On Saturday of the Independence Day weekend, Randy’s High School class at Webster Groves had their 30th reunion at the Masonic Hall. Bethany joined the girls at their nephews/cousins joint birthday party that night so Randy went stag. He was hardly an oddity but rather the norm as only about 20% brought their spouse to the event. It was fun seeing several friends for the first time in 30 years, including a number who participated in the failed tires over the flag pole prank, that it turns out echoed an earlier attempt by National Book Award winner Jonathan Franzen, five years earlier (see his The Discomfort Zone).
Randy, Jim Jack and Todd
Marching in the WG 4th of July Parade
Bethany volunteered Randy to be the parade chairman for a Computer School PTO entry. Since the school has never done one before (or at least in anyone’s memory) and he wasn’t sure of the interest level from others, he decided to go with a low key group walking thing as opposed to constructing a float. Randy also remembers all too well the work involved in the Pi Kapps St Pats floats from 1985 and 1986, and isn’t look to repeat that. We got lucky with a donation of a professionally done banner and a Red Mustang convertible we decorated in three minutes with the extra car magnets from the PTO supply. The rest of the decorations were a helium filled Mylar balloon for each family to carry while we passed out small dolphin stickers used in tanning booths. We went through 6800 stickers which was WAY cheaper than any of the candy options.
Curti Dolphined up for the parade
Another bit of good fortune was that were placed behind the bubble machine entry so our dolphin balloons appear to be swimming through waves of bubbles, giving the whole thing kind of a hippy-dippy love fest of rainbows and subtle Save the Dolphins, the Earth and America messages.
WGCS Dolphins parades down Lockwood in a sea of bubbles
The hippy-dippiness was in contrast to the recent Harvard study that finds 4th of July parades energize the Republican base and turn kids into Republicans, based on their success in appropriating American patriotism and its symbols over the last few decades. The findings include:
• a 2% likelihood of youths identifying themselves as a Republican
• 4% boost in likelihood that parade watchers will vote for a Republican candidate
WGCS parades on Elm under I-44
Camp Lakewood
The week after the 4th of July, we sent both girls off to the YMCA’s Camp Lakewood mini-camp from Wednesday to Saturday.
Cate and Jane at Camp Lakewood
They had a great time with most of the activities focused on silly fun, like spaghetti dinner with no utensils, than on tradition camp events.
Cate cheating by using a fork to eat her spaghetti
They did get in the lake for a swim, although for Jane it was more of a dip as she chose to stay mostly on the beach building sand castles and digging water channels (future Corps of Engineers type). Mom and Dad enjoyed their time at camp as well and definitely see this as a yearly event with them going the same week for the foreseeable future.
Jane on the beach
Muny – The Little Mermaid
On Wednesday the 13th, we saw Disney’s the Little Mermaid thanks to a gift of four tickets from friends who decided that they would be most enjoyed by a family with young girls (who were we to argue with that). It was the first visit to the Muny for the girls and the first for us since seeing the first showing of the stage version of White Christmas in 2000 (most memorably marred by a turn by a very old Howard Keel as General Waverly, who forgot many of his lines). We started by attending a preshow event hosted by Friends of Wings, a local pediatric hospice, that many of the other WGCS mothers are involved in (so much for our “free” tickets). We got a tour backstage, participated in many Mermaid crafts, had a box dinner and watched a performance by the Muny Kids. We also stood in line to get autographs with the Ariel, Sebastian and Flounder being impressed that the stars would be doing this an hour before show time only to be chagrined who upon seeing the show they clearly weren’t the same people. The Muny kids in the show were great fun as they portrayed schools of fish in a number of the shows tunes. The fourth grader who played Flounder was exceptional and seemed more approachable as she is at Bristol. Thankfully it was relatively cool and we had pleasant time in the "nation's oldest and largest outdoor musical theatre". Since it starts at 0815 and lasts till 1030, it way past bedtime and that’s always tough for Jane (and Dad). Hopefully this will give the girl’s the same lingering happy memories I had from seeing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1969 and Fiddler on the Roof the next year.
Cate & Jane getting autographs from Sebastion at Little Mermaid
Innsbruck Weekend
For the third summer in a row we rented an A-Frame with the Sage tribe out at Innsbrook (1136). This year the selected coincided with the hottest week of the summer with triple digit temperatures to enjoy the forest-y weekend resort community an hour outside of St. Louis. Alas the A-frame cabin with glass windows ends and no installation were not designed for serious cold or serious hot weather. The AC which had been off when we arrived took hours to catch-up but after a day or so it was OK until by 2 pm it was losing the battle once again and it took another 6 hours to catch up again.
