Boston Batmitzva Passover and Acapella

Well, this will be a long one since there were several different parts to our journey. We really went back to celebrate Eliza's batmitzva. She is a second cousin to our kids. We then decided to stay longer to celebrate Passover with Ann and Kent and THE COUSINS!!
You don't have to give my kids an excuse to stay longer with cousins. There was a countdown to see them they were so excited!



We started our journey to Boston and to our surprise we were in FIRST CLASS!! Ok - when does that EVER happen? So nice too because Evan fell asleep in those nice big seats and slept for two hours. Which gave me the opportunity to watch a movie - they actually pass out little individual units so you can watch WHAT you want WHEN you want. How GREAT is that!! Clearly I was thrilled to be in this elite section.



While there we got to also see Jonah in his acapella performance at one of the local schools. He was amazing. Not only did he sing but he also did the beatboxing (mind you I had no idea what this was until this weekend!)

The batmitzva was hilarious - from the point of view of my kids that is. Kiira, my velcro child, and Evan, the more adventurous one were sat at the kid's table right next to ours. I thought to myself - Kiira will never stay there, we will just pull up a chair at our table. Not only did she stay there but she enjoyed it and she got up on the dance floor periodically to cut a rug.





Evan on the other hand did not sit in his seat once. He discovered a ping pong table off to the side and was constantly recruiting people to play with him. He was very non-discriminatory as he played with 5 yr olds up to 60 yr olds.




The grown up and fun with the glasses props as well! :-)

Nate the Great

I drove Kiira and some of her classmates on a field trip today to the Marin Civic Auditorium. There they, and about 10 other schools saw a viewing of 'Nate the Great. A show in which a kid discovers the mysteries of detective work. This happened to be a traveling group from NYC and the singing was quite impressive. One of those times being a chaperone was actually quite enjoyable!!

Evie in the truck

Every time I have a staging job, Evan is practically in tears if he can’t ride in the truck. He also seems to be going through a “mommy” stage. Periodically he just wants to be around me a little more than usual. So, he became my assistant as I loaded furniture into the big Uhaul truck. He actually was pretty good and I got the job done and pleased my son at the same time. Boys and trucks. I guess I better start getting used to it.

Musical night

I don’t break out my flute all that often but every now and then the kids want to hear what mommy can do. I grew up playing classical music so that’s all I can entertain them with. Which, when all is said and done, I think it is good for kids to learn. Alan, however, is the cool one as he knows Beatles songs, popular musicians and other rock and roll songs to play for the kids. Together we are a mish mash of sounds going on. Well, I guess it is more about instilling the love of music at this age right? Thank goodness because technique as a foursome is definitely not there. Love, well, love we got. In some immortal words, “Love…love….love…….”

“Org”’s birthday

Org – aka Ford – turned three today. He held his party at the barn which worked out well for us. There were about 15 kids there and the usually exuberant Ford and Evan were actually quite quiet. As soon as the party was over though and the rest of the guests had left – the two of them picked up right where they left off. Loud, dirty and playing in the dirt pile.

Marin Ballet March Observation day

We are always recruiting Kiira’s friends to do the activities that she does. Let’s face it – it’s just more fun when your friends are there too. Recently we got her friend Samantha to join ballet. They performed for us at the observation day. Kiira continues to love ballet and we continue to love to watch her. We can’t wait for the performance in June!

Marin Ballet Observation day video

Kiira in one of her ballet excercises!

Muskateers

Old friends are one of the best things in life. And your good old friends are friends that you can pick up with even if you haven’t seen them in years. My dear old friend Ruth was in town this past weekend. She turned fourty on March 13 and left the snowy hills of Middlebury, VT to pay several friends a visit here in the San Francisco area. We were one of those friends.

Ruth and I have known each other since I was about 9 and she was about 8. We never went to the same school but we bonded over ponies. She and my friend Catherine and I were the three muskateers growing up. Catherine also went to a different school. Three friends – three different schools – all bonded by mutual love of the equine.
Most of you know that I still ride today. I am so thankful that I have horses in my life. While Ruth was out, I took her to the barn. She hadn’t ridden in 15 years. I put her up on Rhett and she looked as if she had never left it. You could see a certain spirit return to her as she cantered around.

There is just something freeing about being around something you love. You can forget about daily troubles. You can forget about errands, bills, and the never ending to-do list. Being around something you love, like being around horses is to me, transports me to a place where I can remember my carefree younger days and dream about infinite possibilities in the future.

Thanks to horses, I have amazing women in my life that connect me through the years. They too give me possibilities as each of our friends offer wisdom, ideas, thoughts that we may never have stumbled upon ourselves. Thanks to my friends, to the equines we love and the past and present memories we have and will pass down to our kids.

On my other side in the photo is Jenny - whom I have been friends with since we were 5 years old. Yes, certainly old friends are the best friends.