In all of our years of living here — so close to the Delaware River — we’ve never spent time on the river. Which is just bizarre, considering how water-loving our family is. So, when mid-way through the summer Shelli & Lori invited us to go tubing on the Delaware over Labor Day Weekend, we jumped on it. Sunday was the big day. It was an absolute blast!

We had quite the crew on the river! Lori, Shelli, and Zoe, us, and Henry, Bryan, and Sean. Let me repeat: It was an absolute blast!!!

An awesome day to officially put the bookend on summer!

We’ve been home for two weeks. It has been a strange sort of “limbo” time — with work really gearing up for me (classes started at Lehigh last week), and work going at full tilt for Braydon, but school still not begun for Kyle, Owen, and Meera. We pieced the two weeks together, Braydon and I took turns covering the home-front, and we had some help from student babysitters at Lehigh, but what really made these past two weeks a wonderful ending to our summer (as opposed to would could have easily been an absolutely terribly disastrous and miserable ending to the summer) was Ryan.

Ryan has been a huge person in our family life for the past two years. She was the bambinos’ full-time babysitter for Summer 2011 (click here), and she’s been helping us raise our kids ever since. Somehow she always seems to breeze right in, take control, and make everything seem manageable at precisely the times when our life is most out of control (mainly, summers and school vacation weeks). Ryan is more than a “babysitter” for us– she’s like an extension of our family; more like a trusted auntie than a childcare provider. We could not be more grateful.

These past two weeks Ryan took over a few large chunks of days for us, coming up with fabulous stuff to do with the kids. It was just enough to make the whole two-week-period feel like a breezy end to summer (when it could have easily been, as I said, a nightmare). We J-Ms fondly referred to these past two weeks as “The Camp of Ryan.” Ryan took them hiking, she took them to parks, she took them to the zoo. She took them bowling. She baked cupcakes with them. She even did some school-prep (math) with the boys to get them ready for 3rd grade. It was like a wonderful bookend to the best summer ever. Thanks to Ryan.

Tonight was the kick-off concert for Lehigh’s four a cappella groups. There’s just nothing like college a cappella!

These are the sorts of things that we try not to miss on campus. Last year Meera was too young to stay up so late. This year, all five of us made it. Such a great way to spend a Saturday night!

our first student event of the 2013-2014 academic year

Late this afternoon we had 50+ Eckardt Scholars over for a Welcome/Welcome-Back Mocktail Party. It was a great event to kick-off the year. Thank goodness for:

• Jeanne, my Right-Hand-Woman (our Eckart Scholars Program administrative coordinator, from the Office of Interdisciplinary Programs) who makes all of my visions reality.
• LU Catering, who make these events possible for me to pull off — and who make it delish for some very appreciative students! (I like to spoil the Eckardt Scholars with all sorts of treats… today’s menu included: sushi, crab cakes, bruschetta, spring rolls, fresh fruit, yummy alcohol-free sangria… and many other fabulous items too!)
• The students. They are, truly, just so incredibly incredible. I just love them.

By living on campus I can easily do these sorts of events at our home. The students feel like they are being invited to a professor’s house (which they are), and that makes it much more personal and special than if I were to hold it in an event space. They can also get to/from the event very easily (we are right on campus, so no car necessary). I can pull it off without having to worry too much about the bambinos (Kyle, Owen, and Meera all join right in… and honestly, add a lot of life to any party!). And our dear friends from LU Catering just swoop in to set it up, and then clean it up. After a quick run of the vacuum and a wipe-off of all the surfaces, everything is right back in shape (so our entire day/night is not consumed with hosting an event).

The bambinos are happy (they are eating pizza and watching a movie right now), the students are happy (the Eckardt students and the Sayre students [who, by the way, always benefit by getting all the leftovers from our events!]), and Braydon and me are happy (we’re high-fiving each other feeling like we’ve somehow managed to pull off yet another day of the dual-career-&-3-kids marriage). It is all good as we wrap up the First Week of Classes and head into the new year.

For several weeks now Meera has been talking to me about wanting to get a haircut. She told me, repeatedly, that she wanted it short. It was hard for me to believe it (her long hair has always been such a huge part of her identity). But she was pretty insistent. And she was also clear that she wanted to do it before the first day of kindergarten. With a lump in my throat and a pit in my stomach I brought her to the hair salon today. She explained to her hair stylist exactly what she wanted. I just stood back (as hard as it was to do) and let it all happen. My only request was that Meera’s hair be given to Locks of Love. Meera is so happy with her haircut. She’s also so happy for whoever the little girl is out there who will someday be wearing a wig of hair that matches Meera’s (“We’ll be just like twins!” she said, many times, as I watched her long ponytail get cut right off). Oh my aching heart!

