Jared with good-ie bag and with gogggles - always a smiling occasion!.
Jared in the swimming portion of the race, he is the late starter on the left in the orange shorts.
Jared during the bike race. He only learned to bike 2 weeks ago. Robert ran alongside for part of the way. The biking began with a downhill portion ending in a full left hand turn on a wet road. It ended with going up hill.
Jared crossing the finish line - also an uphill end.
Jared with medal!!!
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I hope this little note finds you all well. I write to you after a bit of a gap, h aving skipped our holiday 2005 letter. I must admit that I have no really good excuse, though I used the lack of a good family photo as a jumping off point for my avoidance. The late arrival of this note gives the impression that the avoidance had crept into another year. The arrival of all those wonderful cards and letters from so many of you has stimulated me into action. I love getting everyone s missives and need to return the joy.
Not surprisingly it has been a busy couple of years for the 4 of us more if you count Fang our cat, Scrambles Jared s new gerbil, and the still unnamed frog. Last you heard from us we were working furiously on a gut renovation to the home we bought in Concord. With the generous help of many friends and family, much back breaking labor, and our great credit oriented economy the place is habitable. We moved in on Superbowl Sunday of 2005. A mistake I hope not to repeat. Naturally the work continues sporadically, Robert s recent projects including replacing the stairs, porch windows, kitchen cabinets, some exterior siding, and wood stove. It is all far from done, but we love the place. The river view, the open floor plan, lots of sun light and canoe access are just what we imagined. It s great to wake up in the morning and watch the duck and geese families playing, see the blue heron flying the length of the river, or even the occasional glimpse of the muskrat with a fish in his mouth. Because of the open floor plan if you stand in exactly the right spot you can see snow falling through windows on all four sides of the house.
This spring after giving up on teaching Zachary to bicycle we switched our efforts to Jared. We figured if we succeeded with the younger child, the older would be shamed into trying too. Jared got very close, but needed practice and wouldn t apply himself. While despairing of ever succeeding I was given the sage advice, Bribe him . 12 pieces of candy and 3 days later Jared could ride his bike. Zachary followed suit only a few days behind. We had a mild set-back when I realized that Zach was using throwing-himself-onto-the-asphalt as a breaking method. A bit more specialty practice cured that. All the hard work has definitely paid off. Jared participated in a charity triathlon only two weeks later, which included 1.5 mile bike ride and both boys biked in a 10 mile charity event run by my father in Fairfield. For chaperoning reasons I broke my 12 year bicycling hiatus, dusted off my bike from high school, and joined in.
Zachary is now in 4th grade and after years of hard work is reading up a storm. He is heavily into the Magic and Wizardry genre. He is currently attending Hebrew school twice a week. Zachary has worked his way through cub scouts, soccer, chess, swimming, and math club depending on the season. Peter Fox continues to be his best friend and favorite activity. Next month Zachary is signed up for a Cartooning class at the Emerson Umbrella.
Jared is in the second grade. He is athletically inclined, but not into group sports. As a result he and I walked or bicycled to school many of the days this fall. I must admit both of us wimp out below 40 degrees, but with the mild weather we managed two days of walking in mid-December. Jared also enjoys cub scouts, chess, math and most of all talking. He attends Hebrew School on Sunday mornings.
This summer, in addition to town day camp, both boys went to Camp Howe for sleep away camp. Zachary stayed one week. Jared at the ripe old age of 7 and 1 month was probably the youngest camper. He stayed for two weeks. Both had a good time and didn t seem to miss us much.
Jennifer continues in much the same pattern working part time for The Logan Company as a cost estimator and free-lancing as a theatrical lighting designer. Typically I design about a dozen shows a year for a variety of new and old clients, students and professionals, dance and theater.
Robert is at the USS Constitution Museum for the 17th year. One would think the same story would get old, but there is always a new way to tell the story. In the ast two years he has been overseeing the Family Learning project, which includes building an exhibit intended to promote leaning among intergenerational visitors, asking a lot of families (over 2000) about the exhibit and rebuilding the exhibitbased on comments and observatoins. He has also been presenting findings from the project at conference sessions across the country (AAM, AASLH, NEMA). Check out the project site: familylearningforum.org . Robert conducted a photo shoot for publicity at the museum, resulting in Jared s image all over the Navy Yard, including on a 40 banner across the front of the museum.
As many of you heard my step-mother of 25+ years Sheila Sinkking died in September of complications from ovarian cancer. True to her roots in the pharmaceutical industry she was involved in multiple experimental treatments which helped to extend her life and provided important research information for treating futures cases of ovarian cancer. She is missed by all of her extended family. We were very lucky to have had a lovely visit with her in Fairfield just days before her passing.
Highlights of the year included a relaxing week long visit from Robert s parents Margaret and Ray in August. Activities included canoeing, nature walks, cooking and lots of relaxed hanging out. We also hosted all 17 family members for Thanksgiving dinner!! The open plan of the house really worked well allowing us to have 2 tables, but lots of shared company. We grew tomatoes, decorative corn and giant sun flowers in our garden. Robert did lots of cooking using the many wonderful herbs in our new herb garden planted by Eric. I bet our gerbil is one of the few around feasting on home grown food. Robert went to Winona Minnesota to visit his father Ray for his 70th birthday. We made several trips to Fairfield Connecticut. We also visited the usual rounds of zoos, museums, art galleries and playgrounds. Both the boys are experienced museum attendees and make us proud of their behavior and enagagement.
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