Almost Spring - Almost Spring?

Seems like it takes a sick day for me to catch up on posting. It's also because blogger takes so long to post to - have to switch to Wordpress. Anyway, Shara's home sick today and yesterday. Fever, stomach ache, etc. She's on the mend and should be able to get to the dress rehearsal tonight.
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Here in NE it hasn't been very spring-like. Luckily we get the beautiful daffodils and I know the warmer weather is coming soon. Shara seems to be having a pretty easy time of Alan not living here and she enjoys her Friday night sleepovers but doesn't feel the need to stay over more nights just yet. I don't think she has a sense of too much of a difference in our basic lifestyle. Alan still picks her up from Tina's after school almost every day, takes her to dance, we act the same as always at church and church & family functions, we try to have family night each week...  Other than what Alan does when he's not here, it's pretty much the same. She never saw him in the morning, other than a quick goodbye. Dinnertime is the biggest change. We used to sit down to family dinner almost every night, which is pretty unusual these days. Our eating habits have gotten pretty bad. I hardly cook anymore - in fact, I don't even know what we eat normally. I don't think we've settled into any normal. Maybe this summer we'll figure that out.

Here's what we've been up to:
Shara & Kat making a fleece blanket together, during Winter vacation.

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Our first family night - dinner from Lawdessa, the new Middle Eastern restaurant. Alan & Shara dressing up for dinner.

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Valentine's Day at Bubbe's

Shara frosting the best ever chocolate cake!

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Wielding scissors of unusual size - for the Hive grand opening

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Voodoo Donuts from my trip to Portland for a work conference. Alan stayed home with Shara for the few days. I didn't come back with donuts looking as fresh as these, but what I did bring back make it for the trip in my suitcase. I was surprised they melted. I thought they'd be crushed, but weren't. The three of us stood over the smaller box and gobbled them all up rather quickly.

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Went to visit Bubbe for Passover

lunch at the Troy farmer's market w/ Aunt Jill:

Easter at Oma & Jidor's - never too old for a good egg hunt. Auntie Chrissy did a good job hiding this year! Took Shara quite a while to find them all. I got cold and left the hunt a little early. It was a nice family day.


We hosted a Circle Dinner on 4/18. It was a lovely time and nice to get to know church members who we see and chat with all the time but never have a chance to have a real conversation. Shara had fun entertaining the kids. They're really energetic and smart and we appreciated that Shara enjoyed the responsibility of playing with them.

Patriot's Day - A day at the MOS - Shara studied the Maya this year and we got a membership and had a great day going back in history but the highlight was the Planetarium. Can't wait to go again.

Springtime!

It's starting to warm up outside, and we've been having a nice time noticing the days getting longer. At the beginning of the month was the Blessing of the Animals service. Shara brought in Beautiful, her FurReal dog. She had Alan get the pet carrier down from the attic so she could carry her in it. We had a good time celebrating Jidor's birthday at the Rao's. Lots of activities are also marking the change in season - MCAS for one. Shara took the reading (ELA) tests and thinks she did fine. She missed the second one because she was out of school for a few days. Two because of a fever, cough and generally feeling rotten. The third for a visit to Bubbe's for Pasach (Passover). It was a very quick trip - just one day, but we got to spend the whole day with Bubbe and help her get ready for the sedar. We were also lucky enough to see some cousins we don't get a chance to see too often.

Shara (Alan too) been troopers dealing with mommy's busy schedule. Part of me thinks Shara likes all the craziness. I know she likes having people over. There were two occasions, both church related. One was a house meeting, where we conducted a bit of brainstorming on our church future, basically. The other was a meeting/party for members of church who the stewardship committee identified as being a good foundation to kick off the annual pledge drive fundraising. She's such a good kid, there's no issue having her attend an adult function. She isn't silent, but really behaves herself. She also has a good time telling stories and pretending. She's looking forward to April Fool's Day and tricking someone somehow.

So what else? A couple of days ago there was a bee in the lunch room and apparently freaked out the kids at Shara's table. The story started as a swarm of  bees, but turned out to be one, though there could have been lots more and what if...? The third graders had a talk from the principal about making too much noise during MCAS and were told how they were expected to behave - apparently they hadn't been the best behaved kids, so needed to be reminded.

Green Eggs & Ham (Dr. Seuss' Birthday)

Shara & Brutus, asleep in mommy & daddy's bed

Holiday Get-together

We had a very nice visit at the Lookers with Bubbe, Aunt Susan, Aunt Jill, Uncle Andy, Samantha, Liz, and Jesus. Fairly low key, but nice. We did some yoga, ate the last of the happy piggies, shared cookies, and learned how to be Whos.

