A Very Harry Birthday

The yearly birthday theme selection is like spinning a giant wheel of chance. Round and round it goes, and where it stops, no one knows.

This year it stopped on Harry Potter.

Little Marni and big sister Stella have been bitten hard by the Potter bug ever since I showed them the first movie a few months ago.

So this year the theme was everything Potter.

Lisa did a first-rate job coming up with the activities, including a customized word-search puzzle and an exhilarating scavenger hunt through the neighborhood. She even created hand-made chocolate frogs for all.

My part was that I had to dress like Dumbledore.

The birthday party was a awesome success with the exception of finding several half-eaten jelly beans spit out under various pieces of furniture. That's what happens when you hand out flavors such as vomit, earth worm, and ear wax.

Ready for the scavenger hunt.

And they're off!

A bunch of cuties lined up to watch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Birthday cupcakes.

Blowing out the candle.

Toothpocalypse - Part 2

Who says lightning doesn't strike twice?

Three years ago Stella channeled her inner hillbilly with a daring and provocative single-front-tooth look. The New York Times called it "a tour de force of dental architecture". The Appalachian Picayune called it "damn sexy".

No one thought it could happen again in our lifetime.

Wrong.

Last week, younger sister Marni duplicated the look.

Dental hygienists screamed. Orthodontists rushed to pick out their new BMW.

But Marni doesn't care. She wears so much lipstick nowadays that no one even notices the tooth.

Overheard #39

MARNI: Daddy, was it difficult living with roommates in college? I mean, what if you were warm and they were cold in your room? Did you open the window?
DADDY: Well, there are 4 of us all living in one apartment and we all get along.
MARNI: Well that doesn't count because you're usually warm, and Stella is usually warm, and I'm usually warm, and mommy is always having hot flashes.

Our First Venn

A redacted version of Stella's Venn for our more delicate readers.

What better way to return from a blogging break than with a piece of awesome artwork. Stella surprised us with this one today. The spelling may need some work, but the accuracy of her set theory is right on.

My Beauties - 2013

The 4th grader and the 2nd grader.

Halloween 2013: Part 1

We finally did it my way this year.

We all went to a Halloween pop-up store and bought costumes for everyone.

The result... a pretty wacky looking family when we headed for the PS39 Spooktacular party last night.

Marni was a cute zombie Robin Hood. Stella was a very convincing zombie bride. Daddy was an adequate escaped prisoner. But mommy!

Lisa dressed as a sexy cop and the results were amazing. Eyes popped. Tongues hung out. And many didn't even recognize her.

Some ladies even wanted to borrow the outfit later for their own Halloween hijinks.

I'm pretty sure the kids are gonna get kicked out of school tomorrow.

Selena Gomez

The groupies

I don't think I went to my first rock concert until high school or college. I'm sure it must have had something to do with either Aerosmith or Genesis.

But my 21st century NYC chicks are having a much, much different upbringing.

Broadway shows.  Radio City. Professional sporting events.

So the girls were more than ready for their first "rock concert" when we brought them to Barclays Center to see Selena Gomez earlier this month.

The girls got dressed up in their concert finest and ascended to their nosebleed seats. After surviving the sonic assault of a local opening act, we went foraging for expensive arena food and then retuned to our seats for the opening act, Emblem 3 (Yes, I know. Who?)

At 8:30 Ms. Gomez hit the stage. Very punctual. She must realize that a great deal of her audience needs to go to grade school in the morning.

Marni is shaking it

I warned them that this would be the loudest thing they ever heard. So they were pretty prepared for the noise. Marni was up and dancing. Stella was a bit more reserved, but was enjoying herself in her own special way.

By about 9:30 Marni was beginning to get a bit bored by all the songs she didn't know. I convinced her to stick it out for a couple more songs because I knew the encore would include her two favorites.

She did. And they loved it.

By 10 we were heading home. Luckily, the arena is a 10 minute subway ride home.

The girls were in bed by 10:30 and were able to function normally in the morning for an on-time arrival at school. Stella wore the $40 Selena Gomez t-shirt we bought for them.

