Time for a look back at another fun and busy year in the Markel household!

January is always a rather quiet month, which is not unwelcome after the busyness of the holiday season. We began 2025 with our first family feast of the year, with a German twist. We enjoyed quite a bit of snow. Ladybug won first place in the high school category of our city’s winter art contest! And she began rollerblading (while dodging the stubborn patches of ice that insisted on sticking around).

February is historically my least-favorite month of the year, mainly because it’s just so boring. There were some bright spots, though, including Once Upon a Valentine in St. Charles, MO. We had more snow…and so did Bowling Green, KY, where we got to see what winter looks like on The Hill when we visited Bunny at college. We watched the Big Bear Eagle Cam with great interest, and also got to observe as our library hatched some chicks. And we had a flat tire, which was just a very February thing to have happen.

I’m always happy to see March arrive, because it’s a much more exciting month! I got to debut my Rare Dirndl custom dirndl just in time for Mary Blair March. Chickadee had her final baby teeth pulled. We fell in love with the eaglets on the Big Bear Eagle Cam. Bunny came home for spring break and we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. Turkey turned 22. And just a few days later, Chickadee finally became a teenager! We celebrated the St. Louis Cardinals home opener, which was probably the high point of an otherwise disappointing season. Moose was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, thanks to his excellent grades his first year of college.

April was a fun month. Ryan and I took Chickadee to see the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon The Super Live at The Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis as a late birthday gift. We celebrated Easter. Ladybug, Chickadee, and I went to the St. Louis Zoo for the lantern festival. And back at the zoo during the day, we finally got to see Jet, the zoo’s baby elephant! Bunny presented a 20+ page paper she wrote about Benedict Arnold at the History Undergrad Research Conference at Western Kentucky University and won the top award.

May (or “Big Feelings May” as I like to call it) was A LOT. Moose performed in his spring band concert the same night that Bunny was showered with awards at the WKU history department awards night. We had fun with annual our Star Wars Days celebrations, and then things really got busy. Bunny graduated from Western Kentucky University with a Bachelor’s Degree in history and as Scholar of the Potter College of Arts and Letters. While we were in Bowling Green, Ladybug turned 18 (although we waited to celebrate until we were back home). She also graduated from high school, and my K-12 homeschool, which was very emotional. The two of us went horseback riding as one last homeschool activity. We went on our annual trip to Chicagoland for the 10th anniversary of Combo Breaker, where we all worked hard, put in a lot of hours at the event, but also had some fun along the way.

We began June with “fledge watch” as we waited to see when Sunny and Gizmo, our favorite young eagles, would fly for the first time (6/2 and 6/7 respectively, if you’re curious). Our “Pokémon Summer” kicked off. Moose got to attend the Shriner’s Parade as a spectator instead of as a member of the marching band. I celebrated my birthday. As a birthday treat, we spent the day on a “Hit the Bricks” tour in St. Charles, MO. We also celebrated “Stitch Day.”

July was a pretty quiet month, probably because it was too hot to do much of anything. We did get to spend a fun day at Grant’s Farm. Bunny turned 21! And Chickadee and I went on a very interesting and moving summer school field trip to the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum.

In August, Bunny and I went on the other “Hit the Bricks” tour in St. Charles, MO. We wrapped up our “Pokémon Summer” which was a lot of fun. Ladybug started college! And Chickadee started 8th grade as the only student in my homeschool. Bunny decided against grad school, and instead started working. Turkey began his senior year of college, with plans for dual enrollment as a grad student in the second semester. And Moose started his second year of college. Chickadee and I went on a fun field trip to Busch Stadium. And we had a fun time at Greek Fest at the end of the month.

September means the beginning of Oktoberfest season! But first, Chickadee and I went on a fun field trip to the Central Library and Union Station in St. Louis. Our first Oktoberfest of the season was at Grant’s Farm. Our second Oktoberfest was closer to home on the town square in Belleville. We attended my favorite Oktoberfest in St. Charles, MO. We celebrated Michaelmas, which is one of my favorite church feast days.

Of course in October there were more Oktoberfests, in Soulard and at the St. Louis Zoo. Chickadee and I went on a library crawl, which was fun and unique. We visited the pumpkin patch. We had fun celebrating the 10th anniversary of Legends and Lanterns in St. Charles, MO.

Things really kicked into high gear in November. Chickadee broke her ankle on the seventh anniversary of when I broke mine…that might be the weirdest thing that happened all year! Moose celebrated his 20th birthday. We got to see the Northern Lights again. Chickadee and I attended the Thanks-for-Giving parade in downtown St. Louis for the first time. We baked a lot of pies. We had a nice Thanksgiving. Advent began, and with it, a new Lego project.

And that brings us to December. We kicked off the Christmas season in earnest by going to the Boar’s Head Festival. We celebrated Nikolaustag…and went to Christmas on the Hill on the same day. Moose’s concert band performed a lovely concert that ended with a Christmas favorite, “Sleigh Ride.” Our Christmas School focused on Christmas in Italy, in advance of the 2026 Winter Olympics. We celebrated Santa Lucia Day by going to Christmas Traditions in St. Charles, MO, (if you’re keeping track, that’s a record six visits to historic St. Charles this year!), where we got to visit with Santa Lucia herself. A few days later we attended Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The Fab Five completed Lego Rivendell and we celebrated Christmas!

This was another big year, and next year is looking pretty monumental, too, as Turkey will be graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in mathematics and Chickadee will be starting high school…I’m sure there will be other notable events and fun surprises along the way, and I can’t see what to see 2026 holds for us!