February Miscellaneous

Clara Turns 10!

Our first born Clara turns 10! And to celebrate the decade mark, we let the parties run for several days in a row.

For her actual birthday, Ga and Pappaw were in Raleigh and Clara woke up to a Christmas-like spread of gifts waiting for her on the kitchen table.

And Pappaw made an early morning run to Krispy Kreme to have some fresh doughnuts waiting for her.

We celebrated birthday dinner at CowFish. Clara was glad to take the birthday cake, but made the servers swear they wouldn't sing or clang the gong.

The next week Clara and good friend Olivia had a joint party at Galaxy Fun Park.

And a spend the night party to follow:

And, of course, there was a school celebration:

Happy Birthday to our wonderful and much loved 10-year-old!!

Here are the birthday compliments from her classmates...

C caring

L loving

A awesome

R really kind

A amazing

Happy Birthday!

Sophie

Clara,

You bring happiness into our class. You have a great personality.  You are a really, really good friend to have! You help people when they’re hurt. I hope you have a great birthday!

Miraya

Clara,

You are kind to everyone.  We wouldn’t be a class without you! 

Happy Birthday!

Jonathan

C courageous

L loving

A amazing

R respectful

A  awesome

Happy Birthday!

Reece

C creative

L likeable

A amazing

R responsible

A all star!

Happy Birthday!

Carter

Clara, 

You are really kind and loving and always have a smile on your face.  I hope you have a great birthday!

Cole

Clara,

You are kind and you’re always happy.  You’re good at soccer and basketball! Happy Birthday!

Will

Clara,

You always makes us laugh when you make comments to Ms. Donohue.  You are very respectful to others. You always have a great attitude.  Have a great and happy birthday!

Agam

Clara,

You are so nice!  You make the class laugh when we need it! You bring a lot of joy into the classroom.  

Wait

Clara,

You are very kind to everyone in this class.  You are friend to everyone. Thank you for being so kind to everyone.  Happy Birthday!

Sawyer

C  confident

L  lovely to be around

A  astounding

R  rad

A  artsy

Happy Birthday!

Rowan

Clara,

You are amazing and you are a very good soccer player.  You are an amazing friend. If someone is down, you make them happy just by smiling!

Happy Birthday!

Rose

Clara, 

You are such an amazing friend.  You always make sure others are okay when they are feeling sad.  You always include others in your games. You are an amazing soccer and basketball player!

You are super athletic.  When you make funny comments to Miss. Donohue, we all laugh.  I am so glad you were born!

Happy Birthday!

Alexi

C  caring

L  loving

A  awesome

R  royal

A  athletic!

Happy Birthday!

Alanna

Clara,

You are the best friend anyone could ever have.  You are so kind and respectful. You are an amazing teammate.  Happy Birthday! 

Caroline

Clara,

You are an amazing friend in the whole wide world.  I love your personality. You are so kind and loving.  You are an amazing soccer player. We definitely wouldn’t be a class without you.  You make everyone laugh and I just wanted to wish you a very happy birthday!

Olivia

Robert is not here, but he is sending birthday wishes for a very happy day!

Clara,

I love how silly you are and how your classmates are seeing your silly side.  Everyone thinks you’re so funny! You are an incredible athlete, a great friend to your peers, and someone I can always count on to do the right thing.  Your empathy is incredible and your quiet strength is wonderful. I hope you could hear how valued you are by your classmates! 

Happiest Birthday!

Miss. Donohue

Skiing in Idaho for Winter Break

We've spent the past two winter breaks in Virginia, skiing Wintergreen and visiting with family. This year we felt ready for some more ambitious skiing, so we decided to try our chops on some genuine western US snow. So we headed to Idaho to spend a week with the Princes at Brundage Resort outside of McCall.

Believe it or not, this was the first trip where we put the full clan on an airplane. For the 6am departure and 7+ hours of flying to Boise via Seattle, we were grateful for the inflight entertainment and access to the Delta Lounge in SeaTac during the long layover. ("All you can eat free cookies?!" said the girls.)

We picked up Jason in Boise and trekked north to McCall, where the Prince and Dryden families rented a cabin together for the first few nights.

McCall had record snows, which was great for the skiing to come but it meant our vehicles were stuck in the driveway the first morning there. Instead of snowing, we entertained ourselves with cabin dancing and then some snow-shoeing.

We finally made it out of the driveway and spent the afternoon get acquainted with Brundage and high-powder skiing. 

Paul and Kate spent time with Hattie on the bunny slope, getting out ski legs back.

Clara went straight out with the Princes, heading for a high mountain green slope and then right over to a blue.

When she came back quiet, we sensed things weren't quite as expected. Before the next ski run Clara would confess that blue runs out West are NOTHING like the blues she did last year in Virginia!

That night we went over to Larry and Julie's cabin for a fun dinner with the whole crew. The following night the kids had dinner with Julie and Paul, Kate, Ruth and Jason got an adult night on the town.

The Princes stuck with us for another day but then had to head back down to Boise for work and school. We got to move over to Larry and Julie's cabin for another three days of skiing with just the Dryden fam. It was cold!

Hattie quickly got her ski legs, vaulting past Paul in her ski skills and moving from a tentative bunny slope skier to a confident green.

Clara would take off with Kate or Paul, pushing the harder greens and starting to get some light blue confidence again, too.

On the second to last day, we were skiing greens as a family.

Clara got daring on some jumps, broke her wrist and opted out for the final day. So Hattie got to focus on getting better. And boy did she ever! By the end she had moved from plowing to some serious side-by-side skiing, and she was hitting the big green hills much faster than her parents!

We enjoyed our time in McCall....

And were sad to leave. But the Drydens had made big strides as skiers and are eager for a repeat trip West for next year's winter break.

We got one more night with the Princes in Boise before getting on the flight for the long trip back home.