Delightful.

My idea of a dream weekend? 

Take Jeff and me and put us on a train super early on a Saturday morning headed to New York City.  See three (yes, 3!!!) shows, have lunch with a seriously cool lady who just happens to be a writer for General Hospital (No way! Way!!), find an awesome NY deli for breakfast that offers gluten-free bagels, all while walking everywhere!  Not to mention we managed to fit drinks in with a friend from high school, dinner with Jeff's uncle, and made it to Juniors for the yummiest slice of cheesecake.  End the weekend with a train back to D.C. departing Penn Station at 9:00pm Sunday evening, being in NYC for every possible minute we can before having to resume our regular lives on Monday morning.

I love NY!  I realize it will never be practical to live there, but it sure is nice to visit.  I love the energy, I love the people, I love the skyscrapers, I love the skyline.  I love it all! 

How wonderful Jeff and I could make this weekend a reality while the kids were at camp.

On the train!

As heard in the  "Hamilton" soundtrack, "It's the greatest city in the world."

Jeff and I have been to New York just frequently enough over the past several years that we seem to end up at the same exact restaurants completely by coincidence.  It's not until we are inside and seated at the same table that we realize we've been there before, and sometimes twice before.  Out of the tens of thousands of restaurants we could eat at, we've managed to randomly pick the same Chinese restaurant, Italian restaurant and diner.   It's pretty funny when it happened again this past visit to New York.  We've agreed to give up trying to find anything new and just keep visiting what seems to be our favorite places.  Hey, if it works, why mess with it?

Nora Ephron sums up my feelings perfectly:  "I look out the window and I see the lights and the skyline and the people on the street rushing around looking for action, love, and the world’s greatest chocolate chip cookie, and my heart does a little dance."

I must be dreaming.

I've been having a "pinch me" moment that keeps going on and on and on.  There are some things I experience that even amaze myself it is happening.

It all started when I noticed that a baby born on the soap opera "General Hospital" had the same unique name as my neighbor's newborn who was born shortly before these episodes aired.  I commented on Facebook to my neighbor what a trendsetter she was.  My neighbor replied back and said her husband's aunt was a writer for the show and that is how that happened.  Next thing you know, I'm chatting with the writer herself and telling her what a fan I am of the soap opera.  I had been watching since I was 5.  General Hospital has become a part of me.  It's just something I do.  It's always there.

Then this happened:

SERIOUSLY!!!   The writer I had been emailing with made Ian's name (first and last!!) an off-screen character.  Ian's name was spoken by the great Nurse Bobbie.  OMG!!  I think the kids and I watched this video about 50 times in a row right after it happened.  How insane is this!?!?!    It should be noted that there are already females character named "Sam" and  "Robin" on the show, so that wasn't really an option.

But wait, it gets even better!  I get an email saying the studio has a surprise for me and will be sending it to me shortly.  In the mail, a signed script by the cast of the episode Ian's name appeared in arrived at my door.  HOLY SH*T!  I can't believe it and was shaking as I held the script when I realized what it was I was taking out of the envelope.  THIS IS INSANE!!!!   I've since figured out a great way to protect it and display it. I've put it in a shadow box frame.

After thanking my new bestie, she indicated she'd be open to getting together the next time I am in NY.  OMG!!  This just keeps better and better.  If I am dreaming all of this, please don't wake me up.

Lunch with her on Sunday in New York City was a surreal experience.  The icing on the cake?  When at the end of lunch she said "We should do this again."  Um, yeah...how about every Sunday?  Is every Sunday good for you?  I am pretty sure I'd never get tired chatting with her.  She is fascinating, lovely, and so incredibly sweet.

It's what's happening: Sleepaway camp!

Somehow miraculously Jeff and I made it work to send both kids to sleepaway camp for a month this Summer.  Yes, a month!  From July 25th to August 20th, Ian and Sam are spending their time in Palmer, MA at a Jewish overnight camp called Camp Ramah.

I think its pretty awesome that Ian and Sam are able to have this time; to just be a kid, playing with other kids their age, doing games and activities, singing and dancing, and having fun in a structured environment.  The best part of all is, it's technology free.  No iPads, no cell phone, no xbox.

I love that they get to experience this. But boy do I miss them!  The house is super quiet.  And the camp photographer is not the best this year at taking photos.  Fortunately I have my friends Dawn and Susanne working at the camp.  They have been wonderful in sending me lots of awesome photos and videos and giving me great reports on what Ian and Sam are up to.

Reports from my spies:  Sam is eating nothing but noodles for lunch and dinner.  Ha!  Actually one morning's breakfast consisted of 3 (!) cinnamon rolls.  This bothers Jeff more than it does me.  You got to pick your battles, right?  As long as she is happy and eating something is all I want for her.

It's gotten to be something of a joke that Sam is eating so many noodles.  Susanne asked her at one meal where are her veggies?  Sam answered with "At home."   Dawn saw her holding an apple and commented on how much she loves apples too.  Sam replied with, "Don't get so excited, I am only holding it.".   Ha!   The best was when Dawn stopped her and recorded her reaction when she informed Sam of the unfortunate news that the camp ran out of noodles.  The reaction on Sam's face is priceless.  

Just another 10 days to go until I get to hug my babies again.  XOXO

Sun in the fun in OC,NJ

My summer feels complete now that we had our week at the beach in Ocean City, NJ.  For the fourth year we rented a place and spent the week with my cousin Leslie and her family.  This to me is what summer is all about.  Spending countless hours by the ocean, hanging with family, getting ice cream almost every night after dinner and walking on the boardwalk.  Does it get any more old school and wholesome than that?  I don't think so.

This year we had a new set of wonderful guests join us...Jeff's parents!  From Sunday to Wednesday they stayed with us in Ocean City and got a glimpse at all the things we love about our week at the beach. 

