I have forsaken my blogging duties for most of the summer–everyone needs a break, right? But today marks the start of the school in HP, so Speed, Layla, and Emma are transitioning back into their school routines. Predictably, Speed is not excited about his junior year. But Layla and Emma are. Layla’s excited about moving into 7th grade and the Middle School. Emma is most excited by 5th grade at the Intermediate School.

So with all that, I gathered the kids on the front steps for the picture that Speed hates. Amazing to see how much they have changed since last year.

As for why Madysen is still in this picture, I’m trying to focus on the positive. She’s still lifeguarding at the UP Pool through Labor Day. And then? I’m sure something great is in the works.

It’s hard to believe it’s been over a month since Madysen graduated high school. And while my photos and video of the happening were awesome, the official video and photo are, well, more official. But I’ve spared you the trouble of reliving all 150+ minutes by cutting down the ceremony to the best 3 minutes.

Wishing you’d have been there for the whole thing, I’m sure. And now for the official graduation photo.

Bam!

I’m still catching my breath after the whole graduation thing. Nothing much happened that next week, but last week was pretty crazy, starting with Layla and Emma’s big dance recital on Sunday night. You can’t take photos or video because they are selling those. I’m still trying to make my way through the 2000+ photos taken during the girls’ numbers and the DVD is on the way, so you can look forward to all that.

The next day had Layla in her new glasses, which along with her height really makes her look old. Madysen and Papa took off for a three week adventure to Barcelona and Tel Aviv (where they are volunteering with the IDF), but not before Madysen got into her first accident. Just a little thing, thankfully, but she rear-ended someone while she was rushing around at the last minute.

On Tuesday, Speed got a warehouse job, which is perfect for him other than the 7 a.m. start time.  On Wednesday, Layla and Emma went down to Houston to spend a couple of days with my parents.

But this weekend is really big. Tomorrow Holly and I head to Anchorage for her first (and only?) marathon on Saturday morning. She’s done a great job training (as far as I can tell) and she surpassed her fundraising goal, so thanks to everyone who provided support. I’m sure she’ll do great.

We get back around 6 a.m. on Monday morning at which time Holly and Layla and Emma are heading out to a big surprise something. Not knowing is killing Emma. I’m sure they’ll have a great time, but I’m glad I’m not going.

A week ago Friday night (on the heels of Emma’s elementary school graduation), Madysen officially graduated from high school. *breathes into paper bag*

But first, on Thursday morning, Holly went to the Senior Awards assembly where it was confirmed that Madysen was graduating magna cum laude, which is a skosh better than I did in high school and put her sufficiently high in her class. Definitely something for her to be proud of.

The magna cum laude-ers?

But Friday night was the big show–the graduation ceremony at Moody Coliseum at SMU. Nana and Pop even showed up with Aunt Kathleen and Uncles Colin and Ezra. Kathleen, Colin, and Ezra were not prepared for a 150-minute borefest, but that’s what they got.

Not that Emma was partying it up either.

You’d think that 50 minutes of waiting for Madysen’s name to be called would have been enough for me to have my camera ready. Maybe it was too much time because I had failed to switch my iPhone from photo to video, so all I got of her name being called was this still shot.

Nice. But I did recover in time to get her crossing the stage, getting her picture taken, and making her way back to her seat. Pretty exciting stuff.

Once everyone had walked across the stage and they finished with a few more pleasantries, it was over and the graduates threw their mortarboards into the air.

By the time the ceremony was over, it was far too dark for real pictures. But here is the crew sans Holly and I.

And then one of the proud family with the graduate back at home.

Madysen had to be at some party by 11 p.m., but there was time for cookie cake and gifts.

So that chapter is behind her. Not really sure what she’ll do come to this fall, but she leaves for a 3-week trip to Barcelona and Israel with Papa this afternoon. She’ll definitely have a few stories to tell.

Really hard to believe we’ve gotten this far. Seems like not too long ago, Madysen was still my baby girl–and she listened to at least a portion of what I said. But this evening, she’ll officially graduate from high school. And she’ll do so with a lot more honors than I graduated with.

All of the graduation stuff really got started last Sunday morning with the Baccalaureate Service held at the Meyerson Symphony Center in the Dallas Arts District. All of the kids got to attend as did Holly’s mom and Grandma Flossie.

The service was nice with the keynote address by Donovan Campbell, former Marine and author of Joker One: A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood. We managed to get seats on the aisle that Madysen entered and exited, but Madysen and the lighting failed to cooperate.

Then it was time for lots of celebratory photos.

(Nice choice by whomever chose the spot near the recycling wall plaque.)

And because we are the worst parents ever, we made all the kids pose for a handful of pictures. You can see the pain increase in Speed’s face with each picture.

Even one of Madysen with all the Speed women.

Sufficiently drained from all of that, we went to a brunch for Madysen and 24 other graduates at the Brook Hollow Golf Club.

Emma graduates from elementary school today as well. Not sure we’ll make it through the day.

Today marks the final real day of high school for Madysen as she took her last AP exam. I’m not ready for this.

On the night of the event, Holly and the kids took me to one of my favorite local places for the always excellent London Broil and frites. London Broil was a staple whenever I visited my grandparents.

