Skipping Town

We left for Paris after school on Friday, Nov. 2. L&G were beyond excited for the flight. So excited, in fact, that they didn't sleep one wink, despite the darkened cabin and despite the sleep-friendly sounds of the airplane. We arrived in Paris around 6:30am on Saturday, well before we were able to get into our apartment. So we hung around the airport, had some pastries from Marks & Spencer, bought Paris Museum Passes from the tourist desk. Eventually, we took a cab into the city. Greta dozed in the cab, but not for long. Our apartment is right on the Seine, in the 6th Arrondisement, right by the Pont Neuf. It couldn't be a better location. We were still too early to meet the apartment owner, so we walked over the Pont Neuf and had coffee and pastries at a (touristy) cafe. Finally we could get into the apartment, which is lovely and huge, with two bedrooms and lots of living space. We settled in for a brief nap; L&G did not sleep at all. They were so overtired bu...

Grets, Happy birthday, Miss G! Finally, it was your day. Yesterday you brought birthday cupcakes and Halloween pencils into your class, which you'd been so excited about. For birthdays, your teacher has every kid write a letter and draw a picture for the birthday girl/boy, which she binds together, so you came home with a lovely book of messages from your classmates. Last night, we let you and Lucia open your presents from Gra and Pop-Pop, Bobby and Nina, and Aunt Katherine. Lots of American Girl stuff (I was tasked with picking out most of the gifts this year from the grandparents), which you both loved. Then--finally--your birthday. Last night I put a new doll dress on Wee Wee and one of your small stuffed cats, and of course put a balloon in your room tied to your desk chair, and balloons at the kitchen table. You got up quite early this morning, and when everyone else got up we went downstairs so you could open your first presents of the day--an American Girl lasagna dinn...

Happy happy birthday, firstborn! You were SO excited about turning nine. You've been waiting for your birthday for months. Every year your excitement and expectations seem more extreme; this year, however, they were easy to fulfill with not too much stress. Your top wish was a new American Girl doll--Tenney--and Greta, too, wanted a new doll for her birthday, Josefina. So a big day out at the American Girl Store was a given. Saturday was a long day to get through, but it actually wound up going quickly because it was our block party. You and Greta got to go to the bounce house early with the little girls who live in the house whose yard sported the bounce house; so that was fun. You got your faces painted and loaded up with glow sticks. Then, finally, it was Sunday, the long-awaited AG Store day. We drove into the city. When we got to the store, you made a beeline for Tenney. (I'd made two calls to the store in the days prior to our visit, nervously checking inventory; Te...

Summer ends, and my blogging goes right out the window. I'll try to do better. We just spent a final weekend in NH. In years past we've gone later into October and even November, but this year, other plans and travels are taking up our time, so this was our last visit of the year. It was gloomy and a bit chilly, perfectly moody. We arrived Friday night, and spent the morning on Saturday hanging around the house and walking in the muddy fields. After lunch, we went to our favorite farm to pick apples and go through the corn maze. We ate one last maple creamee while overlooking the river. The kids each bought a tiny gourd-pumpkin (we can't get big pumpkins yet since the squirrels will eat them). It was just a lovely afternoon. Back home we had steak frites for dinner in the dining room, with candles. And AG dolls. Today we spent the morning doing a long nature hike in the woods. It was drizzling, but in the woods we were protected from the rain. Then we had to clean up an...

Summer is over...but I'll try to keep up the regular posts. Do I say that every year? I might say that every year. But THIS TIME, I mean it. The first day of school was last Thursday. Both girls did great. I walked Lucia to her new school (elementary school is split here, and Lucia's new school is grades 3-5), and got to go into her classroom with her for a few minutes. She has a couple of familiar friends in the class, which makes it easier. But it's a much bigger school and it's definitely strange to be the youngest one again, after leading the pack as a second-grader. She seemed happy, though, and didn't even notice when I left. Andrew got Greta onto the bus to her school, then picked me up outside Lucia's school so we could meet the bus and go into Greta's classroom for a quick visit. She, too, did fine. It's old hat for her this year--she knows where to go, who the teachers are, etc. We're extra thrilled that she has the same teacher Lucia h...

