The End of Summer...

 On September 23rd, our little house, like everyone else, welcomed fall. It wasn't exactly magical because we've adopted a "fall schedule" since Little Lewie went back to school on August 28th. Still, as I spent the weekend changing our summer decorations over to apples, pumpkins, leaves, scarecrows, and even some Halloween-inspired crafts, I couldn't help but get excited for everything the autumn brings--hikes, country fairs, pumpkin spice lattes, high school football games, haunted hayrides, and more... (My goal is to stay more current with my blog, so I could write about each of our autumn events as they unfold...)

While the summer for most of us is nothing more than an afterthought, I couldn't let this one pass without writing a recap. 

Allen Brothers Fruits and Vegetables, VT

If you've been reading my blog, you may know I found myself unemployed around this time last year. It was not only an ending to an eight-year tenure as an academic dean, but it was also an ending to a 21-year career at the same college. In essence, it was more than losing a job and a good paycheck; it was losing a family that I greeted for 1,092 consecutive weeks (except for when I took maternity leave to be with my wonderful Little Lewie). I was heartbroken, and I started the summer still feeling this way. Our goal to see another national park was sidelined as I continued to make myself available for interviews, and instead, we had small pool parties, a few day excursions, and a short weekend trip to North Conway, N.H.  Here are our highlights for Summer 2023:

1. Graduation: We had some important graduations to celebrate this year; thus, we were invited to a number of parties, and we had one pool party at our house, too. Lewie graduated from 8th grade, but his cousin Sarah graduated from high school, his cousin Frankie graduated from community college, and my best friend Jen and her daughter Kirsten graduated from nursing school and high school. I was SO PROUD of all of them! 

It poured during Lewie's outside graduation, so I captured a picture at Dunkin Donuts afterward;
 our cousins said he looks like Dwight from 'The Office' with his shirt and tie.

Lewie with cousin Sarah at her high school graduation.
He will be graduating from the same high school in four years. 

Sarah had 20+ medals around her neck from all of her swim and track awards!

Sarah's family (i.e. Lewie's aunt, uncle, and cousins)

My best friend's graduation from nursing school.
She's my age and went back to college for four years to get her nursing degree.

Posing with the graduate...Sheila (in the middle) is another grammar school friend.

2. The Newport Flower Show: After a three-year hiatus (2020-2023), my mom and I finally went back to the Newport Flower Show, which we used to visit anually until COVID hit. My mom (at almost 80) was worried about having enough stamina, but she got around wonderfully--proof that we can still do our fun mother-daughter day trips.

3. Lake Compounce, Pool Parties, & Ice-cream: Lewie's major request this year was "sleep-over pool parties," so for one weekend each month (June, July, & August), Lewie had his friends sleep over to go "night swimming." We have a tradition during the summer. When they come over, they usually watch movies, TikTok videos, stargaze, play video games, swim, jump on the trampoline, and have pizza and ice cream. In the morning, they all let me know their Dunkin Donuts orders, so they can relax and have breakfast by the pool. (On a few other special days, he had a chance to go to Lake Compounce or to spend time with other friends.)

 

Lewie and I had a chance to visit his old preschool teacher, Miss Kristen.
Miss Kristen is not old by any means, but we are so proud of her because
she moved on to start her own nutritional tea and shake business!

4. I.D. Tech Camp: At the end of July, Lewie took another I.D. Tech Camp week-long computer course. (He's been doing these computer camps for the last five years; in 2020 and 2021, they were virtual, but all the other ones have been hosted by local colleges.) Last year, he took one hosted at Fairfield University, and this year, he took one at Wesleyan University. On the last day, they always say a few nice things about the students and present them with a certificate of completion. This year, Lewie earned his certificate in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. He LOVED the fact that I made him pose with his certificate in a variety of campus locations. I am the classic embarrassing mom.

5. Trip to Jackson and North Conway, N.H.: In August, I did the unthinkable. I planned a trip, specifically designed with Lewie's friends in mind. (I still feel bad that he never went on his class trip to Boston or Washington D.C.)  Two out of his three friends could go, and another family decided to come with us, so in all, it was the three of us (Lew, Lewie, and me), Ryan's family (John, Ryan, and Sue) and Lewie and Ryan's friend, Noah. Each of our families drove up separately, but we stayed at the same hotel, The Christmas Farm Inn & Spa, and we did the same activities, which included taking the Cog Railway to the top of Mount Washington, hiking, and going to some of the cutest general stores and family restaurants in the area. I decided to capture the highlights (through pictures) below.

On the first day, we went on the Mount Washington Cog Railway, which they sometimes refer to as the "Railway to the Moon" because of its steep incline with some sections being a 38% grade! Mount Washington itself (part of the White Mountains) is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at 6,288 feet, and as our diesel train traveled up the mountain in one hour, we went through three different climate zones to get to the top. You could see the difference through the changes in vegetation or, sometimes, lack of vegetation!

