First, we need to apologize. We skipping an early summer post. But in our defense, we had a ton going on. Let us explain.
May hit with hard end-of-school-year vibes. We were awash in finals, school year exhaustion, and for Riley and Tessa who were not returning to the same school for the ’25-’26 academic year, preparing to say goodbye to school friends. There were some nerves and a few low-key meltdowns, but the good news is that we not only survived, we ALL crushed our end of year exams. Asher received a Literature and History Award at his end of year celebration, Emmett was asked to join both the National Honors Society and the National Thespian Honors Society, Riley received accolades for his academic performance and his athletics, and Tessa’s teacher said that her super power is her ability to raise the IQ in the room just by being there.
June brought a Costa Rica trip and the start of summer camps. Costa Rica was great. We hit the cloud forest and the beach. In the cloud forest, we zip lined, mountain biked, rafted and also had a lot of great food. Although Mom decided that she will not organize beach trips in the future as that’s not her thing, everyone loved surfing, boating, and watching the sun set over the water. Almost as soon as we returned home from Costa Rica, Tessa was off to Greece as the first Pig to set off for summer camp. As turned out to be the case with everyone, she loved camp.
In Greece, Tessa spent some time in Athens checking out the historical sites. After that, she sea kayaked between Greek islands before settling in to do some service work in turtle conservation. She said that she wished she could have stayed a bit longer, but she was glad to come home. Asher also set off for his first summer camp in June. He went to WY and parts of CO to do service work on a ranch with rescue animals, raft, hike, and rock climb. Although he enjoyed it, next year, he’d rather not be gone for 2 weeks.
With everyone home, we celebrated the Forth of July at a neighbor’s house, grilling and setting off fireworks. The neighbor had some huge (read: illegal) fireworks that ended up providing a perfect crowning touch to the good sized fountains and spinning fireworks we’d purchased from the local fireworks stand. It was a late night, but a good time was had by all.
At the end of July, Riley was the next Pig to set off for camp; he went to Alaska. He enjoyed camp, but it was full of unplanned experiences. During the sea kayaking portion of the trip, the water level rose and swamped their camp, forcing them to return to civilization to dry all of their sleeping bags. Then, during the backpacking portion of the trip, one of Riley’s trip mates went missing for a full 24 hours in the Alaska backcountry. Thank goodness he was found by Search and Rescue, but that cut the backpacking portion of the trip short. To bring the trip to a close, Riley rafted, mountaineered, and ice climbed without incident.
Throughout the summer, we attended musical and improv performances; we celebrated Dad on Father’s Day; Asher turned 12 (!) and we had multiple birthday celebrations for him as he was at camp on his actual birthday; we went to museums, concerts, and hung out with friends; we binged great television shows and watched some movies; and despite all of that doing, we still slept in and rested quite a bit.
While Riley was gone, Asher set out on camp #2, where he rafted, rock climbed, camped, and hiked in the CO mountains. This was also the point when Emmett headed out for Montana and the Blackfeet reservation. While they both had a good time, it’s safe to say that while Asher enjoyed camp, Emmett loved it. Emmett did service work feeding kids, building and repairing structures, and clearing brush, but he also got to take part in the Sundance ceremony and spend time with tribal elders. Together with rock climbing, hiking, swimming in the lake, and other outdoor activities, he said that camp was amazing. He didn’t want to come home. There were tears.
Which immediately turned into a perma-grin, as upon Emmett’s return, he discovered that all of his voice/acting lessons paid off. Emmett auditioned for Into the Woods just before he left for MT, and while he was gone Mom and Dad found out that he got the part of Jack! He’s already diving into the hard work for this performance, utilizing this last week before school starts to work on the vocals. He performs at the end of October and the beginning of November, and he can’t wait! Please send all the good vibes.
The day Emmett’s flight brought him back from MT, Riley and Tessa started school at a new school. It’s a much bigger school with more options and opportunity. So far, neither have found their groove, but it’s early days. We’re going to be patient and give them some time. Riley’s Mountain Biking starts soon, and fingers crossed both Riley and Tessa will join some clubs. Creating community makes the world feel less overwhelming, and they could both plug into community right about now. Along the same lines, Asher and Emmett head back to school next week, at which point the house will be quiet during the day once more.
Check back in when Fall is in full swing.
Best,
The Pigs
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