Tommy's Confirmation

Early in June, I had the honor of returning to Pittsburgh as the sponsor for another Confirmation -- this time, Tommy's. I couldn't wait to get up there and see all the Pohls again. I was only there for two nights, but as always, we packed a lot of love into that time!

Carol picked me up from the airport and we got stuck in traffic on the way home, which was fine with me and Carol, because we were catching up the whole time. I hung out with Patrick, Kaya and Tommy, met their new bunny, Sugarplum, and (of course) rode Winn. He's so handsome! I love his dappled grey coat. We also visited Oakmont Bakery, where I picked out a selection of yummy cupcakes to bring home.

Patrick just got his permit, and I rode in the back seat for one of his first drives. He did great! Very careful and conscientious, especially on all those small, twisty roads near their house.

On the big day, Tommy looked dashing -- and tall! -- all dressed up for his Confirmation, and we took pictures in the backyard that Carol so beautifully landscaped and hardscaped. Then it was off to the church for the Confirmation. Bishop Zubik was amazing! The parish had warned us that he had a bad back and would have to sit during the ceremony, so I was expecting a decrepit old man. But although he needed assistance walking, his voice was strong and his delivery was impeccable. He had all the kids in stitches, talking in their "Gen Z language" for part of his homily. It's a ceremony that I definitely won't forget.

Congrats, Tommy! And thanks, as always, to the Pohls for being such wonderful hosts. Carol is a holy angel. 

Spring Break Cruise

We had such a great time on the Oasis of the Seas! It was a much different experience than the Disney cruise we took back in 2018. Not only was this cruise on Royal Caribbean, but the kids are old enough now that we let them roam the ship at will. We stopped at several different ports, but we barely got off the ship! We were all mostly interested in staying on board and enjoying everything the ship had to offer.

Highlights of the trip: sliding down the Ultimate Abyss from the 15th floor to the 6th floor; playing Jenga a million times (MJ lost every time); eating unlimited ice cream (Little Man had 6 cones one day for lunch); the different towel animals our steward made every day; our hilarious waiter and assistant waiter who even got MJ and Little Man to dance one evening; the ship's zip line; playing mini golf on the top deck; the Aqua80 show (amazing!); the cupcake-decorating class the girls and I took; and the ice skating show plus skating ourselves. 

We didn't get to our planned stop in Haiti because of civil unrest, so we went to Nassau instead, where Sweet Pea had four braids put in her hair. We loved our day at Coco Cay, Royal Caribbean's private island, and saw a massive iguana sunning himself. Our other stop was Jamaica, where we were disappointed not to get our passports stamped -- Jamaica only stamps your passport if you stay for at least 24 hours.

One at-sea day, MJ and I took an in-depth tour of the ship, which was really interesting. We visited the bridge, the engine control room, the kitchens, and even learned about the elaborate waste processing that happens on a huge cruise ship. The water that day was such an incredible, deep blue -- I couldn't stop taking pictures of it.

Otherwise we relaxed on our balcony, or lounged on the pool deck early, before it was too mobbed. The kids' favorite restaurant was the Windjammer, the huge buffet. But MJ and I preferred some of the other restaurants we tried, like Chops Steakhouse, where Little Man polished off a 16-ounce ribeye and still had room for red velvet cake. 

We told the kids they could each pick a souvenir on the trip. Not surprisingly, all three of them chose a Jellycat stuffed animal from the gift shop. Little Man picked a dragon, Blaze. Sweet Pea picked a sea turtle (because we saw one in the ocean), BooBoo. And CC picked a unicorn, Coco (Cay).

Our stateroom was considered a "suite," but it wasn't; it was just a slightly-larger-than-normal room in order to accommodate 5 people. We knew there would be a king bed for me and MJ; a pull-out sofa for two of the kids; and a final bed that folded down from the ceiling. What we didn't know is that the ceiling bed was directly above the king bed! Definitely not an ideal setup -- MJ and I couldn't even sit up without bumping our heads!

