The Curtis Clan - Summer 2009

Summer Solstice to Fall Equinox

Father’s Day

Jane and Cate Wish	Randy a Happy Father's Day

Father’s Day fell on the Solstice officially beginning summer but the mid-90 degree temperatures for the week prior, signaled summer’s real arrival much earlier. It was a pleasant day of cards and presents from the girls in bed (45th Anniversary edition of Mary Poppins, which is the best example of a movie rarely but occasionally being infinitely better than the book it was based on), a breakfast at Einstein’s Bagels, tennis lessons for the girls; lunch and a leisurely afternoon at Gramy&Gral’s pool

Jane and Cate enjoy a dip in Gramys Pool

NOTE: Jane's missing front teeth

2009-06-21 Fathers Day Jane and Cate in Gramys Pool.jpg

The week before, Jane lost both of her upper two front teeth in a less than a 24 hour period after torturing us for days whining about how loose they were. She lost the first one in her sleep but luckily didn’t swallow it. She went to bed with it hanging by the proverbial thread but refused to allow any assistance in removing it. It was the same thing with the next tooth the following night but this time she wouldn’t go to sleep until it came out.

Henry Shaw Joins the tribe

On 26 June Aunt RoRo (and Uncle Patrick) gave birth Henry Sage Shaw at Missouri Baptist, so we went and visited the next day.

Henry Shaw, Jane, Cate and Gramy

A month later was the baptism resulting in massive family gathering.

Henry Shaw Baptisim

4th of July

The 4th of July weekend saw the girls entering Lilly in the annual Webster Groves Pet Parade. This time we went and understood that there wasn’t any parade but was just a kids and their pets show with lots of American Cheese. The girls were very pleased with their metals: 3rd Place for Best Joke (Why did the Wiener go under the tree?... Because it didn’t want to be a hot dog.) and a 2nd Place for Best Float (they lost out to a girl with a turtle and a stuffed rabbit dangling behind).

Jane Cate and Lilly share a laugh with their medals

Fireworks this year were on the TV and in the yard with sparklers.

While celebrating our National Independence, Randy finally acted on a long desired honeysuckle bush eradication effort, having gotten a Holiday weekend. We replaced the honeysuckle with seven large arbor vitae bushes along with inspiration from a 50% sale at Home Depot and unseasonably cool weather for the our south property line.

Cate swinging in front of the Arbor Vitae shrubery

Last Week of Summer Camp/Swimming

Following swimming, we enrolled the girls in four sessions of ice-skating at the Brentwood Rink on Monday nights along with the Hein kids (Bethany’s friend Maria). They made such progress and enjoyed it so much we signed them up for a second session through to Labor Day. We did the same with Tennis lessons at the Webster Rec complex, although progress was distinct and the girls enthusiasm more tepid. That didn't stop us for signing them up for a 2nd 8-week session there too (until the end of September).

Jane and Cate at tennis lessons ( look out for the Curtis Sisters at Wimbledon in 2024! )

Indy Trip

With Summer Camp over and Randy on the second week of a 2-week trip, including weekend to California and Florida, Bethany took the girls for a couple day visit to see their cousins in Indy. Lots of swimming ensued along with other kid fun.

Cousins prepare to jump...

...and into the drink

Randy took the afternoon off for his birthday so we could finally take the girls up into the Arch. After lunch at the Crown Candy Kitchen (with the obligatory summer time lunch wait of 45 minutes), we rode the pods to the top of the Arch. Afterwards we did the hour-long riverboat ride on the Tom Sawyer. Is there a city that has “better” job screwing up the development of their natural water asset than St. Louis?

BJC at Crown Candy

Randy and Bethany on the Tom Sawyer

(the tourist who took the shot lopped off the kids)

Grandpa Curtis Visits for 3 Days

At the end of July, Randy’s dad Ron drove in from Brookings, OR for a 3-day visit in between gun shows. Being so far away, we don’t get to see him often so it was a real treat. During the day, the girls and Randy dragged him to the Science Center and the Zoo doing what they could to wear him out. On Tuesday, we had a cocktail party for him with friends and the St. Louis Sage tribe. It was a nice visit and a fitting cap to the coolest July in memory.

