Our Homecoming Crown Bearer

This Fall, Charlotte was a crown bearer for Homecoming Coronation at a local High School where her grandmother is a teacher.  Charlotte wore a sparkly red dress and black dress shoes. When we got there, she and the other little girl, Madeline, were handed tiaras.  The little boys got boutonnieres.  Everyone got to carry something--a crown, bouquet, or scepter.

After practicing walking across the stage once or twice, it was time to wait.  Some of the waiting was spent dancing to the jazz band's swinging tunes (this year's Homecoming was '20s themed).  Then it was it was time to sit down (and wait a little more).

The junior royalty, as they were called, did very well marching across the stage and depositing their items at a special velvet draped table.  It was over so quickly Charlotte whispered to me several times "When do we go back?"  As it turned out, the answer was at the end--for pictures with the king and queen.

Charlotte had fun.  It was nice to do something with just her (I know her Granne, also a middle kid, was well aware of this when the call for junior royalty came through).  It was also oh so strange to be thrown back into the world of high school.  It has been awhile.  These kids/people are so busy!  They are both so accomplished and so inexperienced, strange as that sounds.  They can play a mean saxophone, sing like a pop star, dress up to the nines, be in umpteen extra curriculars and be top notch students.  But when it comes to life advice, well, it's not that what they have to say is invalid, it is just that there is SO MUCH MORE coming that they don't even know they don't know about yet.  I don't blame them for their naivete, It is just strange to be immersed in it all with a thirty-something perspective.  They are such new people.

After coronation was over we went back to the grandparents' where the other kids had been hanging out with Grandpa John.  Dad met us there for dinner and a bit a of a skype chat with the other side of the family.  We got to talk with GG Lois, Grandma Roberta and Great Aunt Kathy.

Rock Climbing With Nova

Way back in April, I signed Nova and myself up for rock climbing through the Minnesota State Park's I Can Climb program.  The actual date was just last weekend--we got of the last spots.  We try to do something one on one with each of the older kids about once a month.  Sometimes we simply go to the coffee shop up the street...but other times it is something more unusual.  These outings have been dubbed 'Mommy Time' or 'Daddy Time.'  This was one of those special 'Mommy Times.'

We started off with a couple treats from Amore, our favorite coffee shop. From there, we made use of the long drive to Taylor's Falls to chat and catch up.  After checking out the famous potholes at Interstate State Park in Taylor's Falls, it was time to start climbing!  We geared up, along with about ten other people, mostly kids.  Equipment and instructors were provided by Vertical Endeavours.  There were four different climbs.  I started with one that was supposed to be medium difficulty of the four (though they were all "easy" according to our instructors).  Nova started with the one they had pointed out as the hardest.

Can you see her way up there?

Nova getting a high five from her belayer Jeff after a particularly hard climb

She made it all the way.  I got about 2/3 of the way up--felt satisfied with myself, mystified about how to continue, and thoroughly exhausted.  After a little convincing, my belayer finally believed that I was ready to come down.  While I caught my breath, Nova did several more climbs, eventually making it to the top of every one.  I completed the easiest climb, and got 3/4 the way up the first climb Nova had done before the afternoon was out.  It was our first experience climbing outside on real rock--quite a different experience.  It was far more challenging to plot a rout, but the views from the top were that much more rewarding.