Sunday, September 26, 2010

Oh the Places They'll Go (AKA Anna & Tim get married!)

One thing you can count on here in Washington, DC is that Labor Day weekend will be "blessed" with terrible weather. 9.9999 times out of 10, it's blisteringly hot. And then it rains. I honestly can't remember an exception.

Until this year.

Anna and her bridal party, walking from the home she grew up in to the wedding ceremony. Many a neighbor came out to see the precession.

Lily and flower girl, Nina, waiting to greet the "big girls."

Labor Day weekend this year was truly blessed with the most delicious weather ever. Crisp blue skies. Big, fluffy white clouds. Cool breezes. Just the right touch of warm sun. Clearly someone upstairs knew that Anna and Tim were getting married, and that they deserved a little good weather. Boy oh boy did they get it!



This wedding rounded out our summer trifecta...the triple crown of wedding summers. My "baby" cousin tied the knot in a lovely ceremony followed by fantastic party. It was the only ceremony where both of my girls not only walked down the aisle but wore confident smiles as they did (clearly 2 1/2 months makes all the difference when you're 2 years old...). It was also the only ceremony that didn't allow for photography. Take my word, though, they nailed their flower girl duties!




The only snafu, if you will, was my Anna's insistence on going up with me when I did my reading. Given that it was a passage from none other than Dr. Seuss' "Oh the Places You'll Go," it was, perhaps, fitting that I'd have one of my girls with me. I had, after all, practiced those Seussical tongue-twisters on them at bedtime.




The wedding and reception were as glorious as was the weather that day. Given that I really do remember my cousin Anna as a baby, it was a surreal feeling to see her as a bride. And although I still have to do a double take when I see the foot-and-a-half difference between her and her groom (yes, this is what happens when a gymnast marries a basketball player!), I couldn't help but smile as they danced the night away.

Oh the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss

On you will go though the weather be foul. 


On you will go though your enemies prowl.


On you will go though the hakken kraks howl.

Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike.

And I know you'll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.

You'll get mixed up, of course, as you already know.

You'll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go.

So be sure when you step.

Step with care and great tact and remember that life's a great balancing act.

Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.

And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?

Yes! You will, indeed!

You'll move mountains!

You're off to great places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting. 


So ...get on your way!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

The O.C.

Ocean City, NJ that is.

Anna and the twins, Abby and Beth.


Anna spent 3 days challenging the waves to "get me you wave!" and then running from them...

To celebrate the end of summer, and to help us mentally prepare for the beginning of kindergarten, we packed up the car (with an amazing amount of stuff, considering we were only going away for 3 nights) and hit the road...bound for the beach (or the shore as my NJ/PA friends call it) to visit my best Bryn Mawr bud, Jamie, and her brood at their new vacation home.

It was the PERFECT getaway.

Sweet little Abby (twin A).

A butterfly that landed on our sand fort and would. not. leave.

My girls with dare devil Beth (twin B), who is almost as curly as Anna.


Well, almost perfect.

Anna required a trip to urgent care on Day 1 where she was diagnosed with a massive sinus infection.

And Lily and I almost got swept away with the rip tide on Day 2. For real. And since no life guards were on duty that day (note to self, week before labor day might not be the safest for the NJ beaches), Noah had to come to our rescue. I've never heard so many "I love you Mommy" declarations come out of Lily's mouth. After the fact, she confessed that she thought we were going to die (we did get wiped out by a few waves while waiting for our rescue...THANK GOD she does follow directions well under duress and is an expert breath holder). OK, so I failed the parenting test that day...and am now wondering how many years of therapy I added to her tab.

In spite of those two incidents, it was an awesome trip. The kids had Jamie's twins to play with. Noah had Dan to play with. Jamie and I had each other. And lots of mojitos.

Beth may look innocent, but she's trouble (almost as much trouble as my girls!).




I can't imagine a better way to travel...and I'm quite certain that it'll become an annual event!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Mr. and Mrs. "E" go to Washington...

Six weeks after their NYC nuptials, Sara and Leon treated us to a visit here in DC. It was such fun to see them -- away from hundreds of wedding guests where we had them all to ourselves -- and really get to catch up. Given that they are headed across the pond in a few months (for a few years!), we relished every minute.



Since they're used to the fast pace of a Manhattan life, we put them through the ringer here. Saturday morning farmer's market. Swimming session at my mother's house. Sunday brunch with an old friend of theirs (maid of honor and Washington Post super star Rachel!). A few little girl melt downs here and there. And we topped it all off with a trip to the Arlington Co. Fair.





Where we ate tons of junk food.

What's not to love -- GIANT ice cream cone WITH jimmies!

Sara opted for the caramel apple.

Anna stole Lily's cone half way through...

Yum...

And where Lily won a fish.*

By tossing very bouncy golf balls in to little glass vases with very small openings. In spite of no parental assistance, she actually got one ball in to a vase. And all it took was one.


BOO...

It was great to have Sara and Leon here, even though the weekend flew by!

* Said fish, dubbed "Sunny Ray" is, sadly, no longer. RIP little guy.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

THE. BIG. DAY.

Hard to believe, but we made it to kindergarten! Lily is officially a Nottingham Knight.



I distinctly remember pieces of my kindergarten year. After all, it was during that time that I lost my first tooth...got a baby brother...and contracted my first (and sadly not last) case of head lice.

But for the life of me, I cannot remember my first day of kindergarten...

Fear not, I think that I relived that day today. I don't know who was more nervous, Lily or me. Thankfully we both survived. And when asked for her daily "rose" (best part of the day), without hesitation Lily's response was "Kindergarten, silly! The whole day!!"

(Let me pause for a BIG sigh of relief...)


Lining up to go in to the classroom

A little stunned by the chaos that is the kindergarten and first grade morning gym gathering... (made exponentially more chaotic today thanks to lots of parents and even more cameras)

Lily has a friend, Quinn, from her Montessori school who is in the kindergarten classroom next to hers. In that same classroom is her "best friend" from camp (a little girl whose name I had not heard until the kindergarten open house, mind you, yet she and Lily treat each other as if they were long lost loves). And when I picked Lily up tonight, she was surrounded by new friends. Surrounded. We even spotted her new teacher, Mrs. Toner, out on her evening walk, strolling past our house tonight!

Anna with the school mosaic.


After a nice dinner at home, followed by an ice cream outing to Baskin Robbins to celebrate this milestone, Lily collapsed. Apparently she had had enough of using good behavior. Her body hit empty and just let loose. Hey, I guess I can handle an outburst here and there in exchange for a pretty excellent day, over all.

Here's hoping day #2 goes as smoothly!

Lily with new friends and old...

Fellow Montessorians...Lily and Quinn!

Anna even got in on some of the action.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Facelift

Before...


And after...complete with a dead dogwood and dead redbud in the front yard (they will be replaced once this god awful heat is replaced by some more civilized weather).




Ok, so it's a little bit more than a facelift. Consider it a transplant.

 
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