The Curtis Clan - Summer 2018
Spring Equinox to Summer Solstice
Spring Break 2018 - Continued
On Wednesday March 21, the First Day of Spring, a massive snow storm (about 8 inches) shut down Washington, DC including the archives and the museums, so esstentiallythe four of us were stuck in a hotel room for the day. We had a nice view of the Washington Beltway in various states of non-functioning: empty, people crawling off the Kenilworth exit, stuck in a ditch as they slide off the road waiting for a wrecker to drag them away. A good day not to have to go anyway.
| Randy looking at White Out |
Snow on the DC Beltway |
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Individual screens made it somewhat more palatable but eventually Randy left to find an empty conference to get some work done. Randy and the girls ventured out Chipolte so we could enjoy burritos in the room. It was warm enough that the massive amount of snow melted rapidly and that night Randy and Cate braved the mpty streets to see Lara Croft] Tomb Raider at Hyattsville as the nearby Greenbelt AMC was closed.
| Cate & Jane lounging in the room |
Proof that Jane is a bed hog |
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Snow in front of the Greenbelt Marriott
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On Thursday, the snow was essentially gone and the women made the obligatory walk by the White House, visited the International Spy Museum and the National Postal Museum with lunch at Shake Shack (Even though we had to drive all the way to DC to go despite having one in the CWE for nearly a year now). Theat night we had dinner with Kent and Greg in the Fort Reno area at an Indian restaurant with dessert afterwards with them.
| Sricking a pose at the Spy Museum |
In front of the White House |
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| With John Ford's Oscar for the Battle of Midway |
Shake Shack |
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On Friday morning, Jane joined Randy and his team making copies for several hours and helping catalogue 1950s era military real estate files, with the “glamour” of research wearing off in the first hour or so. Cate and Bethany picked us up and it was on to Pittsburgh for another evening with Aunt Katie.
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At the National Archives at College Park
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The drive home Saturday turned rough as Bethany gritted through a couple hours in Indiana when some serious snow fall with temperatures just under freezing turned the roads to an icy, slushy mess 3-5 inches thick in places. We saw about a dozen or so cars that had slide off into the ditch along I-70. Hitting Illinois, it was a couple degrees warmer but that made all the difference, and the remainder of the drive was easy.
All in all, another great family Road Trip for Spring Break. Jane agreed but her criterion was different: “The best part of the vacation is not having to unload the dishwasher.”
Cate at 14
The following (Good) Friday we celebrated Cate’s 14th Birthday party with the Sages and Indian food. Bethany made three times as much food as we could eat, no politics came up and all was good.
| Cate at 14 |
The Sage Tribe for Cate's Bday |
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| Birthday Cake Fun |
Cousins Group Photo |
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The big GIFT for Cate was a cellphone. She inherited her mother’s gently used S6, while her parents both got new Samsung S9 phones in a buy one get one free deal. All the Curti were pleased with their upgrade, except for the one who didn’t upgrade (Jane) and was pouty about for awhile, sporadically whining about it for months afterwards.
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Joining the cellphone crowd
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April
On Easter Saturday, we took Farrotos’s pizza and toasted raviolis to Nana at Manor Grove and enjoyed some good solid family togetherness.
| Cate and a Manor Grove Cat |
Jane and Bethany at dinner for Nancy |
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Randy hanging with EB at Schnucks
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Easter Sunday, was a Sage gathering at Aunt Rosemary’s which was also a treat.
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Easter at Rosemary's kids table
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In April, we got Nancy’s results back from 23 and Me and there were no surprises for the daughter of John M Sullivan and Florence Seeburger: Northwest European 97% (44% British Irish, leaning on the Irish), 33% French-German & 20% broadly NW European. A bit of let down there was no scandal but it’s exactly what we expected.
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Nancy's 23andMe Results
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Cate and Randy took the Shaw kids for another pilgrimage to Margaret Park and the merry-go-round. It’s good to have an excuse to revisit the park of so many cherished toddler and kid memories. Lurking about now without kids just seems creepy, although I pass it on my walk home from Metrolink daily.
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Cousins at Magaret Park merry-go-round
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In mid-April, Jane completed here binge watching of Parks and Recreation, which by the end had the rest of us joining in too. P&R was definitely a show that got a lot funny after its first dozen episodes or so. Jane embraced the lead Leslie Knope as a role mode and we couldn’t argue about that at all. The finale brought her motto: That’s what public service is all about, small, incremental change, every day. Teddy Roosevelt once said: “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is to work hard at work worth doing.”
