The Curtis Clan - Fall 2017
Fall Equinox to Winter Solstice
22 September 2017
The Fall Equinox marked our 16th Wedding Anniversary and our 17 ¾ Overall Anniversary. A few days later, we helped our 10,000 plus day neighbors the Kennedy’s celebrate their 29th Wedding Anniversary by having dinner at the Thai Country Café in University followed by desert at Ted Drew’s.
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Celebrating Anniversaries with the Kennedys at Ted Drew's
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Todd Parr at the Novel Neighbor
The following week our favorite hometown bookstore the Novel Neighbor hosted a book signing by a one of our favorite pre-school authors / artists Todd Parr. We had him sign our collection of his books along with some new ones for gifts. Randy had him sign his favorite page from a well loved copy of The Daddy Book
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Jane & Cate at the Novel Neighbor book signing
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| Randy with Todd Parr and The Daddy Book |
...particularly when they’re “Hot and Ready.” |
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Annual Fall Camping Trip – Return to Maramec Springs
After a 5 year hiatus of going to the NPS Pulltite campground on the Current River, we returned to the initial location: Meramec Springs outside St. James for our annual fall camping trip the first weekend in October. It’s about an hour closer and has the kid pleasing fish hatchery. The switch resulted from the anti-family pricing of $8 person per night as opposed to the previous $10/tent policy, which remains in effect.
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Bethany and the girls at breakfast
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Randy took off Thursday, and headed down a day early to set up the family’s tents, which allowed for a short 2 mile float from highway 8 bridge to camp Friday float trip getting to use “his” kayak for the first time in years:
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Jane & Cate with the hollow log Jack O'Lantern
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As is the custom, the group spent the year betweens trips keeping their eyes peeled for hollow logs and saving the cardstock beer and soda boxes for shoving down the throat (and waxing them to make them even better, Thanks Joann). This year’s innovations included the creation of a Jack O’ Lantern Hollow Log Friday night (Jeff). Having only 18 inch logs for Saturday night, the collective mind set along with the “safety” of Charlie’s Christmas 2016 set of elbow length fire gloves, thought that stacking them could be interesting. After enjoying the joy of the double stack, it took less half a beer for the group thinking that if two was good, three would be better. Despite our best efforts, no one was injured.
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Jane, Cate and Adeline
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| Bethany and the 3 tier hollow log |
Randy and 3 tiers of stupidity |
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The weekend sported a full moonlight allowing for a flashlight-off walk with the family to the trout park bridge and back.
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Cate and Jane enjoy the bridge in the moonlight
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On Saturday, Randy and the girls made the 10 mile float trip to Scott’s Ford with Jane in a kayak and Cate sharing a canoe with Randy again. Overcast at the start, it rained pretty much for the next 2 ½ hours of the trip, which wasn’t an issue with our Boundary Waters acquired Frogg Togg rain gear. To their chagrin, Randy and Cate didn’t put theirs in the canoe and the gear stayed dry in the car, while they didn’t. This lead to caveat ting the outdoor truism “There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear…or bad packing.” It was warm enough not to be miserable but dry clothes and a fire were welcome upon our return to camp.
| Cate, Jane and Randy at the start of the Meramec River Float |
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| The whole float trip gang dry and ready to start |
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Post-Float trip afternoon fire
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Hiking around the park at dusk allowed for some distant viewing of packs of deer (counting them on the blow-up of the telephoto showed there to be about a dozen and a half).
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The group at Meramec Spring to feed the trout
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| The Curti at Meramec Spring |
Downstream from the spring |
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The weekend did have a rather negative experience though as the Curti’s Queen sized inflatable died. A slow leak on Friday night was only mildly annoying in that we had to get up and reinflate it with the hand pump at about 5 am as we were essentially lying on the ground by that point). Figuring we could live with that, we didn’t worry about it, even though the short rain on Saturday had created a puddle inside the tent at the inlet valve (no lectures on the weather to put the ground cloth inside or outside the tent). On Saturday night, the slow leak had become a quick air leak, with the bed deflating to a butt dragging point in less than an hour. After two times of pumping it up before 1 am (an 8 minute cold and wet activity), Randy gave up and decided to sleep in the sedan, figuring Bethany would follow. She did not. Three months later and counting, which we still haven’t discussed that decision. It was a good thing to have both family cars there with Bethany and Cate returning in the Traverse while Jane drove her first stretch of Interstate highway (St. James to the I-44 to the Rest Area).