The following day we got a fairly early start and picked up Nonie for brunch at the Iron Roost, followed by a  short visit with Chris, Tom, Sidney, and Zoey. Shara was pretty scared of Zoey, who is as big as a pony but one of the most gentle German Shepherds I've ever met. We also got to look at the various cookies Chris made. They really were beautiful and I should get her recipes. Maybe we can do a Pinterest Cookie Exchange.

A Day At the Races

 Last weekend we picked Shara up from Aunt Jill's. She had spent the week there and had a great time. Maybe some day she'll post some memories about it. We picked her up Friday and had a leisurely morning getting all Shara's stuff packed up and spending some more time visiting before heading to Saratoga. I grew up in the area, spent lots of time in Saratoga, my dad, Grandpa Bobby, even had a horse that raced at the harness track, but I had never been to the flat track before. It's one thing to read about it and see it on tv but completely different to actually be there. So much to see and smell and hear. Had I gone when I was younger, I would make sure we went every year or so. We happened to go on Traver's day to boot. So what we experienced may not have been the norm, but I'm guessing it was pretty close. Women of all ages in hats of all styles and heals of all heights! We watched a couple of races, bet and lost on one, then made our way toward a very late lunch. We hadn't gotten there until about 1 PM, but our schedules hadn't been regular since before vacation, so who cared if we had lunch at 3 PM? We went searching for the Shake Shack and boy was it worth it! Shara ate a whole cheeseburger and we split fries and a special dusty track shake? I can't remember the name but it was a salted caramel shake topped with ground chocolate. The salt may not have been very noticeable from the salt on the fries. Didn't matter, it was great. As we were heading out, trying to beat any rain from Irene, who did we run into but cousin Howard! Out of all the people we spotted him!

I'm glad we did because it had been a very long time since I'd seen him and he and Shara got to meet. I say this all the time, but we really need to go to the Capitol District for a much longer stay. It's always a whirl-wind. One of the things Shara got to do during her week there was spend some time with Bubbe as well as the Lookers. Bubbe took Shara to Jumpin' Jack's. Crazy that the next week they were under water. This is why it's so important to get out and go place and experience all that's around us. You never know when that chance won't be there. Jumpin' Jack's as well as the strong people of Vermont will rebuild, but to think that the if we had planned our vacation two weeks later, we would have had to cancel or go elsewhere. I feel we've been very fortunate in so many ways.

Stowe Vacation Day 7 - Day of Vermont Food Tastings

- Dutch pancake cafe (2nd visit) Just as good, if not better than the first. Shara got the dutch chocolate chip pancake with a side of bacon. I had basically the same as the first time, but added strawberries, of which shara shared 1/2. Bubbe got the apple blueberry too. Alan had eggs blackstone, a sort of benedict, papa had a traditional breakfast. All was delicious and I was talking to a desk clerk at the inn side and she have me a copy of the recipe.

- cabot creamery factory tour, cheese and maple candy


- cabot creamery annex store, more cheese, crackers, maple syrup tastings; apple syrup tasted like very good applesauce, ginger syrup was mildly gingered

- green mountain coffee roasters, Had easy to grab, and healthy lunch at the cafe (chili garlic tofu and california roll) and got a couple bags of coffee. Prepared coffee was very good and cold without being watered down. Shara tasted my iced, black coffee and didn't spit it out. Good that she was forewarned though! alan and i also participated in a taste test of ice coffee for the keurig but neither of us thought either of the trials had enough coffee flavor.

- Cold Hollow Cider Mill, cider doughnuts, cider syrup jelly


After filling up, we decided it was a good time to let shara get the t-shirt she was promised the other day if she behaved herself and acted like a happy, human being. She mostly managed to, so bubbe, papa, and daddy waited in the car while shara and I took the long way to the general store with the life is good section. We got a little nervous because the stack of shirts shara wanted were moved, but we found them, and her size. The lady at the counter suggested shara use the changing room to switch shirts because she was going to put it on over the one she had on. So she changed and then we went back to the car, realizing we could go out the back door and be right near the car. Glad we didn't notice before.

We ended our day out by heading back to the condo and packing our stuff, munching on some normal foods, and playing one last game (headbandz), before calling out a night.

