Summer Solstice

Last night was the convergence of three rare events:

(1) The longest day of the year;

(2) Full moon at its closest to the Earth;

(3) No rain in the forecast.

 

We let the kids invite some friends over for a campout at the river. It was a perfect day (and night).

 

Paddleboard "bus"

"Don't cross the streams, Venkman!"

Fashion and make-up photo shoot.



But they are still silly little girls.

Boys' tent.

Girls' tent.

 

An univited (but very welcome) guest: this gorgeous Luna Moth.

 

Shelburne Museum

We love the Shelburne museum. It's a crazy assemblage of fine art, folk art, and old Vermont buildings and barns, with the occasional paddle-wheel ship parked in the yard. A wealthy lady with eclectic tastes put together the collection, and it makes for a perfect summer day trip.

 

 

 

(Can you tell we're related?)

Grandma and Sophie

My mom came for a visit last week and brought her new little puppy, Sophie. Having Grandma was wonderful but having Sophie around was absolutely the most fun thing ever.

 

 

Pretty much the whole week involved two kids and a puppy all sitting on Grandma. (Luckily Grandma doesn't need a lot of personal space.)

 

 

 

 

Occasionally, Sophie and the kids would get up and chase each other around the lawn. 

 

 

Or, wade through the river together. (Grandma is such a good sport.)

 

We are not yet ready to invest in a puppy of our own but we are glad Grandma has one to share.

Vermont Connections

Austin recently discovered that an ancestor of his was a native Vermonter. Harriet Silver Dunn was born in 1818 in Bloomfield, Vermont, a tiny town in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont right on the Canadian border. As a teenager, Harriet moved to Lowell, MA to work in the mills, where she met some Mormon missionaries, converted, moved west and became a pioneer, much to the disappointment of her Vermont family.

 

 

She married Simeon Adams Dunn at Winter Quarters, a wedding performed by Brigham Young. She adopted his four kids, had a few more of her own, and adopted several orphans before dying in childbirth at age 40. She used her Vermont farmgirl skills to sew buffalo-hide shoes for the kids as they walked to Utah, and sold handmade brooms and cane bottom chairs once they got there. And she ran the farm as a single mom when her husband was on a mission. In all, quite a woman to claim in the family tree.

 

 

When Howard and Jordan visited in late May, the three Gray men made a pilgrimage to Bloomfield to find the Silver family graves in the Methodist cemetery. It took some looking, but they finally found the headstones of Harriet's parents Arad and Sophia Silver, knocked over and cracked but still legible (for now). It's awesome to feel this connection to our new adopted home state.

 

After the cemetery trip, the guys celebrated with a weekend in Quebec City. They stayed at the Hilton, enjoyed the concierge level, watched the NBA Eastern Conference finals in the hotel room, and reportedly went out at least once or twice for some sightseeing and French pastries.

Lucy's Graduation

Lucy gave the speech at her 5th grade graduation tonight. So I'll let her words tell you what this milestone means.

 

 

I remember my first day in Northfield Elementary School, almost six years ago. I was in Kindergarten in Mrs. Zeilenga’s class. I felt so small and the fifth graders who came to our classroom to be our Big Buddies looked so big and so smart. We were just learning how to read and count. We counted up the days of school and had a party when we got to the 100^th day. I brought in a tin can with 100 googly eyes glued to it. I was so proud. In fifth grade this year, we have done projects a bit more challenging, like the science fair, the colonial homes, and the biographies we wrote. In Kindergarten we set leprechaun traps and dressed up as monkeys for the school play. Now that we are in 5^th grade we play instruments in the band, get leads in the school play, and we get to be the Big Buddies for the little Kindergarten kids. We have come so far.

We can’t say we did it alone. We have had so much support over the years. Teachers, parents, and friends all had a part to play in us making it this far. Our teachers put up with us every day. They had high expectations for us. Our parents supported us by helping us with our homework, and getting us to school every day. As friends we worked together on our assignments and helped each other. We have all had our differences sometimes. OK a lot of times. But we have always come together in the end.

This is our fifth grade graduation. But it is really just our halfway point. We all started school six years ago, and we have six more years until high school graduation. When we go across the street to the middle school we will be the youngest ones again. But I know that our parents will support us and we will have more great teachers to help us learn. And no matter how old we get we will always have each other. We have come so far and together we will make it all the way!

Getting a diploma from Mr. Fuller.

5th grade song: Green Day's " Time of Your Life."
(This song is also titled "Good Riddance"... hmmm ...)

Camp Half-Blood

It's Brother's Day!

 

 

We've all been on a bit of a Greek mythology / Percy Jackson kick around here. Lucy, Gavin, and Austin have recently read or re-read all the books in both series, and Gavin has been devouring graphic novels about the Greek gods. For Brother's Day, Gav really wanted a Camp Half-Bood T-shirt just like Percy Jackson and his friends. Surprisingly, these are rather hard to come by. I found him one on Etsy but it was $35. For a kid's T-shirt!

 



So instead, I bought some orange T-shirts for the whole family, found some graphics on the internet, and made freezer-paper stencils. The shirts were fun to make and turned out way better than I expected.

 

Brother's Day dinner included nectar and ambrosia, grapes (in honor of Dionysis), Sun Chips (in honor of Apollo), Phish Food ice cream (in honor of Poseidon), and a variety of orange foods in honor of Camp Half-Blood. Gavin took a sharpie and decorated some cheapie orange cups and plates with his own version of the Camp Half-Blood logo.

 



 

After dinner we ran around outside playing capture the flag, practicing sword fighting, and playing pin-the-eye-on-the-Cyclops. Now I'm ready to head off to the Aphrodite cabin for some beauty sleep.

We Have Jazz

Lucy had a speaking part as a sassy teenager in the elementary school musical this spring. Yeah, she didn't have to do much acting, I think she has this part down pat.

 

Gavin played a hobo.

It was a great musical because the kids all learned about the "Jazz Greats." Gavin has decided that Charlie Parker is his favorite, or possibly Lester Young. Austin was unsuccessful at convincing him that the real Jazz Greats were Karl Malone and John Stockton.

 

 (applause!)

Science Fair Update

First Place!!!