This boy decided that we needed…
…a putting green in the backyard!
He and his dad got to work with the lawnmower.
Tag Archives: photos
Flying through the air with the greatest unease
It’s not every day that you get to try out something you’ve only ever seen performed at a circus! When I assembled the kids on the couch to announce that my sister had arranged for them to have a trapeze lesson over their spring break, this was their reaction:
“Why is Auntie Sissy so awesome?!” my son exclaimed in wonder.
“I don’t know if I’m more scared or excited,” my daughter said.
As we drove to the venue, I confirmed to my sister that I had gone online to fill out the requisite forms.
“Do you mean liability forms?” my son asked from the backseat.
“Mmmhmmm” I replied as nonchalantly as I could.
The Trapeze School New York in Washington DC is in a hangar-like building, right across from Nationals Park and the Navy Yard Metro.
The kids got strapped into their super tight – forget about breathing – organ-crushing belts.
I – can’t – breathe!
After some brief instructions, they chalked their hands and got ready to climb an extremely tall ladder:
In the video of my 13 year old’s first try on the trapeze, you can hear the teacher instructing him to jump on “hep.” He can’t quite bring himself to actually jump off the platform the first time, so the teacher gently repeats the command.
The boy never did get his knees over the bar, but days later I discovered that he had done something far more remarkable.
We were reminiscing about his amazing trapeze adventure when I asked my son,”Was there ever a time during the lesson when you thought – Nah, this is way too scary. I’m not going to jump.”
“Yeah!” he replied.
“But just the first time, right?” I asked.
“No. Every single time I got up to the platform, I seriously thought about not jumping and just climbing back down the ladder.”
I’ve always told my kids that you can’t be brave without being scared. If the level of fear they felt is commensurate with their level of bravery – I think they should all be draped and festooned with medals right now! I had no idea that he was so scared…I was so proud of him for climbing that ladder and taking that enormous leap of faith over and over again.
Speaking of scared, you might be wondering where my 10 year old daughter was while all of this was happening. She was lying on the ground – with the saddest look on her face. Kind of like the fish we had seen in the aquarium the day before:
Grumpy Fish
For the first hour, you could see that she was at war with herself. She couldn’t bring herself to give it a try and was getting more and more upset as her brothers took their turns. Finally, one of the instructors came over and said that doing the trapeze is all about gaining a sense of accomplishment by pushing through fear. He suggested that her goal for the day could simply be to climb the ladder.
She pondered this, but was intimidated by the thought of taking even that step. One kind lady, a trapeze veteran, walked over and offered to climb up right behind her to spot her from behind. She kept resolving to try it, but would change her mind the next second. We kept reassuring her that she didn’t have to do it if she didn’t want to, but finally, she decided to go for it! We whooped and cheered for her when she made it to the top of the ladder! We could hardly wait for her to climb back down to give her a congratulatory hug… We were surprised to see that the instructor at the top was rehooking her harnesses.
And then this happened:
When she got back down, I asked her why she had decided to go for the swing.
“I think the instructor at the top didn’t realize I was just going to climb the ladder. She just assumed I was going to jump. So I did.”
Flush with the thrill of her accomplishment, we all asked her, “Do you want to go again?!”
“No.”
And I could totally respect that!
Baltimore in 2 days with 3 kids
- We were thoroughly charmed by the two days we spent in Charm City. Here’s our itinerary…
Wednesday
We left C’ville for Baltimore at 9 am.
We drove straight to Fort McHenry, arriving around noon (after one impromptu stop to visit Yoder’s and the petting farm). My 13 year old history buff was especially anxious to visit the star-shaped fort, the scene of the epic battle during the War of 1812, which inspired Francis Scott Key to write The Star Spangled Banner.
Inside the Visitors Center you watch a short movie in which the battle is reenacted. At the conclusion of the movie, the screen dramatically flies up to reveal a huge window overlooking the fort over whose ramparts flies the American flag. Everyone stands up and, hands over hearts, sings The Star Spangled Banner. I have to admit, I got caught up in the moment. There just may have been a tear welling in the corner of my eye. And then I heard my 16 year old say, “This is so cheesy.” And it totally was. But stirring nevertheless.
