Field Trip... Two Years Later

In March of 2009 I accompanied Stella and her Pre-K class on a field trip to the Brooklyn Museum. Fast forward two years and now I'm doing the exact same thing with daughter Marni.

How.

Time.

Flies.

Same teachers. Same destination. Even the same museum volunteer to guide us.

This time we had plenty of teachers and parents to assist with the trip. Nine parents and teachers for seventeen kids! Not even a two-to-one ratio.

The night before the trip Marni was a bit apprehensive. The kids had been warned that there were guards in the museum to protect the paintings. I think this scared her a bit and she was worried about being arrested or even shot if she touched something she shouldn't.

One of her classmates was also nervous the night before. They had been warned not to talk to or go anywhere with strangers. And now her classmate was afraid of being kidnapped.

But all nervousness disappeared when they got on the bus. Marni sat herself in the back (a sign of trouble to come in future years) and waited for me to join her. The ride was quick and soon we were standing in the museum, ready to begin. In addition to Marni, I was in charge of Mia.

The kids were well behaved as we walked from location to location. Marni raised her hand and participated with everyone else.

Interestingly, this visit to the museum took a path through a room filled with paintings and sculptures of naked people, just as Stella's had two years earlier.

There were some smirks and titters... from the kids.

By 11:15 it was all over and we got back on the bus for the ride home.

And just like two years ago, the adventure ended with a crying daughter who didn't want their daddy to go off to work.

PS... A little bonus to my morning at P.S. 39 was getting to see Stella playing on the newly created "play street". She was also happy to see dad (and no tears!).

Marni and Astrid discuss art.

Ready to board the bus back to school.

Bonus sighting. Stella playing outside (back to camera in green).

More photos and video here.

Overheard #35

So I asked a group of people at Stella's BBQ, "You know what was the best present that we ever got for Stella?" To which Marni replied... "Marni!".

Stella's 7th Birthday

There were actually at least 4 separate celebrations for Stella's birthday. One in her 1st grade class. One for her after school Beansprouts group. One at our house for a select group of classmates. And one at our house for family and adult friends.

I'm sure that 4 celebrations seemed like a bare minimum to Stella, but for Lisa it may have been enough to send her to the loony bin.

But lets back it up a bit...

Preparation started months ago as we tried to keep up with Stella's ever-changing desires for party theme and guest list. Eventually she settled on a tea party theme and about 3500 guests. We pared the guest list down a bit.

Meanwhile, Stella began to experiment with online shopping. She would put key words and phrases into a web browser in order to find things to buy.

One evening she stumbled across a beautiful, white confirmation dress on Amazon. She printed out the page and brought it and her wallet to me so that I could help her buy the dress. I tried to explain to her that the dress cost over $90, while her wallet contained about $60. I also tried to explain that websites don't take cash. It was touch and go for a while, but I eventually convinced her to abandon her purchasing attempt and let me look into finding an alternate dress as a birthday present.

Now, as Lisa toiled to prepare the 4 birthday celebrations, I needed to find a cheaper white wedding dress.

The perfect dress was finally located at the wonderful Burlington Coat Factory store in Brooklyn.

Stella woke rather slowly on her birthday morning. But as soon as she comprehended that this was her special day she leapt out of bed and ran for the living room.

After tearing through some other presents, she spied an envelope on the table with the number "1" written on it. She opened it and read a little note that instructed her to look in the freezer. A scavenger hunt!

Note number 2 (in the freezer) told her to look in daddy's closet. So off she rocketed, up the stairs, with Marni in tow. She flung the closet door open and there it was... a beautiful, white confirmation wedding dress.

And Marni burst into tears.

But Stella was ecstatic.

She wore the dress all morning and placed it carefully aside, after getting ready for school, so that she could put it on again for her after-school tea party.

Stella's 1st grade celebration went off without a hitch as Lisa dropped by with Popsicles for the class (and teachers). And, again, Marni burst into tears when she was invited into the 1st grade class to help celebrate, but was too afraid to attend.

