Book 23: The First Dud

I finished book 23:

 I read Wicked by the same author and thoroughly enjoyed the retelling of the Wizard of Oz story. With Scrooge on the front, I expected this to be a retelling of A Christmas Carol. Friends, it was not.

I honestly don't know what this was. It was part ghost story part love story part novel within a novel and all kinds of messy. Half of the threads just get dropped somewhere around the two-thirds mark, and Scrooge is mentioned a few times as being possibly inspired by the great-great-great grandfather of the main character. 

This is one of those books that really could have used some serious editing. Pick a story line and finish it completely. The ending is a sad fizzle that leaves most of the tale untold. 

I guess I was due for a dud, and boy was this a dud.

Two Theatres, Two Great Shows

 We had another great weekend! 

Friday night, Mom and our little crew of four rediscovered Nomad. We haven't eaten there in forever, but they have redone their menu again. It's an eclectic little place with a ton of options for Brad and Issa, and everyone fell back in love with it! 

After dinner, we went to see the community production of Willy Wonka. Once of Issa's dance friends was Veruca, and we knew several other members of the cast and crew. It was such a fun show! Brad and Mom now have the bug, and I have a feeling we might see them onstage next summer!

Yesterday afternoon, the five of us went to see the Barbie movie! It's been a long time since I've felt that much positive energy in a movie theatre. It is such a great movie, and even Evan had to admit he liked it more than he thought he would. It's just a feel-good show, and I wouldn't mind seeing it a few more times!

Wrestling Camp

 

Evan has spent his mornings this week at his first high school wrestling camp:

He has loved it! He is sore and tired, but he has learned a lot. He has had some big wins and gotten to know more of the team. The coach has also been awesome about posting a ton of pictures, and I hope that continues all season! It's all good things, and I can't wait to see what this season will hold.

Back at the Wheel

I was able to spend a block of time in the pottery studio this week. I've been spending most of my time there hand building lately, but this week the wheel was calling again. My first throw was a disaster and subsequently wedged. But I'm quite pleased with the second:

I still can't sit down and say exactly what I want to throw, but this is the first vase I've been able to complete! I'm quite tickled, and now I'm hoping to make myself a little set.

There is something both humbling and inspiring about being at the wheel. The clay really is in control, but that letting go can be absolutely fabulous.
 

Book 22

Late last week I finished book 22:

 This was a fun little workbook in creativity. It once belonged to my friend, Liz, and I could hear her voice talking me through some of the prompts. I didn't do the painting or collaging prompts because that does not bring me joy, but the thinking and writing prompts were fun.

I passed this one on to Mom, and I'm hoping she has fun with all of the prompts!

Fun Family Weekend

We had a very fun family weekend! Saturday morning, we woke up and decided to drive to the Greensboro Science Center, and this is the only picture I took:

The boys accidentally twinned! We love the science center because you can get so close to the animals, and this trip the red panda and the serval were the favorites. It was a very rare day in NC July where the high was only 80 and the humidity was very low. We spent the whole day outside!

We came home and Brad finally got to use all of his Father's Day smoking gifts:

Unfortunately, we had evict a field mouse couple from the grill and sterilize the whole thing before we could start cooking, but we were still eating delish smoked poultry by 7!

The kids also helped me arrange the vines on my plant wall:

My plants have been growing like crazy, and I found cute snail hooks to train the vines. It's just quirky enough to make me deliriously happy.
 

Books 19-21

We have had so much fun stuff going on I haven't had time to post my latest reads!

Book 19 was a surprise favorite:

I have no idea where I got The Sonnet Lover, but it was a niche book that I adored! It's about an English professor working with a study abroad program in Florence while researching the Dark Lady in Shakespeare's sonnets. It's part academic, part love story, part mystery, and it all gets tied up in a gorgeous English bow! Loved it!

Book 20 was solidly fine:

Legacy of Hunger is the first in a series, and I will not likely read the rest. It's a great piece of historical fiction about The Great Hunger, but it was a lot of build up for not a lot of story.

I finished book 21 this morning:

This one was only good because I knew Blackfeather. I could hear his stories filling in the gaps in this text. That said, I'm glad someone captured even a piece of his story and that of the tribe here in Hillsborough.
 