Mommy was glad to be busy with packing because it kept her mind off not seeing shara for a whole 5 days! Shara, on the other hand, laughed at mommy for starting to get emotional. She'll be just fine.

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Great Visit and Rest of Vacation

Wednesday we took a quick trip to visit Bubbe & Papa and Aunt Jill & Uncle Andy. It was a very nice time. We went right to Bubbe's and mostly just relaxed. Shara spent quite a bit of time working on her huge 1st grader workbook. Then Aunt Susan came over and we all played Sorry. That was a lot of fun - Shara taught Aunt Susan how to play and really stressed to us all the "proper" way to send someone back to their start. Let's just say it's a little violent. Then Aunt Jill and Uncle Andy came over with dinner and Susan went home and brought me back her homemade almond paste. Shara sat between Jill and Bubbe, of course. After dinner Shara watched American Idol and loved it. We now have it on our season pass list.

We spent the night at Jill's. Shara went to sleep pretty quick, though it was already after 9 when we got to her house. I ended up staying up with Jill until after 2AM. When I got into bed, it was rather freezing. I knew it wasn't so cold that we'd get hypothermia, but I did go in search of a blanket. Finding none, I took my jacket and put it over her. Shara didn't seem to be bothered by the cold, but when we woke up, I asked if she was cold and she replied, "I'm freezing", so we hopped out of bed and stood for a while in front of the wood stove. It felt wonderful! We had a fun morning of relaxing and making and eating breakfast.

The trip home was uneventful. Shara spent most of the time playing on my phone.
The next day we went bowling and got ice cream at Peaceful Meadows, even though it was pouring out. It's never a bad time for ice cream.

Saturday we went to the Lakeville Library for their "Love your library" rally. It was a lot of fun looking at the books in the kids room and especially watching Ryan's Tall Tales. Shara was rolling - she's a tough audience, but he was really funny. That evening we did dinner and a movie - Selena Gomez's Cinderella movie. It was cute.

Sunday was the culmination of the 5 week food drive program/partnership with Messiah Baptist and we were invited to go to their Sunday service. It was very inspiring and Rev. Ed did a fantastic sermon. I think it was wasted on Shara, and probably the other little kids too, but they were all so good and well behaved. We stayed for lunch and conversation. The rest of the day was spent with me cooking and Shara bouncing on the bed and going through her homemade obstacle course.

Yom Kippur 2010

Last weekend we had a really fun time at Aunt Jill and Bubbe's for Yom Kippur. Alan wasn't able to join us because he was sick with what lots of other people had. We picked Liz up and were lucky to have her company for the ride there and back. The way out was relaxing and we had a very nice dinner at Sushi Thai in Clifton Park, before going to the Lookers. Shara loved her sushi and Liz's. They made her favorite, Sweet potato maki, and she had a whole bowl of miso soup, and 2 of Liz's California Roll. Liz had a boat - it was beautiful and she shared some of her fabulous sushi and sashimi with me too. I had pad thai, but no one really had any of that but me. It was very peanut buttery, but good. Not as good as Liz's white tuna though. So dinner out with Shara and Liz was like being out with a much older kid. She's so much fun and doesn't act like such a little girl any more but like a kid. And with a great sense of humor. Not just goofy kid things, but really funny stuff that makes me laugh. Of course I can't think of anything now, but will try to post when she says it. Ok, so after dinner we went to the Lookers and Liz got her big surprise of Samantha being home for the weekend too. We were assaulted by crazy Ruby, Dana's dog, but other than that, had a pleasant evening visiting.

The next morning we woke up before anyone else, except Andy of course, and had hot chocolate milk and tv. Shara didn't mind that I had to use hot fudge sundae topping. After getting ready, we had some breakfast and made the deal of the century for both of us. Shara didn't want to go to shull, but with the promise of two cider doughnuts, she agreed to be a well behaved child; no complaining, fussing, arguing, etc. She really didn't have that hard of a time keeping her promise. I was bored too so we went for a walk around the shull, played outside in the beautiful sun, relaxed, and had a nice time with each other. What was more impressive was how she keep herself busy at bubbe's while I helped get dinner together and ready for the company. Shara helped too by plating cookies, putting nuts in a dish and other odds and ends. Then when Jimmy and his girlfriend came, she was showered with attention. Then she wanted no part of me, of course. Later in the evening Liz, Samantha, Shara, Bubbe, Aunt Jill and I had fun playing with all of our cameras.

