Well, we’ve officially concluded the 2025-2026 academic year. AP exams over? Check. Finals? Done. Lockers have been cleaned out. Backpacks stashed in the way back of closets, not to reappear again until the heat of August sets in. So what are we up to with the seemingly endless days of summer? We’re so glad you asked. We’ve got plans, but not too many so that in the in-between-times we are ready to embrace all the opportunity that we’re sure this season will offer. Let us expand.

We’ve already seen three concerts so far in the first few weeks of our summer break. Death Cab for Cutie and Mumford and Sons were planned, but Cage the Elephant was a last minute decision when we realized that our ComiCon Evening with the Hobbits was ending early enough and the Cage concert was close enough that we could literally walk from ComiCon to the concert. See what we did there? We embraced the opportunity. At ComiCon, Asher met a merchant who has Asher’s dream job. He 3D prints and sells character armor. The merchant said he has roughly 25 large 3D printers running full time, but he’d sold out of about 80% of his inventory when we met him at the end of the third day of ComiCon – so he’s living the dream. Asher took note.

Riley and Emmett are officially Museum volunteers, Tessa is an official hospital volunteer, and Asher’s lemonade stand is officially open for the summer. (He made more than $50 in his season opener, which lasted for roughly 1 hour before he called it for the day.) These activities will largely anchor the Pigs’ summers (with the exception of Emmett who will be gone for 6 weeks at theater camp), but they are all open to whatever the day brings them.

Tessa ticked Driver’s Ed off her To Do list for the summer, and we believe this was really the only item on the list. She’s been hanging out with friends, seeing movies and thrifting. She’s been working a bit in the yard, and hiking with Dad too. Her plans this summer include her annual solo trip to Maine to hang out with our awesome family there, and, when she’s not in Maine, get in some quality relaxation time. That’s a lot of relaxation, Tessa. We hope it’s everything you’ve been dreaming about! (To be fair, Tessa did apply for a job at a local greenhouse and plant center, but they’d already filled their seasonal positions.)

While T’s been hanging with friends, Asher’s bees have been D-R-A-M-A. Sadly, the House of Ra is no more. But it wasn’t Asher’s fault! The bees refused to accept the first queen (she went missing, presumed dead), and they outright killed the second queen (we found her lifeless body in the grass right outside the hive – RIP queen). Then, he introduced a freshly caught swarm with the hopes that the queenless House of Ra would blend with the swarm and become a super-group. Sadly, it was to no avail. The House of Ra fought the swarm as they attempted to march into the hive, so we had to put the swarm back into their box and let our Bee Mentor find them another home. After this, Asher gave the House of Ra some time to cool their heels, build some comb, and realize they have no queen. But by then, it was too late for the House of Ra. They had an established track record of death and destruction. And we wanted a second hive! So, a few weeks later we relocated the surviving members of the House of Ra and replaced them with a new swarm that we are calling the Wild Ones. And we are happy to report, they are doing fantastically. They have comb with all life stages present. They have pollen, nectar, propolis, and honey. We are waiting for an anticipated large hatch (for both the Wild Ones and the thriving House of Beyla), so the hives expand their worker base and get busy building comb. Each hive has a lot of work to do to get ready for the winter, but these workers are working. And we believe in them. They will do it!

In addition to bee guardianship, Asher’s got camping and hiking with Dad and a cooking camp coming up. He plans to fill in the rest of his dance card with aforementioned lemonade stand stints and also hanging out with friends.

After a roughly 6 month hiatus, we are ecstatic to report that Riley is back on his bike. He’s not been released to full activity just yet (he cannot, for example, jump on his new feet), but he was given the okay to bike with his team, and he couldn’t wait. We got his bike fully tuned and the hydraulics rebuilt in anticipation for his return ride, and he’s out on the trial as we speak enjoying being back in the saddle. In addition to more summer training rides, camping with Dad, and volunteering, Riley will be spending two weeks in Italy doing coastal restoration while SCUBA diving. He’ll be mostly camping on the mediterranean, but he’ll get to spend some time in Rome. As a history buff, he’s counting down the days. He and Emmett leave on the same day next week. Once back, he – like his siblings – will be filling in some open time hanging out with friends and hopefully going to some festivals and concerts.

