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I have a tendency of getting unusually close — like, very very close — with my kids’ teachers. They play such a huge role in the lives of my kids; they are monumental on the path of each chapter of the journey; and, being a teacher myself, I deeply understand that my kids’ teachers have a special relationship with, perspective on, and insight to, my children (a relationship, perspective, and insight, that I do not have). As a result, I tend to fully embrace Kyle, Owen, and Meera’s teachers and learn all that I can from them — I’ve done this from the very beginning, with daycare staff, babysitters, coaches, and care-givers of all types.

I became especially close — even close for me — with Meera’s first teacher. From the minute I met Miss Kristen, and saw her interact with my daughter, I was immediately enamored with her. She is a gifted pre-school teacher and she put me at ease leaving my 2 year old with her each day. Meera loved “school” (daycare) from the start, and I always knew that this was in large part due to Miss Kristen. And Miss Kristen helped me to see some of Meera’s strengths that I hadn’t known before– like Meera’s extraordinary ability to be friends with everyone, and her unbelievable obedience, her independence, and her great capacity for making people happy. Miss Kristen and Meera had a very sweet and special bond right from the start. It was incredible to see the two of them together. And I truly adored Miss Kristen.

After Meera “graduated” from Miss Kristen’s 2-year-old-room up to the 3-year-old-room at the daycare, we all made a commitment to trying to stay in touch. And, unlike the usual “commitments” of this sort, we actually really did. Kristen introduced us to her fiancé Stephen (who Meera has always called “Prince Stephen”), we got together a couple of times, and have had a special relationship ever since. Kristen is beautiful (inside and out), and Stephen is incredible in his own right. When I look at them, I see a mixture of visions– I see in Kristen a grown-up version of Meera (or at least a sort of version of the kind of person that I hope Meera will become), and I also see — in Kristen and Stephen’s relationship — some resemblance to Braydon and me ten years ago. It is special.

On Saturday Braydon and I got to go to Miss Kristen and Prince Stephen’s wedding. It was dripping with gorgeousness in every possible way. It was such a treat for us to witness. And thanks to Zahir, who babysat the bambinos for most of the day/night, Braydon and I got to live-it-up kid-free and truly enjoy every minute of the wedding day.

The next morning, I showed Meera the pictures we had taken on Braydon’s cell phone. It literally took Meera’s breath away to see Miss Kristen as Beautiful Bride. And she really was a breathtakingly beautiful bride! Congratulations Kristen and Stephen!

This week, our first official full week of summer, has been intense. Amongst other things, the big ticket items this week have been a week of Lehigh Basketball Camp (aka ‘Heaven on Earth’ for Kyle and Owen), and Year-End-Ballet-Show-Rehearsal-Week (aka ‘crrraaaazzzyyyyness’ for Meera). To pull this week off required a lot of prepping, coordinating, driving, and basic-hard-core-parental-commitment on the part of Braydon and me. Luckily, our babysitter from last summer, Ryan, was able to help us round out the edges around here, while we were in limbo waiting for our Summer 2012 Babysitter to begin this coming week (thank you Ryan!!!!). Anyhoo….. all is well that ends well: It is Friday night and Meera is currently with Braydon at her final dress rehearsal (the big show is Sunday), and the boys are at home with me. They are sitting on the couch, watching a movie, eating macaroni-and-cheese, and drinking milk. They are completely exhausted from one of their best weeks ever, and they are feeling pretty good about life right now– having had so much fun (non-stop basketball in the first mega-heatwave of the summer = absolute FUN for them), the icing on the cake was coming home from the award’s ceremony today with 5 awards between the two of them– Kyle got three, and Owen got two– just to put this in perspective, there are very few awards given out (it was kind of embarrassing how many the J-M boys racked up). As for Meera, well, she is sort of sick of watching her brothers play sports and win awards (it has been a long year of that for her, and she’s got a looooooong road ahead of her). So we focus as much as possible on her sheer delight in the simple pleasure of having something just for her, her getting to wear an amazing “Flower” costume, and anticipating her big 3 minutes on stage. There will be a big bouquet of roses at the end of it, presented to her by her big brothers, I can assure you of that.

In school this year, Kyle and Owen’s class did a huge segment on “Needs and Wants.” It has triggered many conversations in our family over the past months. What do we need? What do we want? When is a want actually a need? Etcetera. As the month of May ratcheted up– with all of its birthday hoopla, end-of-school-madness, and chaotic winding-up-to-wind-down-for-summer — I began to feel a familiar tug: the tug to get away. The push to break free. The pull to pull my family together. With no vacation on the horizon (the house-selling had made vacation-planning impossible), I was really feeling the wear-and-tear of a long year. And the telltale signs were there– I knew the rest of my family was feeling it too. Surely we did not need a vacation. We live a life of much privilege and plenty. We don’t often need for anything that we don’t already have. But it felt much larger and much deeper than a want.