I wish I could say we had a beautiful sunny day with expansive views, but our weekend to New Hampshire mirrored most of our weekends this summer--RAIN. We saw clouds and fog, which to our surprise, is like most days at that high elevation. Thankfully, the temperature was a balmy 40 degrees instead of its average 20 degrees or its coldest temp ever recorded -50 degrees (below zero).

Another big draw of the trip was the vineyards, breweries, and shopping. We had a chance to stop by a few places on the way back from the White Mountains. On Sunday, we had a chance to visit Zeb's General Store in North Conway, Flossie's General Store in Jackson, and the Covered Bridge Shoppe in Barlett, N.H.

The rain disrupted some of our hiking plans, but we did manage to go to a popular 'water hole' called Diana's Baths. The weather also held out, so we could have a campfire during our last night at the inn. (The boys didn't stay at the campfire long--instead, they chose to hang out for over an hour at the playground. Here's my favorite quote of the night: "Hey Lewie, look, there's some girls over there. Maybe you can get yourself a girlfriend."  The girls soon left, however, and the boys had their own fun on the swings.

My favorite part of this trip was "being a fly on the wall' when it came to the boys. At the Christmas Farm Inn, we rented a barn loft (converted to an apartment), which had a small living room and bathroom on the bottom and a large loft at the top. By far, the loft was the most comfortable area with its comfy king bed and two twin beds, but we reluctantly handed it over to the boys, so all three of them could stay in the same room. My hubby and I took the uncomfortable sofa bed downstairs. At the end of the day, though, it didn't matter. The boys laughed and laughed upstairs until at one point, I woke up and thought someone was crying. They were crying alright--crying from laughing so hard!  I didn't hear most of their jokes or conversations, but when I did, they warmed my heart. So innocent...so fun...so coming of age. When they were crying (from laughing), it was because the mirror in the bathroom fell down by itself. They were trying so hard to be quiet and then CLANG!! What a riot!

The Christmas Farm Inn

The Barn. (Our apartment was in the back.)

The loft upstairs where the boys slept.

At the same time that we squeezed in this trip, I started a new position as an Executive Director at a land trust. Then, at the end of August, I started teaching two classes at two different colleges. So, while it was sad to say "goodbye" to summer, the start of the school year and the fall was also a blessing--a chance to get settled into a new routine.

Now we are officially two days into fall, and while I still don't have a routine down, yet, I'm looking forward to more exciting adventures--this time with my high school kid. Oh boy! Something tells me there will be more silliness and laughter in our future.

To Be Fourteen ...Going on Fifteen

Fourteen has been an interesting year for us. While many of Little Lewie's friends started high school this year, Lewie finished middle school. I was convinced I made the right decision to hold him back (in pre-school), but as luck would have it, Lewie's three best friends all started high school, and Lewie spent his 8th-grade year wishing it away. "High school is way better than middle school," he would complain.

In April, he decided not to attend the 8th grade Washington D.C. trip because he refused to share a hotel room with classmates that he either didn't know or thought were too immature. He didn't go to the combined 7th and 8th-grade dance for the same reason.  I was just about to label 8th grade as "the lost year" until something miraculous happened.  In May, not only did he agree to sign up for a day trip to a summer resort called "Holiday Hill," but he also agreed to attend the 8th-grade dance and end-of-year picnic. Was there a chance for us to redeem a year that was despised right at the onset?

Lewie's Holiday Hill picnic, surprisingly, was fun. He had a chance to play hoops and volleyball and get to know people in his class in a more intimate way than in the past. He arrived home feeling like he made new friends--other 8th-graders that had been in different classes from him throughout the years.

His first dance was also quite memorable. To save money, we decided he could dress in his same white shirt, black slacks, and shoes required for his band concert. The only difference is that he told me lots of guys would be wearing bowties instead of neckties. (Lucky for us, Daddy Lew had a bowtie Lewie could borrow.) The next goal was for us to teach Lewie some dance moves. Both Daddy Lew and I gave pointers on dancing to fast songs. I showed Lewie my classic 1990s and early 2000s techno dance moves. Daddy Lew showed Lewie his robot-breakdance moves and had him watch some Poppin John videos. On a separate day, I showed Lewie how to "slow dance" with a girl. Remembering my own first dance in 6th grade, I told him I did all the asking back then, and I would have been mortified if any of the boys refused my request for a slow dance. "What's the rule again?" I asked to make sure he was listening.

"Always say yes," he responded.

"Yes! That's my sweet kid." 

These last two pics are from Lewie's phone. I made him share them with me!

