Off to camp!

The big kids are off to camp, and we had the usual routine:

Loads of packing to get us through the month.



Travel adventure stories made more memorable with the arrival of this guy.



Reaching home base at Grandmas and waking up to this.



Loads of food.











Family Game night. 


And finally, drop off.

To make it easier, we split up this year.  Jeff took Mina. 



And I took Jordan.



Saying goodbye was not easy.



And I am already weepy thinking about it.  They've only been gone three days.  I really don't know what I am going to do when they go off to college.  I told Jeff maybe I would feel differently by then since they will be teenagers, and I'll be sick of them. 

But I doubt it.

Back to school - 2014/15

How can September properly begin without the annual back to school pic?



P4 and P5 respectively, ie 3rd and 4th graders heading off to Saltus.  Excuse me for a minute while I admire the blinding whiteness of those polo shirts and white knee socks.  It goes without saying that they will not look like this by the end of the month.

The kids were less than thrilled about returning to school.  Both arrived back in Bermuda, late Saturday night after a week's visit to Grandma H.  They filled me in on all the details of their adventures and endless desserts. 





I guess it's hard to compete with fishing on a boat, hot chocolate for breakfast, blueberry cheesecake and water parks.  Thanks Grandma H and Michael!  We were worried this trip wouldn't happen after Jordan was hospitalized unexpectedly.  I'm glad you guys were able to reschedule and make it such a fun experience.

"I'm the mini-Mommy."

Mina is only 7, but she's unilaterally decided she is in charge.  As she puts it, she is "second in command." 

Part of this is my fault, as I taught her that expression.

I only meant to use it with respect to Oscar .. our dog. She was upset because Oscar wouldn't run out for a walk with her unless I nodded at him and said, "Oscar, walk."

 I  explained the pack mentality to her, i.e. why Oscar only  listened to me.

Me:  "It's because I'm the alpha dog, you see?  So when I tell him it's time for a walk, or car ride or sit, he listens."

Mina:  "I want to be the alpha dog!"

Me:  "There can only be one in a pack.  Maybe you can be second in command."

She walked away, satisfied.

Slowly but surely, however, she's staging a mutiny.




Exhibit A: Mina's plan to thwart "quiet time." Jordan becomes the fall guy.

Lisen[sic] Jordan here is the plan
You open your door quietly
You peek out if mom is soundlees[sic]
you tiptoe to my room slide the response to me and I
send back
Love: Mina
P.S. if she is there you wait until she (mom) is gone.

It's been suggested I frame this note for posterity. 

When I confronted her about it, she denied everything, despite her very obvious signature.  Jordan laughed maniacally; and claimed he ignored it and sat very quietly in his room reading during the appointed hour.

We are in trouble.

I'm so sad the kids are back to school....

hahahahaha!



Monday marked the return to normalcy in our household. I for one, am breathing a hearty sigh of relief. In the hopes of starting the new school year right, we tried to get ourselves organized in the preceeding weeks.

Yeah. That went well.

Day One:

Jeff wakes up at the crack of dawn. Oscar, sensing food must be coming, leaps up and starts tippy tapping his doggie nails across the hardwood floor of our bedroom. I curse Overstock.com for failing to get all our bedroom rugs and furniture together so I can have everything sent via container to Bermuda.

I get up a few minutes later and get "dressed." I go downstairs for water.

Jordan is already up, dressed in his uniform and is sitting at the kitchen counter discussing how soon he will be allowed to play Minecraft. His hair is sticking straight up, thus confirming he paid no attention to me during the conversations we had regarding grooming.

Mina wakes up shortly thereafter, dresses herself and as I get ready to braid her hair, she sits down for a lengthy discussion of the dream she had the night before.. "You know, mom.. the one about my dad - the vampire."

She goes downstairs and joins Jordan for breakfast. He ignores the banana crumb muffins I so lovingly baked the night before.

Both kids kill time by practicing piano and complaining about the electronics ban.

I walk Oscar, pack lunchboxes, fill water bottles, then sit down for my coffee and emails. I realize I have forgotten to pack an "art smock" for Mina.