Last day of summer. We were all on edge. L&G swung between playing together happily and trying to kill each other, setting up elaborate slumber parties for their AG dolls and slamming the door in each other's faces. In other words: time for school to begin. Even I, the summer lover, admits it's time they go back. We played Blokus today, and I did laundry. Late in the afternoon the girls got their hair cut, and then we went out for sushi for our final dinner of the summer. Andrew Uber-ed over to meet us. Tonight I have to put names on the school supplies and make sure everything's packed up for tomorrow. I know it'll be chaotic tomorrow, I know that, and I'm really hoping that I won't make a public spectacle of myself like I did last year when Andrew and I rushed to the school to meet the bus and found ourselves--as we do every year--in a crush of people. In my defense, my five-year-old was missing somewhere within that crush of people, but still. I was s...

Summer is on its last legs. L&G slept in today and then played with AG dolls in their rooms for a long time. At noon Lucia had a dentist appointment. When we got home, teacher-assignment letters had arrived in the mail--highly anticipated. We're thrilled that Greta will have the same teacher Lucia did for first and second grades. We don't yet know anything about Lucia's new teachers, but we did find out a couple of friends who will be in her class. Greta says she's ready for school, Lucia says she's nervous. It was really hot outside so we laid low inside. We sorted out all the school supplies. We played Quirkle and Uno (Greta won most of the hands), read a big stack of picture books, practiced piano (Dina Diamond to Greta: WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO AHEAD AND CRY RIGHT NOW SO THE TEARS COOL OFF YOUR FACE?!?), and watched two episodes of The Brady Bunch. (It was so hot inside today that I really didn't have the energy to bring out Dina Diamond; but Greta as...

Sat., 9/1 Our last day on our own. We laid low at home. L&G played a lot. We read some books together. We picked up calzones from the Trattoria for dinner. We'd expected Andrew home at 6pm, but of course that didn't happen, and he ended up with a cancelled flight, a rerouted itinerary, and a later arrival at 10pm. But the girls had been counting on seeing him, so I got them ready for bed and then we watched several episodes of The Brady Bunch, season two, which I'd gotten from the library. It was one of my favorite shows as a kid, and they're just the right age for it, at least for the first two seasons when the kids are younger. They loved it. They can't wait to watch more. For me, it was like watching people move and talk in a totally different world. The things they say! Wear! And Alice! She actually serves them coffee. Like, pours it for them, while in uniform. I watch in awe. I'm looking forward to getting to the really good Jan episodes. Finally ...

Last day of August. This time next week, they'll have finished their first two days of school. There's a very this-is-it feeling in the air, and I can tell that the girls are hunkering down, making the most of every second. This morning Greta woke up earlier than usual--7am--and came into bed for some snuggles. She even went back to sleep for a bit with her leg draped over me. Lucia slept till 10am--school mornings are going to be a tough adjustment. I made Pillsbury cinnamon rolls for breakfast (so delicious, seriously, why don't we have these all the time). We listened to a bunch of Wicked songs in preparation for our Broadway adventure this Sunday (while I read the synopsis from Wikipedia between songs). Then the girls played in their rooms while I organized all the new school clothes we've bought, cleaned the unwearable-for-school stuff out of their drawers, and made a giant bag of outgrown summer clothes. Greta in particular had outgrown 3/4 of her summer clothes...

Wed., 8/29 Another scorching day, but this one was made so much better because we spent the day at Lake Mohawk with friends. One of Lucia's friends' grandparents live there, and we all went out for a few hours in the afternoon. It was a lovely day. We swam in the lake and went out on a boat, journeying across the lake to an ice cream shop on the main street. The kids all had a great time. I'd never been to that part of New Jersey--it was beautiful. I'll get Andrew to start looking at real estate, the logical next step after any good excursion. We got home around 4pm, and since the house was boiling hot without our downstairs AC, L&G played with Playmobil stuff in the basement, and I brought our heated-up leftovers down there to eat. Bedtime again took two hours. I'm trying to be zen about it and just accept it as Where We Are Now, and it's really fine since they can sleep in as long as they want in the morning. But still. Whew. It's a lot of bedtim...

