“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2015.”

Lillia: We just returned home from the Walpole Players Senior Theatre Camp’s performance of “The Pirate Queen”, which is the culmination of the last two weeks of learning and practice. I have to say that I was very impressed — with you, of course, but also with all of the other performers — it’s not easy to pull off something like this in just ten afternoons. I really appreciated that none of you took yourselves too seriously, and yet the play was genuinely entertaining and many of the performers were very natural and believable in their roles. As “Officer Woodthorpe” you had one of the main speaking roles (17 lines total, in two acts) and you did magnificently. I do hope you continue your theatre adventures as you are, in fact, quite a good actress and I can tell that you really enjoy it. Bravo, Lillia!

(A few more pictures of the play can be viewed HERE.)

Zane: This week you spent two whole days at camp! As I wrote last week, you are a very busy boy, and it takes a lot to keep you entertained. By Monday afternoon of this week I was just plain exhausted, and so I contacted your preschool to see if they had any openings in their summer camp program. We were lucky and they had a Tuesday/Thursday spot still available, so I signed you up right then and there. Of course, it later dawned on me that you might not be ready to be away from home for seven straight hours (or, maybe it was me who was not ready?) but, you did great! You got to play with other kids, which was the biggest selling point, plus you did some fun arts & crafts, played outside, had lunch with your friends, and you even napped on Thursday afternoon (which you haven’t done in ages). I’m so happy we were able to find a way to channel some of that wonderful Zane energy.

“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2015.”

Lillia: This week you started theatre camp here in Walpole. You tried this camp once before, the first summer we lived here and right before you started first grade, but you had, frankly, an awful time. It wasn’t the fault of the instructors at all — you simply didn’t know any of the kids, and you were also much more fearful of new situations back then. If I recall correctly, you spent most of the time there pretending to be a dog (a fairly common coping mechanism). This time around you seem very excited, and now that you’ve been in school with all of these kids for five years (yes, it’s been five years!) you know everyone very well. You seem to be having a great time so far, and I can’t wait to see your final performance next week!

Zane: This week we’ve been spending a lot of time at the town pool, which you really seem to enjoy. Your sister is at camp, and so the afternoons are a bit empty without her. We tried walking around the pond, but the trails are horribly overgrown with briars and itchy plants and we couldn’t get very far. We also went to play group at your preschool on Thursday. You enjoyed it, for the most part, but none of your best pals were there. You are so full of energy and so outgoing — you always want to know “what we’re going to do for fun.” My temperament is very much the opposite so it’s quite exhausting for me to keep up with you! Still, it’s probably good for me, and it certainly keeps things interesting.

“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2015.”
photo by Damian Wilson

Lillia & Zane are on vacation this week!

“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2015.”

Lillia: This is the first week of summer vacation, and we are all in a flurry as we get ready to travel to Lubec. You have suddenly become very interested in music, which is wonderful, and asked me to load up one of our old phones with songs so that you could listen to them on the long drive. Your taste is music is quite diverse, but I do notice a tendency toward slightly older music, not the current hits. I’ll be interested to see how your tastes evolve over time.

Zane: This week you’ve been very patient with me as I try to get all of the laundry and cleaning done before we leave for our family vacation. We’ve been doing a little bit of gardening, and we have lots of peas and kale growing — I do hope that there will still be some peas left when we come home! Today we are on our way to Maine, and I’m not sure how you will do on the long car ride, but I am hoping that you will have such a good time in Lubec that it will be worth the drive.

“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2015.”

Lillia: This week you graduated from fifth grade! I can’t believe that next year you will be a “real” middle-schooler. This is a self-portrait that you created, and since I was not able to get a proper photo of you this week, I think this will make a goood stand-in. You have a busy summer ahead of you, with vacations, camps, and hopefully lots of swimming and reading.

Zane: This week you graduated from your first year of preschool! You have another year of preschool before you start kindergarten, so I am not feeling too sad about it all. Next year will be much harder. Still, I can’t believe my “baby” will be four years-old in August. Hopefully this summer will be a fun one for you!