Vacation highlights

We went on a 3 week vacation this summer--one week on the west coast of Washington State, one week east of the mountains in Washington, and one week in the mountains of North Carolina--all to see various family groups. I deliberately picked (mostly) pictures with no family members, because it would be impossible to illustrate the fun we had reconnecting with everyone. It was such a privilege to be able to travel in some of the most beautiful parts of the country and to enjoy it all with those who we love.

Week 1:
The kids were re-acquainted with various forms of wildlife. Low tide always brought new discoveries.

Adaline constructed a beach-front home for herself.Arthur's rope swing wasn't far away...
Week 2:
Swimming in the lake surrounded by mountains was absolutely spectacular. Pictured is the kids going further out than they probably should have.
The kids were exposed to many new vehicles...



We enjoyed cherries (and all sorts of fruits and veggies) grown by family.
And especially enjoyed the grass-fed beef raised in the backyard.

Week 3:

The kids were fearless in their cave climbing in NC...they made all of the adults nervous on many occasions.

There were many natural slides made out of rocks. Arthur never tired of riding them over and over again.

This overview only skims the surface of our experience. I wanted to at least get a little taste of our adventures on here. We're staying busy in our new place and neighborhood, and I've had many failed attempts at uploading these pictures. So this is the best I can do for now...

5th Birthday Party

In our new back yard!

Friends pitched in to do music:

and dancing:
and face painting:Aunt Glenda did the cakes for the 4th time:
Lots of silliness:

And also a picture of Pre-K graduation!

These are pictures at Pratt Institute, an art school in our new neighborhood. Yes, we're moving this week to Clinton Hill! We're busy stoop selling, planning, packing, etc. Maybe we'll find time to post pictures somewhere in there...

Weekend away

Last weekend Jamison preached at a church in Rye, NY, and we took the opportunity to have a family weekend out of the city. We were able to stay in the home of church members who are out of the country. It was wonderful! The house is on a small island with beach access. Here are some pictures...





We already have plans for another night or two away. Jamison is preaching at a church in the Hamptons in a few weeks. I am especially thankful for these opportunities because the kids and I haven't been out of the city since November. It's been a long winter here and Jamison was away a few weeks in February/March. These are much needed nights away as a family. I'm very happy about these trips and about our first days of spring weather. New life is here!

Debuts

A friend of ours is a writer and producer in children's media. She has worked on projects such as Blue's Room and Sesame Street and now a Mother Goose Club series. She particularly likes Arthur's raspy "airy" voice, so she asked our kids to record for her. We went today to a recording studio in a basement in our neighborhood. A friend from Scotland was recording nursery rhymes in his lovely voice when we arrived, so the kids had some time to ask questions and figure out what they would be doing. Since they don't read, our friend read the rhymes, line by line, and the kids repeated. It was really fun to hear their sweet voices over the speaker. They did a great job! I'll keep you updated on their burgeoning careers as animation voice-overs :)

I also had my television debut recently. Last week my friend got tickets to the Letterman show and kindly invited me. We were VIP friends and family of CBS, which meant we were respectfully escorted to the front rows of the balcony (because we were all boring New Yorkers as opposed to the rowdy fans in the bottom section). We had a great view of Letterman--it's a tiny theater--and had lots of fun watching the whole production. It's interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes. Our show aired last week on Wednesday (sorry I haven't blogged in a while). I was the one on the second row of the balcony with the distinguished black turtle-neck (next to my friend with the red turtle-neck). We are waving happily at the camera during the one audience scan. Our one chance to shine...

Actually, I have another potential television debut. I stumbled upon a Gossip Girl filming by Central Park last week (just before the Letterman show). In case you watch the show (and I am NOT admitting whether I do or not), it will be the episode where Blair is in a bright green coat and Chuck Bass is leaning against a limo. I am the girl in the same color green coat strolling behind them along Central Park. (That is, if they happen to keep the take when I was walking past...)

Don't be jealous. The Galts were meant for fame! (Hopefully you are all picking up on my sarcasm.)

Stay-cation*

The kids were out of school this week for winter break, and I desperately wanted to go on vacation. I knew that Jamison would have been gone for a week and that the winter would be at the peak of the it's-never-going-to-end feeling (and our landlord said that he would remodel our bathroom if we could get out of the apartment for a week). But we couldn't "afford" to go out of town, so instead my mom came to visit us. I knew we could make staying home for the break enjoyable with all that NYC has to offer. And we did!

