Spring at School

In addition to the play, May had lots of other fun goings on at Alicia's school. They had a karate instructor come and do workshops with them for a few weeks and then they put on a demonstration for family and friends that could come out - mostly I think the kids just thought it was pretty awesome to get to walk around without their shoes!
They also had their Spring Concert. Thankfully it was only the younger grades this time. The kids all had fun and sang their hearts out!

Saying Goodbye to Andy

Mark's father Andy passed on May 5 this year. In one way it was very expected in another sudden and shocking. After all that we've been through I can honestly say that I don't think anything really can prepare you or make you feel prepared for those kinds of moments. He is really an amazing man and I wish I would have had the chance to know him better. My memories of Andy are of a man who loved to tell stories and remember the past. I think his favorite story to tell was about how his father ferried their big car (maybe a Cadillac) across the Atlantic and then had to maneuvered it around the much narrower streets of Europe doing genealogy. He was always fascinated by learning and was always researching things or listening to various news reports and other ideas and soaking it all up. It was obvious by the remarks made at the funeral that many of his hobbies had been passed down to his children - mostly a love of computers, genealogy, and nature that included hiking, fishing, and gardening. Andy was an ophthalmologist by profession following in the footsteps of his father. One of the things that was also spoken of at the funeral that I thought was a very poignant remark was that he had often compared his accomplishments to those of his brother who was a world-renowned paleontologist and felt that he came up short. In reality Andy's work blessed the daily lives of many people in remarkable ways, helping to improve their eyesight and allow them to see.

The upside of it all was that for the first time in at least a decade all five of his children were gathered together and enjoyed a few days with each other.

On Stage

May began with all the regular insanity - a play! Alicia was in the school production of Hatshepsut. Our friend was the director and she was amazing in pulling everything together with so many munchkins running around. I didn't get any pictures of the play (somewhere I think Mark has some video) because I was helping out backstage but in rehearsal I did get this one of "the sisters" - Alicia and her really good friend. The girls had a blast working together and Alicia and Ryan filled the house and the car singing the songs from the play (yes, so now at 4 Ry is fully aware that the Nile flows north).