Which brings us to E. His summer will start with a bit of volunteering, going to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child with the family, and celebrating Father’s Day early. Then he’ll be off to upstate New York for most of the summer, diving deep into acting and musical theater with some of the best youth teachers in the biz. We’ll miss his first showcase, as it’s over July 4th weekend and he’s staying for a second camp session, but we can’t wait to see video of his performances. We will, however, be there for his second showcase near the end of July, and we’re looking forward to seeing Emmett’s smiling face after spending six full weeks with other people that love theater as much as he does. What will that even be like? Being surrounded by kids who speak fluent Broadway. We can’t wait to hear all about it.

Check back in near the end of the summer for updates on all of this magic!

The Pigs

We find ourselves staring down end-of-the-year exams, including APs, and asking: What do we have planned this summer? We’re welcoming the end of the academic year – no one wants to prolong that – but we really, really don’t want to take exams. Ready or not, they will come though, so we’re all prepping to be ready. This season has flown by, seeming almost as non existent as the winter itself, but we did do some stuff, so let’s recap.

Emmett performed in High School Musical! He brought high energy to his role as a Brainiac and danced his heart out for the final number. It was fantastic! Since that, he’s been hard at work with vocal and acting lessons and preparing for theater camp. He’s seen some live performances, rehearsed for a solo one act show for school, and put some work into a school debate. But really, he’s mostly focused on being done with school for the year. When he returns from theater camp, he’s excited to get volunteer hours in at the Museum. Next year is his senior year. We’ll see where he lands as far as college or an acting program. For now, though, he’s less planning and more in the moment.

Riley had his second surgery in March and he’s already moved onto weight bearing. We’re so proud of his ability to bring optimism in the face of crazy discomfort. Now that he’s firmly on the downhill section of this climb, we’re hoping the rest is just coasting. Originally, we thought he’d be rehabbing all summer, but he moved onto normal walking pretty quickly after his first surgery (about 10 weeks), so now he’s scheduled to go to Italy in June for a scuba diving habitat restoration summer camp. Although he cannot wait to see Rome, he has to get through exams and normal walking first. He’s already taken one final, but he has many more, including back to back AP exams on the same day, so there’s no sign of relief there yet. And although he expects his rehab to go a bit faster this time, he’ll still not be walking normally for at least a few more weeks. He’s studying hard and doing PT – both with a high bar set. Italy will be his reward. When he returns, he’ll be volunteering at the Museum like Emmett.

Tessa did extracurricular technical theater again Spring semester, this time choosing props for Treasure Island. The show premiered last night and although Mom and Dad were recovering from the cold that went through the entire house, the reviews were amazing. Somehow, despite spending hours everyday after school at theater, Tessa still managed to find time to excel at her academic studies, and she received 2 academic awards for this year. Nice job, Tessa! Like Riley, she’s ready for exams to be done. She doesn’t yet, however, have her summer plans set. She’s still hoping to volunteer somewhere, and she’s planning a solo trip to Maine to spend time with our amazing Horowitz Kass family, but her summer might end up being driver’s ed and relaxing after a hard academic year.

While Asher also spent some time at the academic grind this semester, he’s mostly been hanging out a ton with friends. He’s got plans to go into business with a group of kids creating and selling 3D builds online. Currently, he’s trialing how feasible it is to print an entire set of Fallout armor. But wait! There’s more. Asher also wants to make that armor functional, with some jet packs and pneumatics. Not sure how he’s planning to fund the entirety of that project, but for now, Dad is supervising the 3D printing portion of the program. At the other end of the spectrum, Asher got 2 hives of bees today – the House of Beyla and the House of Ra. (Google the Norse Goddess of bees and the Ancient Egyptian origin story of bees.) He and Mom can’t wait to see them settle in, build their combs, and – in about a year – harvest some honey. In the meantime, he’s looking forward to the end of the academic year with almost zero academic anxiety. It’s great to be 12!

Check back after school’s over and we’ve all crushed our exams.

The Pigs

This winter has been mostly 50 – 60 degree days with little to no snow, and we don’t really feel like the holidays ever happened, let alone that they’ve passed. We are taking down the last of our winter lights this weekend having left them up far longer than we usually do with the hopes that it would snow so that our penguin lights could toboggan in our yard. But, sadly, that didn’t happen. We spent Giftavus in almost 70 degree heat. We nevertheless enjoyed ourselves.

