Forty-Four Feels Fine

It was a great birthday week.  Thank you for all of the birthday wishes from near and far.

We just made it to the last day of the Members Preview of the new Picasso Sculptures exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art on Sunday.  The exhibit opened to the general public on Monday so Sunday was the last day we could see it without the crowds (which are expected to be big - this exhibit has been hyped around here).

We did the audio tour, as usual, which really helps to keep the kids engaged.  What we all loved about this exhibit is how accessible Picasso makes sculpture to the kids.  We heard lots of, "I could do that with recycled materials at home!" and "Mom, save the cardboard boxes from Amazon, I want to make a cow."  Picasso was never trained in sculpting so his work doesn't follow any rules or conventions of sculpting.  I think the kids liked that.

We had a week filled with lots of friends.  Our apartment was officially "warmed" this weekend with dinner parties on both Friday and Saturday nights with different friends.  We have another planned this coming Saturday as well.  We're finally back to our old California ways, entertaining at home every weekend.  We love it and it's so much more fun for the kids than meeting up with friends at a restaurant.

We also saw a lot of old and met a lot of new homeschool friends this week with their classes in full swing.  Wayfinders (sword fighting/role playing) started in Central Park this week which is by far the highlight of Ella and Holden's week.  Some old friends returned and lots of new friends started.  And I love it because all of the moms hang out on picnic blankets and trade war stories.  There were even birthday donuts for me :)

We enjoyed the gorgeous weather in the afternoons at our nearby Morningside Park.  Yes, this is really Harlem.

And we joined in a local "Homeschool Recess" that has been going on for years on Wednesdays in the north end of Central Park.  As we walked up to the playground the kids scanned the park and didn't recognize anyone.  They suggested we just go home.  I suggested we try to make new friends.  Two hours later I couldn't drag them away.

About two dozen homeschoolers in the area meet every Wednesday afternoon here to play.  And there were almost as many moms, dads, tutors - all exchanging information and offering support.  It's quite a change for us from a year ago.

Luckily, Ella had her first fashion design and sewing class that evening, so I was finally able to get them to leave the playground and get on the subway.  When we got off the elevator and saw the perfectly pink space with a giant runway down the middle of it, I thought she might explode with excitement.  Ever since moving to New York she's been very conscious and experimental with her dress.  And she's always loved sewing and creating things from fabric.  So I think she's in her element here.

Meanwhile, Holden and I walked around the corner to the Main Public Library which is more like a museum, housed in a gigantic Beaux Arts building with Patience and Fortitude (the two lion statues) keeping watch out front.

In the Children's section they currently have a small exhibit of items that belonged to the author of Mary Poppins, P. L. Travers, including her actual umbrella which was the inspiration for Mary Poppins' flying one.

The weather was too nice to stay inside for long so we wandered outside to Bryant Park and found the games area - ten or so tables with a a large cart filled with board games - and played a rousing round of Scrabble.  Right in the middle of downtown Manhattan in the middle of a work day.

 

There's nothing you can't do in New York City.

Divide and Conquer X 2

The kids finished their cooking class (in Spanish) last week and the parents were invited to arrive a little early to pick up so that we could taste their creations. 

 It turned out to be an all green meal: asparagus, broccoli, spinach tortellini and sushi.

With the weather being so cold for the last several weeks, the kids have been going a little stir crazy.  No recesses, no playground time after school.  And let's just say, they've been a handful...  So Kevin had the brilliant idea to spend Saturday "dividing and conquering".  You've seen our Divide and Conquer days: we each take one child and shower them with one-on-one attention.  It usually does the trick to reset each child's mood.

We split down gender lines with me and Ella going for tea at Alice's Tea Cup and then returning home to work on some sewing projects, while Kevin and Holden "hit the slopes" a block away at Central Park.

 Alice's Tea Cup is an Alice in Wonderland inspired tea house.

Ella chose to sew a sleeping bag for her American Girl Doll, Kit.  I helped with the cutting but she did all the sewing.

Then of course Kit's doll also needed her own sleeping bag.  Ella made that one when I wasn't even looking.  I was busy sewing infinity scarves (photos to come).

