The Post-Vacay Weekend

I love the first full weekend after a vacation.

It's awesome to go away, and it's awesome to return home again. The first weekend back is a cozy, crazy act of snuggling in, catching up, running errands, and local outings--smothered in a sauce of loving-where-you-live. Between the four of us, we had friends over for dinner, played in a soccer tournament, attended a girls leadership conference, went to a birthday party, and celebrated a postponed Valentine's Day.

DS took  this selfie while doing the weekend honey-do list on Upper West Side, and it made me smile. Getting the goodies to make dinner for friends on Saturday.

Throughout March, AS and I are attending a girl's leadership workshop every Saturday afternoon, and we attended our first session this weekend. It's a mom-daughter program developed to help girls learn confidence-building skills and leadership skills--especially in dealing with friends. The program also touches on coping with stress. It gives moms and daughters a language to talk about all of it, so when a situation pops up we've have familiar and common reference points. We're already talkin' "trash can behavior," "the double sorry," and "I may be wrong, but I am strong!"

It's an inspiring, well-organized program, so please check it out! https://girlsleadership.org/

AS and I are making the most of it with fancy mom-daughter lunches beforehand.

Friday night was unexpected, bizarre and a totally fun Valentine's celebration. I so appreciate Valentine's Day celebrated on any other day besides Valentine's Day.

I'm sure they do this kind of thing in many other cities, but the whole night felt like an "only in NYC" kind of night.

Dinner and a show at The Lodge at Gallow Green is an adventure in immersive theater. The show was "Sleep No More," a take on Macbeth. I can't give any more away, other than to say the evening went a little like this:

The Star

I received beautiful, heartwarming birthday wishes from friends and family around the globe this weekend. I am touched and very grateful.

For this gift of a poem, given to me by my gentle, soulful daughter, I will always strive to "shine like a star."

The stars shine bright

You shine bright

As sunny as a star

Wind blows

And you shine like a star

You are on your pillow going to sleep

Shine like a star

Sideline Sweet

Love this time with my girl.

AMS Reunion

I've never stolen someone's work to create a blog entry, but a busy girl must do what she's gotta do. I don't think SF will mind too much. She summed up our awesome trip to Portland so well, there's no need for me to retell the story.

A big thanks to SF and LL for hosting the kids and me and helping make one of our first stops upon returning to the U.S. (just one month ago) absolutely fabulous. A great re-entry point!

Love these girls and their kiddos! Click here for all the fun:

http://portlandsunshine.blogspot.com/2016/09/ams-reunion.html

French Connection

The next best thing to seeing one of your long-distance besties?

A visit from her mom. ❤️

Back to School

We're in!

Seven months, four hours of waiting, and it's finally official: the kids are enrolled in the French-English Dual Language program at P.S. 84, otherwise known as The Lillian Weber School of the Arts. I'm very, very happy to be supporting the public school system, but I'll go ahead and be totally untoward and say we've also officially left behind Dutch efficiency. :-)

Kids were excited, albeit a little intimidated by the huge school and its huge cafeteria. They came out smiling and tired.

I'm so proud of these brave, resilient, smart children. We've tried to be thoughtful as we've moved abroad and back, never taking for granted our children's adaptability. It's always of balance of giving them comfort while shooing them out of the nest. Je vous aime, AS & RS. Welcome to the 2nd and 3rd grades.

Piano Firsts

Her very first recital. So composed!

We said goodbye to her wonderful teacher and his stunning studio tucked into a 17th-century canal house. Neither is easily replaceable.

Liquid Sunshine

School's out for the (Dutch) summer!

Next stop: 2nd and 3rd grade in the Big Apple!

A Beauteous Bye

Moving away and saying goodbye to our friends is pretty hard.

But a day at the salon takes a bit of the sting away.

We're going to miss you Miss L and Miss I.  We await your visit to NYC. ❤️❤️❤️

Dutch Bucket List (Vondelpark Wading Pool)

Splashing in the wading pool at Vondelpark and Beatrix Park. √

Gosh, I didn't think we get to fulfill this wish until July, when the weather gets better. But it's been glorious this weekend, and so we made our way to one of our favorite Amsterdam spots for cooling off.

Almost three years ago, here we are splish-spalshing in the same wading pool. We had just arrived in Amsterdam on June 1.  

They were so little! Happy memories with their Nana.

Updated Selves: Inside and Out

A few of updates.

Since her birthday a couple of weeks ago, Miss A no longer wants to be a princess when she grows up, but instead would like to be a mom and a singer. 

Secondly, Miss A cut her own hair while I was under the weather last week (yes, the boy was a partner in crime), and I was so sick I didn't notice for two days. In my defense, various cover ups were used, like barrettes and hats. At this point, Miss A had bangs for the first time in her life, and it only made sense to chop off the rest since this is what she wanted in the first place: short(er) hair. 

Miss A, version 2.0, didn't end there, though. Her big birthday present was getting her ears pierced. As it happened, it was "ear pierced" (in the singular) on one day, then the other ear on the second day. (Not easy). Neverthess, she was scared, then brave, and then delighted. And we have two new, tiny, shiny pink studs. 

Quite a weekend. 

Ps. This was not your average jewelry kiosk at the mall. Someday she'll have quite a story about getting her ears pierced at a body piercing/tattoo parlor in Amsterdam. 

Day 1, first ear:

Day 2, second ear:

In my defense, again, this is the place that all the mamas recommended; it was totally professional and touted for its hygienic studio.

But, shhh, this takes away from Miss A's future story. 

Carnaval

While we're on the topic of dressing up (see my last post), I'm pretty pleased with my 7:00am face-paint job back in February when the kids celebrated Carnaval at school.

Dancing Across the Stage of Tradition

Bravo little ones!

I'm awed by your courage and hard work. All the rehearsals, all the performances. 100% in Dutch. Witnessing the costume changes, alone, exhausted me. 

This was big time, kiddos. Congratulations to you both. 

Through this experience, I've developed a hearty appreciation for Dutch humor. This was a family production, and half of audience at each show was children. But I assure you the content of this show would never fly in the U.S. Too mature for a young audiences. While occasionally I may have winced at the cursing, never mind the nudity, it was never sexualized or vulgar--just funny. I really value the way in which Dutch children are taught to have common sense. It's simply an expectation that influences everything they do, from the playground when their young, to drinking and sex when they are older. Likewise, it is similarly reflected in the arts.

Frankly, nothing surprised me that this was a comedy musical set to the music of Michael Jackson (translated into Dutch) set to the theme of Puss In Boots, with a fairy tale backdrop and scene-stealing scenes from a spy name James Blond. Makes sense, right?!!?

As it was explained to me, Ro Theater's annual production, which runs from November through March is a tradition in Holland. It plays at multiple theaters in the area, and all the shows sell out immediately. People come with their entire extended family; we saw many there with up to fifteen of their friends and family.

What a treat for my kids to have danced across the stage of tradition while living in a foreign country.

This was an incredible experience for all of us, one that I imagine my little meatballs will remember for a lifetime. 

AS on left, RS on right of woman in blue.

AS second from left; RS far right.

Likewise in video, AS second from left; RS on far right:

AS in black in front, RS in black directly behind her.

AS second from left; RS next to Puss.

RS far left; AS in red, third from left.

Getting autographs from their co-stars.

Stadsschouwburg Theater, Leidseplein, Amsterdam

AS center back row (cheetah); RS far right back row.

RS and AS far left, front row.

RS front row; AS in far back with cheetah ears.