Curti cannonballs
Our main activity consisted of swimming at the Innsbrook Pool, as one end of the pool was in the shade in the morning and the other end by 5:30. So we avoided swimming in the peak tanning hours and ate late dinners. Our non-swimming activities centered on low energy activities in the relative cool comfort of the chalet, such as reading, napping, writing, watching movies , playing Hearts,
Cate
Jane
Cate on top of her dad
We also did a medicom of canoeing and paddle boating on the small lake adjacent to the chalet. On my birthday, I decided to take another canoe paddle around the lake but ended up tipping it over but getting into fast (it had nothing to do with being overly top heavy…). Fortunately there was not damage to done except to my pride as my car remote, wallet, clothes and Newsweek all dried out.
Happy Birthdaty Cards to Dad
Frontier League - River City Rascals
This year for our annual trip to watch a Minor League baseball game we headed out to O’Fallon, MO for a Rascals game with some friends and family. Why do we love the minor league?
• Cheap seats, three rows up, from 1st base
• $1 beers (albeit 8ounce ones)
• Getting to run the bases after the game and easy autographs with the players
• Ending up with 3 foul balls for the four Sage cousins there
At the Rascals baseball game
See, Hear and Speak No Evil
One of the foul balls landed exactly where Randy had been sitting. Fortunately he had just gotten up to go to the rest room and wasn’t faced with the awkwardness of screwing up catching it or worse not noticing it was coming and getting wacked in the head. The downside of the evening was finding out that Randy’s Mom had been in a car accident on the Interstate outside Knoxville. Nine cracked ribs and 8 inch wide bands of bruises and internal bleeding where the seat belts kept her in the car. Pretty beat up but in one piece. On second thought, it really was good news after all given what her fate would have been without the seat belt.
Nana and Jane
Jane at 9
As Jane hit the 9 year old mark, she has begun what appears to be a long relationship with an orthodontists, starting first a practice retainer, which she’s handle without much ado. Given her parent’s experiences too many large teeth, over bites, braces, and headgear, she didn’t have much hope to skip this rite of pre-adolescence passage. Jane also got her second set of glasses after her annual checkup. She survived the year with the old ones intact, though they did need a screw replaced. Her birthday feel on one of the biggest vacation weekends of the summer, as summer schools and camps have let out by that point but there still some time before school starts again. This has a big negative effect on the number of kids able to come to a birthday party for her but we had a nice sleep over none-the-less. She decided to play soccer again this year for the YMCA teams. This is the first year of same sex teams and its seeming to have a positive effect on her play. Not that she was distracted by the boys but perhaps without them is more willing to try harder.
Jane at the City Museum
City Museum and Wall Party
This summer the annual Wall Party with our group of former Wash. U biology grad friends was held in St. Louis. It was hosted by one of the transplants that decided to start in the Shaw neighborhood. What was once a silly drinking party with a wide variety fancy drinks, has matured into a pleasant evening of socializing and catching up. It was great seeing old friends from out of town, many of whom have early elementary school age kids too. On Sunday we took the kids (and adults) for a trip to the City Museum, which was a huge hit with all and never ceases to inspire and please us.
Cate at the City Museum
Jane swinging at City Museum
Indy Roadtrip
The next week, the last of summer vacation for the girls, Bethany and her sister Rosemary, packed up the minivan with the kids and headed out to Indiana for fun with the cousins. While the dads worked in St. Louis, they went swimming a lot and got to visit the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. Jane and Cate were particularly proud of being able to make their own dresses for their Barbie’s.
Cousing pool fun
Cousing pool fun
Geocache
Randy decided to introduce the girls to geocache-ing in hopes of inspiring them to do more hiking and exploring while having fun. So far it’s been fun as we’ve found 4 treasure caches in the neighborhood around our house, though the amount of GPS and mapping skills imparted to the girls though is negligible.
Finding our 1st Geocache in the Webster Park
Geocache #4
16 August
Bethany blows out the candles with Maddie
This year for her 41st birthday, the School District provided Bethany with her favorite present as Jane and Cate had their first day of third and second grades. The last few weeks of summer, the girls had become progressively more restless, bored and frustrated with their sister. Sibling strife was reaching ridiculous heights of bickering. A return to school and interacting with others provided a much desired need of focus and stimulus of other people’s company. Jane has Mrs. Buckman for third grade and is pleased.
Jane 3rd grader
Cate was also very excited to be in the one of the school’s favorite teachers classes, Mrs. Cook, who Jane had last year and loved. Mrs. Cook is known for her high energy and for pulling pupils wiggly teeth. Cate’s left front incisor had been ripe for removal for days leading to school and she was looking forward to having it pulled by her teacher. Unfortunately, she was put off all week and it fell to dad to do the honors at dinner so Cate could enjoy pizza.
With Cate’s start Second Grade, she also got a desk for her room. It was a side of the curb, trash day special that we painted white and put new handles on but it turned out very nicely and she was quite happy with it.