Riley did fantastic in both his surgery and his recovery. He’s weight bearing on his new foot now, and walking without crutches is right around the corner. But his Giftavus was spent opening up presents from the couch and watching movies from the couch and generally living life on the couch. He handled it well overall, but there were definitely some days when frustration set in. He’s coming up on his second surgery in mid-March, and we’re hopeful that knowing what he knows now about the process will make things move even more smoothly than the first.

Everyone loved the presents and the food and the time off of the winter holidays. Giftavus was a success for all. Emmett received tshirts, Legos, drawing supplies, books, and candy; Tessa received Legos, plant-related gifts, some jewelry, and clothes; Riley received Legos, books (lots of books), bags, candy, and clothes; and Asher received a ton of Fallout related gifts (think: working, real life Pip Boy), candy, Legos, and books. On New Year’s, Emmett put on his demogorgon onesie and watched the series finale of Stranger Things at the movie theaters with equally hyped theatergoers while the rest of us watched from the comfort of our oversized couch.

Too soon the late mornings and ease of school break passed, and we were all back at school. In addition to homework and tests, that meant rehearsal for Emmett, post-op appointments and PT for Riley, friend hang outs for Asher, and getting ready for another tech theater stint for Tessa. But overall, everyone’s in a pretty good place. Tessa had a birthday (she’s 15!), and asked to keep it lowkey – she seems to be keen on lowkey these days – so we watched one of her favorite movies (Two Towers) and ordered in. She really loves The Pitt, and Mom thinks there’s a chance that it makes her want to go into medicine. Other than that, we’re enjoying Presidents’ Day Weekend now, and planning for a quiet Spring Break, but we’re also already looking at this upcoming summer.

Emmett’s set to spend six weeks at Theater Camp (yup, just like the movie – at the very camp that the move was based on). Riley will still be rehabbing, so he’s not sure yet what he’ll be able to do. Tessa’s thinking of spending some good time over the summer volunteering somewhere – maybe the Museum. And Asher’s determined to create a life size set of Fallout armor with friends and market it online. So not so many over-the-top summer camps happening for our crew Summer 2026, but there still looks to be some quality experiences on the horizon.

Wishing everyone love this Valentine’s weekend.

Best,

The Pigs

We’ve moved from Autumn mayhem to Holiday craziness and still so much is happening. We’re starting to think that now we’re in traditional schools, this might not ever end. We’re careening toward holiday break, and we’re gathering steam. We might hit next week at full speed, but at least we’ll get there.

Picking up where we left off in our last post: Riley turned 16! Crazy. Plus, he passed his driver’s test and now he’s fully licensed. This helps Mom and Dad a ton as thye don’t have to drive everyone everywhere now, and he loves being more independent. Sadly, this independence comes to a screeching halt this Friday when he has his first foot surgery. He’s non-weight bearing for 4-6 weeks, and he’s getting his right foot done first, so he’ll not be behind the wheel again until February at the earliest. He’s got finals this week and then he goes under the knife. Please send all the good vibes to R-he’s going to do great, but extra support is always welcome!

Emmett had his performance run for Into the Woods, and he was ah-mazing! Yay, E! And what’s more, he loved every moment of it. He even spent Halloween at a performance! He was sad when it was over, but he’s already auditioned for and got cast in High School Musical, so the theater wheel keeps turning. Yesterday, he finished ThesCon – a whirlwind 3 full days of theater classes and performances at the convention center. He performed a monologue from Chekov’s The Seagull and he got great feedback from the judges. He spent his birthday at ThesCon with friends, and we celebrated as a family the weekend before. (For those of you keeping score at home, he’s old enough now to purchase tickets for rated R movies.) He’s pushing through finals now, and looking forward to Giftavus and the rest of the Stranger Things finale.

Tessa and Riley both worked hard building sets for their high school’s Cinderella performance, and they did a great job. While Riley went to a showing of the new Knives Out at the Denver Film Festival for Halloween, T caught up with some friends and trick-or-treated. She put all of zero effort into her costume, re-using Michael Myers from last year, but it did the job. She came home with a candy stash. T’s also been keeping her nose to the grind, and it’s paid off. Her grades (like R’s) are fabulous. She’s got finals this upcoming week and then she has big plans to do a lot of nothing over winter break. (Organize the library is maybe her only self imposed task.)