Sunday we decided to leave by noon and we made our schedule. This was very nice because we were able to relax and get our things packed up, enjoy breakfast, pick grapes! and watch aunt Jill make chocolate chip cookies. Liz was happy to have the room of the van to bring back more of her things and we liked having Liz for the ride home. We decided that we should stop for lunch, but Shara wasn't hungry, unless it was a cider doughnut, of course. Liz found a nice cafe in Lee and it was a great find. Liz & I split their grilled veggie sandwich with aioli on a baguette. Shara had a minestrone soup that she didn't love. She did really like Liz's Chai and my potato chips though. While there I saw a flier for a harvest fest, featuring famous cider doughnuts from Hilltop Orchards. Well it sounded like that was where we were headed next. We didn't realize that we would be going back toward New York but that was fine because we were exploring and not on a very tight schedule at all. And we had the GPS and a full tank of gas. Very important for being carefree. We found the orchard and were a bit surprised that it was so small and not really overcrowded. Apparently it was featured on the Today show and even had wine tastings. We had a couple tastes of wine and then got our doughnuts. Had to get 1/2 dozen because these things were right out of the fryer and loaded with cinnamon sugar and smelled great. They were. I had two, Shara and Liz each had one. These things were dangerous. We didn't pick apples, but I got a peck and we got back in the car and headed on to get Liz home. It was a fairly quiet trip. I let Shara watch her movies, which got very dull, but she was happy. So we dropped Liz off, and after we got back on the road, Shara started acting tired and cranky. So we got home and she was a little better and we had dinner and got to bed so we could get back to our normal weekly schedule.

Liz's Graduation

Friday we went  western MA to join our family for Liz's graduation from Hampshire College. Shara had new shoes to bring, from Target, and they were cute. We went right to the campus so we could hear her Div III presentation - "I'm Respectful: Middle School Students, Clothing Choices, and Identity Negotiation". Grandpa & Noni were there too, so it was extra special.

The presentation was very interesting. Shara was great. She really listened, or at least day dreamed, but didn't make a peep and sat still. After the presentation we went to Flayvors and had some ice cream to hold us over before going to get settled in at the hotel and then get ready for dinner. Shara and Alan had the mocha oreo - mud road? and I had the brownie version. Samantha had a coconut one - Inez, which was amazing, but you have to be in the mood for it, and Grandpa had run raisin. Samantha got some good pictures of us and the cows. I think Jill had some good ones too, so please share!

The hotel was very nice. It was a Hampton Inn and the person at the desk gave us a non-smoking room, right next to the rest of the families' rooms. Originally all they had was one smoking room left. The room had a refrigerator and microwave, so Shara was able to have her hot chocolate milk for morning. Shara really liked the hotel room and had a great time jumping from the ottoman to the bed and piling up the pillows and playing pirate with Noni, Samantha and Alan. She was also a big help separating her birthday invitations that I brought to work on. Almost ready to send out!

Jill made 5:30 reservations at Paul and Elizabeth's in Northampton. Dad, Ev & Samantha drove with us to the town. Shara can't get enough of her cousins. She was in her glory - at dinner she sat in between Liz & Samantha. The restaurant was crowded, but we had a great time. I was happy to be sitting across from Liz and getting to spend some time with her. It's been a while! We decided to share the antipasto appetizer, and Alan said he'd also have some. It was good - roasted garlic, tapenade, brie, artichoke hearts, on greens with focaccia. Shara liked the tapenade but didn't care for the tomato & lentil soup for her dinner. She said she wasn't hungry and then I was able to get her to say that she really didn't like it and have some of Liz's and my dinner. I had one of their fish specials - swordfish with tomatoes & olives in a very tasty sauce. Lots of olive oil. Sub'd brown rice for the mashed potatoes. Also very good was the honey - miso dressing on my salad. Shara also liked the green beans (have to get the recipe - tasted like they were roasted with soy sauce) home made rolls. As tradition, we all had dessert. Liz, Shara & I split the strawberry shortcake (ice cream instead of whipped cream) and the dairy-free chocolate mousse cake. Shara & Liz really liked the chocolate mousse better than I did, but everything was quite good. After dinner we walked around the mall for a bit, really liking the shoe selection.

Saturday morning was spent a little too leisurely. We had breakfast with Grandpa - even got to make home made waffles! and the rushed to get in the car and drive to the college. Turned out there was no need to worry about parking. They had a field for parking close by the tent and we got there in plenty of time. We met up with Jill, Andy, bubbe & papa. The ceremony was interesting. The keynote was very good. The kids don't wear caps and gowns, and it was really hard to see anything. They also don't call the names in alphabetical order, so it's hard to tell when the person you're there to see is going to get called. It turned out to be less emotional that I anticipated and a little anti-climatic. Shara again was terrific. She played with her puzzle book most of the time, and this was a long ceremony - 2 hours.