Mon., 8/27 We played Quirkle (me and Lucia) and Blokus (me, Lucia, Greta, and the dolls) in the morning. We went to the pool when it opened and had lunch there. There was some ridiculous squabbling over who would put what on which chairs. (Sigh.) It was a zillion degrees so I swam with them in the middle pool and gave them "challenges" to do--different kinds of handstands, somersaults, etc. The AG dolls accompanied us to the pool and were, yet again, the focus of the day. I made a new recipe--"homemade hamburger helper"--which everyone ate. Tues., 8/28 Another scorching day. Too hot to play outside. I'd recently found in the attic matching girl-and-doll sundresses I'd gotten over Easter at Gabe's and promptly forgot about during the endless freezing spring; so I gave those to them, which they were thrilled with. Lucia and I played Quirkle. We had lunch. We went to the pool for our last swim of the season--we have plans tomorrow and the rest of the ...

Both girls slept late today--Greta till 8:30, Lucia till 9--and after showers and breakfast we headed out to do some shoe shopping. There was an immediate issue with trying to drive out to the stores: Andrew had switched the carseats from harness mode to high-back booster mode, and something had gone awry, and the belts couldn't be fastened around the kids. So I had to take out the carseats (something I've never done) and lug them to the mudroom porch (they are insanely heavy), cursing the seats the whole time. I'm so done with carseats. I'm ordering latching booster seats this week and we are officially retiring these things.  Anyway, after all that, we made it to route 10 and went to DSW and Nordstrom Rack. Both girls needed sneakers, and they wanted to get "fun" shoes as well. They both found sneakers, Greta got a pair of black booties, and Lucia got gold high-top Converse. I also got two pairs of fall shoes for myself. It was a successful trip. The girl...

Andrew, Lucia, Greta, and I went to the Cloisters today to see part of the Met's Heavenly Bodies exhibition. I hadn't been to the Cloisters in years, and Andrew had never been, and it would have been incredible even without the haute couture arranged strikingly throughout the different spaces. My favorites were the Valentinos displayed around one of the courtyards, and my favorite juxtaposition was a Thom Browne wedding dress with a unicorn embroidered across the front, displayed--of course--in the middle of the Unicorn Tapestries. There was also a narwhal horn in that room, which was pretty amazing. L&G picked out teensy colored pencil sets in the gift shop (for their American Girls, of course). After wandering around the galleries and gardens, we went out to lunch at the Tyron Public House, and then drove back home. The rest of the day passed with errands, grocery shopping, and the girls playing outside. They watched Enchanted tonight, and Greta practiced piano. (Don...

Yesterday was an exciting day for the girls: their first sleepover. Lucia and her friend (a year younger in school, but they got to be really good friends on the bus) have been planning this since the end of the school year, and since summer is rapidly ending, I finally made it happen. They had it all planned out: first we'd all go to the pool together, then we'd come home and have dinner and watch a movie and sleep over. And that's what we did. I drove the three girls (L + friend + G) to the pool, but the water was pretty cold and we didn't stay too long. After they had a treat from the snack bar, we came home, and they played with their American Girl dolls before we went out again to pick up a pizza. We had our dinner and then the girls settled in to watch Descendants 2, with all their dolls lined up next to them. The friend had made "popcorn" for her doll from lots of bits of crumpled-up paper. They had a brief dance party to the closing-credit music, and t...

Finally, after a couple days of overcast skies, we got some sun. L&G were again in play mode. We played Quirkle after breakfast, then read a ton of The Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters: Jolly Regina. Then they went downstairs to play in the basement. After two full days of play immersion, the basement looked like a tornado had gone through it. Everything, and I mean everything, was out, and on the floor: piles upon piles of dress-up clothes, dress-up jewelry all over the art table, cushions everywhere, Magna-Tiles and Keva planks everywhere, drifts of paper and pens, play food. With the cleaners coming tomorrow, I anticipated an arduous cleanup, which I warned the girls would be coming at some point. But they were playing, so I went upstairs, and they then began loudly talking about BUILDING A CASTLE and yelled that I shouldn't come back down. When they came to get me to "show me the castle," they brought me downstairs to a pristine playroom. They'd...