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Jane and friends enjoying a trivia night
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Goofing around at the Rep's photo op backdrop for Born Yesterday
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The third weekend in April Bethany celebrated her Villa Duchesne Graduation Anniversary with the 30th Reunion of the Class of 1988.
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Bethany and Maria at Villa for the 30th HS Reunion
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Villa's 30th HS Reunion Group Photo
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The weekend also saw the rebirth/reawakening that comes when the dogs come home after the spring grooming. The before and after pics pretty much tell the whole story except for the renewed vigor it brings (or they were just freezing with no hair).
| Gussie Before |
Pepper Before |
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And AFTER going to the groomers
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On Sunday, the family went to the Rep to see the Webster University Conservatory of Arts perform Lerner and Lowe’s Brigadoon. It was a Christmas present to Randy who had been looking forward to going all season long as he feels that Lerner and Lowe in their prime were second to only Rodgers and Hammerstein in their prime (actually R&H were always prime together, primarily because of the deeply touching humanity of Oscar Hammerstein’s lyrics and libretto. Oscar Hammerstein book and lyrics and their effect on the American musical and culture were exceptional and he’s a national treasure but I’m really getting off topic here). Although merely students, it was Randy’s favorite performance of the year at the Rep and the songs stayed with him for weeks afterwards (As he went Home with Bethany [Bonnie] Jean ;).
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Cate and Jane at Brigadoon
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The Hixson 8th grade Orchestra has gotten so big that they out grew being able to comfortably perform in the auditorium and played in the gym instead. The kids have improved so much since they started back in 3rd grade. Mrs. Poe did wonders for expanding the Strings program in WGSD that will be felt in her absence (she took a less hectic position in another District).
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Cate after the 8th Grade Hixson Orchestra Concert
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The end of April found the red bud blooms at their peak. Although a few weeks later than normal for St. Louis, they were more vibrant, so it was worth the wait. The dogs passed the afternoon in the sunny spots in quiet, serene contentment like they were cats.
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Springtime redbuds
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On April 24th, Bethany dressed up for the Pi Phi Founder's Day reception and Cate got gussied up in her constellation dress from Hot Topic (WITH pockets!) for her final Fortnightly ever.
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Cate and Bethany dressed for a spring night out
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Cate and freinds at their last Fortnightly
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May
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"May the 4th Be With You" is even better when yours is the name of the day at Serendipty
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In early May, Cate and her Book Battle Team at Hixson placed 2nd overall in the Metro St. Louis competition (Nothing but the Second Best for Us Curtises). Book Battle is a trivia style competition where participants read 20 novels and answer tricky and detailed questions about those books. Hixson took 2nd place out of 42 schools! #hxms #wgbuzz
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Cate displaying her 2nd place Book Battle Medal (Nothing but the Second Best for us Curtises)
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https://ift.tt/2wbStHT
http://www.rsdmo.org/rsouth/library/Book%20Club%20Documents/Book%20Battle/AWBB%20Official%20List%202017-18.pdf
https://sites.google.com/psdr3.org/awbb
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Back row: Abby Fitzgerald, Cate Curtis, Eva Vognild, Maya Ensor Front row: Molly O’Neill, Elisabeth de Foy, Nora Jennings and Chloe Topel
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It’s interesting to note that none of the top three finishing teams included any boys. If one had advice to any current male nerdlings in 7th or 8th grade, skip the nearly all boy chess club and join Book Battle.
The High School’s refurbished auditorium allowed the family to enjoy the WGHS Orchestra Concert as Jane played first chair of the cello section for the Freshman Orchestra. The rest of the concert was touching, particularly the Wizard of Oz melody and the senior recognition farewell as they all left the stage one-by-one.
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Jane 1st Chair
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The traditional DQ outing with the family and Amy afterwards was even more of a treat on a beautiful spring evening outdoors.