After the ceremony we all sat together and had the box lunch, provided by the school. Shara was not wanting anything but ice cream and finally stopped being cranky and ate the sandwich. I was very happy and relieved she got it together. We met Jesus and then just hung out with Noni, grandpa, and Samantha, while Liz finished clearing out her mod. Again we had ice cream - at least Shara, Sam & I. Then a bit of a discussion about whether we should go to dinner with everyone or not. The plan was to go to Great Barrington to Babba Louis, since no reservations could be had anywhere decent near the college. This was about an hour out of our way and we weren't assured a table since they didn't take reservations. Throwing caution to the wind, we did join them and I'm very glad we did. Liz rode with us, so we got to talk to her more and Shara played some little pet shop on her Leapster and showed Liz how to dress the dogs and take them out to the bathroom, etc. Then we did have a nice dinner - I sat with bubbe & papa, Shara sat with Aunt Jill, Uncle Andy, and Alan. Noni was happy that she found her fill of Silly Bandz to give to the kids and Shara got to play with them while waiting for her pizza. After dinner, Shara came up to me and said very quietly, so I knew where she was going, "traditionally we get dessert after eating at a fancy restaurant..." Seeing as they didn't have dessert at this place, we went next door and she picked out a ring pop. We then said our goodbyes and headed home.

Sam's Graduation Party!

We had a great time at Samantha's party. It was so nice to visit with everyone and fun too! Shara had a blast running back and forth from in the house to outside, and around, watching the big kids in the trampoline, and eating the chocolate dipped strawberries, marshmallows & graham crackers (thanks bubbe for the s'mores idea). Here are some pics.

Hanukkah at Bubbe's & Wii!

We went to Bubbe's last Friday for our hanukkah party. We had a lot of fun. The trip there wasn't very interesting - the usual stop at Whole Foods for some decent road food. Shara had a good nap in the car and I started knitting her leg warmers. Obviously Alan drove. We got to Bubbe's about a hour or two early so got to visit and help out. Shara couldn't wait for her cousins to show up. When they did, as Alan noted, they looked very sophisticated. Can't believe Samantha is almost in college and Lizzy is soon off to Scotland! Wow, time flies. When we moved to this area, I remember the first visit from Samantha and Jill - sam was 8.

Anyway, I hardly saw Shara the whole night. She was more than happy spending time with her cousins. I was there for the dance recital she set up. Liz & Sam knew exactly what "make a window" meant, being old dance pros. They followed Shara's directions beautifully. I also remember us all hanging out in the bedroom taking lots of silly pictures of each other and not feeling so bad that I only got to 16 mhz when Liz & Sam got to just 17. Yes Shara, we know you can hear them all!

Since I can't remember much of the evening, other than all of us staying up until 10 PM! I'd like to invite our family to post their comments about their memories.

The next day, after a good breakfast of Bubbe's eggs, bagels, lox and cream cheese, we drove home, again, nothing special. When we got home, the long clean-up process began. Where to put all the new things! Wow, there was a lot to put away. Alan started getting the Wii set up - that is the best invention ever! We all had so much fun on Sunday. We could all play - Shara was just as good at the golf as we were. She also had fun with the tilt table, getting the balls in the holes. Alan has some video of her boxing, which we'll have to figure out how to post - it's from his phone, so apparently not as simple. We also have tons of photos from Hanukkah, since Shara took the camera and went to town.

Rosh Hashanna

We had a very nice time at bubbe's for Rosh Hashanna. Shara and I left after work on Monday and she was really great company for the drive. There were a couple of times when she had a melt-down, such as when she got upset that we weren't going to play and have treats when we got to bubbe's, but basically go to sleep. Just a small misunderstanding. We actually didn't go right to sleep. Shara enjoyed relaxing and watching dancing with the stars while I got unpacked and settled. We visited for a bit and slept.

Tuesday we went to shul and shara wouldn't leave my side. She was playing up the shy game rather well, which was too bad because there were a couple of nice kids there she could have had fun with. We went back to Bubbe's and had lunch and started to get ready for dinner. Shara helped me set the table and we went for a walk and had a nice time. Then everyone came over and Shara didn't leave Samantha's side! Samantha even put Shara to bed - got her ready, layed down with her and Shara fell right to sleep.