Commence search for suitable smock as the clock keeps ticking. I scramble for rags under the kitchen sink and settle on a lovely orange Brooklyn Brewery t-shirt, circa 1995, that I never quite got around to ripping up.

Thrilled with myself for not throwing anything out!

Hoarders unite!

As I round up kids to get in car, Jordan informs me his shoes are too tight.

"But we tried the shoes on last week, and you said they fit just fine!"

"No, Mommeeee... they're too tight!"

I grind my teeth together and inform him he will have to suck it up till we have time to buy more shoes.

He frowns.

I send them outside for commemorative first day back to school picture.

He makes many nasty faces at me.

I force them to stand outside in Bermuda humidity till I get one fake happy look.

We go upstairs to car, and I take more pictures.

Suddenly it dawns on me that we are almost out of the house, and I begin smiling uncontrollably.

As we drive down the road, for the 5 minute car ride (YES!!! One Stop this year!!)I grin at every person walking, stumbling, riding down the street.

Yeah you, Mr. "shopping at Serpentine Liquors at 8 am in the morning!" High five! I'll get the next round!



Welcome to the most wonderful time of the year!

"You'll always be there to keep me company, Mina."

Jordan said.

File under: moments that take my breath away.

Not even a week of school...

and one of them is already sick.

Which means, of course, I'm now waiting for the other shoe to drop.



For the epicureans among you, that is an ice cream sandwich sundae, with real whipped cream topping and sprinkles. I'm trying to remember why I decided to make this for him.

Of course, I often ask myself that same question about other things I make.



Buffalo chicken bites. Recipe courtesy of Joelen at "What's Cookin' Chicago?" Click here for the recipe.

They were really, really good.



Thank goodness I had a party to bring them to. I like to spread my gluttony among my friends.

The calories balance themselves out that way.

They make me so proud.

"I'm going to run the Telford Mile, mama." Jordan announced, several weeks ago.

"Me too!! I'm going to run too!!" Mina chimed in, predictably.

I looked at the two of them, chirping away like magpie twins at the kitchen counter top, and promptly forgot about the whole thing.

And then the forms started coming in from school. The Telford Electic Magic Mile is a yearly event here, held at the Bermuda National Sports Center. The profits from the event are used for children's charities. Kids run at the stadium or at the Bermuda Arboretum Park, depending on the age of the child.

I wasn't sure this was such a great idea, mainly because of Jordan's running history. He wasn't too keen on finishing the first and only race he was ever entered in back in Leonia, he quit the running club here in Bermuda because he thought it was too boring, and for the Telford Mile, he would be required to do two full laps at the stadium. For the uninitiated, that means a half mile.

But he insisted.

Later that week, I ran into the gym teacher at school. She also runs the running club. Maybe it's a cultural thing, but she was less than enthusiastic about Jordan running the race. "He has to run two laps, you know," she informed me, in that clipped accent of hers.

"Oh. Ok." I said.

"Two laps. You should think about that before you decide." She replied.

Personally, I was enraged. As a runner, I felt like my feet would fly off on the spot and like the god Mercury, scream through the air in sparks of fury in response to her cautionary words. I could feel the adrenaline scorching my veins.

But this wasn't my race.

"ok." I said. " We'll think about it."

So, I thought, "Let me take them to the stadium and let them SEE what a lap looks like. After school one day, that's exactly what I did. We drove up to Montpelier Drive, pulled our car up over the road, onto the grass (total illegal move, but a shortcut I've seen MANY people pull during the week when there are no events in session). we walked on to the track and I explained what each of them would be expected to do.

Naturally, they made a game of it, and started chasing each other around the track.

And that's all it took for me. I drove into town on the last day of registration, dropped their forms and money off at the local sports shoe store (because that's apparently what you do here), and $24 later - the kids were registered for the race.

Saturday rolled around, and the kids were off to a busy start. Both had a full morning of activities BEFORE the race. Ballet, cooking class. etc. Jeff and I hustled around between scooter and car, and got the kids to the track in time to pick up their race bibs.

Mina was first, in the four year old girls category.

