It appears that the Asanovic/Shepard/Stefanoff-Imhoff clans have settled on three annual get-togethers per year.
The first get-together is on New Year's Day.
Get-together number two is in June or July and centers around a beach or an amusement park (or both).
And get-together three is in the fall and involves apple or pumpkin picking.
On June 10th we headed for Rye Playland at the suggestion of Lisa Asanovic. I don't think any of us had ever been there before and it turned out to be a perfect destination.
Since we loaded up with unlimited ride passes, the girls were able to ride as much as they pleased. And they did!
At one point, Stella and Marni shuttled between the Family Flyer and the Sky Skater, on their own, for almost an hour as Lisa and I just relaxed on a bench.
Around 6 we headed for the Tiki Bar for dinner. The Shepard and Asanovic kids demolished a large serving of steamers and the adults got sloshed.
As the sun set, the prerequisite group photo was taken and everyone headed for home.
The Shepard family unanimously agrees that Rye Playland is the nicest amusement park we've been to!
I almost forgot to post about Stella's latest missing tooth.
Every missing tooth has a story, and this is no exception. Tooth number eight was knocked out on May 24th by friend Rosie while at Beansprouts. We all considered this a public service.
Not my real work
Stella had no problem with it either.
Since we were going to Maine the next day, Stella requested that the tooth fairy give her the money at the cottage.
Luckily the tooth fairy got the message and Stella received a five dollar bill, in the shape of an origami heart, under her pillow at the cottage.
It was time again for the annual PTA Art Extortion Fair.
This is where the PTA has your kids paint something and then you have to buy it back from them. It sounds borderline illegal to me. But I guess it's worth it.
Below are Stella and Marni's contributions to the cause.
They keep getting better and better every year. I'm a little troubled by the dark undertones of Marni's artwork though. I hope I don't wake up one night to find her standing over me with a hatchet.
(Disclaimer: After I posted Marni's artwork, she informed me that it was a picture of a bunny and that it was upside down. So I flipped it the way she intended it to be... even though her name is upside down.)
I remember well from my childhood when recital time rolled around at the Shepard home in Natick. My sister would emerge from the house dressed in some insanely bright-colored outfit and head for the front lawn for photos and movies.
She would do some moves and strike some poses for the still camera and for the 8mm movie camera, and then we would pack into the car and head to the recital venue.
(Please note... those home movies still exist!)
Flash forward 40 years, and now our little Marni has been swept into the recital circuit.
Yesterday Marni performed two numbers at the annual Creative Arts Studio dance recital.
Hip Hop and Tap.
So, how did she do?
She crushed it!
But don't trust the opinion of a proud papa. Take a look for yourself.
The new Shepard policy of no birthday parties in the house rolled onward with Stella and 11 friends yesterday at the always-popular Bounce-U.
Five years ago Marni missed her first birthday party due to a high fever that sent her to the hospital. Yesterday, Stella's birthday bash was nearly cancelled because Stella was still hanging onto a week-long fever.
We kept Stella home from school (again) in hopes that rest (and Motrin) would allow her to rally for the big event.
It was going to happen with or without her.
Luckily, by 2:30 Stella was rested, fever-free, and raring to go.
After viewing the mandatory safety video, the girls were led into bounce room 1 and the party got started.
I've never been to Bounce-U before, and I have to say that it's pretty cool. The girls ran from one bounce-castle to the next with Lisa and I following (and joining) along.
After 40 minutes in room 1, we were moved to the even more awesome room 2 which included an amazing climbing tower.
After another 40 minutes, the sweaty dozen were herded into the party room for pizza, soda and cake.
The final tally... 5 bandages dispensed. 1 ice pack applied. 1 nose bleed attended to.
Five years ago a construction project started just inches away from our apartment, on property that once was a BP gas station. Actually, the construction project for a 12-story apartment building was so close to our home that part of our patio was taken over by the construction company.
All was going well until the smell came back, worse than ever.
We were able to keep the fumes at bay by closing all the windows and running the air conditioners 24/7. But, on April 26th, the smell got unbearable. Several people in the building called 311. Others wrote urgent emails to the co-op board to find out what was happening and what they could do to be safe from the fumes. We decided to evacuate and I rushed home from work.
Unfortunately, all the hotels in Park Slope were booked. Eventually I was able to find a Days Inn in nearby Sunset Park that had a room available for Thursday and Friday. Lisa and I hurriedly packed our stuff and headed out to pick up the kids at Beansprouts.
The kids were excited to be staying at a hotel, but mommy and daddy were a little less than thrilled with our accommodations. Parking was nonexistent. The front desk was enclosed in bulletproof glass. And, as we headed up to our room, a questionably insane woman in the elevator leaned over to Lisa and told her the rooms had bedbugs. Just what we needed.
The room was tiny. The blankets were disgusting. Lisa and I put up a brave front to keep the kids happy. And we went to bed.
Breakfast at Days Inn
We survived the first night. Stella and Marni were overjoyed to eat breakfast in the little hotel restaurant.
After breakfast I packed up the kids and drove back to the apartment. From there we went to school as usual.
Luckily, Friday was a very breezy day and the smell dissipated. We decided to forego the hotel room and stayed at home.
The following Wednesday the smell returned and Lisa booked a hotel room for three days at a nearby La Quinta Inn. So, again, we evacuated.
Breakfast at La Quinta
The La Quinta ended up being pretty acceptable. Larger room. Less scummy. And in our neighborhood.
We stayed there three nights and then headed to Albany for the weekend.
On Sunday night we checked into Hotel Le Bleu which is directly across the street from our apartment. We instantly fell in love with the snazzy accommodations. Big room. Great beds. Cool bathroom. And a nice restaurant on the roof of the building.