Then, Lisa brought 45 cupcakes over to Beansprouts for the next celebration.

Finally, I picked up Stella, Marni, and 7 other children from school and brought them back for the grand tea party.

That's where we lost control.

All told, there were about 13 girls and 3 boys at the party. Everyone started running around. The girls quickly formed a "girls club" which the boys, just as quickly, wanted to crash. Tempers flared, feelings were hurt, a couple of eyes were punched.

And that was just me!

We calmed things down and regained control.

Everyone enjoyed the "frost your ice cream cone cupcake" project and the "make your own notebook" project. We stuck a candle in an ice cream cone cupcake, sang Happy Birthday to Stella, and then everyone was off to run around in our parking lot with squirt guns and bubbles.

Finally it was 5:30 and parents came by to pick up their kids. They may have been shell-shocked, but they were all still alive... and Stella had a good time.

Event number 4 was yesterday... a friendly little BBQ with family and friends. My parents and sister came down and we were also joined by the Stefanoff/Imhoff clan, Nana Audrey, and the NJ Hoffmans. Sherri also dropped by later. The festivities culminated with the opening of some fantastic gifts.

So now we bring down the curtain on Stella's 7th birthday extravaganza. No doubt that in a few months discussions will begin on the 8th birthday celebration. It'll be a smaller kid party next year. But as long as Stellie is happy, that works for us.

Home Made... Tooth Number 4

This morning Stella broke from tradition and ejected her 4th tooth at home. A home birth, if you will. None of this "bit into an apple at Beansprouts and this is what happened" nonsense.

She went to sleep last night fretting about her very wobbly and slightly bleeding tooth. Then, precisely at 6 am, she awoke and proclaimed... "My tooth is out!".

Luckily, she didn't swallow it.

Now it awaits placement under her pillow tonight and daddy needs to find some dollar coins. Maybe I should stock up. There's a lot of wobbling going on in that mouth.

Table Dancing

As if I wasn't already worried enough about Stella's desire to wear her bikini everywhere (see here), I now have to deal with Marni's desire to table-dance.

And damn if she's not good at it!



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Scooter Cousins

Mother's Day weekend in Albany gave the cousins plenty of opportunity to practice their scootering skills. The weather was so warm that Stella decided to do her scootering in her bikini. I'm a little worried.



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Ode to Mom

Stella was caught practicing a little ditty meant to be performed for Lisa (and Nanas) on Mother's Day. She came down with an extreme case of shyness on Mother's Day, so this recording of the practice session will just have to do.



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Marni's 5th Birthday

After 364 days of waiting and planning, Marni's 5th birthday party finally arrived last Friday. This year her party took place a week early because her actual birthday falls during spring break.

Not only did her party take place a week early, it was also an after-school party. A dozen of Marni's Pre-K classmates stampeded to our house right from school.

Even though she knew she was having a party, Marni was blown away when she stepped in the door and saw the apartment decorated for her. Lisa received a big smile and hug for her efforts.

In between trashing the place, the kids completed two art projects and a dance-and-freeze contest. Lisa's made-from-scratch birthday cake was a hit with some kids asking for seconds and even thirds.

The sangria was a hit with the moms who decided to stay and drink.

At around 5:30 the guests departed and the dust settled to reveal that a substantial cleanup job was needed.

And then, it was time to open the presents. Marni (with Stella's help) ripped open everything. Wonderful presents from wonderful friends (including a very special musical jewelry box from boyfriend Ishaan).

The next day was birthday party #2 for Marni (a shared birthday party with other April babies at cousin Randy and Ro's house). Then another birthday brunch for Marni and Papa Art on Sunday.

The whirlwind will end Friday on Marni's actually birthday with more presents and the much-awaited new tradition of "ice cream for breakfast on birthdays".

And a month from now, we do it all over again for Stella.

