After 4 terrific years, Alex graduated EPS on June 13, 2025. We are so proud of him! The school was a terrific fit for him and he emerges with a great education and great friends.
Grandma Brady came out for the graduation and went to the No Kings protest with John and Julia.
In tennis, I had a decent 40s season finishing 3-2, losing those 2 in tough supers. Our team won the league but it doesn't go on. In 18+, I finished 3-0 including the sectionals-clinching win over STC with Melisa. We came back from 6-2 4-1 and needed all the energy from the crowd that we could get. To celebrate sectionals, we went to karaoke and did sauna/plunge!
John did the BWR series traveling to Bend, SD, AZ, MT, and maybe some other places. The pictures are amazing.
The Father-Daughter tournament was in Claremont this year and we traveled with Kris and her dad. We got 2nd place in the 80s! We played well, especially in the finals, and were simply outmatched by a better team. The tournament was great - well organized with nice people. Hopefully, we will be back! While we were gone, Julia did a 5k with her new Surf team. She also started her lifeguard job at SRC.
Julia played Ultimate for EPS this spring. She had minimal experience but quickly took to it and became a mainstay in the starting lineup. Her specialties are long catches and aggressive defense. The team is an incredible community, supporting each other and having a lot of fun with dances and team bonding. The parent group was fun too. The team went undefeated in their league winning 1st place, making state for the first time ever, and then lost to Inglemoor/Lakeside (2 schools that are probably 10x the size of EPS).
At the school sports banquet, Julia won the Breakthrough Athlete award. This is one of just 4 individual awards. She also received recognition for 2nd team all conference in soccer. Way to go, Julia!
Birthdays were not well celebrated this year! We did go to dinner on Mercer Island for John and in Bellevue for Alex. And we gave Maeby a hamburger. But gifts and cake were lame. Hopefully we can make it up with family fun over the summer.
Joanna traveled to LA to see Kelly, Erin, Amy D, and Amy B (and Amy D's mom). We went to Beachlife Music Fest and hung out. It was so nice to see everyone!
Then I had the hardcourt championships in La Jolla, my first 50s tourney. I got 4th in singles, 5th in doubles. I almost beat Dina McBride after getting down 5-0. It was 7-6 6-4. My body was totally shot after so many tough matches but I'm moderately happy with my game and feel like I'm getting close to breaking through. Need to work on the serve and forehand, as always. I played doubles with Heidi Sutter. We won the matches we should have won, but missed a chance to break through in the quarters against Lindsay Montero and her sister. Also hung out with Kris who is about to move to Cardiff and with Stella who seems to spend a lot of time in SD. What a great area!
Alex will be a Jumbo, class of 2029! We are very excited for him. Tufts was his top choice, chosen for its location in Boston, good debate, and great social science / liberal arts. He handled the college process with minimal stress. He got into Tufts, Rochester, Carleton, Northeastern, Santa Clara. He was deferred from Richmond, UW, William and Mary. He was rejected from WashU, Emory, Bowdoin, Davidson, and Wesleyan. In retrospect, we could have visited more schools. And he probably should have taken the Spanish AP exam in order to place out of the language requirement. Overall, we are really pleased with his choices and his preparation. His friends all landed in great places too. Next year will be a huge transition for all.