Jane and Cate painting her Trash Day Desk
With Cate’s start Second Grade, she also got a desk for her room. It was a side of the curb, trash day special that we painted white and put new handles on but it turned out very nicely and she was quite happy with it.
Cate's desk
Elephant Rocks
Randy decided to start leading some field trips on the weekends for the Brownie Scouts. First up was a trip to the pink granite boulders of the St. Francis Mountains. It was the Sunday of Labor Day, so the parking lot at the park was fairly full, even at 1030 am. The rocks were a big hit with the kids, who instinctively seized on the natural fun of running, jumping, crawling and climbing amongst the boulders. We spent several hours there, including lunch with the kids asking when we could go back. A side note about the park was the State added flushed toilets. There was a rather lengthy waiting line to use them. The park retained the pit toilets which had no waiting line and appeared to be a better choice later in the day. After using them once without the girls, the overpowering stench made the waiting 5-10 minutes in line seem worth it, even for guys, unless it was an emergency. We frequently take for granted how much better we got it in life these days.
Elephant Rocks Attitude
Balloon Glow
The next weekend, we went to the Annual Forest Park Balloon Race Friday night to witness the Balloon Glow. We parked on the side streets by the Science Center and walked through the tunnel underpass as parking in Forest Park was a nightmare unless you had a special parking pass. Bethany packed us a picnic dinner which we enjoyed as twilight turned to night. The flames lighting the balloons made for a magical views which was the whole point. There were lots of vendors selling all manner of carnival items, including many taking advantage of battery powered LEDS to add lighting such as the multi-colored spiked hair with LEDs lighting; classy. We bypassed the funnel cakes and hot dogs, and got a huge bag of kettle corn for our picnic desert treat; actually the whole evening was a treat.
Bethany Jane and Cate Balloon Glow
Randy and Bethany enjoying the Glow
On Saturday, Randy and the girls went to the Brentwood Days Festival. The free carnival rides attracted a good crowd and made for a lively vibe that was totally missing from the WG Community Days. The girls enjoyed riding the Scrambler, bumper cars, the Ferris Wheel, the Scooby Doo bounce house, the funny house and the Swings.
Jane and Cate on the Swings
Metrolink and Arch Adventure
On a rainy Sunday, we took a small group of 2nd and 3rd grade Brownies on a Metrolink and Arch Adventure to make use of some expiring passes. For fun, we rode across the Eads Bridge over the Mississippi River into downtown East St. Louis. Not needing to linger there, we got on the next west bound train to the Arch grounds. The weather had dampened the normal amount of daily tourists. There was no line for the Arch and we got to ride the tram with essentially no waiting. The steady drizzle broke enough for us to each a picnic lunch outside and go down to the riverfront before it started up again.
Brownies on Metrolink
We visited the Museum of Westward Expansion under the Arch, seeing the Sod House, a Spencer Repeating Rifle (like Daddy’s) and a Teepee with real buffalo hides. Cate was bothered that the teepee used real animal skins but she completely lost it over the concept of visiting the “touch” table that had a buffalo hide covering it. The buffalo hides were an epiphany for her as to where leather came from and she wanted nothing to do with it anymore. She took off her WDW Cinderella watch with it “genuine leather” band and has refused to wear it since. This also marked the clear end to her wanting to eat meat. Intermittently over the summer but with more consistency, she refused to eat chicken nuggets. We chalked it up to changing taste buds or her seeking additional control of things in her life just because. It may just be a phase but she’s pretty strong willed (sometimes we call it obstinate) and won’t change her mind easily. (NOTE: she didn't waiver and has been a resolute vegetarian since than)
As summer wound down, Bethany and Randy rediscovered the joys of marathon TV watching. This time it was the BBC’s Doc Martin on Netflix Instant queue causing us to stay up way past bedtime to catch just 1 more episode. What a joy to discover this charming British comedy, even though we’ve had people recommending it to us for awhile. The girls also tried to do their share of marathon TV watching too. Their show of choice was Phineas and Ferb, which they watched as often as they could convince their dad to bring it up on Netflix. It was often enough for them to memorize the theme song (There’s a 104 days of summer vacation And school comes along just to end it. So the annual problem for our generation is finding a good way to spend it) but not enough to finish the first season in their 85 days of vacation. Besides who ever got 104 days, even all the days between Memoral Day and Labor Day isn’t 104 days.
It was a long, hot summer with ninety degree days lingering into September. Still the heat didn’t last forever. Perhaps, the first day real day of fall should be when wearing shorts is a bad idea, or the first day when you need a jacket in the morning on the way to work. By the calendar, summer ended on our 10th Anniversary on the 22nd of September. We celebrated with pizza at Fortel’s with the kids. It was a simple commemoration but really who could ask for anything more?
The Curtis Clan - Summer 2011