State of Their Art - March 2011

Marni - March 2011

Stella - March 2011

Stella - December 2010

A Fish Called Stella

After a year or two of complaining, Stella finally seems to be enjoying her trips to the pool. This past weekend she was proud to show me and my parents what she's been learning at her swimming lessons.

How shocked was I when water-shy Stellie assumed the "dead man float" position and plunged her head into the water for, what seemed, an eternity.

Great job Stellie!



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My Little Big Girl

Photo courtesy of Arthur Shepard

When did my little girl get so big?

And Baby (tooth) Makes Three

After several weeks of wibbling and wobbling, Stella's third baby tooth ejected itself last Wednesday. Stella was understandably excited and relieved when tooth #3 departed as it was really cramping her eating style.

This tooth fell out while Stella was eating some pasta at Beansprouts. She felt something rattling around in her mouth and thought it was a piece of uncooked rice.

Luckily (unlike tooth #2) this tooth was recovered and went under her pillow for a cash transaction. And the tooth fairy did not disappoint.

Hot and Cold Running Fun

We may have packed more fun into this past weekend than is allowed by law.

For the third year in a row we headed for a weekend at a water park hotel. This year we headed back to Six Flags Great Escape Lodge.

After check-in, we headed for the water park. It was interesting to see how braver the girls were this year. They both hightailed it to the kiddie pool and conquered the slide that had challenged them last year.

The river ride that had made them a bit nervous last year was no sweat to newly-brave Stella. She not only floated down the river... she did it this year with no inner tube to cling to. She propelled herself down the river so fast that, at times, daddy was left far behind. Marni, on the other hand, was still a bit timid.

Also new this year was the girls' willingness to take on the big water slides. Both girls went down the slides with mommy and daddy; and Stella even went down the slides by herself!

The final conquest was the Avalanche Family Raft Ride. Lisa and I had screwed up enough courage to take on that ride last year... sans kids. This year we took the offspring along for the ride. Stella was all for it, but Marni was reluctant until we got to the front of the line. We all got in the large raft, and away we went down a pitch black tube at breakneck speed.

Lisa and I had a very firm grasp on Marni as we rocketed down the tube. Lisa also had a hand on Stella. Luckily, when we reached the bottom, there were still four of us in the raft. And... we were all smiling!

Marni allowed us to do the same raft ride again the next day, but she put her foot down when we tried to do it a third time. Maybe next year.

This year our visit to the Lake George area coincided with the Winter Carnival. At Lisa's insistence, we headed to the carnival Sunday morning. After playing with some ice sculptures, we walked down to the frozen lake where the three ladies took a real-live dog-sled ride around the lake. And, because that wasn't fun enough, Stella and I took a helicopter tour of the Lake George area. That was fantastic!

Before we left the lake, the girls got in a couple of strings of ice bowling. But instead of a ball, they tried to knock over the pins with frozen chickens.

We headed back to Brooklyn on Monday which also happened to be Valentine's Day. And in keeping with the romantic theme of the day, we stopped off at Canfield Casino where Lisa and I got married eight years ago. The girls were very excited to see where the event of the century took place.

Who knew that we would have two wonderful cutie-pies when we walked down the aisle that June day?

Attempting to stay seated on their ice sofa.

Dog sled ride.

Stella ice-bowling with a frozen chicken.

Marni ice-bowling with a frozen chicken.

Stella and daddy on their Stellicopter ride.

The girls visit our wedding location.

Marni playing the "jump across the beds" game.

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Top of the Pops

For whatever reason, I've always had a fondness in my heart for little girls singing along to pop tunes on the radio. So, when Stella was finally bitten by the pop-bug late last year, I was thrilled.

It started in the car. If I had a top-40 station on the radio, I began to hear faint voices signing along to the songs. Even though many of the words were wrong, it was still adorable.  Stella started first, and (as always) Marni picked it up a short time later.

Where they originally heard the pop songs, I am not sure. We rarely listened to top-40 in the car. But there's no stopping it now.

The words are still wrong.
The pitch is way off.
But I love it!





