On Saturday morning at 6:30 AM, Nick and Nia set out for their first ever father/daughter road trip. This was very much an impromptu decision; one made just 36 hours prior. Nick had been restless as of late—he obviously needed a break from all the care-taking of the last month (and the more to come post hand surgery). He also wanted to get in some quality 1-on-1 time with Nia before heading off to Baghdad in August. Given that I’m not the best travel companion at the moment, I urged them to head out and enjoy their time together.
Nick played around with a few trip options, but ultimately chose an idea steeped in nostalgia. You see, in his teens, he and his Dad, alongside his grandfather who has since passed, road-tripped down to Arizona for Ichiro Suzuki’s first Spring training game with the Mariners. This was one of Nick’s favorite memories from his youth, and he liked the idea of trying to recreate it with Nia. Here are pictures commemorating both trips, 24 years apart.
They arrived in Phoenix on Sunday night after 18 hours of driving spread over two days. Not sad I missed that part, though the rest of it looks really fun! Unfortunately, there was only one final Mariners’ game this week, but they’ve fleshed out their schedule with all sorts of other adventures in and en route to Phoenix. Thus far they’ve visited Hoover Dam, climbed in Red Rocks Canyon, and seen the Mariners play. Nick’s good friend Kari lives in Phoenix and they’re spending today with her at an airplane museum in Tucson. There’s nothing Nia loves more than looking at old planes, and I expect to get an earful when I talk with them tonight. Makes me so happy to see them enjoying their time together.
Speaking of trips, I do have one coming up that I’m looking forward to! Nick and I will be leaving Nia with the in-laws while we venture to the British Isles for a 12-day cruise. We haven’t been to 7 of the 8 ports, so we’re thrilled to be enjoying some European destinations that are new to both of us (a rarity given that he lived in Austria twice and I studied abroad in Greece and Italy before traveling extensively for a month around the rest of Europe). Here’s our amazing itinerary!
It’s giving me something to look forward to as I sit around healing. I do have some worries that my foot won’t be able to handle all the walking or that my braces will prevent me from enjoying the amazing food, but I’m trying my best to think positively. In any regard, I’m grateful for the alone time with my husband. We make a good traveling duo. Expect lots of posts and pictures come late May. And now, changing topics . . .
NATIONAL HISTORY DAY
As I mentioned in an earlier post, all the 7th graders at Nia’s school participate in National History Day. They are required to do an individual project using one of five presentation styles: report, exhibit (poster), performance, website, or documentary. Nia chose the documentary format and created a 10-minute video about the Rights & Responsibilities surrounding Guantanamo Bay. She explored the topic from the perspective of both the prisoners and the American government, showing how those two things often clashed. She debuted her documentary for parents and classmates on March 5th with all the other 7th graders (about 35 in total). 15 were selected to advance to the State competition in Salem, Oregon on Saturday, April 19th.
Nia was among those chosen to advance, as were her five closest friends! We’re making a fun weekend of it and will be staying in a hotel with her friends and their families. During the competition day on Saturday, her documentary will be shown, and she’ll have to talk with a judge and answer some questions about her documentary. If she places in the top two for her category (Junior Individual Documentary), she’ll advance to the National competition in DC in early June! She doesn’t want me to share the documentary quite yet, but I will at a later date. And I will definitely share the outcome here, so watch this space for more.