The kids are pretty sold on cruising now. And it was pretty great for me and MJ as well -- we enjoyed plenty of time to ourselves, including a decadent couples massage. But it was also a wonderful family vacation, with memories to last us a lifetime. 

Flood Damage

The morning after I returned from Pittsburgh, MJ came downstairs very early and later told me "it sounded like it was raining inside the house." He realized that one of our upstairs bathrooms had been leaking during the night while we slept, and had soaked through the ceiling into the downstairs. He turned off the water to that bathroom, got every towel we owned, sopped up the water, opened our giant cooler under the worst of the dripping, and ... went to exercise.

I woke up several hours later to a text from him that said, "Lots of water downstairs. Got it cleaned up. There is water damage to the ceiling, though."

That was the world's biggest understatement. I came downstairs to find strips of saturated drywall hanging down from the ceiling. The family room rug was completely drenched. Water was soaking down multiple walls, and the hardwood floors that MJ had dried were warped from the moisture. The water from the upstairs bathroom had also gone under the wall into Little Man's bedroom next door, so his room is also unusable.

That day was a flurry of calls to USAA, who sent out a company to assess the damage. They told me that it didn't matter that the water was clean; because it had originated from a toilet, anything the water touched had to be thrown out. That included multiple walls, carpets, rugs, and the majority of our downstairs ceilings and floors. Wow.

Demo began the next morning, and after it was complete several days later, there were 27 industrial fans throughout the house, running night and day for five days. We moved into a Residence Inn with Amber. It was tight quarters, especially since MJ works from home, and the kids had just gotten out of school and were now home everyday. 

But once the drying process was complete, we moved back home. We're living on subfloor, and we're missing several walls, the downstairs ceiling, Little Man's bedroom, and two bathrooms, but at least we're home!

Now we'll have to find a contractor to do all the repair work. The hardwood floors alone will be a huge process, since they are continuous throughout the first floor. Movers will have to pack up all our possessions from the downstairs and store them in order for the floors to be completely sanded down and refinished. Since we'll be moving out of the house for about a month anyway, I think we'll take the opportunity to put hardwoods in all the upstairs rooms as well.

But I am so thankful it wasn't worse. In a way, it was almost miraculous: we are all okay; the damage didn't affect anything irreplaceable or sentimental; none of the parts of the house that we've already renovated (kitchen, stairs, upstairs hallway) need to be torn out; and USAA has been incredibly supportive and helpful. I am so thankful for those blessings.

BUT ... it couldn't have happened at a worse time! We have three weekends of dance recitals, a baseball game, and a graduation that my dad was planning to come up for!

Goodbye to Middle School

It's official -- we have a high schooler! CC had her "promotion ceremony" on the last day of school, and she was all smiles. She wore a dress (actually a romper, but it identifies as a dress) that she picked out at Altar'd State, which is all the rage for teen girls. She loved the dress, and woke up early to curl her hair. She was preening all day!

Grandpa and Grandma came to her ceremony too. My dad would have as well, except for the house flooding issue which has resulted in no guest room or bathroom at our house. Since there are many big end-of-year events to attend, he asked the kids which ones they thought were most important, and they picked the baseball game and the two big dance recitals.

Afterwards we hosted her close group of friends at the pool for a little party, and they had a blast. It was definitely the easiest party I've ever thrown together, so all the moms and girls agreed we should do it regularly during the summer.

All five girls are going to different high schools next year. Scarlett is going to the high school we're zoned for, that I always assumed CC would attend. Clara's family is very spontaneously moving to a different part of town this summer, so she'll be at a different high school. Patricia and Vanessa live further away, in different areas that have their own high schools. And of course, CC will be attending the fine arts magnet school that she was accepted to.

They're all promising to keep in touch, and I hope they do. They're a sweet group of girls! I'm so glad that CC had a good support group of close, supportive friends to help her through the challenging middle school years.

Visiting Grandma Jean

Not bad for (two weeks shy of) 103 years old!

