use only that to remove your rival's thigh high from their head. Oh yeah, it's a thing of beauty.

Someday we'll all live in a commune together.

The whole gang, until next time...

Annika at a Rapids game with some of her soccer team.

And cheering on our friends at the first live ballet performance for Centennial State Ballet in 594 days.

Clifton's first live race since Covid -- started easy with a 5K.

Annika started her fall season with a tough soccer tournament. 

Even when tournaments don't go their way, these girls win and lose as a team. They push each other on the field, but I've never heard them blame each other or be anything less than encouraging. It's the best of team sports to me. And their parents are super cool too. 

Finishing up our summer break house sitting at the farm where every evening the view from the back deck reminds me of my smallness in this world.

Ella and Ava's mom teaches at WMS, so Naomi and Ella gave their little sisters a tour of the middle school before the first day.

Summer went too fast.

And school started before we knew it.

Sixth graders go a day early, so Naomi got one extra day of summer.

Off they go, 8th, 6th and 3rd. 

This is actually more accurate -- and who could've guessed we'd still be doing this?

The older girls can ride their bikes to school (about 2 miles) together which is hugely helpful. We'll see what they think when temperatures drop.

Tailgating with the Harteminks at a Rapids game.

It turned out to be a gorgeous night.

And they came away with a win.

The mascot showed up right next to us.

Which, to their delight, got the kids on the big screen.

We had a bumper crop of apples in these parts, so we picked apples. Lots of apples. But that's a post for next month.