Comings & Goings
We were a busy household last week. Andrew flew to California last Sunday, and Mom and Dad arrived a little after that to help out for a few days. The girls were thrilled to see them, of course. Lucia had a busy schedule of preschool and a birthday party, so Greta got lots of one-on-one time with Gra and Pop-Pop. Both girls were beyond excited last Tuesday, when our Frozen DVD arrived in the mail--we marked the occasion by giving them each Elsa and Anna dolls. Lucia's reaction when she pulled them out of her bag was priceless--a gasp, a scream, a face of total disbelief and joy. She should be excited: these dolls are sold out everywhere. Mom and Dad got the Annas after searching several places in Southwestern PA; and Andrew had made a late-night run to a Target in a nearby town after the Target website claimed to have the Elsas in stock. Neither girl has been without her dolls since.
A highlight of the week was a dance party in the basement, with both Lucia and Greta dancing movingly to emotional Spanish music and pausing now and then to take dramatic bites from a plastic leg of fried chicken.
The weather was nice enough last week to play outside for at least a little while, and the girls rode their scooters. Greta, swept up in the fun of the week, had a great speech therapy appointment last Thursday, stunning the therapist by saying "Mommy," "Daddy," "Pop-Pop," and "Emmie" (the therapist's name). She came home that day and said "bubble." Small but good progress.
Besides the help of Mom and Dad last week, I also had a visit from Rachael, and because of the built-in grandparent help, we were able to spend the day in the city on Wednesday. We went to the math museum (Rachael's choice, obviously), had a large cheese and salumi platter at Eataly, and met Barbra for dinner at Cook Shop. It was such a fun day that we were able to treat what happened next as a rousing adventure--we inadvertently took the wrong train out of Penn Station and wound up a few towns away from Maplewood, in the pouring rain, with no taxis to be found. (We did get a taxi eventually.) Ridiculous.
Mom and Dad left on Friday, and Andrew came home. Though jet-lagged, he gamely agreed to spend the day with the girls on Saturday so Rachael and I could venture again into the city. This time we went to the Frick; walked through Central Park; met Barbra for lunch at Joe's Shanghai; shopped in Soho; and unwisely attempted to find Frozen merchandise at the giant Times Square Toys R Us (everything was completely sold out and we quickly jumped ship). When we got back home (right train this time), the girls were playing outside with Andrew. It was a gorgeous day, the perfect day for some city-wandering.
And on Sunday we met up with Rachael's sister and nieces at the Crayola Experience in Easton, PA. We almost had to leave Greta behind, so enamored was she with the neon-marker light-up blackboards. Lucia's favorite part was a giant-size Lite Brite-type contraption.
Now all our guests have left, and the weather is freezing again. It was such a nice week--a spring-like break from regular life. Today it was so windy the girls were almost blown off their feet.
A highlight of the week was a dance party in the basement, with both Lucia and Greta dancing movingly to emotional Spanish music and pausing now and then to take dramatic bites from a plastic leg of fried chicken.
The weather was nice enough last week to play outside for at least a little while, and the girls rode their scooters. Greta, swept up in the fun of the week, had a great speech therapy appointment last Thursday, stunning the therapist by saying "Mommy," "Daddy," "Pop-Pop," and "Emmie" (the therapist's name). She came home that day and said "bubble." Small but good progress.
Besides the help of Mom and Dad last week, I also had a visit from Rachael, and because of the built-in grandparent help, we were able to spend the day in the city on Wednesday. We went to the math museum (Rachael's choice, obviously), had a large cheese and salumi platter at Eataly, and met Barbra for dinner at Cook Shop. It was such a fun day that we were able to treat what happened next as a rousing adventure--we inadvertently took the wrong train out of Penn Station and wound up a few towns away from Maplewood, in the pouring rain, with no taxis to be found. (We did get a taxi eventually.) Ridiculous.
Mom and Dad left on Friday, and Andrew came home. Though jet-lagged, he gamely agreed to spend the day with the girls on Saturday so Rachael and I could venture again into the city. This time we went to the Frick; walked through Central Park; met Barbra for lunch at Joe's Shanghai; shopped in Soho; and unwisely attempted to find Frozen merchandise at the giant Times Square Toys R Us (everything was completely sold out and we quickly jumped ship). When we got back home (right train this time), the girls were playing outside with Andrew. It was a gorgeous day, the perfect day for some city-wandering.
And on Sunday we met up with Rachael's sister and nieces at the Crayola Experience in Easton, PA. We almost had to leave Greta behind, so enamored was she with the neon-marker light-up blackboards. Lucia's favorite part was a giant-size Lite Brite-type contraption.
Now all our guests have left, and the weather is freezing again. It was such a nice week--a spring-like break from regular life. Today it was so windy the girls were almost blown off their feet.
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