Asher also trick-or-treated with friends, but he capped it off with a sleepover. His sugar crash hit hard in the car on the way home, and he slept most of the next day. Although he’s been doing mountain biking at school this quarter and enjoying developing his skills, what he’s been spending most of his time with is his new 3D printer. He and Dad have been printing out Fallout T-60 armor slowly but surely. The printer keeps glitching, which is sort of a waste of filament, but they are learning how to fine tune that device and getting it to work. Unlike his siblings, he has no finals, he’s not stressed, and his focus is 100% on Giftavus…

Which is in less than 2 weeks! We’re celebrating the first night of Hanukkah this evening, getting R’s room ready for his surgery on Friday, and then turning toward the Giftavus and New Year’s finish line. We’ll make it. We got this!

Wishing everyone out there the very best during this holiday season!

The Pigs

After a week of Fall Break where we had time to catch our breath, we can look back at the past two months and say confidently, we have had SO much going on. So, so much. Like a ton. It’s all been pretty good. Some, great even. We’re not complaining too much, but we’re really looking forward to things calming down a bit.

Even before Riley and Tessa started at their new school, Riley was already training hard for mountain biking, and that training paid off. He did great this season, moving up 14 places in the league from last year. 14 places! He’s now pivoting from mountain biking to theater, working on the carpentry team to build the sets for the upcoming Cinderella performance at his high school. Not to mention that this week he turns 16! Riley cannot wait to get his license and the door to independence that opens. He’s got a bit of a hard road ahead, looking at two separate foot surgeries in the next 5 months, but he’s going into those surgeries with the same level of optimism that he applies to everything. Riley is a doer, and he’s going to excel at what’s coming up.

Tessa is on the theater tech crew too! She’s on the team painting the sets that Riley’s team builds. So far, she’s not had much, as carpentry has been a bit behind on their builds, but she’s looking forward to jumping in now that Fall Break is over. Additionally, T’s spent the past few months adjusting to high school and making the jump to honor and AP classes. We’re not going to lie, there’s been some anxiety. But T’s finally found a groove, managing to maintain cartoonishly high grades without burning herself out. Go T!

Asher’s last few months have been spent making friends and influencing people. He played soccer at the start of the year which he really dedicated himself to, and he’s about to start mountain biking as an elective, so he’s definitely been active at school. As for academics, he’s learning that he actually does need to study to get good grades on tests, and sadly he can’t just talk his way into those good grades. Always a good lesson for anyone. But what’s most important is that he’s enjoying the social aspect of school this year. That wasn’t exactly the case last year. This year, however, he has good friends both in and out of his homeroom, so he seems to enjoy just being at school. We’ll take that win.

Emmett has spent the past two months committing himself to Into the Woods rehearsing in a way we’ve never before seen. He practices everyday. Then he goes to rehearsal. Sometimes he goes to voice lessons and then practices. His singing and characterization has improved by leaps and bounds, and we can’t wait for his opening night this Friday. He’s in tech week this week, fine tuning, but he’s feeling good about everything. Plus, he’s keeping his grades up while overall exhibiting a level of independence heretofore unknown to E. We’re so, so proud of you!

Sprinkled into these feats of amazing-ness, we’ve hit the museums and theaters. (We saw Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare in the Wild twice!) We spent a wonderful week in Maine with our fabulous family, apple picking and going to harvest festivals and relaxing. We’re happy to have moved past being new students and getting back into the swing of things, and now we are heading into E’s performance run, Thanksgiving, midterms, and R’s first of two surgeries. So much going on. But so much is ALWAYS going on.

Check back early winter. Maybe we’ll finally find some downtime.

Best,

The Pigs

First, we need to apologize. We skipping an early summer post. But in our defense, we had a ton going on. Let us explain.