Fabulous Weekend

 I didn't take a single picture this weekend, but it was fabulous.

Brad and I finally celebrated our anniversary Friday night! We had planned to go out at the beach, but that never happened. Then we planned to go out when we got home, but the week got away from us.

Friday night, we got a room at the Colonial Inn. We had two of their signature cocktails and take-out from Nomad on their balcony. We watched the sunset and just relaxed. We decided to walk downtown for dessert at Antonia's and laughed that we closed the place down at 9:15. We had time to just talk and be together without a single interruption, which is a rarity. Saturday morning we walked downtown again for breakfast at Hillsborough Bakeshop and some shopping at our local bookstore. It was bliss.

Then we ended the weekend with family game night last night. We tried a new game, Wingspan, and it is my new favorite! I lost horribly, but it was so fun and we laughed so hard. I have already called for a rematch next Sunday!

A New Pin

The week before the beach was a big one for Issa; it was her last Coronation Camp with the studio. She had a great week dancing with the team, and it's going to be a great year with this group:

Friday was the officially Coronation Ceremony where buddy groups place their antennae crowns and we have a family talent show. Evan and I made it back from the tournament in time for the talent show, but we missed the crowning. That said, Brad got video and four different moms sent me pictures without me asking:

I love our little Monarch family.

At Coronation, the seniors also receive a graduation pin to add to their antennae:

We are ready for this senior season, big feelings and all!

 

A High School Wrestler

The day before we left for the beach, Evan had a big day--his first high school wrestling tournament. He had a practice with the team earlier in the week, and we were at the school at 7:30am to drive to a tournament near Charlotte:

 

Summer wrestling is completely optional, so we were so proud of him for stepping up. This tournament had teams from three states and many private wrestling clubs. Even our best wrestlers didn't win every match.

I ended up driving two other wrestlers, and I enjoyed spending the day getting to know them, the rest of the team, and several parents. The coach has really created a positive culture:

The parents were so welcoming to me, and I loved watching the older kids coach the two freshmen who went. It was so interesting to listed to what they noticed and what they wanted to teach their new teammates.

Evan's goal was just to get at least one pin. He wrestled five times, and he got a pin, got pinned twice, and lost on points twice--not bad at all given the competition and how different high school wrestling is from middle school wrestling!

The coach posted this picture at the end of the day:

It really was a fun day. Evan learned a lot, and he know what he wants to work on this summer. I learned we needed bleacher chairs, and now I'm ready for the next tournament!

A Week at the Beach

We are back from a fabulous week at the beach. We stayed at the same house we stayed in last year, which was lovely. It's a great house, and it was so easy since we knew where everything is and how everything works.

The best part of our beach vacation is the pace. We set very few plans, and everyone can choose their own adventure. 

One of the big funs this week was the Legos! Aunt Shannon brought three sets:

Evan made a military jeep complete with working door handles. Issa made a Starbucks that actually lights up:

I made Pooh Corner:

All three pieces now are on display on our landing.

We played a lot of games:

And the one mandatory thing each day was family dinner. One of the highlights was Aunt Shannon's veggie tray:

One of the big highlights of the week for me was our two trips to the aquarium to see the otters:

I absolutely love otters:

The whole group went on Wednesday, and we did the whole aquarium:

Thursday a smaller group of us went back just to see the otters at enrichment time. I am already missing my furry friends.

We went down to the beach every day but Wednesday:

We had red flags at the beginning of the week, but it was still nice to wade and watch the ocean:

The end of the week brought green flags and lots of ocean bobbing:

The kids and I spent the most time down there:

And we mastered the beach tent so I am finally not burnt at the end of vacation:

Evan even made himself a sand lounger one day:

Shannon made it down to see the sun rise every day, and Brad and I made it twice:

There were also many, many silly selfies:

Evan also took a whole series of photos of Issa taking photos:

We also did the traditional photo shoot! Issa opted to only do one outfit this year, focusing on pointe:

And Evan captured his wrestling moves:

It was a fabulous week of just a lot of being together. In the day to day, there just isn't a lot of space for just being. I loved bobbing in the ocean and chatting with my big kids; those are moments that are even more precious as we head into freshman and senior year.