Maddie has tagged along with us on several recent adventures: On Mother’s Day we hung out in the East Bay and she experienced her first street fair, and we recently took her to Golden Gate Park (photos of that coming soon!). She’s portable and mellow, and the perfect weekend travel companion.
-M
The scene at school one recent afternoon…
-M
One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to Sigfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat on Sunday morning. I had never been but had heard for years about the famous white tigers there. Much of the family went (see last pic), and seeing the big cats plus the dolphins up close and personal was a treat!
-M
We switched things up a little this year by meeting the family in Vegas for Passover/Spring Break. As mentioned earlier the girls didn’t feel great (especially the first two days), but we still managed to see a lot of things and have some fun. (More photos coming soon of a cool spot at the Mirage, too.) I didn’t capture, unfortunately, the Seders themselves, our (numerous) buffet stops, and all the cousin time – but know that they happened!
-M
The girls’ spring break is over (it was a pretty mellow one for them; after we got back from Vegas they mostly hung out), and it was back to school for them this morning.
Zoe couldn’t wait to return to her classes and friends: She said at dinner last night how excited she was to get back, and she had her outfit laid out before she went to bed. Avery on the other hand was less excited, and I had to smile at her reaction to her alarm this morning. “I don’t want to go to school,” she groaned. “I need more break!”
-M
As mentioned below, Avery came home from school feeling under the weather one day – little fever, headache and cough. The good news is that it wound up not being the flu, strep throat or pneumonia (she was tested for all of them) but the bad news is she was sick for a while, she wound up getting her sister sick, and both girls felt crummy during our Vegas trip for Passover. Luckily, they were pretty good patients. (And they did get well enough to have some fun – photos coming soon.)
-M
The first-year anniversary of my parents’ accident – April 11 – came and went. I flew to Madison to be with Sandy, and we spent time talking and reminiscing about them with my parents’ minister before going to the cemetery that afternoon with our cousin Aimee. At the gravesite I read a letter Avery had written to my mom and dad and placed a stone that Zoe had sent from home.
Q and the girls, meanwhile, stayed home and lit yahrzeit candles. They had been planning to go to synagogue on Friday night, too, but Avery came home sick that day.
It makes me feel good that, despite my parents not being Jewish, we can use Jewish ways to honor them – and that my parents were likely the focus of the prayers and thoughts of people from many different faiths that day. It reminds me of just after their death – how I spoke with two rabbis and two ministers within 36 hours of the accident and how I received comfort from the words and prayers of each one of them. For me in those moments, and in all moments since then, religious differences just disappeared; all I was left with (and continue to feel) was love.
-M
I haven’t felt much like writing lately: Work is extra hectic, and the one-year anniversary of my parents’ death is looming. I have many thoughts on grieving, and how the normal concept of time doesn’t apply to grief; someday I’ll share them, somewhere, but I feel a bit too worn out to get them down on paper now.
Still, we’re all hanging in there – with Q and I keeping busy with work, the girls and a home renovation project; and the girls keeping busy with school, friends and Maddie. My dad (and my late Uncle Al before him) used to talk about life being like a conveyor belt – and, indeed, it has kept moving even after my parents dropped off.
When I got to school yesterday I noticed a gorgeous little cherry tree that had blossomed right next to a bird of paradise flower. I quickly took a pic with Avery (Zoe was finishing up basketball practice) and thought about how my mom would have really liked it. It seems like an appropriate time to share it here, then.
-M
A few photos now of the girls out and about with Maddie… The first one was taken at Golden Gate Park, and it shows the upside of all the rain we’ve had. (It’s so gorgeous and green!) The last photo, which Q sent to me really made me laugh. Of course he and Avery chose to ignore the huge “No dogs allowed” sign. (They swore later that no one else was around.)
-M
Last Thursday was Purim, and the girls had an all-day celebration (including a carnival and parade) at school. Avery and her BFF even decided (on their own) to dress up together – they were peanut butter and jelly! Her classmates got in the spirit, too, as you’ll see in the second pic.
-M
As I mentioned below, Zoe recently started a new activity: basketball! The coach kind of recruited her (she knew Zoe ran cross-country and then, of course, there’s her height) and to my surprise Zoe said she wanted to give it a try. She said she’s never done a team sport before, so why not?
Zoe is one of the only girls to not have played before (there was also a fifth grade team) so there’s been a learning curve. But so far so good!
-M
This has been the rainiest winter in recent memory, so on those days that the sun does come out we take advantage of it! Last Sunday, for example, the girls grabbed their basketball and jump rope and the four of us – plus Maddie – headed to a nearby playground.
-M
One week after her sister’s tefillah, it was Zoe’s turn. The sixth graders took to the bima last Thursday, with Zoe and some of her fellow students even reading from the torah.
-M
For the book sale at the girls’ school last Sunday, middle schoolers were offered the opportunity to set up individual marketplaces. Zoe decided to sell Rice Krispie treats, and she (and her dad) spent all day in the kitchen Saturday preparing, decorating and packaging. She wound up selling more than 100!
-M
Avery and her bestie Mila are beyond close (they call each other “Baby Love,” spent most moments at school together, and send sweet, nightly notes to one another) so of course we had to capture a photo of the two of them at tefillah. Though the colors of their dresses are different, they actually coordinated by both getting “high-low” ones. (“That’s what’s in right now, Mommy,” Avery told me.)
-M
