The end of June is the start of summer.
Emily successfully applied for the RYLA leadership program. I believe it is a good idea for her to step out of her comfort zone since she is not social. She also quickly started her summer rowing training.
This July 4th, a Taiwanese neighbor invited us to enjoy the fireworks at NARA Park for the Independence Day celebration. Their home is near NARA Park, and we were able to get there on foot. Actually, we are also one of those who paid for this because the town hall used tax for this celebration. We also met another family who has lived in Acton since the 1980s. Their kids also came to the US, similar to Emily and Alice’s ages. Jolie and I just imagined we would be in the same as them 20 years later. It is still a long way to go, though.
 |
| Fireworks at NARA Park, Jul 4th 2024 |
Actually, summer schedules for both girls were not light. Jolie arranged three weeks of summer camps for Alice, including First Aid training, cosmetology, and electrical enlightenment. Alice also attended level II sculling in preparation for her first rowing program this fall.
Alice was still in squash training this summer. However, we did not travel a lot for Silver Tournaments anymore. Instead, we went to only one Gold tournament in RI. The result was not as good as we thought, but it was still a positive experience for Alice. In addition, we also found the Hampton Inn to be a good hotel to stay at for our domestic travel in the future. The squash camp ended with the interesting working with a pro, Joel Makin, at MSquash.
 |
| T-shirt with signature by Joel Makin |
At the same time, Emily traveled to St. Catharines, ON, in Canada, for her first Canadian Henley Regatta. This was also her first time leaving US soil after we moved to the US in 2021. She did a pretty good job of getting into the final of U19 2- and the semi-final of U19 4x and U19 2x. Even with her single sculling, she rowed with an awesome time, which would have made her advance to the semifinal if she had been in any other heats. Although Emily ended with 6th place in U19 2-, this was the first time BAB advanced to the final in Canadian Henley. Emily has found underlying reasons hindering them from having medals this time. I believe she can work this out in the future, and this is also a good opportunity to learn from the teamwork sport.
Before Canadian Henley, Emily also attended the local regatta, Cromwell Cup, on Charles River. She and her teammates won the gold medal for U17 2x and the bronze medal for Junior 4+. Although this was a local regatta, it was a good way to warm up for the coming season on Charles River.
 |
| Cromwell Cup, 21 Jul 2024 on Charles River (2x Gold Medal) |
Summer is never boring, although it always costs a lot! Jolie and I believe we have become better than previous summers.
Leave a Reply