I don’t know how people do it. I mean, really. These lists of required school supplies? I know that some schools are worse than others with these. I don’t know how long or short other people’s kids’ lists are… but ours seem real long to me. Especially when there are THREE lists (I cannot imagine what this is like in large families with many children).

We conquered the lists today. The bambinos and me. At Staples. ALL MORNING LONG. (Not really, it was actually only 1 hour + 15 minutes, but it seemed like it was allllll morrrrrrning looooooong.) I had laid in bed last night, unable to sleep, trying to plan my strategy for this monumental task. I think we did a pretty good job of it (I walked in, the three of them trailing behind, on a mission, and projecting all the confidence in the world [all the while shaking in my boots], the lists on clipboards, a pen for each one of them, three baskets in the cart, and we went aisle by aisle until we had everything checked off that we could). Still, it was enough to make an end-of-summer-mother-almost-lose-her-marbles.

Really. I should have just done it myself. But I had no babysitter today (and I need to use my babysitting time VERY carefully this week — as things are up and running with First Week of Classes at Lehigh, but school is not yet started for the bambinos). And I figured we’d just make it happen.

It did happen. But I left Staples feeling like I should get an award, or at least a gift card or something, just for having pulled it off without completely losing my mind.

There was no award. Instead, we went out for pizza for lunch. The kids thought that was awesome.

We’ve got the school supplies. The whole lot of them. Somehow, miraculously, we pulled it off.

We’ve got the new sneakers too, and the back-to-school clothes (for the most part), and we’re working on the rest of the million details that go into the Back to School Project.

Our first day of school is nearing. These last few days of “summer” don’t really feel like summer at all. We teeter between “can’t wait for school to start” and “wish it would never come.”

As soon as quiet hours end, at 10am sharp, the hall b-ball begins. And it proceeds, for every spare second, all day long, until they are in bed at night. And then they get up the next day, and it starts again. After a long summer away from the hall, they are right back at it.

p.s. the Fairy Forest is alive and well!

The Class of 2017 arrived on Thursday. The campus is popping with energy and things are kicking into full gear. With upperclass students due to move in Saturday and Sunday (Sayre is all upperclass students), we decided we should get out of their way for at least some of the weekend (move-in is a crazy, crazy time to be living on campus).

Saturday we went to the Lehigh Valley Airshow. Oh my word. What an experience! We had no idea what a huge event this would be. There were thousands and thousands and thousands of people there. We were supposed to spend the day with Shalinee, Kavya, Alex, and Dave, but we were never even able to find each other amidst the masses. This is not my kind of way to spend a day, but even I had to admit that the plane stunts were unbelievable. It is hard to not be absolutely astounded by it all.

Kyle, Owen and Braydon — all airplane lovers to the Nth degree — were in their glory. Meera… not so much. She was so unimpressed.

Today (Sunday) was a day the bambinos had been looking forward to for a long time — their 2nd Annual Move-In Lemonade Stand (for post from last year, our 1st Annual, click here).

Owen did the outreach marketing (riding around on his bike all afternoon announcing “Lemonade for sale!” and drumming up business), and Kyle and Meera handled the actual stand. They had many customers. I think they gave away many (many!) more cups than they actually charged for, but they made up for it in tips. At the end of the day they made $33!

While the bambinos spent the day selling lemonade, we (Braydon and me) over-saw their business from a short distance away on Sayre lawn… where we had the pleasure of spending a lovely afternoon with one of our favorite new alum, Sarah (our Head Gryphon from last year, who graduated in May). She had come back for the weekend to attend the rally last night, and it was such a sweet day of catching up and sipping iced coffee together.

(Braydon used a new camera setting to make this very cool image!)

Tonight is the night before fall semester classes begin. Everyone is moved in, and a new year is upon us. We spent the evening hanging out on the Sayre Lawn and attending the start-of-year Hall Meetings with our friends/students/neighbors for this year — some new, some old, all ready to get the year rolling. After 3 months of having them all away, it felt really good to have them all back tonight, crowding the lawn, playing volleyball and tossing the frisbee with Kyle and Owen, and making Meera giggle like only college students can (they know just how to play the very best, most silly, games with her).

I know this sort of life is not for everyone. But we’re really enjoying the here and now and we’re ready to embark on a new year.

It’s funny— for me, growing up, my favorite comfort food was my mom’s tuna casserole. Oh yes, canned tunafish and cream of mushroom soup and frozen peas and egg noodles all baked together in a circa-1970s casserole dish. That was, for me, the quintessential comfort food. I haven’t had it in years and years, although my memories of it are alive and well and I remember it being so, so good.

But times have changed (oh how they have changed!) and what qualifies as comfort food is an indicator of that change. The bambinos’ current favorite comfort food is the dinner above— a gingery/sweet/sour stir-fried chicken, brown rice, and stir-fried green beans. This is so not tuna casserole.