The concert was pretty good. Selena is a very talented gal. And Stella keeps telling me over and over again how she wishes Selena was her older sister.

Me too. I can certainly get used to a millionaire daughter.

She's down there somewhere

Columbus Day in Maine

One of the great things about Cottage 2.0 is that it has heat! And insulation. So we can use it even when the weather turns chilly. And in Maine, the weather turns chilly in late August.

This year we took advantage of the Columbus Day weekend to visit OOB. Our special guests were Lisa Stefanoff, Ron, and Kathy (on a stick).

The weekend weather was somewhat brisk, but totally sunny and dry. As usual, the kids got right back into the swing of things as if they never left... except with an extra layer or two of clothes.

There was time for seafood, time for a movie, time for shopping, and time for the beach. We even had a great night at the fire pit (which was never broken out during the summer).

While visiting Camp Ellis, the girls discovered a dead shark washed up on the shore. Very exciting stuff!

We headed back to Brooklyn on Monday afternoon, but there wasn't much sadness in leaving because we knew we would be back for one more visit at Thanksgiving.

Ya gotta love a winterized cottage!

S'mores at the fire pit.

Our Camp Ellis album cover.

Stella and her dead shark.

First Day of School, 2013

The new 2nd and 4th graders...

The Maine Event 2013: All the Other Stuff

When we last checked in with our summer vacation in Maine it was August 19th and we had just finished our second full week at The Cottage.

It's now a month later and, at this point, all I'm able to do is reconstruct a really brief summary of the remainder of the summer. So, here goes...

I flew back up to Maine on the 23rd. We did some bike-riding, some beaching, and lots of eating. A typical weekend. On Sunday we took a sail around Casco Bay with our neighbors, the Friscos. Cousin Julie and her kids were staying across the street and we even got a couple of visits from cousin Andy.

I flew back to NYC on Monday and returned to Maine for the last time on Saturday the 31st. The Hoffmans were already at The Cottage for a few days when I arrived. That night we did the annual Palace Playland fun fest with Tyler and Delia.

On Sunday Brian and Delia drove back home. The next day (Labor Day) we dropped Jill and Tyler off at the airport to fly back to New Jersey. After dropping them off, we headed up to Lewiston. We visited the cemetery where Grandma Sara and Grandpa Harry are buried (a first for the kids). Then we headed to Lisbon Street to see the Supovitz Brothers building (where my grandfather's clothing store was once located). The final stop was Bradley Street to see Papa Art's childhood home. We stopped off in Wiscasset, for lunch, on the way back to The Cottage.

The remainder of the week was a bit bizarre. Since it was now after Labor Day, lots of stuff was no longer open. And the neighborhood and beach were eerily quiet.

Karen and Glenn and Nana and Papa joined us Wednesday for the first night of Rosh Hashana.

On Friday we started packing for the return to Brooklyn and on Saturday we headed directly back home.

So ended "The Maine Event 2013". It was a weird summer. It ran longer than usual and ended with a whimper (after Labor Day). We never got around to doing a lot of the things we planned to. But this isn't the end of our fun in Maine for 2013. We'll be back at The Cottage for an unusual Columbus Day weekend visit in October and back again in November for Thanksgiving.

After that, the pipes are drained; the electricity is turned off; and we do it all over again in the spring.

Digging with Spencer

 

Their 50th time down the water flume.

Soaked after the water flume.

Trailer trash kids in training.

My version of Wyeth's "Christina's World", with Marni and Moxie.

On the sailboat.

Mermaid on a rock.

The annual photo.

Tyler gets in on the Rainbow Loom craze.

Visiting Grandma Sara and Grandpa Harry.

In front of Grandpa Harry's old store.

Rosh Hashana dinner, night 1.

 

Awful

The girls' new game... Doctor.

Lunch on a mostly-closed pier.

So sad. The amusement park closed after Labor Day.

The Rainbow Loom craze sinks to a new low.

 

Heading off to temple.

Brave girls.

The absolute last moment on the beach.