The Curtis Clan - Spring 2012

Spring Equinox to Summer Solstice

Cate jumps into spring

Spring Break 2012

The Curti women made it known that a trip to the beach for spring break would be much appreciated especially since it had been awhile since we made a family road trip. A Florida trip didn’t fit that well in the work schedule but Randy did manage a research trip to Montgomery and Mobile, AL which allowed for the family to spend some time at the beach. We headed south on Sunday in the family mini-van traveling the Interstates to Montgomery, AL, which offered few distractions, though as we entered the Redstone State, we hit the rest stop Welcome Center with Saturn IB rocket. We got into our hotel (a Marriott golf resort) at dusk after an all day drive and instantly the grumpy frustrations of the day melted away. On Monday, while Randy was at work Bethany and the girls took in the sites of Montgomery including: the Civil Rights Memorial and Museum, the White House of the Confederacy (Jeff Davis Home) and the Alabama State Capitol. That night we visited the Bass Pro Shop before dinner with the girls gleefully wanting to sit in all the boats and 4 wheelers. They decided we needed a 25 passenger Party Barge, at $38,000 (roughly the cost for one of them to attend a state college for a few years in today’s dollars), which led to the standard quip of high ticket items “I don’t need a boat; I need a friend with a boat.”

Bethany and the girls at the Civil Rights Memorial

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The next day we drove down to Mobile and then on to Gulf Shores. Another day of driving was wearing on everyone until we all perked up with a visit to Fort Morgan at the entrance to Mobile Bay. The girls, particularly Cate, liked climbing on the fortifications and searching the dark enclosures of the Third System Costal Defense fort (location of Farragut’s quip of “Damn the torpedoes. full steam ahead!”). We all were happily captivated to watch the dolphins playing about 30 yards out from the beach.

The girls poising on cannons	And anchors at Fort Morgan

Cate and Jane on the beach	Brushing the sand off our feet

On Wednesday, the girls enjoyed a pool day at the beach front Marriott Golf resort while Dad researched real estate in Mobile. On Thursday we (Bethany actually) drove to Hattiesburg from Mobile in a heavy down pour, which was made more bearable by stopping to buy some boiled peanuts at a road side stand (getting pickled eggs from Sam’s later on and pizza from Mellow Mushroom chain was good too). It was a long drive home on Friday, though it was nice to see the red bud blooms bursting through the new green leafing of the other trees along the highway (much more radiant than the dogwoods).

Cate at 8!

Shortly after we got back from our spring trip, Cate turned 8. On the day before her birthday, she woke up covered in allergy hives so bad it looked like we had beaten her to within an inch of her life. When Bethany took her to the doctor that morning the staff commented that allergies were bad this year but that Cate was the worst case they seen. After some steroids and adult strength Zrtec, the hives calmed down enough that we felt we could take her to school without a visit from Missouri DFS. We closed up all the windows, started buying the $20 air filters and for a couple weeks she was taking twice a day showers and wasn’t allowed outside for recess. She didn’t really complain about anything except not going outside until the tree pollen had its run (there three oaks outside her windows didn’t help).

Just Say no to Pollen

To celebrate her birthday, she shared a PowerPoint of her peanut butter M&M colors Science Fair study, giving a package to each classmate to replicate it for the regular M&M [of course she did it all herself ;)].

That night we had a family party and on Saturday she had a non-sleepover Slumber party with her girl class mates. Two and a half hours was enough for us as some of the girls definitely have a high energy level (we also commented to ourselves that the teachers don’t get paid enough).

Jane Cate & Sydney

Like the rest of the family, Cate loves to read. Her favorite books are the Rainbow Magic series by Daisy Meadows. There are over 100 books with titles like: Inky The Indigo Fairy, Lucy The Diamond Fair, Bethany The Ballet Fairy, etc. You get the idea. They have essentially the same plot. Two BFFs, Rachel and Kirsty, go somewhere new and meet up with a fairy with three magically items and they assist the fairy in thwarting evil Jack Frost and his goblin minions. She loves them and gleefully brings another stack home on our trips to the library (usually walking to the temporary location on the other side of the tracks on Kirkham/Brentwood). For most of 2nd grade, she read them pretty much to the exclusion to anything else but by May she was asking for more challenging material (thankfully).

