Wendy's 12th Birthday

And on the heels of the loss of Lucky, Wendy turned 12 yesterday. We celebrated with a party for her friends from school and church at the Funplex, a local amusement venue that has to be experienced to be truly understood. I'm not sure we will ever have another party there, but Wendy did love the chance to be there this year, and she and her friends had a wonderful time.
The only shadow over the day was that Wendy had apparently really been hoping for/counting on an iPod as a birthday present. Looking back over the past month or two I know she had mentioned it a few times, but I thought it was clear to her that we did not feel ready for that and that her party was her big present. But I guess she had hung on to her hope. So she felt quite sad several times throughout the day, and though she really enjoyed the party and loved the presents from family and friends, she also had to manage her feelings of disappointment which was hard.
A few pictures of morning present opening and then the Funplex extravaganza:

Farewell to Lucky

It was with very heavy hearts that we made the decision that it was time for Lucky to pass on. He had been getting more and more infirm, seemed very confused and sad much of the time, was completely blind, and was having a harder and harder time getting up for his walks. We prepared the girls as best we could by reading The Tenth Good Thing about Barney together and making a list of good things about Lucky. As well, Fer took pictures of him and we looked at his old photo book together. He was such an energetic, happy, good-looking dog in his prime! Wendy gave him a last treat of cheese and petted him to say goodbye.
Chris and I took him to the vet after the girls went to school, and we were with him the whole time. It was very peaceful, he was in my arms as he got the first injection to put him to sleep, which he hated as he always hated shots at the vet! But we had brought deli turkey with us and a few slices of that calmed him down and then he just snuggled and completely relaxed into sleep. I could feel his heartbeat and how warm he was and his breathing. Then the vet and nurse put him on the table and we were able to talk to him and pet him while they did the second injection. They left us alone with him for a little while and then the vet came back to check and he no longer had a heartbeat. We were both so sad -- though I went to work after I will say I wasn't at all productive as I posted his obituary on Facebook and then cried at my desk for hours as the condolences came rolling in. It was amazing how many lives he had touched -- lots of people from my days in New York, working at St. James and at KIPP, wrote to say that they remembered him. He was truly a wonderful dog and a part of our family.
Below his obituary and a few pictures:

Rest in peace Lucky dog, our beloved and faithful boy. For the past 16 years we were the lucky ones - you gave us so much joy, laughter and devotion. We believe that you are now whole and strong again, chasing deer and stealing cheese in the Happy Hunting Grounds. We will love and miss you forever. Til we meet again . . .

Florida with Gigi and Grandad

After one of the worst snowstorms we were lucky enough to escape to sunny Florida for 4 days, thanks to Gigi and Grandad. Unfortunately their flight was cancelled as they were supposed to travel on the day of the snow, so they arrived 2 days late. Our flight still took off, but we had the most dangerous drive to the airport at 5 in the morning between snow and potholes and flooding on the roads. But once we arrived and were all together, the weather was lovely and we had the chance to visit the Ringling Museum again as well as discover a local botanical garden. One afternoon we took a beautiful boat ride in Sarasota Bay. We also got to Marina Jack for lunch (a restaurant with many fond memories as it was my grandmother's favorite when she and my grandfather lived in Sarasota) and of course made our daily run to Publix for groceries and movies. The only hard part was the presence in the apartment of not one but three large flat screen TVs complete with all the channels, and it was tough especially for one of our sweeties to leave those behind for any other activity. Next year we may disable them just to avoid the drama! However, it was warm enough to entice the girls to the pool and for us to have some time to run and walk on the beach. Overall, it was wonderful to get away from the cold.

Snow Days and More Snow Days

We have had quite a winter with lots of cold and snow. And where there is cold and snow, there are also snow days! I think we ended up totaling 5 between December, January and February. We are very lucky to have wonderful neighbors on our block and it does make the process go easier when you can split the time and bring the kids back and forth. We evolved a routine of sorts, with crafting and Wii at our house in the morning, lunch and movies in the afternoon at our friends' house. Of course the girls were so excited to miss school (though now that they are losing Spring vacation days they don't feel quite so enthusiastic), but for the adults it was quite stressful to anticipate that the snow day might happen, sort out work schedules, wait for the call/email from the district, and then deal with the weather itself whether heading into the city and leaving the rest of the family behind, or staying back with a full day of child wrangling and snow removal. We were blessed that our colleagues were so understanding of our situation, and again so grateful for good friends to pair up with.

Wendy's winter orchestra concert

Wendy and her 5th grade orchestra performed their first concert -- she has been learning violin since September. It was a bit like the final scene in "The Music Man" overall between the quality of play and then we parents all so proud and excited to see our babies up there on stage, no matter what!

Girl Scout Trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art

I had fun channeling my former KIPP teacher self leading a trip for Fer's girl scout troop to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was definitely an odyssey -- we took the train into the city, the subway uptown, walked across the park, had a scavenger hunt in the museum for the girls, enjoyed a snack at the snack bar afterwards, and then reversed the travel process to get home. A good time was had by all, and I think the girls may have even learned a little bit from the different exhibits they visited during the scavenger hunt.

Gigi's Birthday

We had a lovely differentiated celebration of Gigi's birthday in Tivoli -- tea with the grandchildren in the afternoon, adult dinner in the evening with the adult children who could be there. We missed Amy and her gang but enjoyed celebrating with the Birthday Girl, Grandad, and the Kurlanders.