Turning 9

Birthday planning starts early in this house, mainly because I know that if there's some sort of theme  to the party, it will take forever to get the supplies.  Nothing is ever all in one place in BDA, and you can be sure some stuff will have to be ordered from abroad. 

That's a whole other story.

"I want my party at the gymnastics center."  Jordan said. 

"Really?"  I asked. 

We spend so much time there during the week, why would you want to be there one more minute?  Isn't 8 hours of training a week there enough?  But, after several weeks of repeating this desire, I decided the drive out to St. David's would be worth if it meant the mess was not in my house.

But we needed a theme.



Taa-daa!!  Minecrafting galore!  Jordan's main obsession these past months.

I don't pretend to understand ANY of it.  It's a complete mystery.  All I know is that in the limited amount of electronic time the boy has - he's Minecrafting.... or on YouTube watching someone named "Stampy Longnose" highlight all his Minecrafting worlds.



Suprisingly, there are other Minecrafting geeks out there who have done Minecrafting themed birthday parties.  Just look on Pinterest.  That's pretty much where I got all the ideas.  The table tops, the Creeper goodie bags, the ideas for the cake.

Speaking of cake though - if you want to make a Minecrafting cake, you must watch this woman's video.  Yoyomax makes a minecraft cake.



Some Potion of Healing to wash it all down.



And lots of exercise to burn off the calories!  The staff at the Bermuda Gymnastics Association could not have been better.  They led the whole crew through warm up exercises, obstacle courses, trampoline bounces, pit jumps and rope climbing. 

I just stood to the side laughing and taking pictures.



Even on the mat, you can't stop these jazz hands!



That evening we celebrated at Jordan's favorite restaurant in Bermuda - Portofino.



But the birthday celebrating wasn't limited to one day.  On his actual birthday, we spent the night in Connecticut for Jordan's first gymnastics meet.  There, we went out with the cousins!



More pasta and more ice cream!  And that pretty much describes Jordan's favorite meal.  Nine years old and a smile that lights up the room.  Happy Birthday, little man.

Family Reunion 2011

After months and months of planning, which I thankfully did not do much in the way of (shout out to Cindy, Amy and the whole west coast crew), the semi-semi- annual tri-yearly?? reunion went off without a hitch. We've been looking forward to this trip for some time. The kids were excited to get off the island (believe it or not, you sometimes do want to escape from paradise) and seeing their cousins - some of whom we got to meet for the first time.

We had a blast. It was fantastic!

Presenting - Family Reunion in Lake Tahoe, CA.



Some of the "founders."

Cindy's hand-designed reunion t shirts.

Sharing s'mores over the fire pit with Ryan.

The 4-6 year olds at tennis.

Look at this - give this kid something to swing with and he's all joy.

I love this picture. I'm a tennis player from way back, and the look in Mina's eyes reminds me of me. I didn't start quite this early, but I see some eye of the tiger in this girl. Form's not too bad either. And it's never too early to start thinking of ways to pay for college.

A birthday among us!

Cousins.

We wore these puppies out! Bedtimes went out the window, naps were unheard of, and the four hour time difference resulted in some very tired little monkeys.

Although it looks like he is drowning, he's actually doing pretty well. He just slid down an enormous twisting slide into the pool and is heading back to the stairs.

Native flora.

Rocks and bokeh. So excited to finally get a shot with that.

Skipping stones on Lake Tahoe.

Jeff and Mina calling it a night after one of the house dinners.

Jeff and Amy. Did I ever mention I want to be her when I grow up? She is unstoppable.

Aerial view from the stairs. Look how ridiculously gorgeous everyone is. The house wasn't too shabby either!

The Moss/Marin/Monroe/Altman/Weinstein/Trimarchi/Sperling/Berman/Spallina gang. Did I miss anyone???

Thanks again to the planners in the family for putting together such an amazing reunion. It is not easy to reach consensus (or what we managed) with so many people. From the location, to the activities, to the family dinners - this was a model of how a reunion should be run.

There were activities for everyone: golf, tennis, biking, running, a full gym and spa, kayaking, rafting, family dinners together, sleepovers..

Here was my favorite...



Sunset cruise for the 2nd generation while the grandparents babysat... (yes!)



With only one...or maybe two casualties..



buh-bye reefs!

Cousins in Bermuda.

My nephews came to visit recently and soak up the summer sun on the beaches of Bermuda. I did not drag out the camera as much as I should have, mainly because I was just awed.



I mean, look at this face!!



My kids had a blast. Especially since Arman has reached the critical phase of being old enough to play with them, but still young enough to let them boss him around. They were in heaven. The perfect audience to all their craziness.



OMG. There's the face again...



A day into it, my poor nephew will never be the same. He came here content with organic lollipops as his special treat. He left scarred for life - Keebler fudge stripe cookies, M&M ice cream cones, sundaes with chocolate sauce and a choice of four different kinds of sprinkles.... ah well. What happens in Bermuda, stays in Bermuda.



They got along so well!



Bonding over chocolate shakes at the pool helped.



We can only hope they come back soon!!

Turning Four.

Miss Mina turned four years old on July 15th. It took a bit longer to schedule her party, but it was worth the wait. We were very excited about the weekend plans; and our special guests!



We started the day with a special girls-only day at the local nail salon with our beloved Princess Aunt Tahera. Yes, that skinny torso is her. Did I mention she practically just gave birth? Sigh.



Sitting perfectly still during the application.



My pretty girl. From month to month, the kids' personalities and interests change. To date, Miss Mina is the girliest girly-girl I know. From the dresses, the princesses, the love of perfume and nail polish. But at the same time, she balances it with sports. She swims, does gymnastics, plays soccer, and will go head to head with Jordan on the Wii all the time. She's also kind and thoughtful and super helpful. For someone so young, I'm impressed with her balanced approach.

And I can't believe she's four.



Outer Banks, 2006. Miss Mina at 3 months old.



All done.



Someone was ready to par-tay!



There was lots to do at the party. There were bounce houses.



And slides.



Some baseball.



And driving?



The party location supplied the requisites - pizza.



Ice cream cake.



We supplied the monster faces.



And a few cute ones too.



In the end, we were all tuckered out. Best part? No clean up! Yay!!