First Half of 2023

Edited to add: I wrote this over a year ago and never published it. I am publishing now, dating it back to the day I wrote it, because I want to. Maybe I'll write about 2024 at some point. Maybe not. 

This winter felt interminably long. And yet, somehow, here we are halfway through June. Here are some updates on what we've been up to.

Ben: Had his hip replaced. Is old.  (Okay, one 2024 update: he had to have the surgery redone. Blah.)

Emily: Started a part time job. Is supposed to be writing an article for said job, but is writing this blog post instead.

Clare: Just finished sixth grade. Had a great year. Has suddenly turned into an argumentative teenager. (Okay, she has always been an argumentative teenager, even when she was two. It is just worse now.)

Christopher: Just finished third grade. Playing baseball. Hits the ball pretty well. Catches it only occasionally.

Let's see...what else. This month Clare had a soccer tournament in Oshkosh (or Osh-Gosh, as she spelled it). Ben took her to that while I took Christopher on his Cub Scout camping trip. Surprisingly, I had fun on the camping trip. Unsurprisingly, I didn't sleep well in the tent.

We spent May doing sports (soccer and baseball), school events (garden party, Christopher's class play, field trips), and swimming in Evansville over a Memorial Day weekend visit to the Cuckoo House.

We took a family trip to Utah over spring break in April. It was really fun. We took the camper and drove (through the Rockies, I was driving, I didn't love it) out to Utah. We spent a week exploring Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, and camping in a canyon along the Colorado River. It was so beautiful, but I didn't realize how much I missed trees until we got back to Minnesota. 

I also got in a weekend visit to NYC with Katie and Robby. We had a fabulous time, even when Katie accidentally took us to the Friends apartment rather than the comedy club we were trying to find. We ate good food and had fun hanging out together. I want to do it again!

March was long and cold and wet.

In February, we spent most of our time driving kids to various activities, including a school dance for Clare and Polar Cubs for Christopher. 

January: who knows?? We probably recovered from the holidays and stuff.

Here are some pictures: