Sibling Rivalry Soccer & Super 8

Betsy arrived yesterday afternoon and we all partook of Harleysville Hotel hot wings before bringing her home with us. Aidan and Keoni fell into their evening routine of two-man soccer...

Somehow, some rules have evolved. I don't know what they are, but one wins and the other loses; and vice versa. Eso depende.

After this stiff competition the music started up again in honor of Betsy's arrival.

I don't know exactly how it happens, but their transition from sibling rivalry soccer to music collaborations is startling. It makes me happy though. I think you can see that it makes Betsy happy, too.

It is great having my grandmother counterpart for a visit to the family.

I'll see her again tomorrow when I return to PA.

Today Keoni and I started out early for Meadowmount School of Music where he will spend the next seven weeks. It's about 360 miles from home. I am staying the night in Ticonderoga, NY's Super 8 motel and glad for the rest before returning home in the morning. We drove through the Catskills and the Adirondacks to get to the school. It's remarkably beautiful and likely so any time of the year. I am close to Lake Champlain and Lake George. Wendy and John will make the return trip to pick up Keoni in August while Aidan and I take care of Rhapsody Ridge chores. There are staggering amounts of history and outdoor possibilities much like near our new home. One almost doesn't know where to start.

I'll miss Keoni a lot this summer, but I am just as happy to see him forge ahead with the music he's loved almost since toddlerhood. We played tons of music all the way to Meadowmount.

Nathan told Aidan he is coming over to play soccer with him some more this summer before he starts his Freshman year at University of Pennsylvania in August. All that news is making me smile.

A happy footnote: My phone GPS syncs with the car audio just fine now. Before, there was a lapse and attenuated messages. Now, using the iPhone's own updated app works great. It tells me my turns in plenty of time to make them. It's improved a lot. Oh happy day! I can play music which it mutes when it talks to me. And I can make it LOUD through the car audio.

I missed a picture that is vivid in my mind's eye. Keoni walking toward Meadowmount registration and greeted by a group bear hug from his three Interlochen quartet friends from last summer.

When I got the iPhone our of my pocket the hug was over.

A couple of days ago the neighbor was cutting his grass...

Upstate New York has the same bugs as Pennsylvania.