The ride back was rather uneventful. Shara fell asleep about an hour away from Alan's work, which is where we were headed. It poured and we stopped at Finegel a Bagel for lunch before dropping Shara off at Alan's. I then went to my meeting and Alan brought Shara home.

Catch up

We had a great visit from Bubbe & Jill last weekend. I felt like I lived in California with the perfect weather, swimming, grilling pizzas and eating outside with a nice bottle of wine. The whole weekend was relaxing for all of us. Jill was Shara's idol and it reminded me of when I used to see Liz & Samantha all the time - aunt laur!, aunt laur! Jill had to have company when taking a shower, was the one to keep shara company while getting dressed, playing, etc. Basically her shadow. They both had fun. Bubbe also got some nice Shara time, something she tries to do over the phone, but Shara never cooperates with phone conversations. Yesterday she actually talked to Bubbe on the phone, but it was cut short when she layed down in bed with it and it fell on her face (she's fine). Back to the visit - Saturday afternoon we went to Brigg's nursury and everyone was rightly impressed. I got a white phlox, Jill got a goonie bird and disguested by the pig (it's gross - fat, smells, etc.) Shara had a blast getting pushed on the swings by Jill. She could have swung forever! Saturday night we had a noisy dinner at the Chateau and mom, Jill & I all had the seafood platter and were all a little disappointed. I always say it's best to just get classic Italian dishes there, but it was fun regardless. We picked blueberries together at Ward's berry farm which was rather unexpected because we were only going to be going out to breakfast (Good Days, of course) and on the way back home decided to head out to pick some berries. That was a lot of fun - wasn't too hot, lots of berries, etc. We then said goodbye and all agreed we needed to do this more often.

Nothing too special happened during the week, mostly because shara hasn't been napping and has been a little cranky in the evenings. Friday Alan & I took a hike in the Blue Hills and picked Shara up a little early from school. We went to pick up my car from being serviced and on the way out Shara was "skipping" on the sidewalk and wiped out. Both knees and her hand got booboos. She heals really fast but was rather upset. They were pretty bad scrapes. Friday evening was rather low-key and Saturday was not so great either. Mostly because our plans were interruped by daddy being paged. We were on our way to the Westport farmer's market - actually about 10 minutes away, and had to turn around and go back home. We were all pretty unhappy about it, but we had lunch and Shara and I made zucchini bread. She then took a "nap" - actually I told her she could play quietly in her room. She shut the door and several minutes later appeared bedecked in jewels and her new, too big, patent leather heels. Very cute.

Seeing as quietly wasn't working that well, and she really wasn't acting tired, we got ready for Chris and her friends from England to come over. We were all going to go out to dinner. Shara was, as usual, slow to warm up. She wouldn't look at them for about 1/2 hour, but once she did, she didn't shut up. She danced around and basically went crazy. Dinner was good - Fresh Catch. Stephen had shashimi & lobster for the first time. I got to have my summer fried seafood fest and even have dinner for tonight as well. Everyone was pleased. We had hoped to come home and have somores, something very American, but Shara was too off-the-wall, so she had bedtime and everyone went home for their bedtime too - lots of running around for all.

Yesterday Shara & I tried another farmers market - rehoboth. I was a little disappointed. There was just a farm stand, no crafts and event, like in Carver. We did get some really nice veggies though. Shara picked out several. On the way back we took a large detour to get the doughnuts I've been craving - Butler's. Unfortunately they had no more cream left, so we scrounged and picked up a few that weren't all that good. Shara had no problem with her chocolate frosted with sprinkles. Went home, had lunch, then watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Shara really liked the dancing, lights, etc. I thought she would. Then we checked out the swimming & gymnastics. I turned into an aparatus while she vaulted off the couch and over me. Then on to another dinner. This time at Oma & Jidor's. Chris, Stephen and Jay were there as well, and Shara got to play with her new princess makeup table, which we decided to keep at Oma's so she'd be able to play with it when she visited. Dinner was very good, as usual, and we didn't leave until after Shara's bedtime, as usual, so she's still sleeping and I'll have to wake her up soon. I guess she'll be getting back on schedule with naps again!

Here are some pictures of Caroline's birthday party, the sand sculpture event at Revere beach and Briggs. Oh, also are shara's first dentist appointment. Wow, it's been a while since I wrote anything. That will need another post on it's own.