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Randy and Bethany BEFORE the dead air mattress
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On the innovation front, the tents and much of the other gear was wet and we packed it up in the cars putting off the dreary task of drying it over make shift clothes lines when got home. However, the frame for the Easy Up shelter allow us to air dry the items outside and in the garage fairly easily and will be used again in the future.
Jane and several of her friends joined the History Club at WGHS which included a Model UN trivia night.
| Jane and friends at UN Trivia night |
What the what? |
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The Ides of October were busy with a quick visit to Six Flags and back to register our 2018 Season Pass benefits (Jane drove); a 79th Birthday dinner of Imo’s with Nana and the family and Cate joining us to see Hamlet at the Rep (Jane would go a week later with a few friends on the $10 student Rush tickets).
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A quick ride on American Thunder
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RnB Alasing Poor Yorik
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Washington and Jefferson Homecoming
The next weekend was Bethany’s 25th Reunion at Washington and Jefferson College, so we made a road trip sans children to WashPA and Pittsburgh on Thursday thru Sunday. As is our norm, we stopped at Ohio Exit 29 on I-70 for Skyline Chili lunch and posting about it on Facebook to hear about others love for Cincinnati style chili on noodles, with onions and mounds of shredded cheddar. While Bethany headed down to W&J for the festivities with friends on Friday and Saturday morning. Randy did some local research for work (Allegheny Arsenal) and hung out with college friends living in Pittsburgh (Matt and Boz). The trip also allowed us to hang out with Aunt Katie and Uncle Don Thursday and Saturday nights, along with a tour of the Carnegie Library for the Blind facilities.
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Dinner with Katie and Dong
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| Bethany at WnJ |
Bethany with friend reunion gathering |
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The following week, Cate got braces returning her to a younger, teenage look when she smiled. Jane had an Orchestra Concert.
| Cate with braces |
Jane avec cello |
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Randy had a work research trip to San Francisco allowing him time to hang out with Jake, Andrea and their 4 month old Milo, along with his 53rd Birthday. The following weekend, Randy drove down to Pacific Grove and spent time with his dad Ron.
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Jake and Randy enjoy a drink in the Mission
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Halloween
Although back in town for Halloween, Randy had become Halloween obsolete as Cate didn’t need (or want) an escort to go Trick or Treating and Jane passed out the candy with a few of her friends dressed as M&Ms (though they were grateful for the fire allowing them to stay warm on a chilly evening). The lack of trick or treating didn’t diminish the candy in the Curtis household as Jane and Randy went to Schnucks the next day to score some 75% off candy.
| Cate and Jane |
Han and Chewie |
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Jane and the M&Ms pass out candy
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Bethany and Randy tried the new Maplewood poor it yourself beer room Tapped. It was pretty good and arguably a totally young guy place though: as there were lots of beers to try and you didn't have to make any commitment in your choices... on beers. ;)
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R&B enjoy the choices at Tapped
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Freindship Dance
On Saturday, 4 November Jane and her group of friends all attended the Webster Groves –Kirkwood Friendship Dance, a joint Homecoming dance for the two rival communities that begins the weeks long buildup to the Turkey Day football game on Thanksgiving. The girls spent the better part of the day getting ready and messing with each other’s hair before going. Evidently there was little interaction with boys (that we were told off) but then again not many high school boys have the skills and gumption to go up to a group of eight young women and try to make time with one of them.
| Jane ready for Friendship Dance |
Jane and friends |
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Thanksgiving
On Thanksgiving proper, Bethany made lasagna and we had a cozy holiday meal for Nancy at Manor Grove in the library (they got the big turkey meal at lunch and besides trying to cook and transport the traditional fair doesn’t work so well). That evening we caught a showing of the new version of the Murder on the Orient Express, reigniting a desire to see the original and for reading Agatha Christie in the girls.
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Randy and the girls read a book to Nana
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Friday was Sage-giving, and started with Black Friday bargain shopping by Randy and the girls at Kohl’s buying things we only partially needed, including ugly sweaters. While Jane was at swim practice, Cate and Randy went back out and got her a kayak for Christmas.