We were so happy to visit Grandma Jean last weekend ... and even better, this time MJ was with us! Jean was thrilled to see him, and it was great for us all to spend some quality time with her. The girls performed several of their dance numbers (including one that they made up themselves), and Little Man talked her ear off about baseball and Minecraft. 

She treated each kid to $20 (which they promptly spent at the bookstore next to our hotel), and a few little trinkets around the house. The girls selected some decorative cupcake liners from Jean's extensive collection, and Little Man received a cool woven box in the shape of an elephant. 

We were also lucky enough to spend time with Carol, who was so happy to see us, especially MJ. We took Carol to Mass and then out to a nice dinner. The next day, we brought a selection of treats over to her house to enjoy while we chatted and looked at old pictures of MJ. The kids were so entertained to see what Daddy looked like as a teenager!

Special bonus: Grandma was also there, helping take care of Grandma Jean while her aide was on a much-needed vacation. So we were able to see her too, and she treated us to a lovely dinner.

Field Trip

It was probably CC's final field trip (I don't think high schoolers take field trips?), so I definitely had to chaperone again. This time it was a 3-day trip to the North Carolina Outer Banks, so it was a LONG drive, but it was a really fun and interesting trip!

Oddly, I was not chaperoning CC's group. She was rooming with her friend Patricia, so Patricia's mom was their chaperone. Since they didn't need two chaperones, I was given a different group of girls to watch. But I was able to enjoy many activities with CC, and steal a few pictures with her along the way.

The first day we visited Bodie Island Lighthouse, which was very picturesque, and we got a nice group photo. Then we headed to Jockey Ridge State Park, which has the highest sand dunes on the East Coast! And because they aren't directly on the water's edge, you're allowed to climb all over them. The kids slid and tumbled and rolled to their hearts' content. CC didn't want to get too sandy, but she had fun meandering around and hanging out with her friends and one of her favorite teachers from 6th grade, Ms K.

That night the kids had a pizza and dance party in a large conference room at the hotel. The kids screamed at the top of their lungs at the beginning of each song. And if you haven't heard 200 kids scream in a confined space ... well, you're lucky. We were all glad to get out of there with our hearing intact.

The next morning, bright and early, we left for the Wright Brothers Memorial. I was really impressed! It was a very well-done museum and landmark. While the park ranger was giving us his talk, a small plane circled above us, then landed at the airstrip right in front of us. The pilot go out and started walking towards us -- it was the dad of one of the students! How cool!

We drove to Currituck Lighthouse, which is beautiful and still in operation. We climbed to the top, where there was a dizzying view. Thank goodness it was such a clear day! 

We also spent time exploring the beach, and touring the wildlife museum next to the lighthouse. 

After souvenir shopping, we ate dinner at a seafood buffet, then went to a fun park for mini golf, go-carts, and bumper cars. It was nice for the kids to blow off some steam.

The next morning we had our final outing: a trip to Jeanette Pier. Employees from the aquarium taught us how to fish, led us through a squid dissection (CC excused herself), explained all about the types of shells found there, and allowed us to roam the beach to find specimens on our own.

The trip had been going perfectly until that morning. But while fishing, a freak accident caused one student to get a fish hook fully embedded through her cheek. We called 911, and EMTs responded quickly and brought to the ER to have it removed. Not 15 minutes later, a student had a severe allergic reaction to the squid, and we had to call 911 again and rush her to the ER, too. She had no idea she had a squid allergy! Thank goodness both girls were okay, but it was a chaotic morning, and we were delayed quite a bit heading home.

By the time the buses limped back into the school parking lot, it was almost 11pm, and we were all exhausted. But it was a good trip, and I'm so glad CC and I experienced it together.

Special thanks to my dad, who made it possible for me to chaperone! Pepere came to stay with Sweet Pea and Little Man, since MJ was out of town for work. They all enjoyed a fun few days and had plenty of treats in our absence. Everyone had a great week! (Except maybe MJ.)