Doubles and Donuts

All the time we see evidence of Fer and Wendy's increased fluency in English and their ability to make connections. Last weekend in 24 hours we had two striking examples. In the first, Wendy was asking me as we were driving somewhere about "the word for that person, who looks like you, but lives far from you, and you don't know who they are, but they look exactly like you. What is that person called?" At first I could hardly think what word she meant, but then tentatively guessed, "Doppelganger?" And her response: "Yes! A girl on the gymnastics team saw her dad's doppelganger at the Maplewood Diner!" I think I started using that word in college when I was writing my senior thesis! And in the second example, we were (again) driving somewhere (suburban life!), and talking about how last year the girls' babysitter used to take them in the morning for Dunkin Donuts as a stop along the way to school on the mornings that she walked them to school, "until," Fer said humorously/bitterly, "Mami passed the Boston Creme Exclusion Act!" Clearly her study of immigration, particularly Chinese immigration to the West and the anti-Chinese laws that were passed in response including the Chinese Exclusion act, was uppermost in her mind.

Papi's Birthday

We celebrated Chris's birthday with cards and cupcakes!

Newstead 5K

I joined a running group in August and our first goal was to run a 5K. My running buddies and I completed the race with our best time ever (10 minute miles!), and then the kids also got to enjoy a Fun Run afterwards.

First Day of School

Off to 5th and 6th Grade! For Wendy, the last year of Elementary School, for Fer the first year of Middle School. Fer also took the big step of starting to walk to school, joining together with our neighbor Jasmine.

Sleepaway Camp Fun!

The girls did 4 weeks of sleepaway camp in July and early August -- 3 weeks at Camp Hoover which is a Girl Scout camp, and 1 week at Camp Johnsonburg, a Presbyterian camp. Much as they loved Camp Johnsonburg last year and enjoyed their week there this year as well, they found Camp Hoover to be even more fun. The Camp Hoover counselors were incredibly enthusiastic and energetic, and it just seemed like all the campers had a fabulous time. The weeks had program themes to pick from, and Fer chose digital photography, outdoor cooking, and arts and crafts, while Wendy went with drama, gymnastics and arts and crafts. The girls spent mornings in their program groups, and then afternoons at the lake, all in the company of the wonderful counselors whom they adored. We picked them up every Saturday for an overnight and then brought them back on Sunday, so we got to hear all the news and do massive amounts of laundry before the next round. It was amazing to see the growth in maturity in both of them over the course of the time. Even after the first week we could see changes, from being willing to go out on a walk at night in the country to rolling with the itch of the multiple bug bites they had gotten -- both those things before would have met with huge resistance, but it seemed that with the example of the counselors to go on, they had really learned some new skills and also had a great time.

Drop-off day at Camp Hoover:

Last day at Camp Hoover with Gibbs, a favorite counselor:

Pick-up day at Camp Johnsonburg:

And now onwards to family vacation in Maine!

Happy Birthday Grand-Dad!

We had a wonderful celebration of my Dad, complete with funny family photos and our traditional serenade!

4th of July

We had a low-key 4th of July in South Orange. Fer and Wendy enjoyed taking part in the town activities at the pool, including a sack race and water balloon toss. It was an extremely hot day, and between the races and being out in the sun for too long, Fer ended up getting a touch of heat exhaustion. She was very brave, though clearly also scared to be feeling so sick. This was pretty much the first time since we have known her that she has been unwell in any way. Luckily our friend who is a doctor was also at the pool and able to advise us, and after getting her water and juice and home for a rest, she felt much better. We ended the day with a neighborhood potluck and, on the advice of those who had gone last year and found the town fireworks unbearably crowded, decided to enjoy the fireworks from afar as we walked home. It was a beautiful night and we could just see the display over the trees.