And so it was that we made a very last minute decision to grasp the one and only window of opportunity that we saw for a summer vacation for our family– a string of six days with not too much on the calendar that couldn’t easily be cancelled– and a great deal on an online auction for a family getaway to our beloved Charleston, South Carolina (for prior post about Charleston click here). We packed our bags, picked up the boys from their last day of school, and hit the road directly from the school parking lot.

There is something about the open road, the long stretches of distance, the five of us together in such a small space… something about the boredom, the shifting landscape, the forced surrender to the inability to do anything but just drive… something about the hours that unfurl as we count the “Welcome to Delaware/Maryland/Virginia/North Carolina/South Carolina!”-signs on the side of the highway and calculate the hours left and watch the little dot move on the GPS… something about the road trip, the car snacks, the videos showing in the backseat and the audio books blaring in the front seat… the mutually defined goal to make it as far as we possibly can. There is something about all of it that just makes us feel like we can take a nice, long, deep sigh of relief.

Our kids love a road trip. We did approximately 7+ hours, for two days in a row, just to make it down the east coast, and we did it again to come back up. We made it easy on ourselves with over-nights at highway hotels each way. But still, it was a total of about 30 hours on the road, and that is a lot of driving for a short 3-night stay. For us, though, without any doubt, a long drive is well worth it for the change of scenery and the total departure from day-to-day-life-as-we-know-it.

We stayed at the The Charleston Harbor Resort. Braydon and I had been there once before– 13 years ago– for a celebration vacation when Braydon finished his doctorate degree. We knew it was a great place, and it lived up to our memories.

Braydon and I have a long history with Charleston. It was fun, and eye-opening, and thought-provoking, to return to this place now, many years later, married and with three kids and almost two decades of life experience making us different people now. We had a little balcony on our room, and we all five spent a lot of time looking out from that balcony, and talking, and sitting in silence, and letting our minds wander.

There were huge ships passing by. And dolphins jumping just offshore. It was a true get-away, with all the magic of new things to explore, and the jolting refreshing change of pace that goes along with it.

It was short, but it was good. Here are four of the main reasons why:

#1 It was a Quintessential Beach Vacation~

Complete with Copious Amounts of Boogie Boarding!

Shell Collecting and Sandcastle Making!

And Post-Ocean-Rinse-the-Salt-Off Dips In the Hotel Pool! (and End-of-Day Poolside Drinks!)

(for post 2 of 2 click here)

#2 It had just the right amount (not too much, not too little) of Great Adventures~

The Trolley– one night we took the resort’s trolley over the Cooper River Bridge to/from Charleston for dinner and downtown exploring (this was a major highlight of the trip for the bambinos!)

The Water Taxi– another night we took a water taxi out on the open ocean to/from Shem Creek for dinner (and the boat captain was super accommodating to the bambinos, driving “super fast!” and making a “huge wake!” and letting them “drive the boat!”)

Hermit Crabs– every morning we’d search for hermit crabs on the shoreline by the resort (we found many, of many sizes, in many various shells, and they were so fun to play with!)

#3 Food: Adventures in Eating!

One of the greatest parts about us vacationing in the Charleston area is that we know exactly where to go for great grub! And this time around we also had the pleasure of discovering our new favorite Lowcountry restaurant — Page’s Okra Grill — a real treat if you’re ever looking for a feast in Mt. Pleasant!

Southern Cuisine– Just for the record (yet again), I need to document the incredibly huge amounts of food our boys consume– our first night (at Sullivan’s) Owen ate a full pound of crab legs and Kyle ate a 14-ounce ribeye steak, both complete with salads and sides; our second night (at Sticky Fingers) Owen ate a whole rack of bbq ribs and Kyle a whole half a smoked chicken, again both complete with salads and sides. These guys are learning to love the Lowcountry! Over the course of our short stay we ate shrimp; oysters; grits; okra; collards; butter beans; baked beans; sweet potato casserole; macaroni and cheese; chicken fried steak; chopped brisket; hush puppies; boiled peanuts; banana pudding; key-lime pie… we don’t mess around when it comes to eating the regional fare of the places we visit.

Picnic Lunches on the Beach— a delight in its own right– watermelon, sandwiches, and excellent live entertainment (dolphins playing just offshore and shooting their whole bodies up and out of the water — we have never seen anything like it! it was quite the lunchtime show!)

Meera woke up first every morning, and she and I savored our early breakfasts alone in the hotel together each day– and she fell asleep first each night, which sometimes gave Kyle and Owen opportunities for alone-time with Mommy–

In fact, Meera fell asleep out of sheer delicious exhaustion a few times on this trip– here she is sound asleep in a makeshift bed next to our table in Sullivan’s Restaurant (below), and a couple of other interesting sleeping spells–

#4 Family Bonding (that which it is all about)

* * *

We drove over the bridge, and began our trip back north, knowing that we had made the very most of every minute.

