just a few days after completing the previous entry of this epic story, i snapped the following picture. little did i know it was simply the beginning of a princess phase that may or may not last for the next 2-to-80+ years.
who among you wouldn't storm a castle for this face?
it was an amazing summer including a whole month at aunt sussie's lake house where Z swam every day...
parker took up paddle boarding, solidifying his new-found bravado in the water...
family canoe trips were the norm...
(or we did it once. i don't recall)
and nothing says "we don't have anything we have to do today" like a family bike ride...
look! it's all of us! in a photo!
a seemingly avoidable rarity.
but what's a heavenly place like the lake house without a few best friends to make it even heavenlyer...
clockwise from left:
parker, deb, doni, amir, david, eliza, margaret, ellen, baby Z, maya, & eli.
not pictured:
me (operating the camera thingy) & max (sleeping or sitting behind margaret. not sure.)
then there was this
specialist of special moments that i just couldn't leave out...
parker and maya
the only question with a
summer like this was how to finish it on an even higher note. fortunately,
uncle ed provided the perfect answer: an unforgettable week-long rafting trip
through the grand canyon with the helms', the thomas's (minus ellen and our little ones unfortunately), and the newest branch to the family - the wildly entertaining bastian clan.
day 1
the last time we'd be dry for a week.
if i had a job...
i would have been...
at my desk.
little did we know* at
the time, but later that year, ed would ask the lovely sarah bastian to marry
him and she would say yes.
(*we all sort of knew.)
congratulations and thank you.
back in the "real" world, parker's love of all-things-lego continues unabated and routinely hits new heights of creativity including his unassisted use of shifters as windshield wipers.
instructions are helpful but creativity is limitless.
in september, parker started his third year at "the family school", Z started her first,
and charlotte started getting team-walked on a regular basis...
if you think it's hard getting two kids to smile for
the camera at the same time, try two kids and a dog.
of course, no span of time is too short between visits from the splendiferous aunt pam whose bravery under this clearly vicious attack by two adoring toddlers is commendable indeed.
throw in the frequent, welcome and irreplaceable presence of aunt sussie and uncle alan and you've got two very fortunate children indeed.
happy birthday to alan,
and many more.
next up: halloween.
what did Z dress up as, you ask, as if there was an even CLOSE second choice?
and who, pray tell, would arrest such a fair princess?
why, the incorruptible officer parker delgado havlan of course.
having a genuine statue of balzac in your living
room calls for the very highest levels of security.
since we got into the habit of taking nice pictures of all of us together...
try to ignore the photo-bombing pigeon.
just try.
and just for good measure,
here's parker d. with his best friend, lucas.
like peas in a pod, these two.
new york city isn't of
much use if you don't use it, and thanks to mommy we do just that: plays,
playgrounds, playdates, camp, classes, the zoo, the other zoo, and museums
museums museums!
in fact...
we never MET a museum we didn't like.
(yeah, i said it!)
a lovely thanksgiving
found us at sus and alan's with the boston helms's, and the year wrapped up
with the fifth annual...
south of the border christmas!
this year was in akumal, mexico.
our week featured all the usual
activities that go hand-in-hand with such an outing, including...
beach time
pool time
play time
art time
girl time
boy time
uncle time
and toy time.
there was almost every kind of time, but there was no time like the time baby Z pushed everyone in the pool...
(http://bit.ly/17MbUpk)
and then, out of nowhere, just like that...
somebody turned 5
happy birthday, little man.
so, what's mommy up to?
working as hard as ever to
make sure a particularly lucky school full of students eat fresh, local,
sustainable food.
YUM!!
she's also seeing friends and family (whenever possible), making it to an impressive number of broadway plays, and
nurturing her love of music with the welcome accompaniment of aunt sus...
performing at the jalopy theater in brooklyn.
what's daddy up to now that he's presumably not up to anything?
excellent question.
he's (i'm) actually sort of busier than ever - getting the little ones geared up and out the door for our 7-block walk to school everyday, trying desperately to catch up on the life i didn't realize i was somewhat neglecting for these many years, and enthusiastically writing things i hope will one day be made public and perhaps even enjoyed by said public.
oh, and there's also my ongoing, friendly neighborhood poker game at which i enjoy many hours of side-splitting fun with great friends and every now and then i steal some of their money by hitting quad kings when two of them are unlucky enough to hit quad 4's and an aces boat.
YIKES!
(for them)
now then, about that song you've been waiting for. this time around i think we all know the lyrics, so i'll just let baby Z take it from here with a little help from aunt sussie. i give you...
(http://bit.ly/1Ccb0eJ)
'til next time...