Here are some of the highlights:

1. Uncle Bill's.  This restaurant is a family favorite and we make sure to go at least twice during the week.

2. Ian and Max surfing.

3. Getting Jeff on the beach for two days. 

4. Getting Jeff's father on the beach!  Rumor has it its been decades since he has stepped foot on a beach.

4. Being with family --all of them, Jeff's parents, my cousin's family, and her extended relatives.  It's the best!

5. Ian and Max getting to an operate a surrey all on their own.  This has been a dream of theirs. 

6.  The weather was extra gorgeous.

There is something so calming about being at the beach.   It is peaceful and easy and relaxing.  I absolutely adore it and am so thankful we've been able to do a week each summer.  Ian has a dream to rent an additional house nearby for just our relatives to come.  He'll make a schedule and have everyone he is related to come to visit.  The more family he is surrounded with, the better.   I couldn't agree more!

Meeting SDW ♥

My sister had a baby!   Sarah Dylan Wronsky was born on June 7, 2017.  She is beautiful and sweet and everything amazing.  Sarah joins big sister Rachel who is 3.5 years old and thrilled to have a sister.   In fact, Rachel thinks of Sarah as her baby. She is very possessive about her. 

Lori and Ben had Sarah's baby naming in early July and we had the best visit meeting Sarah and spending time with the family.  Now there is another reason to add to the list for wanting to move to Orlando. 

I heart NYC!

Our summer got off to a smashing start.  We had a trip to NYC planned for the week after school got out.  The whole trip was created because of one very big, thrilling event.

We had tickets to Hamilton. Yes, those very hard to get, much sought after, fabulous Broadway show about the Founding Father without a father, first Secretary of Treasury, Alexander Hamilton.   I was able to get the tickets as soon as they went on sale in September 2016 for the June 27th performance.  It gave us all school year to look forward to this.  And boy were we excited.

 

 As the lights went down and the show started, I got very emotional for the first 5 minutes. I couldn't believe we were actually "in the room where it happens".   I quickly got over it and became mesmerized with all the songs coming to life. It was amazing.  The show which is close to 3 hours long felt like 5 minutes.  It was so very well done.   Ian couldn't stop thanking us for taking him and as soon as the show was over, Sam said she wanted to see it again. 

We followed up our Broadway show to Hamilton with tickets to go see Kinky Boots the next day.  The kids have been listening to this soundtrack all year too.  The music is so much fun and the show did not disappoint.

Part our visit was taking a trip to the lower East side and doing one of the Tenement Museum tours.  Unfortunately our tickets, which were purchased in advance, were for the wrong day.  Oh no!  We showed up at the right time, just one day too soon.  We didn't have time to go back the next day and was fortunately able to get a refund.  We did sit thru the introductory film that was on a 40 minute loop.  It was great and hopefully we'll return with the kids one the correct date our tickets are for.

We also met up with a family we know from our elementary school. The mom was Ian's teacher this past year and her son, who is in the same grade, is friends with Ian.  They had gotten tickets to see Hamilton the day after us and we found a cool activity to do when we were both in NYC.  We went to Gulliver's Gate, a miniature exhibit.  From NYC to the Taj Mahal, to a section of Israel, all major landmarks were recreated in miniatures with amazing detail and moving parts.  It was really cool and unbelievable to see how small these recreations were. 

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade had floats the went around the building.

This was the Vienna Orchestra. All the people played music with moving instruments.

 Afterwards, we went to lunch at a local diner in Times Square before parting ways for our respective shows.  The kids fought over this milkshake.  We said they could split it.  However, it was a true work of art and unable to be split.  So 2 straws it was and of course they were complaining the other was taking too long of a sip.

We were able to meet up with Jeff's uncle for dinner on Tuesday evening.  The last few years we've gone to NY we've met up with Uncle Larry.  It is wonderful spending time with him and hear his stories about his experiences on being a producer. 

I love New York!  And to top off our visit we even went to Ellen's Stardust Diner for dinner.  It's the place where the waiters and waitresses are all wanna be Broadway stars and haven't made it yet.  They are constantly singing to the customers in the restaurant all kinds of music.  It is so much fun!  It's very loud and Jeff could only take so much.  After about 25 minutes he had enough and met us back at the hotel.

Straight out of the vending machine at our hotel.  What are the odds?

I really think this needs to be a annual trip.  It's "the greatest city in the world".  :)

Can you hear me now?

It was a long, excruciating wait for Ian but the day finally came!  Jeff and I planned that at the end of 6th grade we'd give Ian a cell phone as a promotion from elementary school present.

It was fun letting Ian think the phone was never coming.  There was a day two weeks prior when his friend was over and I asked him if he thought it was absolutely necessary for Ian to have a phone.  He said "No."  Ian tried to explain how important it was for him to have phone.  That when he went to Robinson he might need to text me to tell me he is staying after school.  Without hesitation, I asked Ian's friend if he could use his phone if this need arose.  Ian's friend said "Yes.".  Problem solved Ian!  What Ian and his friend didn't know was that this whole time I had the phone already purchased and ready to give him. 

I bought a Robinson Rams hoodie and wrapped the phone (still safely secured in the box) around it.   As Ian was pulling out the hoodie and thinking this was the only gift he was getting, Jeff called the phone and had it start ringing.  It was a brilliant plan but got a little messed up in execution.  The phone started ringing a little too early as Ian was still reading the card.

Samantha who is 3 years younger very badly wants to be treated like Ian's equal. She feels she should have a phone too.  We told her when she is done with 6th grade that is when she can get one.  The next day, Sam created this sign and posted it on her door.

Sam wrote:  When Sam gets a phone    June 22  7:23pm   2020