Ever since the first evacuation we had decided to look for a short-term sublet so we could escape the fumes for a month or two. Our luck changed for the better when we found out that a fellow PS 39 family had an empty apartment in their brownstone that we could move into.
And so, on Monday, we moved a bunch of our stuff into our new, temporary home in Park Slope.
Now we have a little bit of stability while we wait for the foundation work to be completed at the construction site.
The girls are happy. Lisa is coping. I am relieved.
In a couple of months we will look back at this challenge and chuckle. Maybe.
But, for now, the important thing is that we are okay.
PS... There were no bedbugs.
This post contains video that is only viewable from the website.
It took 6 years, but I finally got Marni's birthday party out of the house... and into a bowling alley.
Previous parties have been wonderful, but have left the apartment in a shambles.
This year Lisa relented and, after checking out several venues, we settled on Maple Lanes... a nearby Brooklyn bowling alley.
On Saturday, April 21st, the tiny bowlers spread across three lanes and bowled their little hearts out for an hour before retiring to the private party room for lunch and cake.
As the cheery party guests headed home, the Shepard and Hoffman families jumped into their cars and headed for part 2 of the birthday festivities... Coney Island.
The 4 cousins whipped through the 40 dollars of ride tickets in record time. Once that was done we moved over to Nathan's for an early dinner of hot dogs and fries.
The next day Marni got her new bicycle from Nana and Papa, and completed a scavenger hunt in the apartment to find all her presents from mommy and daddy.
And so ended the most tranquil and stress-free birthday in Shepard family history.
The party guests
Coney Island
Sitting with the loot
The new bike
This post contains video that is only viewable from the website.
As her birthday drew closer she would make us watch the how-to video more and more often.
Lisa and I determined that we could probably handle the challenge, but decided to make a practice cake a week before her actual party... just in case.
So a week before her party (and while the kids were visiting with their grandparents) we undertook the practice cake.
Practice cake
Lisa gathered the ingredients and baked the 4 layers. I spent the night decorating. When the confectioners sugar settled, we ended up with a cake that pretty well matched the video. We marveled at it for a while and then gave it to neighbors because we didn't want the girls to see it when they got home.
A few days before her party, Marni began to complain that she didn't see enough cake-making action on our part. She was beginning to worry that we weren't actually going to make a cake. Two days before Marni's party we gathered more ingredients and tweaked our process. And the night before her party we once again crafted a princess castle cake.
The final cake
Cake #2 came out much better. Stella and Marni were appropriately impressed.
Needless to say, the cake was a big hit at the party the next day. We even had some requests to make cakes for other parties.
No thanks.
Now we move on to Stella's party. Originally she requested that we make the same cake for her. But lately she has changed her mind and has opted for an ice cream cake.
The other morning I was walking down the street with Marni. As usual, she was non-stop talking.
At one point she asked me about the black writing that you see on some trucks. She didn't like it. I eventually figured out that she meant graffiti. I told her that it was writing that some people did on other people's property, and I showed her an example on a nearby wall.
She thought for a moment and then told me it reminded her of when the Jews painted their doors with blood at Passover.
Just about six years ago, Marni had the doctors at NYU Medical Center rushing into the delivery room because she was in a hurry to be born.
Fast forward to April 7, 2012.
After watching big sister Stella ride around on her two-wheel bike in the park across the street, Marni decided it was time for her to try biking without training wheels. So she asked me to help her take a spin on Stella's bike.
She did a couple of laps with me holding onto her shoulders, and then I asked if it was okay to let go. She said yes, and away she went.
Marni successfully rode to the end of the handball court before coming to a bumpy, but safe, stop.
Immediately she demanded I go home to get a screwdriver and remove the training wheels on her own bike.
A few minutes later I returned with the necessary tool and took off Marni's training wheels. She mounted up. I gave her a push. And Marni graduated to the world of big-kid biking.
We visited the playground three times that day, and once the next day so Marni could practice her biking. Within 24 hours, Marni had become a seasoned bicyclist.
To put things into perspective, it took Stella a month to learn how to ride without training wheels. It took her until just a few weeks ago for her to figure out how to start without a push. Marni did it in less than an hour.
Social Studies has arrived at Marni's kindergarten class. Each student was asked to describe the history of their family. Where they are from. What their traditions are. You get the picture.
Evidently, Marni was interviewed about her family, and the results of the interview were posted on the classroom bulletin board along with all the other family histories.
Lisa stumbled across Marni's family history on a recent visit to the classroom and took a picture of it.
For the record... daddy is NOT from "upstate", and Marni has never been to Israel. But I guess a 60% accuracy rate isn't bad for a 5 year old.
And, as Lisa says, this is why you don't put children on the witness stand.
Marni's been taking hip-hop dance class for about a year now. The results have been pretty damn entertaining. She's actually quite good at it.
Last week was "observation day" for parents to come and see what their little hoofers have been learning.
All the new eyeballs watching them resulted in a bit of stage fright from the students, but the teacher soon loosened them up and the dance floor at Creative Arts Studio soon looked like the Nickelodeon version of So You Think You Can Dance.
Below is some video of a number that they've been working on. Keep your eyes peeled at the end for a special guest performer.
This sweet thank you note was left for us on our bed last night by Stella. She insisted we read it before she went to sleep. It's so nice to have a kid that can write to you!
In case you can't decipher Stella's work-in-progress handwriting, it says:
Dear Mom and Dad, Dad, Thank you for teaching me how to make 3D shapes. Dear Mom - Mom, Thank you for being nice to me when Daddy's away. To: Dad To: Mom From Stella
On the right hand side there's an example of a 3D shape and a picture of Lisa being nice to Stella.
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