2025

Well, it's been a year since I posted. I almost did one in late August, but not quite. So here's a 2025 recap. It's long, but mostly photos.

Winter 2025

We lucked out with snow in 2025 -- meaning, we got some! There were ice-skating outings, and even a kids' school skiing afternoon.

And it was even occasionally cold enough to freeze boiling water Minnesota-style.

Other winter highlights included a middle school science fair for both Eytan and Li'el,

An animal research project for Oren,

A 10th birthday for Oren and 13.5th birthday for Eytan,

A big tree that fell in our backyard, which missed all important targets, knocked the power line down but not out, and took us until summer to clean up,

A sick sheep who we doctored in the basement bathroom for a month and then hand-fed for a few more months back outside until he learned to walk again,

And a Purim spiel (based on the Wicked movies... so we ended up eventually seeing both, in theaters no less).

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I taught a new class (Agroecology), filling in for a colleague on leave, which included some fruit tree pruning, maple syruping, mushroom innoculation, and greenhouse plant growing,

I also had a research methods class and a thesis class where students finished up final projects,

And hosted a deer butchery workshop run by one of the dining hall staff who hunts.

Spring 2025

April brought Oren waking up in the middle of the night to put stickers on everyone's toothbrushes for April fool's day,

Then Passover at Saba and Safta's in NY and Li'el's birthday, plus a birthday sleepover when we got back to Pittsburgh.

We also went to our friend Tayva's bat mitzvah in Baltimore and visited Jason and Dallys and family while we were there. Although somehow this is the only good record I have of either happening -- it's Noa playing with keyboard settings at the cousins' house.

There were end-of-year school projects and regional Waldorf games for the older kids.

And spring events and plays and end-of-year ceremonies and concerts and all the things.

There was sheep-shearing, and other general spring wake-ups.

In May was Noa's half-birthday, and also the kids' school's annual spring festival, during which I became a first-time cheese vendor.

Soccer season returned, and Eytan started working as a referee.

Also, Hebrew school blintz-making for Shavuot

And a pasta-making class at my work one weekend.

Summer 2025

Summer was a little busier than summer 2024. We went to Kennywood, the Pittsburgh amusement park, with school friends.

Mike's aunt and uncle and cousin came to Pittsburgh for his cousin's pro ultimate frisbee game. We went up the incline (famous trolley up the hill with good views of the city from the top) and got to go see Paul's game too.

We also went to Niagara Falls, both on the U.S. and the Canadian sides. It was only a four-hour drive from us, but none of us had been there before.

We timed it with a folkdance workshop in Rochester, NY for me.

I also got to take a writing class at Fallingwater (the Frank Lloyd Wright house near Pittsburgh), which included some tours of the buildings and grounds.

The kids did Shaler Township swim team again this summer,




Noa and Oren went to a couple weeks of day camp.

And Li'el and Eytan went to a Jewish hiking camp near the Delaware Water Gap that they really liked.

Before camp, we headed east to a Milner family bar mitzvah, and after camp, we took advantage of being close to NY again to go visit Saba and Safta, and take the Staten Island ferry to see the Statue of Liberty.

Late in the summer we went camping/hiking in the Laurel Highlands east of Pittsburgh.

Li'el had a chance to try horseback riding.

And Oren hurt a foot at gymnastics (a friend bounced off the trampoline and landed on his foot), and the temporary immobility pulled him into a magic trick learning phase, which meant taking dozens of magic books out of the library.

Oren's half birthday and Eytan's full birthday were in August.

And then summer was done.

Fall 2025

This is Eytan's last year (8th grade) at Waldorf, so it's full of milestones, beginning with the 8th graders welcoming first grade to the school (Eytan below with his first grade buddy for the year).

Here's an older photo from when Eytan was the one in 1st grade (he's 6th from left on the stage).

Also a random one of the other three looking little and cute  too.

Eytan's class is planning (and fundraising for) an end-of year trip to New River Gorge, WV, and so in addition to a regular middle school fall camping trip, the eighth grade made a fall day trip to Ohiopyle to give whitewater rafting a preliminary shot.

Noa in third grade started violin (and took a farm field trip). And Oren in fifth grade started woodworking.

Oren, Li'el, and Eytan all did cross-country this fall with school too, Oren for the first time. And Oren and Eytan both joined basketball this winter.

Pa had an early fall birthday.

And I taught two sections of tree class,

Plus one more tropical ag-related course, including a visit to a coffee roaster.

We also got to do a 10-day visit back to Costa Rica in October with said class, so ten students and a colleague and I based at CATIE, and Mike and the kids all came with to see old friends and places.

The kids went back to school in Costa Rica, and despite it having been two years since we had left, they reintegrated just fine. We stayed in a different part of campus from last time, so it was a new route to school for everyone, and Eytan's class was in the secondary school building and Noa's in the elementary one (last time she had been in the kindergarten).

 

Oren's class ended up having a field trip to San Jose while we were there.

And Martha came from Peru to visit too. 

Here is some footage too that Eytan and Oren took on the ride back to the airport in San Jose.

We got back to Pittsburgh in time for fall colors and a couple of outings (Mike and I had been given opera tickets, and the kids self-babysat and put themselves to bed). And Saba and Safta came for a visit.

Noa turned nine.

And Nana and Pa came over for Thanksgiving, after Eytan got back from a downtown turkey trot with friends.

I vendor-ed cheese again at the school's winter fair, and Eytan got the job of pocket-person, i.e. wearing the awesome cape with tiny treasures in each of many pockets that kids get to choose from.

Then Mike's birthday (also picture of Noa's crochet project),

And end-of-year instrument sharings and class plays.

And now it's back to winter. I made it to one of the Waldorf winter spirals for the first time in a while, and we also were lucky to end up at an assortment of Chanukah celebrations.

The weather was lucky again in December, with early snow (although it has since melted).

So I'll take this opportunity to send best wishes for a good 2026.