May hit with hard end-of-school-year vibes. We were awash in finals, school year exhaustion, and for Riley and Tessa who were not returning to the same school for the ’25-’26 academic year, preparing to say goodbye to school friends. There were some nerves and a few low-key meltdowns, but the good news is that we not only survived, we ALL crushed our end of year exams. Asher received a Literature and History Award at his end of year celebration, Emmett was asked to join both the National Honors Society and the National Thespian Honors Society, Riley received accolades for his academic performance and his athletics, and Tessa’s teacher said that her super power is her ability to raise the IQ in the room just by being there.

June brought a Costa Rica trip and the start of summer camps. Costa Rica was great. We hit the cloud forest and the beach. In the cloud forest, we zip lined, mountain biked, rafted and also had a lot of great food. Although Mom decided that she will not organize beach trips in the future as that’s not her thing, everyone loved surfing, boating, and watching the sun set over the water. Almost as soon as we returned home from Costa Rica, Tessa was off to Greece as the first Pig to set off for summer camp. As turned out to be the case with everyone, she loved camp.

In Greece, Tessa spent some time in Athens checking out the historical sites. After that, she sea kayaked between Greek islands before settling in to do some service work in turtle conservation. She said that she wished she could have stayed a bit longer, but she was glad to come home. Asher also set off for his first summer camp in June. He went to WY and parts of CO to do service work on a ranch with rescue animals, raft, hike, and rock climb. Although he enjoyed it, next year, he’d rather not be gone for 2 weeks.

With everyone home, we celebrated the Forth of July at a neighbor’s house, grilling and setting off fireworks. The neighbor had some huge (read: illegal) fireworks that ended up providing a perfect crowning touch to the good sized fountains and spinning fireworks we’d purchased from the local fireworks stand. It was a late night, but a good time was had by all.

At the end of July, Riley was the next Pig to set off for camp; he went to Alaska. He enjoyed camp, but it was full of unplanned experiences. During the sea kayaking portion of the trip, the water level rose and swamped their camp, forcing them to return to civilization to dry all of their sleeping bags. Then, during the backpacking portion of the trip, one of Riley’s trip mates went missing for a full 24 hours in the Alaska backcountry. Thank goodness he was found by Search and Rescue, but that cut the backpacking portion of the trip short. To bring the trip to a close, Riley rafted, mountaineered, and ice climbed without incident.

Throughout the summer, we attended musical and improv performances; we celebrated Dad on Father’s Day; Asher turned 12 (!) and we had multiple birthday celebrations for him as he was at camp on his actual birthday; we went to museums, concerts, and hung out with friends; we binged great television shows and watched some movies; and despite all of that doing, we still slept in and rested quite a bit.

While Riley was gone, Asher set out on camp #2, where he rafted, rock climbed, camped, and hiked in the CO mountains. This was also the point when Emmett headed out for Montana and the Blackfeet reservation. While they both had a good time, it’s safe to say that while Asher enjoyed camp, Emmett loved it. Emmett did service work feeding kids, building and repairing structures, and clearing brush, but he also got to take part in the Sundance ceremony and spend time with tribal elders. Together with rock climbing, hiking, swimming in the lake, and other outdoor activities, he said that camp was amazing. He didn’t want to come home. There were tears.

Which immediately turned into a perma-grin, as upon Emmett’s return, he discovered that all of his voice/acting lessons paid off. Emmett auditioned for Into the Woods just before he left for MT, and while he was gone Mom and Dad found out that he got the part of Jack! He’s already diving into the hard work for this performance, utilizing this last week before school starts to work on the vocals. He performs at the end of October and the beginning of November, and he can’t wait! Please send all the good vibes.

The day Emmett’s flight brought him back from MT, Riley and Tessa started school at a new school. It’s a much bigger school with more options and opportunity. So far, neither have found their groove, but it’s early days. We’re going to be patient and give them some time. Riley’s Mountain Biking starts soon, and fingers crossed both Riley and Tessa will join some clubs. Creating community makes the world feel less overwhelming, and they could both plug into community right about now. Along the same lines, Asher and Emmett head back to school next week, at which point the house will be quiet during the day once more.

Check back in when Fall is in full swing.