Jane & Cate with Grandpa Curtis

Group picture with Grandpa Curtis

Take Me Out to The Ball Game

Randy and the girls outside of Busch Stadium with an All-Star Game Arch

On August 1st we made our yearly pilgrimage to Bush Stadium as the girls participated in the Computer School singing "Take Me out To the Ballgame" down on the field with Fredbird during the 7th inning stretch. It was good time and the couple innings wasted in getting down to the parade gate entrance onto the field and back kept the girls from getting antsy (We were happy to have our neighbors the Rugers join us, and incidentally, this was also Henry Shaw's 1st Cardinals Game!).

Bethany and the girls in our seats at the VERY top of the stadium

The kids sing at Busch Stadium

Innsbrook or Sage FFF [Forced Family Fun] 2009

At the beginning of August we took a 5-day vacation to Innsbrook with the rest of the Sage tribe in honor of Bethany’s parents 40th Wedding Anniversary. When asked what they wanted earlier, Amy and Alvan made it clear that stuff wasn’t high on the list but seeing their children and grandchildren gathered together was. Since they had owned a place at Innsbrook for 17 Years (from 1982-1999), it seemed like a the logical vacation spot to convene the tribe reunion. Aunt RoRo arranged finding suitable houses to rent and equitably divided the resources and responsibilities (while not exactly a “thankless task”, a mere thank you doesn’t seem sufficient).

Jane turns 7 with her new Library card

The Curti spent the first 3 days/2 nights sharing the Ryan home (1136 on Fox Tail Lake), arriving on August 5th, Jane’s birthday. We started the day by going to the Webster Groves library so Jane could get her own library card, a rite of passage she had been looking forward to for over a year.

Innsbrook Ryan house

Similar to her Grandparents, Jane was less excited about presents than the opportunity to hang out with her cousins for 5 days.

Cousins walking dogs

On Thursday, the cousins went to the pool in the morning and again in the afternoon. Randy promised to take the swimming in the lake shift when the kids were ready for that, as the floating trampoline at the house caught their eyes from the start. Seeing a 3 foot copperhead swimming along side the paddle boat as Cate and Jane got in for a late afternoon reckie around the lake brought him around to Bethany’s thinking that swimming in the lake with the kids wasn’t the greatest idea. We had a late dinner (about 8 pm) of spaghetti and meatballs at a relatively new A-frame (2508) in the Alpine Lake (phase 3) development where the Indy Sages spent the first 2 nights.

Sage clan at Saturday's Sage Pizza dinner

Afterwards the kids selected “Fantasia” as video they selected. Not the most engrossing storyline but the girls hung in there and enjoyed much of it: They really liked the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which was an easy call (arguably Mickey Mouse at his best). They enjoyed Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, partially I’m guessing because the baby Pegasus ponies foreshadowed the “My Little Pony”, particularly the dancing through the rainbow part (The similarities were so striking that it wouldn’t surprise me that the inventor of the My Little Pony series of young girl toys got inspired for them by this bit; although I’m certain they vehemently deny it to protect “their” property rights from Disney). Unexpectedly, they even liked the Night on Bald Mountain segment. I expected to Cate to be terrified of the demons, witches and spirits rising from the grave and dancing to the mountain demon Cernabog and warned the girls accordingly. Cate however was completely fine. This is a kid who screams, “Stop it! Stop it! I don’t want to watch!” at the dramatic/personal conflict scene of nearly every Waltons episode we've been watching this summer (she even has issue with the conflicts on Sesame Street at times). Watching fantastic demons from Hell cavorting on the screen, no problem... Yet when a stranger steals some “Recipe” from the Baldwin Sisters on Walton's mountain, she freaks out. Same thing with the Wizard of Oz - Wicked Witch of the West and her flying monkeys or the Talking Trees scared the dickens out of her parents as kids (and all other Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers ), but Cate watches these fearlessly. It’s interesting to contrast that with her reaction to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The naughty children disappearing throughout the factory tour utterly terrified her and she refused to watch the last 20-30 minutes. As an adult, I can see Cate as a Vampire Slayer, but Family Counselor would be just too scary.