Oh, say can you see?
Sheltering from the bombs bursting in air…
We drove to the Homewood Suites by Hilton Baltimore, where we would spend the next couple of days. The hotel is in an excellent location, not quite overlooking the water, (at least from our suite), but a very short walk away from the Harbor. They serve a complimentary breakfast every day and a complimentary dinner with wine and beer Monday through Thursday. The food was not spectacular, but decent. There always seemed to be at least one standout item at every meal that was actually delicious: buttery croissants, hash browns, super fresh caesar salad, etc.
After checking out our room and having a brief rest, we headed out to walk around the neighborhood:
The last surviving ship of Pearl Harbor
We walked over to the World Trade Center and went up to the Observation Deck to get 360 degree views of the city:
We walked back to the hotel for dinner and then headed to Little Italy for dessert at Vaccaro’s:
We may have gotten a little carried away:
Oreo Sundae
Death by Chocolate!
Tiramisu Gelato
Despite our valiant efforts, we had to bring almost all of it back to the hotel to stash in the freezer.
We watched a movie and then headed to bed. We had two double beds and a sleeper sofa, but my silly girl insisted that she wanted to sleep here:
(She eventually did crawl into bed with me in the middle of the night)!
Day One: DONE!
A birthday wish for my son
May your life be filled with music, and may your light always shine bright and true.
A Better Way
We took a field trip with a caravan of friends to visit the wonderful A Better Way Farm and Goat Dairy in Waynesboro, Virginia. Ever since we moved to a house with a paddock and barn in the backyard, my daughter has been pleading for a baby goat. As my friend said, a visit to a goat farm truly was “a better way” to indulge her.
The goat farm is a one woman operation. Just a few years ago, Kathy was working at home as a computer programmer. She said she never dreamed she would end up being a goat farmer when she bought her house and land ten years ago. It all started when her youngest daughter asked for some chicks. (At this my friend and I eyed each other. The story sounded ominously familiar). “Chicks,” she said, “are a ‘gateway drug’ for other farm animals.” Soon all she wanted to do was be outside playing with the animals. She quit her job and started building her goat herd. Now all her children have grown and left home, and she runs the farm all by herself. Even though she has 70+ goats she milks by hand, chickens, a newly planted orchard, and bees, she says she’s having so much fun it doesn’t feel like a job at all! On the weekends she gives tours of her farm and from time to time gives workshops on things like goatkeeping, beekeeping, and soap making.
It was a delight to see someone so in her element. She knows each of her goats by name. “Hi, Magpie!” she says as she gives a black and white goat an affectionate head scratch. “My babies!” she cries to triplets, furiously wagging their little tails and clamoring for her attention:
We inquired about one goat who looked rather largish around the middle.
“Is she about to give birth?” my friend asked.
“Oh, that’s my very first goat. She’s not pregnant; she just never regained her figure after having her babies. She forgives you.”
I could definitely relate.
The tour concluded with a taste of creamy, sweet goat’s milk, which one of the visitors described as tasting like “melted ice cream.” We bought some chèvre, feta, and soap – all made from goats’ milk.
And though it was incredibly difficult to resist, we did not buy a baby goat.
Now the girl wants ducklings.
Rogue’s Gallery
I stomped downstairs this morning to confront my husband.
“YOU PUNCHED ME IN THE BACK LAST NIGHT. REALLY HARD.”
“Oh,” he said looking sheepish, “I know.”
I raised an eyebrow so high I almost got a muscle cramp.
“Let me explain.”
“There’s no explanation for domestic abuse.”
“I was having a dream that I was playing frisbee with the kids,” he hastened to say, “And I was doing that move I like to do,
and I guess I actually made the movement with my arm. It woke me up immediately, (Ummm…ME TOO!!!!!) and I realized what had happened.”
