It was a hot 4th! But a great parade and good to see everyone.

When Sarah slacks, she slacks all the way. Blanket, Switch (playing Nintendo Tomadachi Life) and cat. Most of the time, at one hundred and seventy-six months old, she is not slacking.

She did slack a little at the 4th of July parade in Bristol, Rhode Island though. Mostly because it was super hot out this year. She was glad to see lots of family, and handled our last-minute-unscheduled drive home (flight canceled) like a champ.

For about 3 weeks of her 176th month she spent working on the play Into the Woods with the Clayton Theatricals. They put on two performances and did a great job. (We’ll post some more photos later this month)

Also during Sarah’s 176th month:

• She and Kate went to see some friends perform in the play Puffs.
• Sarah also went to see a performance of Into the Woods with the other cast that was putting on the performance.
• She draws on her iPad all the time, and also draws on paper a lot, too. She is great at drawing!
• Sarah spent a day at the Triangle Town Center Mall with friends…which is a long time for a mall with so few stores still open. Very 1990s.
• She came with Ted, Aidan and I to Raleigh to attend GalaxyCon

We saw The Mandalorian and Grogu movie.  

S’mores were made at Auntie Jan and Bob’s place in Newport.

Cousins got to hang out!

Two hundred twenty months old and Ted took a couple of drives to check out their new school (and second college!) Wake Tech in Raleigh. We went together to explore the campus and building where classes will be (I’m jealous!) and they went on their own to make sure they could drive and park and charge the Volt while there. Classes start in a few weeks.

Two hundred twenty month old Ted has lived in our subdivision since 2013, which is a while, and long enough for the streets to require some maintenance. While on a walk together we took this photo and I sent it to the town to guilt them into fixing the street. A few days later they were out there with cones and asphalt!  Progress!

Last month Ted went with longtime pal Aidan to the coast for a weekend of slacking, snacks, video games and some time at the beach. Aidan’s folks have a beach house and invited Ted along for the weekend. I was sent this proof-of-life selfie after sending them this flashback photo from 2016.

It was a busy 220th month that also included a trip to New England for the 4th of July, attending Sarah’s Into the Woods theatrical performance, driving Sarah all over the place because Kate and are busy people, a trip to GalaxyCon Raleigh, and plenty of time hanging out with friends.

The performance was through a summer camp that spanned over two weeks. She and the cast/crew put on four great performances.

Alice was played by Sarah’s pal Zoe, who also did a great job with all the songs (and also drove Sarah to the theatre a bunch).

Zoe, her sister and Sarah’s longtime pal Izzy, and Sarah:

One hundred seventy-five month-old Sarah had a busy month – traveling to New England to see cousin Jack’s graduation and Eagle Scout ceremonies.  She also spent a few weeks busy at theatre camp, where she played the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland (we’ll post photos soon).

Sarah and I also spent a morning at the Pride event in downtown Raleigh during her 175th month.

In other Sarah news:

• She was bummed out that the neighborhood convenience store closed this past month, but glad to learn that a Dunkin’s opened up right next to the Food Lion.
• Sarah got a haircut. She also had her braces adjusted with some new brackets added.
• She and her friends got to go to a birthday party with her friend Porter.
• Sarah will sometimes walk to the gym in the neighborhood.

And just a few short weeks after seeing Auntie Christine (and lots of other family members) at graduation, Ted saw them again when we flew up to New England for cousin Jack’s graduation. It was a quick trip, and fun to hang out with everyone.

(I like that I managed to appear in this photo in the reflection.)

A good chunk of last month was Ted decompressing from all the excitement around his own graduation and flexing some creative muscles making music. And also staying cool as it has been crazy hot in North Carolina this past summer.