AMS

Well, hello there!  It's MiMi - long time no talk!  Back in May, I was lucky enough to sneak away for about 4 days to visit Christine in Amsterdam.  What a great trip! 

While I get it that Amsterdam is a city that most go to on a vacation and to be a tourist in, I really just went to hang out with Christine and her new baby, Teun.  It helped that I had been there so many times when my parents lived there.  I really didn't feel the need to do much other than walk around the city, eat and drink.  And, as it turns out, that is exactly what we did!

Not to brag, but seriously - I bring sunshine with me every time I visit Amsterdam.  And, this time was no exception.  It was literally perfect weather the entire 4 days that I was there.

Not to brag again, but seriously  - I was quite the traveler on this trip.  I landed on Thursday AM and obviously was not going to waste any time napping, so we went.  All. Day. Long.  In her defense, Christine did offer to stop and let me rest for a bit, but I knew that if I did, I would never wake up.  I have to say - I have done a fair bit of international traveling in my day, but this time around was maybe one of the better trips in terms of jet leg.  I really think that by staying up all day, I just forced myself to get onto that time zone. It was great.


Anyway - we started off with a great breakfast right down the road from C's apartment.  I ordered a large cappuccino and it literally came in a cereal bowl - delicious. 

After that, we walked around a bit and then headed towards the Rijks Museum.  Unfortunately, the majority of the museum had been under construction the entire time that my parents lived there.  They just finished it this last year, so C and I felt an obligation to at least go to the museum to check it out.  Turns out, as part of the construction, they also put in a really cool fountain thing that is surrounded by flower gardens and...seats.  Right in the sun.  I'll let you guess whether we actually made it into the museum....

After our trip to the museum, we walked back through one of my favorite spots - Vandel Park - and stopped at one of my favorite bars/cafes to have a glass of wine and some croquets.  This is the café that we always went to when we had Avery, as they have a playground attached to it.  It was definitely different being there without her, but somehow, just a bit more relaxing. 

That night, C cooked a great dinner and then it was early to bed (look at these fun appetizers you get when you visit friends in Europe! - granted pretty similar to what a friend in America would serve, but that friend isn't in Europe!).

Friday was our day in the country.  We headed out to the city that C and Friso got married in. It was so fun being back there (and being sober enough to remember it!).  We dropped the baby off with C's Sister-In-Law who watched him while we went into town and had a fabulous lunch outside. 

Then, we went back to her sister-in-law's house and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting outside in her backyard eating, drinking and laughing.  I mean it really couldn't have been a nicer afternoon.  And, what was really crazy is that C's niece and nephew and son were all there, but no one would have known it.  It is such an amazing neighborhood.  They live on this small street where the houses are really close together and it is safe enough that the kids can pretty much go back and forth between their house and their neighbors on their own.  It may also have something to do with the fact that Dutch mothers in general and just far more relaxed than us crazy Americans.  Seriously - what is with all of this stress we put on ourselves?  Whatever.  That's a topic for another day (or, another paragraph below...).

Saturday, we walked around the city again and did our best to keep up the rhythm of walk, look for a café with seating in the sun, sit in said sun, eat, drink and then do it all over again.  We got pretty good at it by the end of the weekend. 

That night, we went out with some of C's friends and started off on this rooftop bar that neither of us had ever heard up, much less been to.  But, as it turns out, it was really gorgeous and had amazing views of the city.  After that, we had dinner.  Another cool thing about Dutch women?  They just don't have the self image issues that we have (maybe because they are all just naturally beautiful).  There were 5 of us girls - 4 of us ordered steak and frites (an order made for 2) and split that and the other ordered Lamb. And, when bread came to the table to begin with?  We DEVOURED it.  Like, never thought twice.  If I were in America?  You know damn well every woman at the table would stare at that bread and salivate while doing so, but would never touch it.  And, steak?  HA!  It would be fish or salmon with no starch of course.  Now, I'm not saying we're all like this, but you have to admit -it is the general culture with us American women. Then again, we also don't bike and walk as much as Dutch women, so maybe this is why they can have this approach?  Who knows.

The next day, we had a relaxed breakfast and then a quick tour around the outskirts of the city and then off to the airport.  And, I would be remised if I didn't include our numerous attempts at selfies.  Mind you  - the only reason I'm even including these is because the only people who I know who read these things are near and dear to my heart and realize that I really do look better in real life....right?  Don't worry, C, I've ensured them that you are really cute too. 