Randy likes to tease her that she’s Cate the Messy Room Fairy for her continuing habits of leaving shoes strewn throughout the house and dropping her clothes and toys on her bedroom floor or where ever else at the mood strikes her. It’s been a continuing source of family friction/battle of wills. She’s definitely no shrinking violet.

She likes music (but then again who doesn’t) and enjoys her MP3 player filled with Disney tunes and Christmas Carols. It was in the last few months of age 7 that she stopped insisting having a CD playing as she went to bed, usually Mary Poppins or Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang (love those Sherman Brothers). She plays the piano and is pretty good but is indifferent about practicing, so we’ve no expectation of grandeur. She says she wants to play violin next fall in the WG Strings program which is fine with us. We’re not sure what she’ll stick with but we believe (hope?) she play something in high school.

Cate at 8

She started playing softball for the Holy Redeemer team of 1st and 2nd graders. Though she has little interests in playing catch or practicing, she’s in the middle of the pack. It’s quite the parenting experience to watch in helplessness willing her to make contact with the ball as she swings the bat. Not hopping for greatness but just to escape the embarrassment of failure and the spurning of one peers that follows (so far that isn’t an issue). She seems to enjoy doing something her sister doesn’t, much like gymnastics which allowed her to continue despite a one sport moratorium on her sister (though Jane does get two musical instruments, so it’s fair-ish). She loves to climb trees and the climbing wall at school and keeps asking when we’ll go back to Elephant Rocks.

Play Ball!

Her previous habit of responding to many questions with a “meow” a year or so ago, has morphed into own word of “Meep” which roughly translates to I don’t want to be bothered with responding in a playful way. It’s mostly cute.

Meep

She also likes puzzles at least enough to doing them with her dad, who never says no to that.

Putting together puzzles at the game table

Easter

The first weekend in April was Easter and the girls dyed eggs and we enjoyed gatherings with our families. A very nice weekend topped off with the Rep’s A Comedy of Errors.

Dying eggs	The girls in their Easter dresses

Nana and the girls	Curtis Clan

Momosa Mama

With the last session of soccer being less fun without their friends and an emphasis on skills over just playing games, the girls took a pass on soccer in the spring. We decided to push them into joining the Holy Redeemer teams, hoping for some stability in the rosters that didn’t come with the Y or the Vetta teams. We limited them to one sport with Jane selecting golf, in what appears to be a Gral inspired interest. He took her out for a morning session before hand at Old Warson and she was quite pleased with it. Jane also got the hang of monkey bars, having struggled with the arm strength in the past.

Strings

Jane finished her first year of violin lessons with the District wide Strings Concert at Steger. We celebrated with by Blizzards, Peanut Buster Parfaits and Banana Splits at Dairy Queen. It was Computer School night there so we HAD to go.

Jane and Sophia after thier concert

Nana and Randy

Randy’s travel schedule has tapered off of late but he still enjoys them when he can. A public meeting research trip in mid-April offered Randy the opportunity for an early morning drive through pastoral Maryland and Pennsylvania in the fog from Frederick to Carlisle with a quick stop in Gettysburg. Add to that getting to stay in contact with college friends in faraway places (particularly DC and Baltimore), it’s a nice perk.

Randy at Gettysburg

The third Weekend in April was Computer School annual Trivia Night and auction. We finish third, one point out of first with a 61 in a super tough Library /literary theme categories across the board. We had a number of Sages on the team but were really missing librarian mother Amy and sister-in-law Jenny and her Masters in English. Their knowledge would have certainly pushed us in front, though I doubt they could have done anything with “What’s the Dewey Decimal code for American Folklore?”, which has to go down as the most obscure question ever (BTW, its 398.2). I think even Rainman would have flubbed it. More than one F-bomb was uttered at the table but generally not in anger from Randy as Bethany and he had more than their share of the Pink Panty Pull Down Punch that came complementary with the up-charged premium table. The next day was Cate’s First Communion at Holy Redeemer, with a family gathering afterwards.