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Post Concert Dairy Queen Visit
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On Tuesday, 8 May Cate’s group at Hixson had their 8th grade field trip to Springfield on a beautiful spring day. Randy took off to chaperone as this is likely the last school day field trip there will be an opportunity to join. His main task was protecting the trip snacks of Pop-Tarts, Capri Suns, and water in the seat next to him on the high end travel coach that was rented by the PTO. Quite the difference from the regular school buses of the field trips of his youth. There was also the other task of not embarrassing Cate too much. For days preceding the trip family discussions were filled with more and more detailed instructions of don’ts from Cate with plenty of help from Jane and Mom. During the morning, we visited the Lincoln house NPS tour where Randy purposely skipped answering the question about the name of Lincoln's dog (Fido) to avoid showing off (but isn’t opposed to mentioning it here). At the Illinois Military Museum in Springfield Illinois, he also limited his questions about 75mm Howitzers and recoilless rifles ammunition (like the Davy Crockett Watermelon sized nuke).
| Cate and a WWI 75mm howizter |
Cate hears about a Recoiless Rifle |
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On the second floor self-guided portion, his group of Cate and her friends were the last to make the bus lingering over the Spencer Repeating Rifle that Lincoln shot display (the teachers MAY have sent a couple students to see what was holding us up…). The buffet lunch at Gold Corral was a smart choice to satisfy two busloads hungry kids of various levels of taste and pickiness. Even Cate was able to become uncomfortably full. I was touched that Cate and her peers by their genuine and effortless kindness they all showed the boy with Downs Syndrome, who asked to sit with us . They were all better people than me at that age (and now, as they wouldn’t have thought to mention it as significant). Many things are really better in America today.
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Randy with a Jeep mounted Recoiless Rifle
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The Lincoln Library is terrific but the kids were able to move through it much faster than their chaperone who they had to go back and find multiple times as he lingered over multiple features of this truly remarkable human that our country was blessed to lead us during such a troubled time. On the bus ride home, the Hoopla downloaded documentary Dear Mister Watterson about the effect the Calvin and Hobbes creator had on cartoonist and the culture at large kept Randy occupied. Cate also watched a movie with a friend.
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Two (or four) Peas in a Pod...or hammock
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| Mothers Day Momosa with the dogs |
Bethany and her non-furry daughters |
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On the Ides of May, on the way back from picking up Cate from fencing in the darkness, we saw a deer hanging out in front of the old Goodall School a block from Hixson and I-44. The deer population is decidedly too vibrant and close for comfort in the suburban environment. Gussie was along for the ride and was hyper vigilant the rest of the trip home though it’s unclear if she would have a clue what to do with a deer if she got close to one but she was defiantly looking to try.
| Deer outside of Goodall |
Gussie on deer alert |
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The Vog of May
On Thursday, May 17th, we abandoned…er entrusted…our kids with their U-City grandparents and Bethany joined Randy for a work trip to Hawaii. It was a really long day that started hours before dawn and despite landing in Honolulu 11 ½ hours later we than had to catch an hour flight to Hilo on the Big Island. Following a great Thai dinner in Hilo, we headed over the Saddle Highway to Kona (the sunny dry, resort side of the island). We still had a couple of hours daylight so it shouldn’t have been an issue as the road is very well maintained (as are most roads in Hawaii).
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RnB Hawaii Bound
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Our trip’s timing coincided with the low-grade eruption of the active Kilauea Volcano on the south east part of the island. Although we were safely away from any lava flows there was the Volcanic Fog, or Vog, of fine particulate matter that the media warned you not to breath. Safely getting through the VOG on the Saddle Road between Mauna Loa and Kea reducing visible to the point we were couldn’t clearly see more than a few dozen feet in front of us. We drove a white knuckled 30 mph on a 60 mph highway in what should have been daylight. On the west side of Pohakuloa, the vog cleared but we were out of daylight and drove the last hour to Kona in the dark along windy two lane highways. After getting to the hotel (Courtyard King Kamehameha Kona), a refreshing beverage capped off the day. Exploring the sights would have to wait.
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The VOG
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On Friday, Randy got up for work to tour the 200,000 plus acre Waikoloa FUDS with the Project Manager Loren. This is the FUDS that Randy and his team have been reevaluating since 2015 and it was our prime reason for visiting the Big Island again having done so in 2007 on another work trip. The 2007 trip related to Davy Crockett recoilless rifle spotter round use in Hawaii and we extended our stay using points to stay at the Marriot Waikoloa Resort (we definitely liked the vibe of Kona better). Anyway he spent the day going around to all the locations, he’s only “seen” on maps and aerial imagery. They also visited a WWII fuel depot location in the hills above the Kawaihae Lighthouse that could be added to the inventory.