“Well, it still hurts! Really bad. And the psychic wound hurts maybe even more!”
At that moment my son came down the stairs.
“Did you know your dad punched me in the back last night?”
“WHAT?” he gasped with gratifying horror.
“Yes, that’s right, your father punched the woman who gave birth to you and your siblings. In the back. While she was fast asleep.”
The perpetrator of the nefarious crime leapt to his own defense.
“ACTUALLY!” he said, pointing to his son, “It was YOUR fault!
“How is this MY fault?” the poor boy asked, with perfectly understandable indignation.
“YOU’RE the one who wanted me to play frisbee with you.”
reliving the shame
Sad. Very sad.
Easter Weekend
We played outside…
And discovered a sweet surprise in our bluebird box:
Three perfect little eggs!
It would be impossible to improve upon those adorable little eggs, but we dyed a set of ceramic ones:
Goooldfinger!
Our gilded eggs
Ready for Easter!
We helped “flower” a bare cross covered with wire between Easter services:
You’re never too old for an Easter Egg hunt!
My husband and his new friend…
My friend Victoria came to spend the night with us. I made a salad with the carrot flowers my mom taught me how to make:
After dinner we chatted while my friend worked on some teaching projects:
Creating her pedagogical drawing illustrating Passover.
Beeswax kitty!
She brought me some beautiful eggs dyed with natural plant dyes:
And shared some photos of the process:
UVA in Spring
Weekend Snapshots 36
Friday
For some reason I hadn’t realized I didn’t have to work on Friday. When I was reminded of the fact that it was UVA’s “Spring Break Day,” it was like a gift that fell out of the sky and right into my lap.
My friend and I met for breakfast at Bluegrass Grill & Bakery. Afterward, we popped into Paradox Pastry right next door. I stashed a pain au chocolat in my purse, and had it later for an extra-decadent lunch for my extra-bonus day.
I went to all my favorite spots on the Downtown Mall.
Roxie Daisy:
…always has beautiful, and unusual things. Sometimes I have no idea what these things are, but don’t they look like they would enhance the quality of one’s life somehow?
Caspari is always beautifully styled too:
…but the real reason I go there is to admire the zebra finches. I love that their cage is always lined with pretty wrapping paper:
One couldn’t really consider a pain au chocolat a proper lunch. So I made a pit stop at Timberlake’s Drug Store for a vanilla milkshake to round it off! 
O’Suzannah is another favorite:
I can’t sew a stitch, but for some reason, I love to wander through the color coded rooms at the Second Yard, a fabric store in a creaky old house on Market Street. You can buy furniture and home decor there too:
I still had time before it was time to pick up my daughter from school, so I stopped off at Ivy Nursery. It’s always a pleasure to see the gorgeous displays there:
In the greenhouse there are always friendly women chatting with each other in Spanish as they create lovely arrangements:
Even the pot display is pretty:
I got some plants to fill out the urns we finally transported from our old house to our new house a couple weekends ago:
And a few more, just because I was helpless to resist their charms:
The boys couldn’t stop picking at the pot full of lettuces I brought home. They popped the leaves straight into their mouths!
We capped off the day with our new favorite evening pastime – a game of badminton, using our fence as a net:
I love the pace of the game – the shuttlecock travels so slowly, I could take photos and return the volley!
Saturday
My son has been doing rocketry after school. On Saturday we drove a couple of hours to Great Meadow Park in Fauquier County, Virginia to watch his team test the rockets they’ve been working on for months:
All three flights were clean and the payload of two (raw)! eggs remained undamaged!
That night my daughter followed an online play by play of the UVA/UNC game. I had no interest in the game. My entertainment was watching her reactions:
Yup. Our guys lost.
Sunday
The next morning my very tall ten-year-old daughter wore my dress to church. We can wear the same clothes, but I’m still a little bit taller than her…when she’s not standing on her tippy toes! 
More Old Photos
My mother is the third girl with long braids.
Newlyweds
o wonderful, wonderful 