And although it was a short vacation, we came home feeling rejuvenated. It was just what we all wanted/needed.

Summer 2012 has begun!

In the past four days we’ve had K & O’s last day of school for the year~

K & O’s last baseball game of the 2012 season~

These are a lot of lasts to cram into just a few days. As a result, we’re on an emotional roller coaster.

We’re going to take a few days to re-center ourselves with some much needed salty air and family bonding. I’ll come back to blogging in a week or so.

Happy Start-of-Summer!!!!!

Meera on her 4th Birthday, May 28, 2012

Meera turned four with a flourish of festivities that were just right for our sweet special girl. [She had made it very clear– she did not want 100 people on the guest list, as K & O have for their birthdays; she did not want it to last too long, as opposed to K & O who would go for days upon days if we’d let them; she was very concerned to make sure that her friends all had lots and lots and lots of fun; she was excited, but also nervous for the impending big day, and she let us all know it.] “Well, my little girl,” I assured her, “you’ve got just the right Mama for you. I know just how to do this.” And, it should go without saying, but we’ll say it anyway: “Your big brothers and your Papi?! Well, they’ve got you covered. You need not fret.”

All her 4-year-old birthday dreams came true– a “Tea & Bubbles” Party; a bike for her ‘end-of-the-bed-present’ from Mommy and Papi (complete with perfect hand-made basket from MorMor!); “high heels” (from Owen– you can always count on him); and her first ever “real Barbie” (a toy that she had been coveting, and her Mama had been holding out on, for approximately four solid years, and one which Kyle found the perfect opportunity to present her with); a day at the pool; and a Slip-n-Slide fest with her brothers. As Meera has been saying, over and over and over again, in the days that have followed, “It was awesome!”

We settled on a “Tea & Bubbles Party.” We sent out the invitations–

–and we waited for the day to arrive. (The excited anticipation is at least half the fun!) Once MorMor and MorFar arrive, we have a tradition of 3-generational-pedicures in preparation for the big day–

(MorMor and me were absolutely stunned when Meera chose yellow! Yellow?!?! Not pink?! There was absolutely no explanation, other than that on the verge of turning 4 it is clearly a girl’s prerogative to turn on a dime and to shock and surprise! And shock and surprise that choice of yellow sure did! Note: the “sparkles on top of the yellow” was absolutely no surprise at all.)

And then, with our painted toes, we got the party started! ~~~ Some things are too good to put to words. I’m gonna let the photos tell the story from here…

{for post 2 of 4 click here}

{for post 3 of 4 click here}

{for post 4 of 4 click here}

The fun about birthdays like Meera’s 4th is that they just last and last. The memories are seeped in us. The joy is not just in the moments, but in the moments long, long after. We talk about it together for days and days (and weeks and months and years) later. Remembering certain moments, recalling certain happenings. “Remember when we tried to do the twin ‘Human Bubble’ and Meera kept popping it?!” “Remember when we went to pick up Lucinda and it was her first time ever going to a birthday party?!” “Remember how Meera ate so many marshmallows that she couldn’t even eat her birthday cake?!” Meera smiles when she thinks about her birthday. She felt singled out, special, and celebrated. So… goal accomplished.

I will post soon about our celebration of Meera’s 4th birthday! In the meantime, let me just tell you: we had a Tea & Bubbles Party! (Or, as Owen came to call it: “a Tea Party slash Bubble Party” — he became very fond of his newfound correct usage of the word ‘slash’ and has since been using it often… i.e., “it was a great slash awesome party!”; “the end of the school year is happy slash sad”; “when I get ready to pitch in baseball games I feel nervous slash excited”… etc. You can hear him use “slash” in this video {click}).

Anyway…. back to Meera’s party. She couldn’t decide between a tea party (like last year) and a bubble party (a party where we all blew tons of bubbles). So, we decided she wouldn’t have to choose, and we’d throw her a Tea & Bubbles Party. It was so much fun to plan it — and I went a little crazy (what else is new?!) with the ‘tea and bubbles’ theme — and somewhere in the whole planning process, Braydon (who normally has absolutely zero role in any part of party planning), came up with the greatest idea: “I was thinking,” he casually said to me one day, “we should have bubble tea! Get it? Bubbles. Tea Party. Bubble tea!” I looked at my darling husband and fell in love with him all over again: “Oh yeah, I get it! YES!!!!!! YES! BUBBLE TEA!!!!!!!!” It was the perfect idea, and it was all his idea (which made it more perfect because I sometimes get a little… ummm… how shall I say this?…. a wee little tiny tad bit frustrated that I am doing what feels like just about everything for everyone all the time).

