Second Cousin Ashwini

On June 20th we got a new member of the family - Ashwini Tara, the daughter of my cousin Dan and his wife Maithili. They also have a son named Kishore. Although we met Ashwini once before, she was so tiny, so the girls couldn't hold her. They came over for a visit in September, and this time the girls got to hold her.

They were both happy to love on their new little second cousin. She is a really sweet baby, and barely fussed while they were here. So adorable! 

Justin and Steve get Hitched!

On September 9th we went to the wedding of Justin and Steve, who have been dating for 10 years.  The event was a Greensgrow in Fishtown and it brought together our whole college gang. 

Me, Dave, Justin, Steve, Crystal, and John

Most of the whole gang

The hansom couple. This picture was taken before the ceremony, so they were both super nervous (although look cool as ever)

Tragedy in Charlottesville

In the middle of August a group of white supremacists gathered in Charlottesville to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee located in a park recently renamed Emancipation Park. The horrific display of hatred was met with anti-hate protesters, all a block from the Downtown Mall. As the crowd grew, a white supremacist drove his car into the crowd of anti-hate protesters and killed a woman named Heather Heyer. The event has been a national news item for weeks, sparking heated political debate, causing our asinine president to make ignorant and mindnumpingly stupid remarks, and associating the town of Charlottesville with a horrible, tragic, and sadly historical event.

It's heartbreaking for so many reasons, one of which for me personally is the link that Charlottesville now has to this event. Since then (it's only been a couple of weeks), when asked where I'm originally from, I now get a look of sadness, or even alarm, when I say Charlottesville.

The weekend after it all happened, I took the girls down for a visit with Becky and Ari (mom and dad were in Norway for 2 weeks). We had a good weekend together and went and visited the site where it all happened, which is now a makeshift memorial. The girls of course didn't totally understand what happened, but I find it hard to believe that I even have to explain white supremacy and killing because of racism in 2017.

The makeshift memorial where Heather Heyer was killed. Chalk was left out so people could write messages of hope and love. 

Sophie, Lauren and Ari in front of a "LOVE" sign erected on the Downtown Mall

Lauren Learns to Ride a Two Wheeler!

She tried and tried all summer and finally she got it! Lauren is officially riding a two wheel bike without training wheels. She was determined to get it and with some coaching from Dave (she would take none of my coaching) she got it. 

Here she is a little wobbly, but riding with confidence anyway. She hasn't quite mastered breaking yet, so she's either slowing down and jumping off, or using her shoes. We're hoping the breaking happens soon, before we need to purchase all new shoes. 

First Day of School 2017

Well, summer is finally over (author sadly wipes tear from eye as writing), and school is back in session. The Tuesday after Labor Day Sophie started 2nd grade at Cynwyd Elementary. This year she has Mrs. Murphy and so far loves her. A few of her classmates were in Ms. Henry's class last year, and she's also met some new friends.

The big second grader on her first day! She was the appropriate mixture of excited and nervous. I can remember so well these first day stomach butterflies!

Sophie with her school's mascot. They make drop-off on the first day really fun, blasting music, balloons, and all teachers standing outside to greet everyone. 

And then a week later, on September 11, Lauren started her last year of pre-school. She was much more excited than nervous for the first day. Here's the big girl ready to get back into Mrs. Kiernan's class at Bala House Montessori! When we arrived she ran right into the classroom - no time for goodbyes for Mom and Dad. 

Solar Eclipse

On August 21 we got to experience a total solar eclipse, the first time this has happened in 99 years. Although Philadelphia was not in the "path of totality" - meaning that the sun wasn't completely covered for us - it was about 85% covered, which was still pretty cool. Lydia took the girls and Eleanor to a park to watch the event. They weren't as impressed as perhaps they should have been - Sophie commented that she was disappointed that it didn't get completely dark - but a life experience for them nonetheless.

The girls looking at the sun with their special eclipse glasses (which became quite the hot item in the days leading up to the eclipse, with stores and websites selling out)

A shot I took outside my office when the sun was behind some clouds. This was about the maximum coverage that we saw in Philadelphia. 

New England Vacation

We took our week long vacation the second week in August and did a little New England tour. The Sharp's brought their sailboat, Stolen Moments, up to Newport for the whole month of August, and we were happy to get to live on it for a week. We started in Newport and then went to Menemsha, Nantucket, Edgartown (Martha's Vineyard), Cuttyhunk, and then back to Newport. Lydia also came with us. This was only her second time on a boat, and certainly the longest. She did great - feeling seasick only a few times (eek!).

Here's a shot of Menemsha. It's a very small, picturesque fishing village where the moving Jaws was filmed. It consisted of just a main street with some shops, one restaurant, and one ice-cream place. Really all that we needed.

Dave and the girls caught this monster fish off the back of the boat. If we were going slow enough we put out a fishing rod with some bait to see what we could get. Unfortunately it was a blue fish, which taste disgusting, so we threw it back (no so unfortunate for the fish I guess). 

I took every opportunity to do what I like to do most on the boat - drink wine and read. I read a book called The Vanishing Year, which was a thriller and so good! 

There was only one day of bad weather (where both girls got seasick). Unfortunately it was our longest day on the water, traveling from Menemsha to Nantucket. I think Lydia might have been regretting her decision to come on this vacation at this point. 

Once we got to Nantucket it was gorgeous. Here is Dave and the girls in front of the lighthouse that welcomes you into the harbor. Nantucket was the only spot that we paid for a dock slip. The rest of the time we were on moorings out in the water. We took the opportunity to use their showers and laundry.

Right off the beach in Edgartown the girls caught little puffer fish in their nets. They were so tiny, and when you picked them up they puffed right up - providing hours of entertainment. 

Family shot on the lookout in Edgartown, which was my favorite spot of all the places we visited. We were actually there a few years ago, when I was pregnant with Lauren and Sophie was just 2 1/2. 

Our last stop before heading back to Newport was Cuttyhunk - a little island with less than 100 residents. This is a shot of the mooring we stayed in from a hill on the top of the island. This was also the second time that we've been there. It's such a unique place - a one room school house for all children who live on the island, one little "grocery" store, an ice-cream stand (of course), and of course ample opportunity to eat oysters and lobster.