Welcome to The Crowsnest!

Now that the thermometer has finally broken the 120 degree mark on the back patio (unofficial though it may be), we can finally say that summer has arrived. After an unusually warm May, followed by a likewise unusually cool June, I guess we can’t complain too much (although yes, Whitney’s summer time “Why do we still live here” rantings have begun).

Summer is in full swing in beautiful Fort Mojave and in the Crow household. School ended on May 21^st for the girls. After one short week off, the family packed up and headed to New York City for our five-year anniversary cruise.

Leaving New York Harbor

This year we were off to Bermuda. Although we typically save a little bit each paycheck for five year for these cruises, this is the first time we actually hadn’t tapped into the savings account for other things, meaning we had the full amount to spend. Of course we had to spend it all, and ended up taking advantage of some great sales Norwegian Cruise Line was offering and booked a two bedroom Penthouse Suite. We figured with four days at sea (we were in Bermuda for three days in the middle of our week), it would be nice to have a larger cabin to spend time in. Boy, were we right! A ton of “perks” came with the cabin, including our own concierge and butler (we didn’t use the concierge much, but “Huda” the butler quickly learned to keep us happy by making sure we never ran out of grapes in our fruit bowl).

Cristy’s brother (Uncle Paul) was able to book a cabin on the same cruise, and since he’d spent time working in Bermuda on several occasions, served as our unofficial tour guide. We were able to take advantage of a snorkeling trip, beach trip, and of course, plenty of shopping. The pink beaches of Bermuda are fabulous, and the weather was wonderful our entire trip until the last sea day coming home.

Swimming at Horseshoe Bay

Fortunately, there was plenty to do inside, and we all had a great time.

Upon our return to New York City, Uncle Paul left us, but we stayed on for a few days of site-seeing, as Whitney and the girls had never been to NYC. We had a great hotel right off 5^th Avenue at the Empire State Building.

The girls at the top of the Empire State Building

To make things easy, we purchased a three day site-seeing pass with one of the local tour companies, which gave us a great overview of the city and “hop-on hop-off” privileges a half block from our hotel. Outside of the tours to upper and lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the night tour, we made it to the top of the Empire State Building, out to the Statue of Liberty (where we got to go up to the pedestal- they aren’t opening the stairs to the crown until after July 4^th), a carriage ride in Central Park, and attended mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

The Carriage Ride

And of course, being so close to Fifth Avenue, we did a little bit of shopping as well. But perhaps the highlight of our trip was seeing the Broadway show, “Wicked” followed by getting our picture taken in Time Square.

With the FAO Schwarz Soldier

Manhattan from Under the Brooklyn Bridge

Following our trip it was back to work for Whitney and Cristy. The girls on the other hand were home five days before heading off to Phoenix then Missouri with Cristy’s parents to see where their family had come from- St. Louis and the surrounding area. They visited the Arch, headed into Illinois where Nana and Gramps were buried, visited Daniel Boone’s house, toured St. Louis University (Granddaddy’s alma matter), and did the typical site seeing things. Needless to say, they were ready to be home after both trips. However, Ellyse wasn’t so lucky, as she was off to San Diego for a three day basketball camp. While she was dreading being gone again, she had a great time and made some new friends from Needles, as they traveled as a group to camp.

Ellyse will remain busy with a week long mission’s trip, followed by two weeks of Speech and Debate camp in St. George, Utah. Throw in a trip to Young for the long Fourth of July weekend to visit Whitney’s parents, and it will be a busy summer for the girls.

Whitney’s been busy transitioning into the superintendent’s role. Although he’s already moved into the office, he won’t officially become superintendent until July 1. While he daunted with the challenges, especially facing the budget issues as Arizona’s governor and legislature still can’t reach a budget compromise (which is required by law before July 1- but nobody is holding their breath), his biggest excitement is that after five years, he’ll finally have a window in his office!

On the dissertation-front, Whitney faced a major setback when his new committee rejected (a strong word, but Whitney would pick a worse one) his first three chapters of his dissertation, stating it wasn’t the kid of study the university was looking for. Mind you, his first advisor (who has now retired), his second advisor (who happened to be his research professor for three classes during which he developed his topic and began work on his first three chapters), and a third committee member all gave their blessings. However, those 150 pages worth of work have been rendered meaningless (again mild terminology on Whitney’s part). The worst part- in moving his office, Whitney found a form that approved the formation of his original committee and listed the topic- signed off by then department chair and now his newest committee member AND biggest opponent of his study. Needless to say, Whitney is disappointed and trying to look for options.

Cristy on the other hand is doing well. Her company has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and after shedding the Tropicana in Las Vegas, has more or less picked up the Tropicana in Atlantic City and their former river boat property in Evansville, Indiana. Although working both properties has been difficult, she has managed to survive and is enjoying the direction the newly emerged company is taking.

Sydney will return to school on July 20^th, starting her first year of junior high. She is quite excited, but after having someone at Fort Mojave Elementary for the last 11 years, (not to mention Whitney teaching fourth grade there the first eight years of his career), it will seem strange not having more to do with “the Fort”. Taking advantage of her dad’s access, Sydney and a group of friends will tour the junior high next week, giving them time to look around and get their bearings before school actually begins. As Whitney likes to say, it’s one of the few perks that come with the job (and having served as principal there a year when Ellyse was in seventh grade!).

Ellyse of course will be busy for the remainder of her summer. At some point she figured out she’d be home nine days this summer. While that may be a slight exaggeration, she certainly won’t have much of a chance to get bored this summer. She is excited about being a Student Body officer next year, as well as for Speech and Debate where she will likely participate in Varsity Policy Debate (given that her teammate is the captain of that particular division). That and girls’ basketball will keep her schedule busy.