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Waikoloa Maneuver Area from Hwy 250 Overlook
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Meeting up with Bethany in late afternoon, we visited Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park just a bit north of Kona right as the visitor center was closing. We did get to see a number of Green Sea Turtles at the Honokahau Beach Fish trap. Both unexpected pleasures. The evening brought dinner at the Chill'n On the Bay Pizza and Pupu Bar with nice views of Kailua Bay.
| RnB at Honokohau with Sea Turtles |
Green Sea Turtles - A Closer Look |
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On Saturday, we got up fairly early and had some Grand Slam breakfasts at the Kona Denny’s where our love affair with the consistent comfort of the eggs, hash browns and toast began in 2007 (we also checked out the price of eggs at the adjacent Wal-Mart, and they were nearly ten times the price they were in Wisconsin last summer at $4 a dozen).
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Grand Slam Breakfast in Kona
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We spent the day on a bit of a Busman’s sightseeing holiday to northwest Hawaii. First up was the Puukohola Heiau National Historic Site with ritualistic Ancient Hawaiian ruins (nicely piled aa lava rocks) that we weren’t able to actually visit. Up the coastline, we explored the remains of the beach fishing village at Lapakahi State Historic Park with more Ancient Hawaiian ruins.
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RnB at Lapakahi SHP
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At Kohala, we downloaded some aerial imagery on Google maps that allowed us to find a unmarked one lane dirt road at the Upolu Airport (a former Navy Airfield) that got us most of the way to Mookini Heaiu State Historic Monument, that Bethany had read was the site of human sacrifices and was one of the 1,000 Places to Visit in the USA before You Die. A large puddle of uncertain depth across the entire “road” dissuaded us from going further in the rental car. A larger puddle dissuaded B from continuing on foot but Randy continued the mission to see another very fine pile of rocks, er ritualistic Ancient Hawaiian ruins. He skipped the further trek to the King Kamehameha I SHM getting the feeling that was striking similarity to Ancient Hawaiian ruins…er…not wanting to leave Bethany alone any longer.
| Randy at Mookini Heaiu |
Bethany sunning herself near Mookini Heaiu (note rental car and first large puddle in the distance) |
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Following a lunch with burritos as big as your head in the small town of Hawi we headed eastward to the Pololu Valley Lookout of the Kohala Forest Reserve. During WWII, the 2nd and 5th Marine Division conducted maneuver training from the beaches up the jungle covered valley up the steep valley walls. It was tough enough going up the cleared trail without any gear. We took Highway 250 back south with the great views of the Waikoloa Maneuver Area FUDS. That evening we had a terrific dinner close by with beers at the Kona Brewing Company with some top drawer pizza.
| RnB overlooking the Pololu Valley |
Looking up the Pololu Valley Marine Corps Jungle Training Area |
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On Sunday, it was another Busman’s Sightseeing Holiday to southwest Hawaii after checking out of the hotel and heading southward on the Mamalahoa Highway 11 towards Hilo. The cliffs at Ka Lae (South Point) at the southernmost part of the US (if you ignore the territories), there was the Army’s former Morse Field and Pakini Bombing Range. Shortly after we got out of the car, we came across a group of college age kids cliff jumping the ~75 feet down to the water below. A ladder relic from the old lighthouse station provides an easy way back up that if the authorities we serious about dissuading the jumpers they would remove as opposed to posting ignored signs.
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At KaLae cliffs
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The waves at the actual tip of the island were terrific and a sense of being at the end of the world added to the awe of the location (next land due south: Antarctica).
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Waves at KaLae
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Continuing on, we next stopped at Punaluu Beach to enjoy the basalt Black Sand Beach which sported more Green Sea Turtle encounters.
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Punaluu Beach with 3 green sea turtles
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Because of the fissure ruptures in the developed neighborhoods to the east, Hawaii Volcanoes NP was closed to visitors but we got to drive through it on Highway 11 anyway.
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RnB at the Hawaii Volcanoes NP sign (which is about all we got to see of the park this time)
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At Hilo, we spent an hour looking at areas of FUDS in and around the airport before catching our flight to Oahu to stay at the Waikiki Marriott on the Beach.
On Monday, Randy went into the Honolulu district office and found some historic real estate files treasures entrusted to Building T-223 at Fort Shafter, a WWII temporary warehouse with open air ventilation, lots of interior dust and grim and a general lack of order and love that sported rat traps inside and out (it was understandable why others hadn’t found these items before).
