Category Archives for Family

Concert on the Common

It was a beautiful night for an outdoor concert, although a lost 3-year-old freaked out the crowd for a few minutes (he was found!).  The bass player in the band is someone I know from town, and I heard that he’d had a heart attack about  a week ago, but there he was on stage.  After the concert I went to say hi and he kissed me on the cheek.  Adlani went running to Ben and said, “DAD!  Mom just KISSED that guy!  Do you know what this MEANS?!  She’s going to BREAK UP with you!!!”  🙂

The unsolved mystery…why can’t I take one picture of 5 kids without somebody making a weird face?

York Beach, Maine

Last weekend we made a last-minute decision to go to York because it was such a beautiful day. Aliya and I walked in the Quannopowitt 5K in memory of my coworker’s wife, so we were half-way to Maine anyway. We took Ben’s niece Rasha along, who is visiting from Holland. Ben forgot Aliya’s bathing suit so he had to go buy her one and she fit into a women’s size small. Ok…time is starting to fly now.

Norah Rides the Bus (Alone!)

Yes, I am aware that the last time I posted we were on vacation and I have neglected to post about the rest of our vacation and the days that have passed since we got home.  But I’m trying to let go of having to post things in order because otherwise I’ll never post another thing.

Today was Norah’s first day at her summer program, which is a half-day class taught in Spanish.  She’s signed up for the next 3 weeks, and I’ll have to say, it was QUIET without her in the house this morning.  That kid really needs scheduled entertainment or she makes her own, usually by driving her brother and sister to the brink of violence (and sometimes beyond).

I was a little worried that Norah wouldn’t want to ride the school bus because she would be going alone.  It was a first for her…she usually has at least one sibling with her or she’s familiar with the venue because she has been there before.  The program is at a different school this summer – one that she has never been to, and her teacher is someone the other kids never had.  I didn’t know of any friends who would be there, and I didn’t know any other kids on the bus.

This morning she was asking about her seatbelt on the bus, and I told her that I’d buckle it for her.  She said, “No, I’ll do it myself because no moms are coming on the bus.”  The bus came, she jumped right on, sat in the first empty seat, and waved goodbye.  No problem!  When the bus brought her home, some other kids got off and I asked the bus driver if she had another one.  Her answer…”No…”  Luckily Norah was sitting in the front seat so I extracted her from the bus – she seemed to have no intentions of getting off.  I wonder what the bus driver would have done with her if she ended up with a leftover.

She’s really excited to go back tomorrow, and so are we!

And in a totally unrelated clip (except that I took it today), I was talking to one of my coworkers about a typewriter, and decided to ask my technology consultants if they knew what a typewriter was.  I ended up with a glimpse into my life that I can share with you and save for posterity. There is a reason that I’m insane. Three reasons. Four, actually.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoSa0AhsqoI?rel=0&w=490&h=309]

Summer Road Trip 2011 – Knoxville Zoo & Grassy Cove

We left Asheville Friday morning to make the short (3-hour) trip to Grassy Cove, Tennessee. We said that we’d be there around dinner time, so we decided to stop at the Knoxville Zoo (yet another freebie). It’s a really nice zoo but we were kind of getting zooed-out. The kids still had fun, and the highlight was the gorilla who was ticked off that he couldn’t go outside and kept hitting the door and running and sliding on the hay in his enclosure. We finally left the zoo at 5ish and drove the rest of the way to my brother and sister-in-law’s house. My mother and stepfather are also here so the kids have lots of people to entertain them.

Today we went to the Fiddlers’ Jamboree in Smithville, Tennessee. After listening to kids playing bluegrass music all day, Aliya has finally decided on her instrument for lessons next year – the violin. It was a fun day but SO HOT. I don’t remember when I’ve ever sweated that much in my life. We stopped for dinner on the way home and everyone is finally asleep again. Ahhhhh.

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