Best,

The Pigs

We’re moving inexorably towards the long, hot days of summer. Spring has been unseasonably warm broken only by a handful of snowstorms. We have another one forecast to hit this afternoon. This has put us all in the mood for summer. Although the big kids enjoyed our school experientials (Asher’s is next week), and we slept in and didn’t do much during Spring Break (except for Emmett, more on that soon), it really was just a primer for summer. So now, having to buckle down and study and turn in homework and take tests is almost too much. But we’ll keep on keeping on until the end of May, at which point we don’t want to see another textbook for at least three solid months. In the meantime, here are the highlights of our last few months…

Emmett performed as Rudolpho in Mathilda, and he was a hit. Classmates were lining up to get his autograph on the playbill, and teachers and other students were talking about how funny he was. One kid was even overheard saying that Emmett’s Rudolpho was a *chef’s kiss*! This was the recognition that Emmett had been waiting for, and it’s spurned him to work much, much harder on his craft. He’s now taking voice and acting lessons, and he starts a scene study class this evening. He’s hoping to land bigger parts in productions and see where that all takes him. You’re doing great, E! Keep up that hard work!

Tessa was in a middle school performance of Twelfth Night. She was the comic relief, and she nailed it. She was also one of the only students who spoke slow and loud enough to be heard in the auditorium, so she got the most laughs and the most claps. We were all there to hoot for T, and Emmett even told her that she should perform more because she was so amazing. Although that’s not really her thing, she seemed appreciative of the appreciation.

Emmett, Riley, and Tessa had school experientials, which is a fancy term for a school trip. Emmett went to Washington DC, where he saw almost all the same things he saw with the family last year but still had a great time. Riley rode local CO trails in a Mountain Biking experiential. This was a bit of a bust as the weather prevented them from doing long, hard rides, but he still enjoyed hanging out with his friends outside of school. (We’re shaking our my fists at you lone March snow storm!) And Tessa swam with manatees and went on night walks in the swamp in Florida. She was exhausted by the time she came home, and she didn’t have too much to report, but she seemed to enjoy the experience. Asher is going with his sixth grade class next week to a place in CO for their experiential. Tune back in soon for an update on that…

After experientials came Spring Break. Riley, Tessa, and Asher slept late and lazed around the house, enjoying having very little responsibility and no school work. Emmett, on the other hand, hit up NYC with Mom. This was his 16th birthday present, and he hardly stopped moving for three full days. He saw Cabaret, Maybe Happy Ending, and John Proctor is the Villain–staying after each performance and getting his playbill signed and taking selfies with the actors. Broadway did not disappoint, and by the end of the first day, Emmett was fully under the spell of the Big Apple. He went to the top of the Empire State Building, walked through midtown and downtown, saw the 9-11 Memorial, and took pictures in front of the Ghostbusters firehouse. By the end of day two, Emmett declared he didn’t want to leave NYC. He’d found his place, one which would allow him to get away with never, ever, ever driving. But his three magical days in the City came to an end, and although he’s already seen a number of productions at home (The Whiz, Mean Girls, Gutenberg, with Little Shop of Horrors, Bluebird Improv, & Juliet and more to come), he can’t wait to get back. Maybe for college…

After Spring Break, everyone returned to school, dragging their feet, but happy to learn that they all did extremely well on their second quarter report cards. This gave them a bit of a boost into the final stretch of the year. Riley is throwing shot put on the varsity track team. This is entirely new for him, but he’s diving into it with gusto, watching all the internet tutorials he can about shot put technique as his school as no designated shot put coach. Emmett’s getting ready to put on a solo, single act performance for his theater elective. Asher’s doing mountain biking this quarter. And Tessa’s working hard in ceramics, throwing a tea pot and plant pots on the wheel.

Soon we will have year-end celebrations to look forward to, including Prom and class breakfasts. Tessa was mortified to learn she’s expected to provide the eighth grade class with a baby picture, going so far as to ask Mom to tell the school that we have no pictures of Tessa. Riley is looking forward to after-Prom (9th graders aren’t allowed to go to the dance unless asked by an older DA student), while Emmett-who is in Student Senate-will be running both Prom and after-Prom. And Asher is just cruising through the end of his sixth grade year, hoping that one day he’ll be done with math forever.

But before all of that, hopefully Emmett will take his driver’s test and get his license. So send his good vibes because he’s terrified of the test (and sort of driving in general).