On the day of the dance, Lewie was dressed to the nines. I managed to take a few photos from home, but asking him to pose in front of the school (in front of other 8th-graders) was off-limits. I dropped him off in the parking lot and simply watched him wait for someone he knew to go inside. What a big milestone, I thought, as my son disappeared inside the glittery front doors. Little did I know, however, that I had absolutely NOTHING to worry about.

My husband agreed to pick up Lewie and was the first to hear about his time. "It was so fun," Lewie gushed. Evidently, in typical middle school style, the boys all hung out with each other on one side of the gym, and the girls all danced with one another on the other side. "Did you do any dancing?" I asked when he arrived home.

"Well, sort of," he responded. At one point the kids made a circle, and some of the braver dancers showed their skills. (Little Lewie wasn't one of them.) The boys and girls never slow danced. Both groups were too terrified to ask each other. "No one asked you to dance?" I asked Lewie one last time.

"Nope," he responded.

"So what made the dance so fun?" I finally asked.

"We had Chick-fil-A," he answered innocently.

So there was the summary of his middle school experience in a nutshell. Yes, he learned all about "the birds and the bees" in health class, and we allowed him to watch some movies this year with adult content, but in the end, he didn't need to have a date or even a dance with a girl to make his night complete. All he needed was FOOD, which shouldn't have been a shocker since teenage boys are always HUNGRY.

To capture Lewie's last moment of being fourteen, I interviewed him before his fifteenth birthday. I asked similar questions to previous years, but only a few answers remained the same. 

Q:  What is your favorite color?
A:  "Purple...Well, purple and orange are both kind of my colors."

Q:  What is your favorite book?
A:  He didn't have a ready answer for this one, but he's currently reading Refugee by Alan Gratz for school.

Q:  What is your favorite cartoon?
A:  "Sponge Bob and The Amazing World of Gumball." (Truth be told, Lewie spends most of his time watching videos on YouTube; his favorite cartoon on this platform is The Odd1sOut).

Q:  What is your favorite movie?
A:  "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse"--Lewie didn't even hesitate to answer this question.

Q:  What is your favorite board game?
A:  "Slapzi and Jackbox." He's really good at Slapzi, which is a card game, but he also enjoys playing Jackbox Games on the computer; he and his friends play it almost every time they get together. We like to play it with our cousins Vincent and Jamie, too.

Q:  What is your favorite computer game?
A:  "Garry's Mod."

Q:  What is your favorite place or favorite vacation?
A:  "Home." Lewie says his favorite place is home, but like a true teenager, when he's home, he says it's boring, and he wants to do more with his friends. Oh well...none of the fabulous National Park trips I've planned over the years made Lewie's list. Disney and Universal Studios didn't make the cut either.

Q:  What is your favorite thing to do at school?
A:  "Math and algebra." (God bless him. Those words will never come out of my mouth.)

Q:  Who is your favorite teacher?
A:  "Mrs. Poulin." Lewie's band teacher in grades 6 through 8, won the honor; however, Mr. Ruhl, his 8th-grade history teacher, did get an honorable mention.

Q:  What is your favorite sport?
A:  "Volleyball."

Q:  What is your favorite food?
A:  "French Toast." (This answer hasn't changed for the last 10+ years.)

Q:  What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
A:  "Black Rasberry."  (This is brand new.)

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A:  "I don't know...something in the digital arts."

Q:  What is your favorite saying this year?
A:  I'm going to answer this one. 1. Everything seems to begin with the word, "Bro..." as in "Bro, that makes no sense," or "Bro, you should have seen..." 2. If everything is good or okay. Lewie will say, "It's all gucci." 3. If something is awesome, it's "fire." 4. If he likes a response or agrees to a plan he will shout, "Bet!"

Q:  What was your favorite moment as a fourteen-year-old?
A:  "That's too hard. There are way too many. Okay, sleepovers...all my sleepovers with friends this year were fire."

For Lewie's birthday, we took three of his friends boat tubing and then we had them sleep over on his actual birthday. (We had other friends and family members come over for his birthday weekend, too.)

A favorite memory was listening to Lewie's side conversation with his friends' group while I was taking them for homemade ice cream at Rich Farm. It started with two of his fifteen-year-old friends saying how much they would love to live in places like NYC and Washington, D.C.--two places that are only interesting to them because they went there on recent trips. Then they talked about what they would do once they get their driver's license: "I'm just going to drive and drive until I'm forced to stop. Yea, like I'll just keep driving and then find myself one day in like Arkansas or something." 

I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. Boys are so different than girls. They don't talk about girlfriends or who they think is "cute." They're too busy daydreaming about living in cities and driving until they run out of gas. (At least for now...) I'll be savoring these last few days of summer until the next milestone--high school.