Here is a survey of what we have done since Dad has been gone: We went to a bowling birthday party. We went to the Bronx zoo, Central Park zoo and the NY Aquarium. We went to a marionette puppet show of Sleeping Beauty. We saw South Pacific on Broadway (not the kids). I had a day to myself of reading, writing, and a little shopping. I had a date with a girl friend at a French restaurant and enjoyed cheese fondue. We ate pizza, Egyptian food, Indonesian food, pizza, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and pizza. (I'm looking forward to healthy home-cooking again.) We had lots of other fun things planned, but the kids often opted for train tracks and princesses and play at home. And today the kids are at the Staten Island Children's Museum without me :) Oh, and did I mention that we spent $600 in parking tickets and towing fees yesterday from illegally parking Uncle Marshall's car? What fun. There is a reason I don't own a car...

So our time at home didn't end up saving us much money. I guess we'll have to find a way to "afford" our stay-cation...we hadn't factored in the $600 parking spot. Hidden costs will get you every time. Maybe next time we'll just fork out the money for the plane tickets!

Oh, well. At least Daddy comes home tomorrow!!!!!!!
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*A staycation (or stay-cation, or stacation) is a neologism for a period of time in which an individual or family stays at home and relaxes at home or takes day trips from their home to area attractions. Staycations have achieved high popularity in current hard economic times in which unemployment levels and gas prices are high. (from Wikipedia)

Be My Valentine

The kids and I watched Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown yesterday to celebrate Valentine's Day. I thought it would get them in the mood to make their valentines for their classmates. It ended up being not so celebratory...both kids wept when Charlie Brown did not get a valentine from any one during a school party. And they continued to cry as Charlie Brown faced more disappointment. Do you think they might be a little emotional with their dad out of the country? Although, I had forgotten how cynical and depressing Charlie Brown can be. But still, weeping over it? Poor kids. They started the Valentine's "spirit" with a fear of forgetting a friend's card and a nervousness about receiving cards from others.

I have to admit that I was a little nervous myself. Arthur has attached himself to two girls in his class. They are his "best friends" and he thinks about them and talks about them often. But it has become painfully obvious that the feeling is not mutual. Play dates have ceased. He was not invited to their well-attended birthday party. And then there are the general looks of disinterest and even annoyance. Ouch. It has been painful to know what is (probably) going on while Arthur is oblivious to it. Although I certainly hope that he remains oblivious and doesn't get his sweet heart hurt by them. I couldn't help but think of him when Charlie Brown was so sad. Thankfully there was no drama at school today.

It should come as no surprise that we have the reverse situation with Adaline. The aforementioned J*** loves our daughter. He brings her a drawing or card or little present almost every day. When she walks into class in the morning, he lights up. Then he runs to his backpack to retrieve the gift of the day. He is an absolute sweetheart (and strikingly resembles Arthur in many ways). She definitely has an affection for him and occasionally draws him a picture, but there is no doubt that she will disappoint him eventually. I cringe every time I think about her making him sad. But I can't figure out how to tell her to treat him well, but also not to reciprocate an unhealthy dependent friendship. She's only 4 years old!

Of course, I am without a valentine this year. My husband is 7,000 miles away. (I won't be able to talk to him either--he's taking a little plane to Lalibela in northern Ethiopia this weekend. He said something about riding a donkey up a mountain. Love it!) The good news is that my mom is coming to the rescue tomorrow, so that is my valentine's gift. Thanks, Mom!

Dad took the camera on his trip so we will have no new pictures while he's gone. The kids and I took these goofy pictures before he left so that we could send him a surprise. But he hasn't had internet access so far. We'll send him a surprise anyway, just in case he get a peek at a computer...from his donkey :)...I miss you, valentine!

Ice Skating

The kids have been begging to go ice skating, and we finally went. We started them off in normal blade skates, which were a LOT of work. I can barely stand up myself, so it was quite a challenge to get them to skate with us. Quickly we moved to double-blade skates, which were super fun for the kids. They were able to be independent, but weren't really skating...just sort of slowly gliding along. They could have done that all day, if only Mom had double blade skates. It felt like some one was stabbing daggers into my feet and ankles. Very painful!The kids started off pretty confident when they could balance and walk around easily before we hit the ice.


These pictures are by the lake next to the ice rink, which are all in our park. Today we had to say goodbye to Daddy for 16 days. He is traveling to Ethiopia with our church on a medical missions trip. The kids are very excited that their dad gets to go to Africa to "help people." We will miss him a lot!