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Caged Records Holding Area in T223
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On Tuesday, we spent the better part of the day touring the east coast of Oahu to the North Shore (i.e. Pali to Kahuku to Waimea Falls) looking at a number of FUDS, including the former Kualoa Airfield, now a park.
| At the Kualoa Airfield FUDS |
RnB at Waimea Falls visitor center (also as FUDS) |
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We lunched at the non-chain eatery Keneke’s with a huge mound of garlic fries, shrimp and white fish for cheap. Best value of the trip but it was good we both ate too much garlic and not just one of us. Hukilau Park at Laie and it view of the nearby island former Army bombing targets FUDS. By the third day, Bethany had enough of Randy’s Busman’s Holiday sightseeing, which is just as well as there no more days scheduled for it. Back at the Marriott, we enjoyed margaritas on the deck of our room and sunset.
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Hwy 82 looking south at Ahupuaa Kapano
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The rest of the week Randy spent at the District going through real estate files and meeting regulators from Saipan, Guam and American Samoa. The evening highlights included Eggplant Tikka Korma at Cafe Maharani Indian Restaurant, one of the best meals Randy ever had.
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Sunset on our last night at Waikiki
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On Friday, we caught the early overnight flight back to the states. The on demand movies at each seat for the ride between Honolulu and Dallas made it more pleasurable but it’s still not a restful trip with sleep deprivation and jet lag being part of the price of travel to the middle Pacific. The kids and Gramy (and Gral) had a great week without us, allaying our guilt for going without them at the END of the school year.
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Jane and Cate modeling their souvineers
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The savvy Cate realizing she could tap into parental guilt for being gone so long, asked to visit the Mauhaus Cat Café when we got back, so Randy took his kid to their first visit to a Cat House…
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Cate enjoying her visit to the local cat house
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We also took the kids to see the new, only OK Star Wars movie: Solo. Other movies the Curti watched in Spring 2018: Love Simon, A Quiet Place, Avengers Infinity War, A Wrinkle in Time, Pope Francis: A Man of His Word, Deadpool, Mission Impossible (1), 2 and 3 and Ocean’s 8.
| Pre-Solo Selfie |
Jane is Ocean's 9th? |
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June
June stated out with a lovely dinner with Kent, Greg and Sally at Café Piazza on Arsenal and I-55. It wasn’t too crowded allowing us to chat for hours. Good food and friends.
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At Cafe Piaza with Kent and Greg (and Sally)
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RnB at the HiPointe
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Over the summer, Cate continued fencing at the WG Rec Center and Jane continued with her driving lessons.
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Cate Fencing
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On a Sunday in June, we attended Jane’s Girl Scout Silver Badge Ceremony at Lindenwold University in St. Charles. She has a couple years to work on her Gold Award.
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Troop 1000 Silver Badgers
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When Randy’s sister passed away last August, his mother Nancy inherited complete ownership of her parent’s house they built on Goff Ave. in 1930. Rhonda moved in the spring 1982 when their Grandmother Sullivan died and lived there ever since. Clearing out a home after someone’s life is never easy but it was very much complicated by her non-legal husband not leaving, despite acknowledging he was unable to pay the bills for taxes. After 10 months since she died and seven months since he was clearly told that he needed to move out so the house could be sold to pay for Nancy’s care, in mid-June we got word he left a couple weeks earlier from the lawyer we hired to evict him (actually unlawful detainer is the specific legal term). The house wasn’t locked and the back door couldn’t be shut, much less locked. The condition of the house was poor, to put it mildly.
Step one was getting the house secured with new locks, fixing the back door and cutting the foot high plus grass without getting injured (no fleas, ticks, chiggers or snakes, though I saw 4 baby copperheads, no kidding).
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7320 Goff from the outside (BEFORE)
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Next was the weekly ritual of rows of trash cans, bags and stuff for garbage on Wednesday as Richmond Heights had no weekly limit and we abused that privilege plenty for the first couple months (We’re sure the trash guys HATED us).
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Trash Day - Week 1
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To get an insurance policy, we had to get an electrician to rewire the house as no company wanted to write a policy on an unoccupied house with a fuse box and knob and tube wiring. Add to that needing a full electrical panel, a replacement mast above the roof line, burying the line to the garage, it was a hefty sum to bring things up to code to sell a house that had never been on the market in its 88 years of existence.
Thus began the months long cloud of responsibility and work to clean things out and get it ready to sell that would taint our Summer, Fall 2018 and Winter 2019.