Another day at home. We did go to the library briefly this afternoon to exchange some books, but that was it. I tried to get the girls to play outside, but they weren't interested. All they wanted to do was play inside, in the basement playroom. We played Quirkle together, finished The Worst Witch, and read half of The Bland Sisters. Down sides of the day: No one liked the dinner I made (burrito bowls, which I've made several times before with no complaints). Greta refused to practice piano. The library's summer reading program is officially over, though they can still receive prizes through the end of the month. Two weeks till school starts.

Fri., 8/17 Grandma D. turned 99 today, so we went to Beechwood to have some cake and see her and Florence. Then we went to Target for a bit more school-clothes shopping--the girls are fully set now; maybe they'll want some warm things once winter comes, but last year they preferred t-shirts all year in their overheated classrooms. After they tried on clothes, Mom let them buy new PJs for their American Girl dolls. (They had only one set of PJs, and two dolls. The horror.) We left L&G with Mom and Dad at 5pm and headed into Pittsburgh to have dinner with Beth and Nate. Lots of fun as always, and as always, these visits make us want to move to Pittsburgh. After dinner at Noodlehead in Shadyside, we met up with Erin for drinks at the Ace Hotel. We drove home after that. (In our absence, the kids had watched The Greatest Showman with Mom and Dad.) Sat., 8/18 It was a gloomy day, so I wasn't able to ride on the bike trail as I'd hoped to in the morning; but I did get...

This morning I met potential buyers at the Pittsburgh Street house. Always hoping someone falls in love with it like we have. After that, it was Nemacolin day--always fun to drive up into the mountains. Andrew didn't come with us last year, so it was his first time playing mini-golf on the spectacular course. After mini-golf, we went to the wildlife area, but the kids were more interested in playing in the playhouse, and Andrew and I were more interested in lying on a hammock. All good. For lunch, we went to Curt's, further up the mountain, for meals and pie. Later in the afternoon, the girls and I rode bikes to the Sycamore Street house. Lucia put Roary and Carmel Judy in her bike basket, since both of them used to live in the house, and Roary in particular was extremely distraught over the state of the house and its imminent demolition. Lucia seems to understand the heartache of seeing a former home this way--she's truly my child. I hate seeing the house like that, and ...

Another full, fun day. I found a box of old prom jewelry and purses in my closet, which the girls loved playing with. (All of it will join their dress-up bins back in NJ.) Late in the morning, we went to the bike trail for another three-mile ride (the girls and I) while Mom and Dad walked. New bike baskets for the girls arrived yesterday, so they were able to take one of their American Girl dolls along with them. It was pretty hot out, so there was more whining than there was on Sunday, but they still did really well. I still can't believe they're actually riding bikes. It's amazing to me. After our ride, we stopped at the Dollar Tree for various things and then had frozen yogurt at Trailside Treats. Back at home, the girls played, and after a while we went to our family friend's house, where there's a trampoline, playhouse, a motorized child-size tractor, and various wonderful swings. Her two granddaughters were there, and the four kids had so much fun playing ...

Like yesterday (which I forgot to note), I got up early and rode 40 minutes on the bike trail. Today three deer crossed in front of me. It was cool and gloomy, portending rain, so when I got home we decided to make today our day for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Andrew left for work (he's working out of the Pittsburgh office), and a little while later the rest of us set off as well. We stopped for lunch at Eat N' Park first, and then we drove on to the museum. By that time, 1pm or so, the museum parking lot was full, so we had to park in a garage about a mile away. Finally we got into the museum, paid admission, used the bathroom...and then Lucia discovered that her American Girl doll's shoe had disappeared somewhere between the parking garage and the museum. She began to cry, so, alas, I left the museum to retrace our steps and look for the shoe. Fortunately, I only walked about five minutes before spotting it on the sidewalk. Whew. We had a great time at the...