After a week of Fall Break where we had time to catch our breath, we can look back at the past two months and say confidently, we have had SO much going on. So, so much. Like a ton. It’s all been pretty good. Some, great even. We’re not complaining too much, but we’re really looking forward to things calming down a bit.
Even before Riley and Tessa started at their new school, Riley was already training hard for mountain biking, and that training paid off. He did great this season, moving up 14 places in the league from last year. 14 places! He’s now pivoting from mountain biking to theater, working on the carpentry team to build the sets for the upcoming Cinderella performance at his high school. Not to mention that this week he turns 16! Riley cannot wait to get his license and the door to independence that opens. He’s got a bit of a hard road ahead, looking at two separate foot surgeries in the next 5 months, but he’s going into those surgeries with the same level of optimism that he applies to everything. Riley is a doer, and he’s going to excel at what’s coming up.
Tessa is on the theater tech crew too! She’s on the team painting the sets that Riley’s team builds. So far, she’s not had much, as carpentry has been a bit behind on their builds, but she’s looking forward to jumping in now that Fall Break is over. Additionally, T’s spent the past few months adjusting to high school and making the jump to honor and AP classes. We’re not going to lie, there’s been some anxiety. But T’s finally found a groove, managing to maintain cartoonishly high grades without burning herself out. Go T!
Asher’s last few months have been spent making friends and influencing people. He played soccer at the start of the year which he really dedicated himself to, and he’s about to start mountain biking as an elective, so he’s definitely been active at school. As for academics, he’s learning that he actually does need to study to get good grades on tests, and sadly he can’t just talk his way into those good grades. Always a good lesson for anyone. But what’s most important is that he’s enjoying the social aspect of school this year. That wasn’t exactly the case last year. This year, however, he has good friends both in and out of his homeroom, so he seems to enjoy just being at school. We’ll take that win.
Emmett has spent the past two months committing himself to Into the Woods rehearsing in a way we’ve never before seen. He practices everyday. Then he goes to rehearsal. Sometimes he goes to voice lessons and then practices. His singing and characterization has improved by leaps and bounds, and we can’t wait for his opening night this Friday. He’s in tech week this week, fine tuning, but he’s feeling good about everything. Plus, he’s keeping his grades up while overall exhibiting a level of independence heretofore unknown to E. We’re so, so proud of you!
Sprinkled into these feats of amazing-ness, we’ve hit the museums and theaters. (We saw Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare in the Wild twice!) We spent a wonderful week in Maine with our fabulous family, apple picking and going to harvest festivals and relaxing. We’re happy to have moved past being new students and getting back into the swing of things, and now we are heading into E’s performance run, Thanksgiving, midterms, and R’s first of two surgeries. So much going on. But so much is ALWAYS going on.
Check back early winter. Maybe we’ll finally find some downtime.
Best,
The Pigs
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