Girls Meet Bridge

We had nothing to do last Sunday, so I got the bright idea of finally walking across the Brooklyn Bridge with the girls. 

Although they mostly enjoyed it, I have the distinct impression that no one but me actually cared very much about walking across the bridge.

When we got to the Manhattan side we hung out for a bit at the beautiful fountain in City Hall Park and then headed for food and air conditioning at the Seaport. We chose the most convenient and air conditioned place and settled in for lunch before taking the subway back to Brooklyn.

So, did they like the adventure? 

Not unless "I never want to do this again" has a secret meaning.

Our Favorite Summer Event

On Saturday we joined family and friends at what has become our favorite summer event... The Belmont Pool Party.

By now the girls are old pros at this. They know the routine... pool, cousins, dogs, pool, food, pool, presents, pool and dessert.

And they know the house ("Wow, you can get lost in that place. It's like a maze!" - Stella)

It was a beautiful day and the 4 kids barely left the pool. This year Marni finally graduated to jumping off the diving board (like Stella did last year). And Delia was content with diving in from the edge of the pool.

As always, Joel and Adriane threw another wonderful summer spectacular.

The photos speak for themselves.

Real Campers of New Jersey

Before the tears.

Last October the Shepards went out to New Jersey to hang with the Hoffmans at their summer camp's open house. It was just supposed to be an afternoon of free hot dogs and fun for the kids.

Well, the free hot dogs ended up costing us $3000 because we were so taken with the camp that we signed up Stella and Marni for three weeks.

None of this would have been possible if not for the fact that Jill and Brian foolishly graciously agreed to let the girls stay at their house during camp time.

Fast forward nine months to July...

Yesterday we packed up the kids and headed out to New Jersey to start their summer camp adventure. Tyler and Delia were giddy with excitement at the prospect of having their cousins stay with them for three weeks. Stella and Marni were nervously excited as well.

Nerves got the better of the girls as bed time approached, and it took quite a while to get Stella and Marni to sleep.

All was going swell the next morning and the kids were ready and waiting outside for their camp bus.

But then the bus showed up, and everything went to hell

Stella and Marni had massive meltdowns when it came time to get on the bus.  I actually had to pry terror-stricken Marni off of me as I tried to escape the bus. (Regular readers of this blog will remember a very similar incident with Marni.)

They were not the happiest of campers.

Lisa and I headed back to New York and an hour later we got a report from Jill that the bus driver said the girls calmed down within minutes, and all was okay.

I kept my fingers crossed for when they returned at 5.

Like clockwork I got a video Skype call in my office from four ecstatic children just back from camp. The first thing Marni yelled to me was "I loved camp!" Stella had the same general opinion.

So I breathed a sigh of relief.

Day 1, done.

Now we'll see how Jill and Brian do on day 2 without us.

Pillow Talk

Lisa brought our tiny dancers to her beloved Jacob's Pillow Dance last week to show them where it all began. (Beginning when Lisa was 15 she spent two summers at Jacob's Pillow perfecting her dance skills.)


The girls joined mama at a modern dance workshop and then headed out for a tour of the school. The rest of the day was spent dancing and watching dancing. But if you ask the girls, the best part of the day was the scavenger hunt!


Be sure to check out Marni's fantastic African dance moves in the video below.

Lisa attends a modern dance workshop