Anyway… back to the bubble tea. It was Braydon’s idea, and it was a fabulous idea, and we love bubble tea, and we knew that most people at the party wouldn’t drink it, but we went for it anyway, and we’re so glad we did! Because through the process we mastered the art of making homemade bubble tea! Braydon and I love love love bubble tea. We have a ritual of getting it every time we’re in Chinatown. The bambinos sort of dabble in liking it too, but it is kind of an acquired taste, and we like to think they are still in the process of acquiring it (even though we’ve been trying to get them to acquire the taste basically since they were infants).

Anyway… back to the art of making homemade bubble tea. In preparation for Meera’s party we spent some time researching how to make bubble tea at home, buying the supplies, and then practicing making it. Bubble tea turns out to be very easy to make. And today I want to share with you the very simple art of making this very special drink!

You’ll need:

• Tapioca Balls (We bought these both online and at our local Asian market. We prefer black, but we also tried out “rainbow” and liked those too.)
• Bubble Tea Straws (Again, you can buy these online, or at your local Asian market.)
• Black Tea
• Evaporated Milk
• Sweetened Condensed Milk
• Ice

To Make:

1. Brew some tea. Make it super, super, super strong. Let it steep for a long, long time until it is very, very dark. Store in fridge until cool and ready to be used.
2. Meanwhile, constitute and sweeten the tapioca balls. You can follow the directions on the bag, but here is what we found to work best– Put a couple inches of water into a small pan; heat over high heat; add about 1/3 cup sugar; stir until sugar is totally dissolved and the mixture is boiling; add a couple of handfuls of tapioca balls; let boil until the balls start floating on the surface; remove the balls with a strainer; set balls aside in a glass cup or jar; add about 4-5 tablespoons of the sugar-water mixture; let sit just a few minutes until the liquid is fully absorbed by the tapioca balls (no longer than 20 minutes or they get too mushy — you want them to be a firm texture and rubbery to chew).

3. In a cocktail shaker combine ice, tea, evaporated milk, and condensed milk. Add evaporated milk and condensed milk to taste (as sweet and creamy as you like — traditionally, bubble tea is very sweet and very creamy). Shake it up, baby! Place some tapioca balls in the bottom of a glass (or a plastic cup if you’re throwing a Tea & Bubbles Party!). Layer some ice on top. Pour iced tea mixture in.

Now, take a sip through that great big bubble straw to suck up some of those tapioca balls. Yuuuummmmy!

When Papi is away on work trips I often let the bambinos watch morning cartoons while eating breakfast before school. They had forgotten this special Papi-On-A-Work-Trip-Treat all week. But this morning Kyle remembered it and asked for it. I said yes, of course. So they sat at the counter and ate breakfast and watched Phineas and Ferb while I packed up their lunches. For many weeks now they’ve basically been eating the same thing for breakfast– Kyle daily wants a very large fruit-yogurt-and-wheat-germ smoothie (that’s my choice also, so I make it for us both, and often Owen has one too); Meera usually wants an egg-over-easy (which, at this point, she practically makes herself, with only very little supervision from me); Owen is our Big Eater at breakfast, and always wants some sort of huge hot breakfast that involves 100% real maple syrup — pancakes, french toast, waffles (I sometimes make it for him, but more often we warm it up in the microwave– I buy packages of frozen pre-made breakfast items for him and keep cases upon cases of them in the freezer). But this morning they all surprised me — Kyle and Owen ate cereal and Meera ate a “squeezy yogurt” and they all drank orange juice. Big change is in the air. I see them sensing it and acting on it. Even in the most subtle of ways. They know that school is just about done and we are very close to embarking on the much anticipated, long-awaited, glorious season of SUMMER. We cannot wait to be done with the school year daily grind. I know that come September I’ll be so ready for them to go back. But right now, I’m nothing but ready for them to be done and for our routine to ease up a bit. Only four more school days to go!

With very rare exceptions, Meera is always the first one up in our house. She usually wakes up sometime around 6-7, but for the past few days she’s been up, wide-eyed and ready to start her day, around 5:20-5:30 a.m. Braydon is away on a work trip this week, so I’m holding down the fort myself. This here is really a 2-person operation, so doing it solo is tough. I was still exhausted from the night before when Meera cheerily and enthusiastically woke me up at 5:23 a.m. this morning. She did her normal morning routine– I got her warm milk, which she slurps down in record speed, and she then played very quietly by herself and let the rest of us continue to doze a bit. Bunny is her constant steady companion. He (Meera has always been quite insistent that Bunny is a boy) is with her always, everywhere she goes. The early morning is no exception — even when the whole house is quiet, and everyone else is still in dreamland, Meera always has Bunny to keep her company as the sun is rising. This morning, once we hit a more reasonable hour, Meera insisted that she wanted to take Bunny on a walk outside. So I sipped my coffee in the driveway while Meera and Bunny — our two Early Risers — played in the yard.