It really was one of the best trips I've had.  The baby was adorable.  One of the happiest I've ever seen.  And, C and F were fantastic hosts. Thank you, thank you!!!!  Can't wait to see you guys again soon!  Next time, in RI ( I swear, I won't judge if you eat the bread...).  :)

Dance Mom

I SWEAR I am not turning into one.  Really.  Ok, maybe a little bit.  Kind of.  Sort of. 

I mean, it is impossible not to when you have a daughter who is in dance, does relatively well at it, and enjoys it!  But, man - talk about a "sport" that is a bit time consuming???

It started on Tuesday of last week (which of course was the Tuesday after my insane Sunday and Monday with the Al-Man).  This one wasn't horrible.  Avery had a dance rehearsal, but it required no costume, hair or makeup.  This is huge.  Granted, we still needed Grammy's help, as she had to be there before I could get out of work to get her there, but Grammy ended up being there for about an hour and then I was able to get there to relieve her of her duties.  Thankfully, they didn't go in show order that night, so we were out of there by around 7 PM (only to race to the grocery store to pick up cupcake supplies and then to race home and bake and decorate said cupcakes, but that is another story). 

Thursday night, we had another rehearsal, but this one was dress.  Full makeup, costume and hair.   Josh was able to get her there, but needless to say, was incapable of doing other than the costume. So, luckily, I got out of work a bit early and then raced to the rehearsal just in time to get her made up before she went on stage.  This night however?  Show order.  When did Avery perform her last (of three) dances?  SECOND. TO. LAST.  We didn't leave there until 9 PM. UGH! 

Friday was the big performance.  Given that Avery had 3 different dances, she had asked me to volunteer to be a "room parent" so that I could be there to help with her hair, makeup and costume changes.  So, I agreed.  Wow.  Little did I realize the responsibilities that I would actually have - primarily to make sure that the little kids (including a very energetic and mischievous set of twins) didn't run out of the room and/or into the audience looking for their mom and/or out on stage during another performance.  Basically, it involved a lot of crayons, paper, movies and of course, food.  Those kids probably consumed more pretzels that night than their parents have ever let them have in their entire life. But, whatever.  It kept them occupied.

Unfortunately, given that I was a room parent, I was not able to see the actual performance.  But, I did at least see most of the dress rehearsal and I couldn't tape Avery during the actual performance anyway, so I'm attaching the videos from the rehearsal- not the best quality, but you'll get the gist. YouTube isn't cooperating with the third dance, so two it is for now.  I was told that she did a great job at the actual performance and she was happy with it, which is all that matters.  Although, as you will see in the videos below, she has a tendency to rely on her friends and look at them during the performance.  She was told by her teacher that "she knows the dance better than anyone else," so I think that it got better by the last performance that night.

It sounds like the director wants her to potentially be part of the Junior Competitive team next year.  Oh lord.  Not sure how much additional dance I can handle, but we'll see...

 

 

 

 

 

All's Well that ends Well

It started with Sunday - we decided this year to combine Alex's family party with Father's Day.  For those of you who know me, you know that this results in an entire day (or more) of planning, cleaning, prepping, cooking, etc.  Josh made me swear that for just one party we could get it catered.  I still haven't agreed.  Anyway...yes, it was a lot of work, but it ended up being a nice day and a great celebration of both the dads and the Al-Man.

Alex's "Fig Newton" birthday cake.  Don't worry - all other guests got my Chocolate Killer Cake. 

This year, I took on the job of putting together the end of the year gift for Alex's teacher, which included a framed poem with all of the kids' signatures on the mat and then 2 flower pots that said "Thank you for helping us grow" on the top (thank you, pinterest) and then had all of the kids' signatures on the pot (you'll see the point of me telling you this in a bit).  Thankfully, I was helping with Avery's field trip that Wednesday before, so I was able to sneak in and get all of the signatures that day (after dropping her off at school, racing to Michaels to be there right when they opened, buying all of the materials I needed (and spending $60 on said materials...ugh!) and then racing back to school to meet the bus for the field trip).  But, of course, the pots needed to be assembled and the cute "helping us grow" phrase still needed to be written.  So, in the middle of prepping for this party, I ran out to our local greenhouse, bought some plants and soil, planted them and wrote the freaking saying on the pots.  Of course, it took forever to plant the flowers because 2 weren't enough and 3 was too many, so they ended up really not looking all that great, which is why you don't see them in this picture.    But, whatever.  The pot turned out looking pretty cute. 