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This is what happens when you let Dad shop without adult supervision
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Following this, Randy joined Van to rake and blow Amy and Alvan’s leaves so the grandkids didn’t have to do it the next day. Van’s gas powered blower made a HUGE difference in completing this task. We had 4+ hours before returning in order to complete our 5th of turkey deep frying for Sage-Giving, though we knocked it out in 2 ½ hours (I think we got the system down). Dinner with the St. Louis and Indy Sages was a congenial and warm gathering of family.
| Uncle Van: Leaf Master |
...and Fry Master |
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Saturday, the second day of Sage-Giving, most of the adults headed up to Alton for a post-10K race gathering at Fast Eddie’s Bon Air. While only three actually partook in the race, the rest were glad to join them again afterwards.
| Sages inside Fast Eddies |
Outside Fast Eddies |
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It also provided Randy a chance to catch up a bit Charlie Stocker on his front porch, drop off a couple cases of Yuengling Lager and receiving a gift kayak paddle for Jane. We came back to Alvan and Amy’s and found the girls happily playing cards with the other cousins, at least the ones not watching Notre Dame Football.
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Randy and Charlie on his front porch
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December 2017 (actually, the period between Thanksgiving and New Years) is most remarkable in the Curtis household for a series of lingering illnesses that were probably related, but this is uncertain. Jane started in with a cough before Thanksgiving. Bethany started with a simple cold/cough on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. And then it hit Randy on Sunday and he used actual sick leave for the first time in a couple years after Thanksgiving weekend (possible gall bladder pain but negative results from the ultrasound later that week). The following week, Jane’s cough had progressed and the pediatrician updated her inhaler prescription, but also wanted to rule out whooping cough (a girl on the swim team was diagnosed and exposed the whole team… and although Jane had her DTP booster a couple years ago, the doctor explained that it is the least effective of all the vaccines). Jane was treated prophylactic ally with a Z-pack of antibiotics to be sure to knock it out “just in case” and instructed to sit out from swim team (we waited for 3 weeks to hear the negative test results due to a flurry of lab tests being submitted in the area). Within days, the 3 of us seemed to suffer from coughs of the most annoying sort (in Bethany’s case, horrible coughing fits to the point she couldn’t breathe and woke herself and sleeping partner up multiple times a night). Visits to the doctor for Randy and Bethany sent them home with a regimen of high end antibiotics (and an inhaler for B.), but it didn’t really knock it out completely for either of them, indicating it was likely a viral problem (or more than one thing). About this time, Influenza A was taking hold of the Webster Groves area, and we’re pretty sure all 4 of us were among the afflicted with brief bouts of fever, aching, and respiratory woes, plus exhaustion due to lack of sleep from the past few weeks. This is what finally got Cate, and she missed a couple days of school in the middle of the month along with about a third of the middle school (on the day before we got the call to pick her up from school with a fever, 200 students had visited the school nurse, and when Bethany arrived to pick her up, the line out of the nurse’s office was going out the door and down the hall). Randy did a few telework half sick-days in the week before Christmas, and Jane was sent home with a fever the day before finals began (you know it’s bad when the H.S. principal is sending mass emails with instructions for parents if their kid is too sick and will miss a final). By Christmas, we felt *mostly* OK but the effects (cough and fatigue) lingered throughout the holidays.
| At the Rep's Miss Bennet: Christmas At Pemberley |
Sequel to Pride and Predjudice |
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In many ways, it was a lost month. On a day of feeling OK and being unseasonably warm, we did do a family photo shoot at Hawken House (home of the WG Historical Society and where we got married). Despite a hefty dose of teenage photo angst and annoyance we got some nice pictures.
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Merry Merry from the Curti - 2017
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Later Jane and Randy took some pictures as mild mannered citizens emerging as their alter ego Super selves To Fight for Truth, Justice and the American Way in the New Year!
| Ready to To Fight for Truth, Justice and the American Way |
...with the help of Super Pup and Super Dog |
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It was a light quarter of family movie goings: Spiderman Homecoming, Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Dead Poets Society, White Christmas and the Blues Brothers. There was family TV binge watching of Friends (which arguably the girls should have been older to watch) and Stranger Things Season 1.