Easter Solo

 I am posting more frequently lately.  Feeling more sentimental with the upcoming departure of my oldest to college.  I know everyone says "it was just yesterday..."  But wasn't it?  When he wouldn't hold my hand as he toddled down the sidewalk?    Here Luca is practicing for an Easter Sunday solo.  I couldn't record the actual at church.  I am going to miss hearing this strong voice beside me every week.

Kitchen Window

 Our house has floor to ceiling windows in the kitchen.  They're not glamorous.  Old and drafty, the frames are scratched up by the previous owner's cats.  Luca looked at me standing there awkwardly staring out the window.  He could see me from the other room, but he couldn't see out the window down to the driveway.  "What are you smiling at?"  He asked me.  Confused why I had been standing there motionless with a silly smile on my face.  Just watching my kids play hopscotch on a warm spring day.  Just feeling perfectly happy for a few minutes.

Rocky Mountain High

We had a fantastic time visiting Uncle Tommy and Jean and skiing the slopes of Vail and Beaver Creek.  

 

Some of my favorite moments weren't on the slopes, but rather at Tommy and Jean's beautiful new home.  An old family tradition of ours in a new space.  I love these moments of working together and then eating together.

And probably my favorite moment of the trip.  My 4 kids sat down together designing and drawing ski mountains.  I have been so blessed by their creativity.  This moment struck me so profoundly for a couple of reasons.  It started as the younger two drawing, but the older brothers took an interest and joined in.  We are so busy at home with everyone's activities that moments of the four of them all together are not as common as they once were.  Also, my Luca is a senior, the days of us all together under one roof every night are fleeting.    

Lastly, upon our return home, Luca conceived this idea and enlisted the help of his siblings to bring it to fruition.  

Going to be a part of it, New York

 For my birthday weekend we took the Acela train to NYC.  Train was the way to go!  So much better than driving.  We were there in less than 2.5 hours.  We enjoyed snacks and a game of cards at the table.

Hotel gyms have been an obsession for all my kids.  Tommy takes it to a new level.  He would be too fatigued to take another step on our walk around the city, so Jeremiah had to give him a ride on his shoulders.  Then Tommy hit the treadmill for a 15% uphill sprint at 6 mph.  Good thing he saved his energy.

Last time we visited the Empire State Building, I had to nurse baby Luca in the restroom at the top, so it's been a while.

Luca and James with their buds Max and Oliver in Times Square after the show.

My favorite Tommy quote of the weekend.  As we are walking from Penn Station to our hotel surrounded by hordes of people leaving a Rangers game, overwhelming pot smell everywhere, Tommy says, "There are so many different smells in NY, Mom."

Charleston

We recently took the kids to visit Charleston SC.  We stayed on Kaiwah island.  We visited Drayton House and Aiken Rhett house.  Both of these old plantations are preserved in place, not restored.  This method of preservation gives much more of a sense of the passage of time.  We visited Fort Sumter.  We also dined at Husk.

My senior

Everyone said the time would fly.  I didn’t really believe it then when days could be long.  Now I want more years.  This boy is delightful, bright, and kind.  He had his homecoming dance a couple weeks.  In a high school experience so altered by covid, it was a relief to many of us to see a return to prior traditions.  The kids were obviously excited about it, because his high school sold out of tickets.

Welcome to Hogwarts

As many 11-year-olds have dreamt, Libby and 10 of her friends received their Hogwarts letters a few weeks ago.

The young witches and wizard arrived excited and dressed in capes and house colored ties.  They passed through platform 9 3/4 to enter.  Our own Voldemort waited in the shadows to scare the living daylights out of them.

The guests proceeded to Ollivanders to prepare their wands.

The great room was decorated with floating candles.  These little buggers were a bit of a pain and a few fell down.

Some guests RSVP came via owl!

We had a Honey dukes counter.

And a potions class.

Hagrid made the cake.

We had these amazing cookies as a favor.  Along with these amazing mugs with vinyl decals for the Three Broomsticks and The Leaky Cauldron.  My talented generous co-worker made these happen for us.  They looked so fun filled with butterbeer!

The whole group showing off their divination balls.

My mom came to help and she got really into it!   She even started reading the books!  The two of us had so much fun setting it all up.

My sweet girl loved every minute.

This was one of my favorite birthday parties to host.  It was like stepping out of the mundane into a world of ancient spells and polyjuice potions.