My Beauties - 2014

The 3rd grader and the 5th grader...

Thanksgiving 2014

For a third year in a row, The Cottage in Old Orchard was ground zero for Thanksgiving festivities. The gathering was a little smaller this year with the Brooklyn and Natick Shepards joining with Karen, Glenn and the dogs.

We made it up to Maine on Wednesday morning after an overnight stay in Natick. By the time we reached Hannaford in Saco, we were in a full-blown blizzard.

Later in the day we were joined by Nana and Papa, and Karen, Glenn and the dogs.

Marni and I went down to the beach later that afternoon to build a snowman during the blizzard. In the evening we slipped and slided our way to dinner at Run of the Mill.

The next morning everyone awoke to wonderful aromas as Glenn toiled away in the kitchen. By 5pm we were seated for another amazing holiday meal.

Friday was filled with chores and relaxing.

Stella, Marni and Lisa headed off to a party in Long Island on Saturday and I stayed behind with the Farkle Family (and Glenn).

On Sunday we cleaned up the cottage and prepared everything for the end-of-season shutdown. By noon we were all heading home (me with a large turkey drumstick in my backpack as I boarded a train at Route 128 Station heading for NYC).

The cyber cafe.

 

A very sad site.

Lights, Camera, Marni!

An example of the pictures they take

A couple of months ago I got the bright idea to give one of our old digital cameras to the girls to play with. The camera works fairly well and they were free to shoot whatever pictures and movies they wanted.

I hadn't paid much attention to what they were doing, but over the weekend I noticed Marni doing some cute stuff with some Lego figures.

So today I finally got around to downloading the pictures and videos to the computer. Below are 2 examples of the Lego movies that Marni did over the weekend.

Either she's an up-and-coming director, or she's in serious need of psychiatric help. Or both.

You be the judge.

Halloween 2014

There's no denying that Halloween is Marni's favorite holiday. She tells me this on a daily basis. More favorite than her birthday or Hanukkah or even Arbor Day.

Stella's also a big fan of Halloween and just loves to dress up.

This year both girls decided to be glamorous vampires. And Lisa and I did an Alice In Wonderland theme (she's sexy Alice and I'm the Mad Hatter).

Interesting fact for this year's trick or treating... Lisa and the kids bumped into actor Steve Buscemi and singer Elvis Costello as they too trick or treated in the hood.

With Steve Buscemi and Elvis Costello

Overheard #40

Last night Stella was upstairs watching something inappropriate on Netflix. Marni was downstairs doing homework with me and Lisa.

The first question that Stella yelled down to us was "What's an ovulation kit?", which I answered incorrectly.

A moment later, a second question... "What's a virgin?"

Without even looking up from her homework, Marni yelled back at her "Someone who doesn't eat meat".

I laughed out loud and waited for it to sink in with Lisa who was on the iPad at the time. After a few seconds she looked up and said "Wait. What was that?"

Eventually I answered Stella by telling her it was someone who hasn't kissed yet.

I'm not ready to have "the talk" with her.

Imaginary Apple Picking

There weren't many Honey Crisp apples, and only one peach on an entire orchard of trees... but everyone had plenty of fun at Wightman's Farm.

Waiting for their babies to hatch

Singing the Star Spangled Banner. Or something.

See how well they listen?

"Maine Gothic"

I missed including this photo in the "Maine Event" post. But it's too good to be left out. What is the secret behind Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile?

First Day of School - 2014

Here's our new 3rd and 5th graders.

The Maine Event - 2014

Heading to Maine in Goldie

So the ladies spent the month of August in Maine. What a surprise!

As usual, the car was packed to the gills on Thursday night as we traveled up to Natick for the stopover at Nana and Papa's.

We made it to OOB by lunch time on Saturday and headed straight to Ken's to begin our vacation right. To the delight of Stella and Marni, cousins Lily and Becca were at the beach when we arrived. We were also joined for the first few days by Nana and Papa, and Karen, Glenn and the hounds.

The kids were kept busy at a Raging Tides baseball game, Palace Playland, various seafood restaurants, and on the beach.

One afternoon we took a bicycle ride on the Eastern Trail. And, while taking a break to play in the nearby marsh, the girls both fell into the water. Totally wet. A little scraped up. Totally shocked. This is now known as "the incident" by Stella.

Eventually we transitioned into "bed and breakfast mode" with the arrival of Nana Audrey, Carol and Norman, and the Leimans.

The Tent.

On our third week at the beach we added a new attraction to The Cottage... a tent. The 4-person tent arrived by FedEx and was quickly set up in the side yard. There were two very excited girls. The original plan was for all 3 of us to sleep in the tent. But by nightfall, Stella chickened out.

Marni and I packed the tent with the bare necessities of camping... lots of comforters and pillows, snacks, water, stuffed animals, electricity from the cottage, a wifi hotspot, cell phone, and my Surface to watch TV.

Although a little cold, Marni had a great time sleeping outdoors (I survived too).

The next day we had some very special guests... cousins Julie, Ted, Ella, Sara, Jack and Mable. This was the first visit to the cottage for the Schwartz/Glovin family in... forever. The five kids quickly got past the shyness, and fun ensued.

This was also night 2 of The Tent. Stella saw how much fun Marni had on the first night and decided to join us. So we packed more comforters, pillows and stuffed animals into the tent and camped out again. Note to self... don't camp outside in Old Orchard on a Saturday night. Too much noise from drunks and parties.

Lot of cousins, digging holes.

The next day the Hoffmans flew in from New Jersey, and the fun shifted into overdrive.

Somewhere in all this awesomeness, we made a radical shift in our summer rituals. The girls and I had been noticing that our usual amusement park, Palace Playland, was feeling a bit small. Palace Playland (or, as we call it, "downtown") has been our go-to amusement park for 10 years (and for 57 years for me). And, it's only a mile down the street.

But this year we bought season passes for Funtown/Splashtown USA. On our first visit, we spent a day in the amusement park section. Loved it! The next day we spent all day in the water park section. Loved it! And the girls returned again when Tyler and Delia came to visit.

So a new tradition is born.

2014 was also the year of the giant amusement park prizes. Stella figured out how to trade in smaller stuffed animals, that she won at various carnival games, for super-gigantic stuffed animals. By the end of the summer, we ended up with 5 big, fluffy, garish visitors to the cottage.

Labor Day weekend brought the end of our time at OOB. We packed everything back into the car (leaving the 5 stuffed animals behind) and headed back to Natick on our way back to Brooklyn.

Lily and Becca.

At the Raging Tides game.

And then this happened.

There was a lot of running around with a cape.

Before falling into the marsh.

After falling into the marsh.

Big winners.

Preparing to do the ice bucket challenge.

Lunch with (most of) the Leimans.

Sassy readers.

Annual measurement time.

Dancing for the super moon.

My biggest fan.

In the tent.

3rd cousins.

Guess who.

 

Rock star cousins.