 

Ella also finished her 100th chapter book, which will be celebrated by going to the restaurant of her choice (she's got a place called Sugar and Plumm in mind).

 

While we were busy being girly, the boys headed over to the "Winter Jam" happening in Central Park.  It's an annual festival of sorts where you can try out winter sports such as skiing, snowshoeing and snowboarding.  I believe there was food and music as well.

Holden was excited to take a snowboarding class and apparently got bit by the bug.  Kevin's already planning our first real snowboarding weekend...ugh.

 

Sunday was another kind of Divide and Conquer day.  Although instead of dividing down gender lines we divided down age lines.  Kevin and I got to participate in a surprise party aboard a bus while the kids went to science class. 

Our friend Alina threw a "This is Your Life" type party for her husband Tom's 45th birthday.  We were all picked up downtown by a party bus and spent two hours touring around Manhattan seeing sites such as where Tom first worked after moving to NYC, where he and Alina had their first date, their first apartment, etc.  All while enjoying mimosas and beers and meeting new friends.  We had a such a fun time.  And Tom was completely surprised.

Kevin and I had an hour or so to spare after being dropped off before we needed to pick up the kids.  So we wandered around The Village and had a glass of wine here and a beer there...it was so nice to just have some free time with Kevin.  We even battled over Ms. Pac Man at The Slaughtered Lamb Pub.

(I'm wearing the infinity scarf I sewed yesterday.)

Meanwhile, the kids got to go to a science class at Science Adventure Kids with Alina and Tom's son, Luke.  We've been hearing rave reviews about this science class for a while and Holden especially was SO excited to be going.  This particular class was called The Cellular Experience and was all about cells.  They got to make clay models of cells, see cells in a microscope, sing songs about cells (The Mighty Mitochondria!), get really dirty and messy, playing with gooey things in the lab.  Science Teacher Sarah makes it a lot of fun to learn.  And her lab is a crazy apartment in Greenwich Village - zebra painted walls, an animal room complete with snakes and lizards and hissing cockroaches, and walls and walls of test tubes, diagrams, books and tools.   The kids spent the whole subway ride home telling us all about the nucleus, DNA and the differences between animal and plant cells, much to the delight of the grandma sitting across from us.

 

Ella had been skeptical before she went.  More school, she thought.  When we picked her up after the two and a half hour class she had that grin on her face that you see above and said it was WAY more fun than she thought it would be.  When I asked her if she learned some things in addition to having fun, she said, "I learned a lot more than I learn in school."  *sigh*  It's a good thing we do so much "school" outside of school.

I hope you people all had fun weekends.

Fathers, Mothers, and Princesses

First, thank you all so much for your good wishes for my Dad.  He is out of ICU, in a normal hospital room, but has a long road ahead.  The doctors tell us that he will need intensive rehab for a long time to be able to regain some of his mobility.  The good news is that he is completely alert mentally and torturing his nurses, as we would fully expect.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

My mom just left this morning after a week-long visit.  Instead of seeing the sights of New York City, this time she shadowed me on my typical week.  A peek into my everyday, if you will.

Walking to and from school with me: two miles total each day!

Sewing doll clothes for Ella's birthday.

Here are two outfits I made:

 She helped with Garden Club at school.

 Ella and I demonstrated to the Club how to make pesto from basil they harvested from their garden.

She played games with the kids, 

and got to watch them play games.

She spied on chorus try-outs,

and did some babysitting.

I even let her rest every once in a while.

But most importantly, she was here to celebrate Ella's 8th birthday with her.  And what a celebration we had.  Given the choice of having a birthday party somewhere or just choosing one friend and having a "Princess for a Day" day, she chose the latter.  She's no dummy.  Of course, Princess for a Day in New York City must include:

First, a best friend.  Maeve was our lucky winner.

Then mani-pedis, of course.  The women giving them the pedicures spoke Spanish with the girls the entire time, much to the amusement of the other patrons.

Then Holden and Kevin joined us for a carriage ride through Central Park.

We had some time to kill so we spent an hour in the Central Park Zoo.

And ended up of course, at The Plaza for high tea, Eloise style.

I do believe Ella had the birthday of a lifetime.

I hope mom had a pretty good time, too.