Pimentel Family Journal

I’m making an attempt to pick up where I left off in 2020. I’m quite behind, and my editing skills are a bit rusty, but I’m aiming to drop a few photos here regularly for the archives. (I owe Max and Hazel our annual family album for 2020-2025 at this point – maybe I can have them done by December 2026?)

First, some photos I edited but don’t think I ever shared from a Point Lobos hike in January 2020.

When we were living in Carmel, a special spot of ours was along the Carmel Meadows beach. There’s a really cool rock there that Max liked to climb and build on with driftwood, so we christened it “Max Rock” (we are very creative). (Side note, after meeting another family there who turned out to be neighbors a few streets over, we learned that most people call it “Eagle Rock” and suddenly we saw that it did indeed very much resemble an Eagle. We now refer to it as Max Eagle Rock.)

Anyway, it’s a special spot of ours, so when we were planning our family photos in 2020, we knew that’s where we wanted to be. Our lovely photographer surprised us with a beautiful video of our photo session. It’s super sentimental, but I love it. I recently went looking for it and could not find it on either of our computers or any of the drives and I was pretty crushed. It’s been two years, and storage is expensive, but our photographer was able to retrieve it and now it is saved in a safe place on my computer.

Max and Hazel had their first soccer games of the season (and ever) Saturday. Hazel’s team played first and she was thrilled to have scored a goal. They don’t keep score, but team Unicorn Sparkles felt pretty good about their performance on the field. Hazel felt even better about the after-game snacks and playground time.

Max’s team, the Thunderbolts, started off slow but got into a groove as a team by the second half. Max is enjoying playing defense. He was nervous before the game (and a bit during the game), but he did well and said it was really fun. He decided he needed to be faster, so he and Ben have some sprint workouts planned. Hazel feels satisfied with her speed at the moment, but I bet she joins in anyway.

We’ve all been knocked out by COVID/colds/fevers, etc. over here for a while but are starting to feel like ourselves again. We’ve had lots of slow mornings and snuggles and books and lego building the past few weeks. Next weekend’s games are at 9 (which will be challenging for a few of the Pimentels), but that means we’ll have time for a bit of adventuring afterward!

The first week of school is in the books. We’re all getting used to the school routine of earlier bedtimes, making lunches, packing backpacks, etc. We haven’t done much exploring this week, but we’ve made it to the library several times so we spend a lot of time cuddled up on the couch reading together.

Max has made one friend in his class, which is his quota, so he is happy. None of the work has been challenging yet, which is unsurprising for the first week of school, but he has a few books stashed in his desk to read when he gets bored. (His reading interests haven’t changed much: Boxcar Children love is still going strong over here, plus anything about structural/mechanical engineering – bridges, trains, plumbing, etc.)

Hazel loves kindergarten. She has lots of new besties and seems to know everyone’s name already. As we walk home from school, she waves at everyone and tells them goodbye by name. I have met a few other parents as “Hazel’s mom” and had coffee with a mom of Hazel’s classmate / soccer teammate. Thanks for sharing your network, Hazel. This family of introverts clearly needed you.

In other news, Ben has COVID. It was bound to happen eventually. So far the rest of us remain negative while Ben isolates in the basement. He’s feeling pretty terrible but is getting a lot of rest. The kids and I are spending as much time outside as possible but it’s pretty hot and we’re just not used to mosquitoes. We weren’t able to check out the Postal Museum as planned, but we’re hoping we get to it next weekend before soccer games take over our Saturdays.

Just a bunch of phone pictures from the first week of school. Hazel enjoys pictures more than Max, but promise Max is around for all these moments as well:

Round and round the playground,

Marching in a line,

I’ll hold your hand.

You hold mine.

-John Kitching

First day of school in Virginia! Max and Hazel started their day with a big breakfast from Daddy, then we all walked the two blocks to school. Max was a little nervous, but remembered exactly where to go. Hazel marched bravely to her classroom and barely noticed when we left. I’m pretty sure she already has a new bestie.

The house is too quiet now (which is why I’m here posting pictures instead of working…).

Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish.

John Steinbeck, 1975

It’s been a few… days (ahem) since I’ve posted. My photos exceeded the free space here, my job encroached on my time, etc., etc., but here we are again. In Virginia this time. I’ll do that thing again where I record a few recent events, try to keep up with current stuff, and slowly do some throwback posts to catch up.

We moved to Virginia in July, and we are missing our Carmel people, climate, and routines dearly. Walking backward through our journey east and the lovely memories we made in California is exactly what I want to do these days.

Yesterday marks three weeks in the new house. It has not been altogether smooth (some plumbing and structural problems with the house that we are very grateful to rent and NOT own!), but all of our stuff arrived (mostly undamaged). We’ve explored a few bike paths and running trails, taken a few touristy trips into D.C., and started the soccer season. This may not be our ideal location, but like Thoreau, we try to live deeply and suck the marrow out of a place.

Lake Accotink:

National Zoo:

Open house / meet the teacher (school starts Monday!):

Smithsonian National Museum of American History:

Hazel and her sea otter, Luna, going for a stroll and greeting Sam, the neighborhood cat. The cats in our neighborhood all know Hazel and literally come bounding out of their hiding places to greet her and let her pet them. She knows where they all live and on our walks we make the rounds to visit the kitties.

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Just a little walk in early May.