Less than 12 hours after the girls returned to Brooklyn from summer camp in New Jersey...
woosh...
they were back in the car and heading up to Maine for their August adventure.
This year we decided to go straight up to Maine and bypass the overnight at Nana and Papa's house in Natick. So, seven hours later, Goldie pulled up to the cottage and our Maine adventure began.
Saturday: We didn't get to Old Orchard until about 5 PM. Nana and Papa were already there and the girls quickly scampered out of the car to reacquaint themselves with their summer home. There was a new couch, some rearranged furniture, a beautiful new set of doors on the garage, and a really great landscaping job courtesy of Cousin Linder. The car was quickly unpacked and off we went to our first meal at Huot's in Camp Ellis.
Sunday: The weather turned rainy so the girls finally got to see "Brave" at CineMagic in Saco. Stella gave it two thumbs up, but meek Marni was a little scared by the more intense scenes, so she didn't give it a favorable review.
Monday: On Monday we finally made it to the beach and the girls demonstrated their new-found swimming confidence by diving into the waves and body surfing. After we dragged them off the beach and cleaned them up, we headed to miniature golf. Daddy won (as usual), but Stella was the only Shepard to get a hole-in-one.
Tuesday: On Tuesday Stella and Marni got to do their favorite thing... crabbing. But our timing was bad and when we showed up at the dock in Camp Ellis, it was absolute low tide. The dock was so low that it was actually sitting on the bottom of the bay. There were few crabs to be found. We stayed for an hour, but only caught two little monsters. Ice cream managed to make everyone feel better afterwards.
Wednesday: On Wednesday history was made when the four Shepards rode together on their own bikes for the very first time. We drove over to the Eastern Trail, mounted up, and headed out for a 5 mile ride through the beautiful Maine scenery. The girls did fantastic! Neither one had ridden any serious distances before, and they did 5 miles without a whimper. There was an incident though (we love incidents). Marni got cut off by Stella and veered off the path, down the embankment, and into the brush. It happened in slow motion as Lisa and I watched. We both thought she would stop after she hit the first plants, but she just kept going and going and eventually fell over in the thick of it. Luckily, the brush cushioned her fall and didn't contain any thorns. She was shaken up but not hurt. After a few minutes, brave Marni was back on her bike and riding again.
Thursday: Just a lazy beach day. Not much to report.
Marni hydrates with the Camelback
Friday: Friday was hiking day. We loaded up with snacks and lunch, filled
Daddy's Camelback with Gatorade, and headed for our favorite hiking
location in Cape Elizabeth. Again, the girls did great... and no one
ended up in the brush.
Saturday: Saturday was Stella's first on-street bike ride as we headed a mile down
the road to The Salty Bay for lunch. Marni opted out of the event and,
instead, rode on the back of Lisa's bike. Once again Stella did
fantastic! She kept up a great pace and wasn't nervous about the cars
whizzing by. Nana and Papa, and Karen and Glenn joined us for lunch and for the weekend. Eventually everyone ended up at the beach and there was a lot of splashing going on. Stella, Marni, and Papa did some amazing body surfing. Later, we all headed to the Blackpoint Inn to celebrate Nana Bev's birthday.
Marni and Bess
Sunday: On Sunday, Marni's classmate Bess and her family dropped by on their way to their vacation in Belfast. We kept it a surprise for Marni and she was overjoyed (and a little confused) when her friend showed up. Everyone headed to the beach again for many hours of fun.
Monday: Daddy was supposed to be on a 6 AM plane home on Monday, but the flight was cancelled the night before. Eventually Nana and Papa drove me to an Amtrak station outside of Boston. But not even Amtrak could get me home in time as my train was terminated at New Haven due to storm damage on the tracks. I finally got to the office at 4:30. Joy.
So I think the theme for week 1 was "independence". Both girls now dress themselves and groom themselves without assistance. They bike without fear and they dive into the waves without hesitation.
They are a lot of fun to be around.
Waiting to eat at Huot's
The hike in Cape Elizabeth
Lisa almost gets hit by a clam dropped by a seagull.
Making friends with Wilbur at the local hardware store
The first family bike ride
Annual measuring
Papa is not too concerned about the granddaughter in the surf
When last we left our intrepid campers, they had an up and down first day. More accurately... a down and then up first day. The terror of getting on the bus gave way to the joy of fun, fun, fun!
There were no more tantrums, and eventually a morning and evening routine was established. It wasn't all smooth sailing though. Marni became a little anxious about sleeping away from home and some extra TLC had to be administered by Aunt Jill.
So, three weeks later, camp is over and the girls have moved out of Jill and Brian's house.
Now, the final verdict is in... Four enthusiastic thumbs up from Stella and Marni. They absolutely loved Oak Crest Camp, and they loved staying with their cousins.
And none of this would have been possible without the help of Jill and Brian for which they have our eternal gratitude.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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