Chat soon,

The Pigs

We’ve had the high of winter break and the holidays, and now we are in the doldrums of mid-winter. Short days, long weeks. We are all running on empty but still doing our best! It’s been frigid here lately, and the inability to get out adds to an overall feeling of malaise. But things are looking up. It’s warmed a bit, the long weekend of President’s Day is upon us. Although we have sleeping in and skiing planned, we are still keeping our eyes on Spring Break.

Here’s a roundup of what’s happened since we last checked in:

We celebrated Hanukkah and Christmas with great aplomb. We got into the spirits of the holidays with seasonal movies including Spirited, Die Hard, and the like. We decorated a very small, live holiday tree with lights with the intention of planting it come January. It matched the lights Dad put on the house and trees outside. When the holidays finally rolled around, gifts and treats were had by all and we have the pictures to prove it. Everyone got Lego builds, new tech, and small gadgets. Everyone received a gift that keeps on giving: Tessa, a plant subscription; Asher, a drone; Emmett, a subscription to Master Class; and Riley, new work out equipment. As always, the candy was a bit hit too.

New Year’s was low key with good food and movies and the annual Silly String War. This year we had confetti cannons too! (Those piece of confetti might be in the yard until the end of time.) After that but before school was back in session, we skied, tackled some escape rooms, and went to see the lights at two different botanic gardens. Every year, the holidays seem to pass in more of a blur as if time is speeding up. The good news, however, is that most of us were excited to see friends again at school. But not everything after the holidays centered on academics.

Tessa turned 14! We can’t believe little T is so, so old. We celebrated all things T for the entire week, as her birthday fell on a school day. She got cake and ice cream twice, as well as gifts from friends and family. Her oversized hoodie collection quadrupled, which is good since she was wearing that one hoodie from Maine quite a lot.

Back at school, Emmett jumped into the High School Musical (he’s one of the students in Matilda), and Asher’s back in Dungeons and Dragons club as well as a Games club. Riley and Tessa are taking a break from clubs this quarter, but Riley is now climbing on a local rock climbing team. In addition to extracurriculars, both Emmett and Riley are chipping away at their driving requirements to get their licenses. Each are doing very well.

Coming up we have our school experientials: Think taking a trip with classmates and teachers. Tessa’s going to swim with manatees in Florida, Riley is mountain biking with friends, Emmett is going to Washington DC (again), and Asher will be headed to Florissant for a science camp. Then, we have spring break. Check back in for updates on all of that traveling!

Best,

The Pigs

The holidays are upon us! This officially began, as any follower of the Pig Party already knows, on October 23rd, when Riley turned 15. That signals the start of our Holiday Season because after October 23rd, it’s one celebration after another, all the way through January. This year, Riley got not just presents for his birthday, he also got his permit. He’s now behind the wheel, if only when an adult is present. But he’s doing a great job! Emmett doesn’t love driving. In fact, he hates it. Riley, on the other hand, sees it as a challenge, and he loves it. He’s sure to blow through those permit hours in no time.

Halloween followed hard on the heels of Riley’s birthday. It’s likely the last Halloween that Riley and Emmett will be trick or treating — but you never know, they both thought that they’d be too old to trick or treat this year and they both went together with a small group of friends. Tessa and Asher also trick or treated together this year with school friends. Everyone came home with a huge haul of candy. The sugar pick me up surely came in handy the next day when they stumbled through classes, tired from being up late.

After Halloween, came Emmett’s theater performance. It was his first play with his new school. He was in the play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, and he was fantastic. His part wasn’t a huge one, but it got a huge laugh. He was an exasperated neighbor who spoke in a thick London accent, and he nailed his lines. After the performance, all of the actors hit up a local pancake joint. Emmett was stoked to join, and because he’s not yet driving by himself, his siblings got pancakes too. (They just sat far away from Emmett and his cast mates.)

Next, with Holiday Season in full swing, we landed at Thanksgiving. We leaned into family traditions this year, renting a private movie theater, getting yummy food from a local restaurant, and having a video game tournament. The week off school was restful for the kids and no one spoiled that by overcommitting to anything. It was fabulous.

Meanwhile, Riley joined the rock climbing team at school and entered into competitions. He wasn’t sure how he’d feel, but – just like mountain biking – turns out he loves it. He competed in all four school competitions, and he really improved his scoring over the short season. But, what’s more, he’s inspired two of his siblings to start climbing again, and Tessa’s going to join Riley’s new climbing gym over the winter holiday break.

