Porch Fest

What a fun Sea Cliff day!  One of Ben's friends/fellow Porch Picker organized the 2nd Annual Porch Fest.  Bands played on different porches throughout the town all day long.  In the morning, Ben and I rode bikes down to a historic building on the water and listened to the first band.  They had coffee and muffins set out and it was a really fun way to start the day.  We got our workout in riding up to the  second location.  Then we went home for lunch.  We went down the street later in the afternoon to hear another band.  It was fun to watch the crowd grow throughout the day.  After dinner, the kids and I went to hear the Porch Pickers!

 

It was fun to see the crowd walk from band to band.

 

The funniest part of the evening was right about now...a gentleman came up behind me and said, "What is this?"  Thus ensued a very comical conversation in which I tried to explain to him what bluegrass/folk music is and that it's a common genre of music.  He kept asking me where it came from, like he was convinced that we brought it here from Kansas. 

I took the kids home and Ben and I stayed out for the last 2 bands. It was such a fun night! It was like going to a bunch of different concerts, all just a few blocks from our house.

My birthday

Another year, another adventure :)  Ben and I took the train (the first time for me) into the city.  We walked to Central Park and then ran around it.

 

 

 

It was so fun to be around a bunch of other people running, biking and walking.  There was so much more we could have done, so we will most definitely be going back.  We spotted a little waterfall and had to stop.  

By the time we got home, we were toast.  Walking NYC is no joke!  Ben cooked dinner and the kids showered me with some sweet gifts.  It was great way to kick off a new year of life.

Mother's Day

Oh Colin, you have been making crazy faces your whole life.  I love the spice you bring to our family.

 

I am slowly becoming the shortest person in our family, but thankful that everyone will still bend down to hug me.

Ben smoked ribs for Mother's Day and it was the perfect treat.  And Colin found the dress up clothes and it was fun to reminsce about all the years the boys spent constantly dressed up.

 

Pride and Prejudice

When Alison signed up for the drama class in Co-op, she had no idea what she actually got herself into.  They've taken a few years off of doing plays because of the pandemic and this was their first year back.  Mrs. Miller wrote an adapted version of 'Pride and Prejudice' and the students spent the year learning it.  Alison was given the lead role, Elizabeth Bennett.

Ready for dress rehearsal:

I had a lot of pride myself for Alison.  She worked so hard to memorize 100 lines and she did incredible job delivering every one!  She was confident, poised and carried the show.

 

 

 

 

 

After the show, with friends.  Katherine and Genevieve were so sweet to come watch.

Aladdin

Ben got us tickets to see the Broadway show of Aladdin through work.  We took the opportunity to take the kids to Time Square for the first time.  This was their first time really navigating through the massive crowds.  It can be a lot, but I loved how Eli grabbed Alison's hand.

 

 

  

 

We stopped by Bryant Park.  The gluten's got a fancy s'mores waffle and we watched a giant Salsa dance lesson going on.

 

 

 

 We couldn't take pictures during the show, but it was phenomenal.  

 

 

   

 

 After the show, we picked up a snack at McDonald's.  We thought it would be easy, but nothing in Time's Square is and it was definitely an experience.

Last Day of Co-op

We had a great semester teaching ASL. It was so much fun to see the kids having fun learning and practicing. Their favorite game we played was ASL headbands and requested that we play a big review game on the last day.

They had an end of year ceremony for all the kids.

Colin's group: 5th grade

Eli's group: 7th grade

  

Alison's group: 10-12th grade

Wrapping up Co-op, Alison is the lead in the play!  She's put in so much time and is doing amazing!  

Here, she's all ready for dress rehearsal:

 

Easter

 I failed at pictures this year, but got some video of finding baskets.  We had a lovely lunch, went to church and then to the Trowburst's house for dinner.