After being away all summer we needed some comfort food this week. And this is currently my go-to comfort food meal for our family. It is absolutely delish. The best part about it is that all five of us love it equally — it is our comfort food right now. Here are the recipes:

GWYNY’S CHICKEN

(This is just what we call it; this recipe comes directly from Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook, My Father’s Daughter. In her cookbook it is called “Best Stir-Fried Chicken.” I’ve posted before about this chicken— that post can be found here.)

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
2 tbsp cornstarch
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup peeled and minced garlic
1/4 cup peeled and minced ginger
1/2 cup minced green scallions (white & green parts)
Pinch red chili flakes (optional)
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

Toss the chicken with cornstarch, a large pinch of salt and quite a bit of pepper. Heat oil in large, non-stick wok over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, ginger, scallions and chile flakes (if using) and cook, stirring, for one minute. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, for five minutes. Add the vinegar, sugar, and five or six grinds of black pepper. Boil on high for three minutes, or until the sugar has caramelized and the whole mixture is dark brown and sticky and lovely. Add the soy sauce, and cook for another 30 seconds. Serve immediately, sprinkled with cilantro. 

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BROWN RICE

I have a rice steamer that I absolutely love. I’ve posted about it here. It makes steaming up some ridiculously perfectly delicious rice so ridiculously easy to do!

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STIR-FRIED GREEN BEANS

I do these in the wok over high heat. Here’s how I make ‘em: Put about a tablespoon vegetable oil in a hot wok, add about 3-4 cloves of minced fresh garlic, and about 2 pounds of green beans. Sprinkle generously with sea salt. Stir fry until almost done (we like them very firm, almost crunchy). About 2 minutes before they are finished, add a handful of thinly sliced fresh red pepper (this is mainly just for color and texture, so it is unnecessary, but it really does add a lot). Serve immediately!

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This summer we spent seven weeks away. We travelled up and down the east coast in our trusty Loser Cruiser minivan. We spent 5.5 weeks in South Carolina, a week in New Hampshire, a weekend in mid-Pennsylvania for our Haiti Reunion, and logged many hours on the road. We spent one night at home in early August — 19 hours to be precise — unpacking from SC and re-packing for NH. We had a few fun stops along the way (including a fun overnight in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor which involved a ride for Braydon and the bambinos in a dragon boat!), loads of car-trip-snacks, and a lot of time to think and reflect on life in the fast lane.

Braydon and I are so lucky to have careers which are, generally, at least in the summer (the ‘slow’ point of the academic year and the ‘slow’ point of the business year), very mobile. For a few weeks in summer we can manage to swing it to work from pretty much wherever we are. With the exception of one work trip that Braydon could not avoid (he had to go to NYC for some meetings while we were in New Hampshire), we were able to work remotely. We give thanks and praise to the inventors of the internet, the iPad, the iPhone, the laptop, and the world of technology that made our summer possible!

Last year I had several low points where I truly questioned our decision to sell our house, give away most of our earthly belongings, and move our family of five into an 800-square-foot apartment in a dorm on campus. Yes, it was a pretty intense transition and shift in lifestyle. But this summer, walking on the beach with my three bambinos, looking for shells and counting pelicans, I thought to myself about a hundred million times, “It was all worth it.” I’d do it all again just to be able to have this summer. And we’ll do it again this year knowing that we have the pay-off of the next summer. Don’t get me wrong: we love living on campus, and there are many great aspects to it way above and beyond the summer perk. But there are sacrifices we’ve made and tough decisions we’ve had to make and risks we’ve had to take in order to live the life we’re currently living. We’re also very, very lucky to have had incredible opportunities available to us.

It was the best summer of my life. For sure– we had our meltdowns, and rip-roaring fights, and low points, and times when we were about to tear our hair out in frustration with each other and with the constant stream of annoyances and challenges that life throws at all of us. Still, the sunny days outweighed the rainy ones. And I wouldn’t trade this summer for the world.

Now we’ve snapped back to reality. We’re home. And our reality is not all that bad. We just hit our one-year anniversary of moving to Lehigh as a Faculty in Residence Family. Students are moving onto campus, with all their energy and enthusiasm and late-night-thumping-bass-music-blaring. We’ve got a pretty good thing going here, I’m not afraid to admit it.

A new school year is upon us. I’m drowning in ‘To Do’ lists and I feel like I’ve got a 10-ton weight on my shoulders when I think of all that has to happen to transition us into the year, establish our rhythms, and get us back on track with regular life. But lodged deep in my psyche is the 7 weeks of summer, 2013. And I’m counting on that to even out some of the rough patches in the hours, days, weeks, and months to come.