She kills me. Look at this kid. This is what pure, unadulterated spirit looks like. Want to know what conquering fear looks like? Look at this child's face.

And she's tough too. We had to drop the kids off in a corral area. Some kids her age were crying and didn't want to be left alone. Some were crying at the prospect of running all by themselves. Some seemed scared at the overwhelming scene which this experience was. This wasn't some high school track. This was the National Stadium. It was HUGE! There were loudspeakers shouting announcements, there were crowds of people sitting in the stands; and it felt like pandemonium. Even as an adult, it felt overwhelming.

But my kids were cool as ice. Jordan waited in the stands for his age group to be called. He cheered for Mina and other friends he saw.

Finally, it was Jordan's turn.

Let's be honest. He came in dead last. But that's ok. He finished it. Two laps. A half mile. He ran the whole thing. He didn't stop and whine about how hard it was. He didn't complain or quit. He put one foot in front of the other and he ran the whole thing. There's a whole lot of adults out there who couldn't have done the same thing. Have you ever run a stadium lap? I have. Many times. It's dull as nails. You keep going and it feels like it's never going to end. And that's just one lap. He did two.

And in a nutshell, my kids epitomized what running can be about. One foot in front of the other. Conquer your fear. Finish it.

I was bursting with pride.

For both of them. They just kill me.

And then they ate cupcakes. Obviously.

Painful withdrawal.

Good things about Bermuda:

1. Beaches



2. No snow



Bad things about Bermuda:

1. Without the Internet, we may as well be some island in the middle of the Atlantic... oh... wait.



Don't ask me why I have a picture of Bermuda's feral chickens to illustrate this point. Except that it reflects the reality that when the internet goes, it feels like there's nothing separating us from third world countries with wild chickens running around the roads. Lots of them have good weather too. And no snow.

That's all I have to say. (No one wants to hear me complain about living in Bermuda.)

Internet was missing for an insufferable amount of time; during which I was forced to interact with my husband and children. It's a miracle we're all still alive today. On the plus side, it's amazing how much you can get done when you aren't reading OMG on yahoo.

Let's play catch up.

Jordan turned six.











I don't even know where to begin. He's six years old! He can read, he loves art and numbers and "rockish" bands. He races across the playground and swings from the monkey bars faster than I can breathe. He wakes up at the crack of dawn, and checks his alarm clock to make sure he can leave his room. Except when he doesn't and stomps into ours at 5:00 in the morning. Without fail, he wants french toast for breakfast and peanut butter and jelly for lunch. His favorite food is ice cream, but not just any ice cream. He takes his dessert seriously. He'll ask for an "ice cream parfait" which means ice cream, some form of cake/cupcake, chocolate sauce, and sprinkles. If he didn't weigh 40 pounds, I'd be slightly worried about his love of sweets, but for whatever reason - this diet works for him.

He can be the sweetest little boy in the world - when he shares his toys with Mina, or when his face lights up as you praise one of his many artistic creations. He can sneak downstairs in the morning, open up a box of leggos and build himself a star wars mini space cruiser, without any help. Of course, he does this at the aforementioned 5:00 in the morning. And then he'll bring it up to our room to show us....

He has his moments. Oh, he's got lots of them. But in spite of them all, he amazes me. And I cannot believe six years have gone by as quickly as they have.



Moving on, we also entertained our first visitors.












And my favorite: "Don't kill me! I'm your friend!"



It's a bit more of a challenge hosting here in BDA. We're also still learning the island ourselves. But I think our first visitors had fun. Travelling in January can be a dicey experience. Luckily, we were blessed with lots of sunshine and balmy temperatures for most of the visit! I'll take that, even without the internet.

Birthdays!!

We've got a double header with birthdays in our house. July 15th is Mina's and July 17th is Jeff's. Needless to say, we've been celebrating up a storm.











And there's still more to come. For logistical reasons, we held off on having a real party for Mina until this Saturday. At her request, we're having it at one of these kiddie places that stages the whole party for you, for an hour and a half, complete with cake and bounce houses and clean up. Yay! While I'll miss not having our traditional house party in the back yard, I am so looking forward to just walking away from the mess without a second thought.