Cate's 1st Communion

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The Clan at Cate's 1st Communion

Spring time in the Curtis household also saw us working our way through the Star Wars movies as the girls wanted to understand better what the boys in their classes we’re reading and talking about. We celebrated May the Fourth Be With You by watching the Return of the Jedi. It was a treat to hear Cate responding to Darth Vader’s urging young Skywalker to the Dark Side by saying out loud “No Luke don’t do it”. After it was over and we asked what they thought Cate’s responded with “You can always be good in the end” about Vader’s redemption. Later we watched the Phantom Menace 13 years to the day after it was released.

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A Wedding in Virginia

In mid-May, Bethany and Randy went to the Charlottesville, Virginia via DC for a wedding. Getting there early allowed for a visit to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on Friday and a tour of Monticello before the wedding.

Randy with a Curtiss-Wright P40	Bethany and a Tiny Tim Rocket

At Monticello

The true treat was witnessing one of Randy’s best friends (Kent Lynn) from college get married to the love of his life at the Barboursville Ruins and Vineyards. It always a joy to see people coming together, choosing love and start on their dream of happy ever after. Sunday was Mother’s Day and we celebrated with breakfast at the Waffle House, which was a meal and a show (greasy breakfast out is one of our favorite vices).

Greg and Kent get married	Randy and Bethany at the Vineyards

The major downer of the trip is that our dachshund Lilly, became paralyzed from the torso down, the result of a slipped a disc/vertebra in her back either late Friday night or early Saturday morning. No specific accident to injure her but something that happened gradually over time (perhaps genetically weak spinal cords and too many jumps off the couch including the arms 2 feet up). She’d drag herself around with her front legs, but with the paralysis also came loss of bladder control and extreme bloating. As such we decided to put her to sleep. It was a very heartbreaking time as the family said their goodbyes. It’s not a good half a year with us and dogs as Maddie died the day after Christmas (though at 17½ years, the last two with doggie Alzheimer’s, it was not nearly so tragic.)

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Colorado or Bust (and Utah too)
- 23 May – 5 June 2012

The big event of Spring 2012 was our trip to Colorado and Utah 23 May – 5 June 2012. We loaded up the Curtis Family Truckster on the day after the girls got out of school headed on I-70 for the Rock Mountain state and the eastern half of the Colorado Plateau. In two weeks, we visited seven National Parks (NP) in Colorado and a few in Utah (Rocky Mountain NP, Colorado National Monument (NM) Dinosaur NM, Arches NP, Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP, Mesa Verde NP and Great Sand Dunes NP) with the girls earning Junior Ranger badges in each one. Add in a day trip on the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, a visit to Four Corners to be in four states at the same time and a visit to Colorado Springs to see brother and sister in-law Micah Sage and Tiffany Sage and that about sums it up. However if you want to be subjected to a fuller account with pictures check out 2012 Colorado or Bust! (and Utah) 23 May – 5 June 2012 - Too much excitement to be included with another web-page!

Our two week absence meant we did miss so goings on back home, like Jane’s two golf games and the Webster Art and Air show at Eden, which was marked by Cate’s first(?) exhibit of a clay pot with wiggly worms, chosen by her Art teacher to represent the school in the kids portion of the show. Our neighbors went and sent us the following:

Cate's snake pot charmer

Indy

We were home not 3 days before we were on the road again, this time headed eastward on I-70 to Indianapolis for the J Sage’s 40th Birthday fete on Friday, a catered adult only soiree with karaoke fun (Bethany did a fine rendition of the B-52s Love Shack, saving her husband from greater embarrassment). The rest of the weekend had Sage pizza (in their newly renovated kitchen) and swimming.

Bethany and Randy sing about the Love Shack

Sage Tribe in Indy

Six Flags

The solar spring ended with a day at Six Flags with the Holmes family as has been our tradition the last few years. We went on Monday again and enjoyed the nearly line free access to all the attractions we wanted (except for Scooby Doo and the Scary Swamp). We did enough of the water rides and sucked down enough of water/lemonade mix in our $12 bottomless cup that the 96 degree day didn’t really bother us at all, and it seemed to be only in the mid-eighties.

At the end of the day at 6 Flags

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