We left on Sunday with definite visions of returning again and with fantasies of purchasing our own place out there, that were later squashed with pragmatic consideration that owning a place there all year (and paying for it) wouldn’t be as restful as renting one annually for only a bit more than what the monthly maintenance fees would be for owners.

Sage clan at Innsbrook

Sage clan at Innsbruck with obligatory trademark "Pointer Pose"

2009-08-08 Sage clan at Innsbruck pointing

Jane and Maddie help Bethany blow out her candles

Return to School

On Tuesday August the 18th, school started back up with Jane entering 1st grade and Cate officially started “school” with her entry into kindergarten. Cate was a bit grumpy to start off (She is so NOT a morning person!) and she summed up the first day as “Too much listening and no toys”. But her teacher, "Mrs. K" (Kluesner) said at pickup at the end of the day that Cate was absolutely wonderful and she wishes she had 10 more of her in class. Jane had a great first day too, but said that they can't talk as much in first grade AND that her teacher is "kinda cross." A latter early impression of Cate from Mrs. K was that she was “stern” (not a morning person thing again). Jane lamented later in the week that it was “sooo hard to be quiet” and the Mrs. Jauer was rather bossy (we’re guessing that assessment came after a point when Jane’s will power for quiet lapsed).

Jane and Cate's first day back to school

Baby_Blues2009_08_12 Remove all the joy.gif

Orlando - Again

The second week of school, the parents skipped town for Florida. Actually Randy was already there for a week and Bethany joined him for the 2nd week in Orlando while he attended a UXO (Unexploded Ordnance) convention at the JW Marriott and had several meetings regarding the Orlando work that has occupied him for the last 2 years (his involvement started at the last UXO convention that was held in August 2007 at the same hotel when he attended some briefings as the St. Louis research guy). The weekend before hand was spent doing nothing but enjoying the upscale hotel’s fantastic lazy river connecting a half a dozen pools under a canopy of landscaping and thinking about what umbrella drink to have next and where to dine. With the workweek, Randy generally ignored Bethany while in meeting and schmooze mode. She had to content herself with sleeping late, reading and sunning by the pool and watching cable (we don't have at home) to fill the massive hole in her life with no kids, PTO or emails concerns. Somehow she managed. ;-)

Bethany Maria and E

When we got back from Orlando, Bethany’s friend Elizabeth gave her a small dinner party with the Heins and us. It was a nice evening reminding us that hanging out with our adult friends and no kids is OK.

Labor Day

As is the norm for the Curti, the 3-day weekends that mark the beginning and end of summer were once again the 2 weekends of the year free of obligations, which is how we like it given the hectic nature of the rest of the year. On Monday after a breakfast at Einstein’s and commenting on the girls' general lack of interest in improving their bike-riding skills all summer, they insisted on riding them immediately when we got home. So we took them to the old Venture/Kmart parking lot in Maplewood and progress was made. Like in evolution, our lives are more about moments of change and growths (Punctuated equilibrium) versus steady gradual progress (same could be said for the updates to this web page which happen about once a quarter).

Dad helps Jane and Cate with their bikes

Kicksters

The first Saturday after Labor Day saw Bethany’s complete the final act of maternal suburban domestication, as she officially became a “SOCCER MOM”. We enrolled both Jane and Cate into the YMCA’s kid soccer program with a handful of their classmates. They practice for a half an hour on Saturdays before their games which last an hour. They’re on different teams with games at different times so there goes went most of our Saturdays for the fall. And so it starts...

J & C Kicksters

The first game they hustled and stayed with the pack for the most part but neither stood out from the crowd; time will tell. The second week’s game found Cate day-dreaming casually and playing with her pigtails at times on the field (we were so proud…). On the bright side, no crying from either one.

Cate runs with Kicksters

Grandparents Day at WGSCS

In honor of National Grandparent’s Day (first Sunday after Labor Day, annually), on the following Friday the Computer School invited the grandparents of the kids to come and visit the school, enjoy a song and a series of crafts. Gramy and Nana had a pleasant time and since Bethany as the PTO secrtary was in charge of taking pictures for such events, she made sure we got some with them.

Gramy and Nana with the girls

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