Robotics camp, cousin time, an Orioles game, and a bari sax (7 Quick Takes)

~1~

Our boys have been participating in a robotics camp—one as a counselor and one as a participant. I had the chance to visit the camp briefly for a competition, and I was struck by how amazing it is to see your child move into that kind of leadership role.

It felt like an extraordinary leap for me to see my son teaching and coaching children he didn’t know a few days earlier. Just the fact that he knew their names at the end of the first day of camp was a surprise.

Children grow into the most amazing individuals. I can’t believe how fortunate I am to be along on this ride.

~2~

We’ve enjoyed lots of cousin time over the past week and a half. We traveled to New York to celebrate our nephew’s high school graduation, and then my sister Maureen and her children came down to Baltimore for a week.

We have five cousins right in town, of course, and adding a few more to the scene is always a thrill.

I always marvel at how God put the pieces together just right so that our sons would slip right into the mix of cousins when we adopted them. I couldn’t see how it would all work when we were waiting to become parents, but God knew that the nephews and nieces He was sending would turn out to be some of our children’s closest friends.

~3~

We went to an Orioles game with the cousins and enjoyed one of the few nights without a rain delay. Baltimore is so small that one of my coworkers just happened to be sitting in our row.

We don’t go to many baseball games, so it was a real treat. We stayed until the Seventh Inning Stretch, where we sang along with John Denver and then headed for the exit.

The children would have liked to stay longer, but we had camp the next morning. I’ve promised that next time we can stay later and go earlier to try to have a ball signed—and sit closer so maybe we’ll catch a ball.

That’s always the dream.

~4~

Our older son, who plays in his high school band, is switching instruments from the trumpet to the baritone sax. This has been a big deal this year, as all transitions are, and we are so relieved that he can borrow the instrument from the school’s music program.

He picked it up from school this week, and it’s unbelievable how large and beautiful it is. I have been listening to him practice in the house, and I am excited to see him play it in a parade this week. Are you really a band mom if you aren’t going to two parades this week?

One of the most wonderful aspects of parenting is seeing your children find their passions—and learning to love and understand their interests yourself.

~5~

The summer storms have been intense lately. One night last week it started hailing with the biggest hail I had ever seen.

Our new car was sitting in the driveway, and all we could do was sigh and hope it wouldn’t be damaged. It seems to have come through just fine.

I don’t mind thunder and lightning, but I would like to request a summer without smoke or hail, please.

~6~

One of my goals for the summer is to make time for some fun outings with my children. I see depressing posts on social media saying you only get 18 summers with your kids, and I try to ignore them. I’ve always felt it was important to focus on quality of time vs. quantity of time. We can’t control the quantity anyway, so let’s focus on making the best of the time we have.

One of the trips on my list was driving to an Asian market to pick up some different kinds of ramen since we do love ramen around here. My older son and I went to the Lotte Market in Ellicott City and enjoyed picking out a few to bring home.

It wasn’t a fancy trip, and we didn’t spend much. But it got us out and about, and maybe we made a memory or two along the way.

~7~

We see deer walking through our backyard fairly regularly, and we were excited to see a baby deer was standing outside. It was so tiny and sweet. We kept our distance, of course, but it was so wonderful to see it standing there enjoying our yard.

The mother—or the deer I assume was its mother—was not far away, just on the other side of the fence.

Soon enough, they were on their way, but that brief encounter added just a little bit of joy to the day.

~Happy Independence Day~

We are so blessed to live in a country with so much freedom—and with the freedom to grumble when we disagree or see room for improvement. God bless our nation and those who work so hard to keep it free.

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