Riley wasn’t the only Pig making waves. Asher was asked to form a Leadership Committee at school and was named the November student of the month! His dean said that he had been taking the initiative to propose changes in the 6th grade that would better support both the teachers and the students. As a result, the dean asked him to form a group that meets weekly to identify what’s working and what’s not and to come up with novel ideas to increase everyone’s satisfaction at school. Way to go, Asher!

Not long after Thanksgiving – drumroll please – Emmett turned 16! Wow. He spent the day, along with two other days, at ThesCon downtown where he and a group of his theater class mates spent 12-15 hours each day attending theater workshops and performances. His big present for the milestone birthday was a spring trip to NYC to see theater live on Broadway. He can’t wait. He chose Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club and Maybe Happy Ending. The trip will come the week after all 3 big kids go on the school experientials, a hallmark of their new school where they get to travel either locally, nationally, or internationally with class mates. Emmett is going to DC, Riley is mountain biking in the Rockies, and Tessa will be swimming with manatees in Florida.

Until then, we’re hitting up all of our regular holiday haunts for their light events, hanging with friends, and working extra hard to get into the holiday spirit because it’s so warm here it hardly feels like the holidays. We got a small tree that we can plant in the yard in January, we put up all of the lights, and we even went downtown for the holiday market yesterday. Although the crowds were thick, the chocolate purchased made it worth the trip.

Check back in in January when we have Giftavus, Hanukkah, New Year’s and another birthday to report.

For now, we wish everyone in Pig World very happy holidays and a bright New Year!

We just got home from Maine, and it was fantastic. The weather was perfect (cool with crisp blue skies), the trees were changing, and the mood was relaxing. We went to a pumpkin festival with ginormous decorated pumpkins, we built and lit a sukkah, we visited the Cryptozoology Museum, we went on a haunted history tour, and we picked apples and made apple crisp. But the best part was hanging out with our amazing family. Suzy taught Tessa how to glaze the pottery she made over the summer, Granny Gail let Riley, Tessa, and Emmett each try their hand at driving, and Matthew and Ilia created chef’s kiss worthy meals almost every night. The conversation was thoughful, and we felt welcomed and embraced. As is always the case upon our return, we can’t wait to get back to our Happy Place.

In addition to Maine, our late summer and early fall has been full of adventuring. Riley was on the Mountain Biking team at school and raced in 4 races. He crashed (but got back up) in three out of the four races, and he was rained out in one race, but he persevered and did great. More importantly, he had fun. Tessa performed in a series of theater skits about the nature of art after taking a First Quarter theater class, and she was amazing. Asher was on the soccer team and competed in 3 games, the first he’d ever done on a full sized field, and he loved it. And Emmett is rehearsing now for the fall high school play, with performances in November. All of us are knocking our academics out of the park, we are participating in clubs, and both Riley and Emmett went to Homecoming. Of course no one loves school all the time, but we’re settling in pretty well!

This upcoming quarter, Riley’s Rock Climbing on the school team, Tessa’s doing the Improv class and competing in Robotics, Asher’s doing the DND club and Mountain Biking, and Emmett’s taking a theater class and continuing with Student Senate. We hope things are a bit calmer, but they won’t be much less busy. Riley’s got rock climbing competitions, Tessa’s got Robotics competition, and in December, Emmett’s attending a Thespian Convention with his theater class. We’re excited to see how it all goes!

Tomorrow, Riley turns 15! That means he’s taking Driver’s Ed, and he’ll behind the wheel with a permit in a matter of weeks. Emmett’s progressing slowly but surely with his driving education. He’s got more than 1/2 the allotted hours logged, and he’s not even due to take the test until April. He definitely does not enjoy driving, but it’s not because he’s not good at it, and he’s slogging through. It’ll be good when someone else in the family gets their license, as Mom and Dad are having trouble driving us everywhere we want to go.

Coming up, we have Halloween (Riley’s already hitting up the local haunted house attractions with friends), Emmett’s play performance, Thanksgiving, and then Emmett’s birthday (can you believe he’s going to be 16?).

Time flies, but we are making sure that we have fun while it does.

Pigs out.