For dessert–since the Key Lime Pie was looking pretty iffy–we split a butterscotch pot de creme and a butterfinger hot fudge banana split. Totally worth it.

Not really related or part of my birthday, but Holly and I went to two great, but very different concerts on the Saturdays straddling my birthday. First, after Madysen’s graduation dinner with Holly’s family, we went to Gexa Energy Pavilion to see Arcade Fire. We timed it perfectly to miss all the concert traffic and the opening acts to walk in just as they took the stage.

It was an awesome set with great energy and visually pleasing. Holly’s expert opinion: “Wish they had more words and less sounds.” Not that she knew any of the words they did have.

The following Saturday was Wilco at the University of North Texas Main Auditorium, a non-conventional concert venue.

Another great set but with a completely different energy. More like a warm hug of your favorite tunes.

Even more tangential–the following day was Mother’s Day and I got Speed and Emma out of the house for the morning (Madysen was at the lake with friends) to give Holly some quiet time. We went to The Londoner to watch Manchester United win a huge tilt against Chelsea 2-1 to put them 1 point short from the EPL title. It was awesome to watch. I took this picture of Sir Alex celebrating just as the final whistle blew.

The 19th league title is pretty sweet.

And because they are awesome, Madysen had Sprinkles Cupcakes for dessert. She wasted her calories on Peanut Butter Chocolate. Everyone else had Red Velvet, which went like hotcakes, including Brendon who wanted to save some for later it was so good and Ashton who was introduced to the amazingly good technique of eating the stump first and then the top.

And then I took more pictures of Madysen with family in the restaurant and by the fountain outside.

After dinner, a group went to Froggie’s 5 & 10 to play with toys and Wild About Harry’s for more dessert.

The remnants of the Saturday evening egg decorating extravaganza that Madysen and Speed were way too cool to participate in.

On Easter morning, Emma was the first awake (as always), and she took pictures of the Easter Bunny baskets. (This first picture was taken with the ToonPAINT app that I quickly became obsessed with and then soured on just as quickly.)

After Madysen, Speed, and Layla returned from church (Emma stayed home and in her pjs because that’s “the rules for egg hunting.”  Pay special attention to Emma’s marbled eggs with eyes and Layla’s Madysen and Speed eggs. (I’ve included some ToonPaint versions, which intrigue me but seem completely pointless, which explains most of my days.)

The decorated eggs were hidden in the backyard where Layla and Emma went in search for them.

We also had over 100 plastic eggs stuffed with candy of everyone’s choice. Speed had chosen Blow Pops, which didn’t fit well in the eggs. So Holly broke the sticks to make them fit. Surprising how much a broken Blow Pop stick can impair one’s enjoyment. Anyway, Madysen and Speed hid the eggs inside the first floor. Speed’s effort at hiding declined aggressively over the 3 minutes he invested, which is why there were 20 eggs laying in open site in the dining room.

One final ToonPAINT. I think my ToonPAINT dalliance is over.

But before we move on to 2003, which contained so many trips, adventures, etc. I can hardly believe all of us survived, here are a few quick stories of things that have happened in the last couple weeks that I won’t otherwise get to.

First, a couple Saturdays ago, a group of kids and Emma started a lemonade stand on our front lawn–without consulting Holly or me–at $1 a taste, which is on the high side for yellow water. Because it was successful, lots of neighborhood kids tried to glom on for a share of the cash. And then it devolved further into kids standing in the street defying cars to attempt to pass without stopping, yelling–lots and lots of yelling, and tons of lemonade trash in the yard. So I told them to shut it down, clean up, and split the money. Not hard to guess that everyone disappeared as did the money and trash remained. With a lot of effort, everything got resolved (Emma came home with $5; totally worth it), but my bitterness of others increased a bit higher.

Second, when having dinner on the patio of a local taco joint with Madysen, Speed, and Layla, Madysen informed as to the Blitz/No Blitz rule in Calling Shotgun (i.e., providing or preventing a race to the car to override an initial shotgun claim). Upon finishing our meal, we moved towards the car where Layla called out: “Shotgun. No Ditz!” Actually, there is at least one.

Finally, on Saturday night, Speed went to a Sweet 16/”Gloteen” party for a group of high school girls. Since the theme was neon/glow in the dark, Speed had to get an outfit together. The result:

$8 neon green shorts he bought a hippie house in east Dallas; Layla’s “Dancer” t-shirt, and his black/electric blue/purple Nike jacket he got while in Italy. Talk of coloring his hair he quickly since it was “nearly neon already.” Agreed.

Update: Forgot to mention that I took Speed to the best meal he’s ever had last Thursday night at Hattie’s. He had Low Country shrimp & grits and fried green tomatoes, but he loved, loved, loved my bacon-wrapped, jalapeno stuffed quail with sweet potato mash. And that was just a prelude to the Band of Horses concert at Verizon Theatre where we nearly got into an altercation of a spilled beer.

Second, Most Important Update: Madysen got a real job last week (as opposed to last summer’s pool cashier job) at a local sports and casual wear boutique (she also tutors for nearly 3x the money). With just a couple of shifts under her belt, she’s pretty adept at folding t-shirts and has experienced the glories of handling customers.