(This post contains video that is only viewable from the website.)

Marni's First Date

Marni has found her Pre-K soul mate. His name is Ishaan and he came over the other day for a play date. They both had been counting down the days until play date day. It's all that either could talk about.

Marni has already told us that they kissed each other on the lips in class. She also told us that Ishaan promised to buy her a musical jewelry box and that she was going to buy him a light saber.

I guess that's the dowry.

Tickle-Me Shepard

Tickle-Me Elmo has been hanging around the house for a couple of years now. He was popular for a while just after we bought him. But he's spent most of his life languishing, batteries dead, on a high shelf somewhere.

For some reason, he caught Marni's eye a week ago. And so I brought him down off his shelf, dusted him off, gave him fresh batteries, and handed him over to the kids.

It was like Hanukkah all over again. He fascinated Stella, frightened Marni, and entertained both... all over again.

Then Stella got it into her head that she wanted to imitate Elmo's cool moves. And so she and Marni did. Stella did an exceptional job of capturing Elmo's subtle movements.

Enjoy the video...

Overheard #34

Marni's new boyfriend from Pre-K (Ishaan) is coming over for a play date later today. They are both VERY excited about this. When asked what their plans are for the play date, Marni replied... "We're gonna say bathroom words together."

On the Slope

The Shepards jumped into Goldie and headed up to Westchester on Saturday for some sledding with the Imhoff/Stefanoff gang.

Other than a few runs down Nana and Papa Shepard's driveway, I've never sledded with the girls (although they did some sledding in Albany without me). And I'm not sure that I've gone downhill on a sled since childhood.

We headed over to Croton Point Park and quickly got into the swing of things. I did a run with Stella. Lots if fun. And then the 6 girls were off on their own, sledding down the hill in every possible configuration of partners and sledding devices.

Stella/Jessie
Marni/Jasmin
Stella/Jenna
Marni/Stella

And so on, and so on, and so on... Stella and Marni were living large. Covered in snow. Laughing. Running. Playing. Throwing snowballs (Marni: "Don't you dare throw that Daddy!").

After a couple hours, toes began to get cold and the sun began to dim.

Hot chocolate and warm cookies at the Stefanoff compound. Then, after a stop for dinner at the girls' favorite restaurant (Applebee's), we headed for home.

As you can see from the photo below, the girls were a little tired after their winter adventure.

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Overheard #33

The family was at a movie theater to see "Yogi Bear". Before "Yogi" started, there was a Road Runner cartoon. When it was over, Marni leaned over to me and said (about Wile E. Coyote)... "That guy never wins!"

At Last We Meet

The last time we saw the cottage was September. Since then, it has been knocked down, carted away, and rebuilt.

We've watched all of this progress via photos and movies from Papa Art, but today we got to meet the new cottage in person.

We headed out from Natick early in the morning with a blizzard nipping at our heels. The plan was to make the trip up to Maine and back before the blizzard hit Massachusetts. Snow was already falling as we headed north in Goldie for her maiden voyage to Old Orchard.

We made good time and at around 11:30 we got our first glimpse of the new cottage. We pulled into the snow-filled driveway and scampered out of the car to inspect the construction. We inspected everything inside and out (the furthest we could get inside was the basement). The girls gave the cottage two thumbs up as they played with various bits of dangerous construction materials.

Once Stella and Marni completed their inspection of the cottage, they headed down to the beach. Not surprisingly, the beach was empty (given that it was 21 degrees outside). Instead of people, there were quite a lot of washed up lobster traps and a bizarrely enormous amount of gigantic clam shells.

We snapped some photos and then jumped back into Goldie to warm up. Then... we were off. Heading for home after the shortest visit to Maine in history. We stopped for some lunch and we stopped for some booze, and we didn't hit the blizzard until we were well into Massachusetts again.

It was nice to finally meet the new cottage, in person. "She" looks good. And I don't think it's going to take a lot of time to get use to our new summer home.