June 2026: End of 7th and 9th grades

Alistair's class went on a field trip to a courtroom for a mock trial. He was a justice:

Elin's concert band program:

Much reverence for Mr. Mantilla:

(Elin's the only 9th grader in the front row of the flute section)

Post-concert shenanigans with Cam:

Daddy turned 45:

As a birthday present, Alistair, Elin, and Mama organized a tour of Manhattan trees:

We found one! This was a stately sycamore in Morningside:

Apparently, pictures of Daddy taking pictures of trees are in vogue:

Excellent elm:

Not many elms around these days, but they're pretty:

We made it to #7 (tupelo), then decided we were hot and tired, so we headed back home:

(Two of us had/were getting over colds.)

In Alistair's school, 7th graders did either art, band, orchestra, chorus, or piano. Alistair wanted to do band or art, and got art. He loves art, but was a little bummed not to do band. Fortuitously, Mr. Fagen asked if he wanted to learn the pieces and perform with the band even though he hadn't been taking the class:

Quite an honor! He's in the back row in the middle of this picture:

After the concert with Jack and Gen:

Next up: art show:

Elin's new haircut:

Elin loves opera:

Flute recital:

They practiced this one together ... once? Half a time?

Silver team and Mary at the end of year gymnastics gala:

Elin and Cam after the gala:

Last day of school!

(Sort of. They have finals like college, so she went again for a final exam.)

Post-school hang out on Issy's roof before everyone dispersed for the summer:

Mama found some viral desserts:

Alistair's tournament team played its last ever tournament on Father's Day:

The West Side tournament program doesn't exist anymore for U14 and up, so even though his team generally does well, they will be disbanded. After that it's either travel or core, and Alistair did not want to commit to travel.

The last tournament was exciting. The first game was a 6-0 romp against a team that was overmatched. The second was a 0-3 loss that was a lot closer than the score suggested. West Side had some good chances, but couldn't quite get one in, and the other team got some lucky bounces. The third game was tight. The run of play was pretty even, but I thought we had more chances. Despite that, we were down 0-1 at halftime. Five minutes after halftime, the other team had a good counter and we went down 0-2. A few minutes later (35th minute; tournament games are 50 minutes), Max had a great run and passed to Maayan, who knocked it in, so we were back in it at 1-2. The other team started wasting as much time as they could, which was good strategy but super annoying to the kids. In the 43rd minute, Max scored one to pull even, then 40 seconds later scored again to pull ahead. With the tables turned, our kids started wasting time (kicking the ball farther out of bounds than was necessary), causing some frustration on the other side. The other team had a couple of chances, but we held on for a 3-2 victory. We wound up 4th/6 in the division after a series of tiebreakers (teams 2-5 were all 2-1), but everyone was a happy, and it was a great way to end the tournament run. Alistair played right back nearly the entire time he was in. In the first game we spread minutes around to conserve energy of the starters, but he played a large majority of the second and third games.

Alistair made high honor roll for the year. Woohoo!

Kakuzo and Jack were also on the high honor roll:

May 2026

Elin and Daddy went on a redbud tour of Riverside park:

There were a few white morphs:

Happy Mother's Day!

Alistair's tournament team played well in its Memorial Day tournament. As is traditional, they took a game to wake up (even though it was 2pm), so they lost their first game 0-2. The other team (East Fishkill) was pretty good, but it should have been closer. Their second game was a solid 4-1 victory, with Max and Maayan each scoring 2. Their third and final game was a 5-1 thumping, and easily could have been 8-1 or so. It was raining, so there wasn't a lot of footage, and Alistair played defense and defensive midfield, so the scant footage (goals) didn't feature him, but here's one of Maayan's goals:

(Alistair's off to the right.)

They got second place in the tournament.

Elin did well enough to make the Regional meet, as did many of her Silver teammates. Here's her beam routine (9.0, 7th/maybe 15?):

Floor 8.65:

Vault 9.25 (4th/15ish):

Bars 8.65 (5th/15ish):

The Silver team got 5th out of 13 or so small teams:

May had some good rock music. Nick and Mary Alice took Daddy and Mama to a show by Jessie's Girl, an 80s cover band:

They were awesome:

Daddy's band also played a show in May after playing at the E3B showcase in April:

Alistair loves his new shirt:

April 2026

First Storm King State Park hike in a while:

Pretty trees:

(Red maple)

Easter puzzle:

Solved:

Prize:

Spring has arrived!

For April break we went to Massachusetts.

We went to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, which is in a mansion built around a verdant central atrium:

This museum is the site of the largest (by $) art heist in history:

Isabella's will stipulated that every piece of art had to remain exactly where it was, which apparently meant that the frames had to stay where they were:

We fulfilled Mama's lifelong dream of going on a Duck tour. It did not disappoint:

Alistair's?

It is apparently traditional to walk the Freedom Trail in subzero temperatures in winter, but we made do:

Treats at the end of the Freedom Trail:

Attleboro hike:

Cousins on a hike:

Pretty trees!

Elin has taken to running:

Usually in Riverside Park, but occasionally in Central Park. Sometimes with Daddy, sometimes with Tessa, sometimes with Mommy. Alistair has gone on some runs as well.

Alistair's birthday party crew:

They didn't complete the escape room, but they had fun:

Birthday celebration:

Pretty trees:

Elin and Alistair say that Daddy is obsessed with pretty trees. But come on, how cool are redbuds?

and if we're on a run in Riverside park and we see this, how can we not appreciate the pretty trees?

Just look at that color!

So pretty:

State Gymnastics meet beam 9.125 (2nd/17):

Floor 8.375 (14th/17):

Vault 9.25 (5th/18):

Bars 8.2 (8th/18):

All around 5th/17.

Beam podium:

Vault or all-around podium:

Not a bad State meet, particularly after missing half the season.