Now, we get to Monday.  And, what a Monday it was.  As I mentioned, Sunday was spent prepping for the party and not really much else (except of course for making the pots above).  Which, of course meant that Monday morning was going to be a total s-show.  I mean, I wouldn't be me if I actually had everything organized and ready to go.  Here's how it went down:

1. Woke up with a panic attack at approximately 3 AM thinking about everything that I had to get done that morning before leaving.  Stayed awake until approximately 5 AM. Alarm went off at 5:50 AM. Awesome. 

2.  Finally dragged my butt out of bed at around 6:20 AM - 30 mins later than I wanted to and went to put the poem into the frame that I had bought.  Only to find out.  It.  Didn't.  Fit.  Of course it didn't!  And, of course, the first time I attempted to put it in the frame was Monday morning about 3 hours prior to giving it to the teacher. 

3.  Spend the next 30 mins writing the class name and date on the bottom of the mat.  This of course, required me measuring to make sure I got it in the middle and writing it in pencil about 30 times before I got it to the point where it was at least legible (we all know my handwriting is atrocious) and then tracing over that with a pen and then erasing like hell the pencil marks.  All for a picture that doesn't even fit the f'ing frame, mind you.

4.  Fight with Alex over wearing normal looking shoes vs. his navy blue sneakers with a fluorescent orange stripe on them with his "Sunday Best" outfit for his Pre-K performance that day. 

5.  Win the battle.

6.  Race like hell to get to school on time (now a good 45 mins later than I had planned) - the whole time listening to Alex yelling at me for going too fast, Avery yelling at me for the windows being down and being too loud, and the f'ing pots of f'ing flowers that looked like crap in the first place flying around the car and getting dirt all over the place.

7.  Drop the kids off and race like hell to get to the closest CVS so that I can get cards for the teachers, a gift bag for the frame with the picture that doesn't fit and the crappy handwriting on the bottom, and 2 gift cards for each teacher with the money that I received from the parents.  Why didn't I do this a week earlier, you ask?  Because this is the way I roll. 

8.  Race like hell to get back to the school in order to get there in time to get a good seat to watch Al-Man's Pre-K performance....which brings us to this...

 

Mind you - Avery's Pre-K performance?  We heard about it for DAYS.  And, knew every song that she was going to perform. Alex's?  We didn't even know he had one until about a week before when an email came out.  In fact, I'm not even sure Alex knew he had it until the day of...too funny the differences between the two. 

 

That said, Alex did such a great job! He even had a part where he got to speak into the microphone (was one of about 5 kids who got to do this).  Of course, he didn't even mention this until Sunday and when asked what he was going to say, he couldn't remember.  As you can see with the third picture down, he didn't remember that day either. But, it didn't phase him a bit.  He just waited until the teacher whispered it into his ear.  :)  Oh - and, just a note on the first picture.  Every kid walked down the aisle holding hands with a friend.  All of the pairs were boy/girl...until Alex and Jacob.  They could have cared less.  But, just before walking down the aisle, the teacher stepped in the middle of them with a look on her face like, "uh oh!" and walked with each of them holding one of her hands.  Yet another one of those classic "Catholic School" moments. 

 

It was a bittersweet day knowing that we wouldn't have another kid go through the Pre-K program.  Alex has done so well there and the teachers just adore him.  As it turns out, not only is he a sweet, kind, caring kid, but he's also really smart!  We were told he is one of the top boys in his class!  So, although it was a hectic couple of days, it was all worth it to see him do his thing...

 

 

May Crowning

Every year in Avery's school, the first graders put on what they call the May Crowning.  I'm sure that means something to any of you who are Catholic.  Quite frankly, I still really have no idea what it means other than the fact that May is the month of Mary and therefore, they put on a performance with various skits about her.  So, when we first got the sheet sent home explaining the performance and what part all of the kids were going to have, we were told that Avery was Mary!  Of course, I'm thinking this is pretty special, as hello?  Mary was clearly the star of the show!  And, she was....along with the 6 other Mary's in the first grade.  Ha!  Ok, so she was one of 6 Mary's, but surely, she had a large part, right?  Well, if you consider "I know that it is a long journey, but I will TRY not to complain!" a large part, then yes. 

All kidding aside, she (and all of the other kids) really did do a great job.  They all had their lines memorized and recited them with no problems.  And, in hindsight, it was probably a good thing that Avery only had that one line, as she tends to get quite nervous performing in front of people.  But, she was all jazzed up and excited and did a great job.