A visit from cousins

The last weekend in June, we had two of Ben’s cousins, Chris and Laura Lee, visit us from Texas. That weekend was a real blast! Packed full of sight-seeing and talking and fun! Here’s some of what we did with them:

We showed them the NYC skyline from across the river at night,

we rode the subways,

 

walked the Brooklyn Bridge,

 

took the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty,

and we went to the World Trade Centre memorial.

Look, the Freedom Tower is finished on the outside!

We went to the Intrepid,

and we went to the Met with our friend Shannon.

We saw Grand Central Station,

we had coffee/hot chocolate at Le Pain Quotidien,

and we walked through Central Park.

We went dancing at the Midsummer Night’s Swing at the Lincoln Centre. Pity Ben couldn’t be there, but Chris gallantly danced with all of us girls. He also made up this real simple line dance that got a whole bunch of people around us dancing too: an old Asian lady, a few couples, a few old guys and an Indian girl with some serious hip-action!

Sunday was a little calmer and lent itself to some times of fantastic conversation. We went to church in the morning and in the afternoon Ben went to Evensong at St John the Divine with them. The weekend was over all too quickly! You guys will just have to come again!

A visit from the Baneks

In June, we had a lovely visit from Ben’s Uncle Walter, Aunt Nelda and cousin Alexander from Texas. They were here for 4 days and we got a really good amount of sight-seeing done with them, balanced by a nice lot of calmly visiting at home.

We took them to our favourite touristy spot near our house where you can get a fantastic view of Manhattan from across the river.

The girls enjoyed rolling down the little grassy bank there.

There is a war memorial near the look-out and it tickled my funny bone that it had been yarn-bombed, quite likely for Memorial Day or the 4th of July (we were sort of in-between both).

We took the Baneks to see a few NYC sights, and of course the Brooklyn Bridge featured on the list!

Lunch at Le Pain Quotidien was delightful, followed by a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

From there Ben and Uncle Walter took the kids home and Aunt Nelda, Alexander and I went to see St Bartholomew’s Church where there were stained glass windows she wanted to see.

Then it was on to Times Square and to see Once on Broadway!

Thanks for making us one of the stops on your roadtrip, Baneks! We really enjoyed our time with you.

Marica’s recital at Steinway Hall

Marica and Esther started piano lessons the week after our piano arrived, and have both been enjoying it a lot, no doubt because of their excellent teacher (who also happens to be our friend!), Shannon Murphy.

For the end of year recital (end of the academic year) Marica performed two of her pieces that she’d learned. It was pretty soon after starting, given the fact that we got our piano in April and the academic year ends in June, but she did really well! And get this — they had the recital at Steinway Hall! Wow. It’s pretty cool to say you’ve performed at Steinway Hall!

Marica really enjoys learning piano, and not a day goes by that she doesn’t practice or tinker around playing things by ear. She’s figured out how to play plenty of songs just by having heard them.

Well done, Marica! We’re proud of you!

I got a cute photo of the three sisters on a pretty seat in front of the recital room beforehand.

 

Life in limbo

Since the last time I posted, we’ve moved into our temporary apartment for the month of March, settled into a daily routine with homeschooling in the mornings, and all of us have gotten sick. New climate, new bugs — it was to be expected!

The apartment we’re in is nice and spacious, with 3 bedrooms and a big dining table where we spend a lot of time each day.

The best thing about this apartment would have to be the view. We can look out the living room window or our bedroom window, or go out on the porch and see Midtown Manhattan right across the river. It never gets old.

The kids looking out the window, waiting for Ben to come home on the bus.

However, while this place is very comfortable and meets all our needs, the interior decorating is not quite our style. I like art (though, not necessarily this painting), but I’m not sure that the size of this picture in the dining room is quite appropriate for the size of the room. 

There are a few more …interesting… pictures in our bedroom, which in the beginning I found a little intimidating, but now I don’t notice them anymore. Well, I manage to ignore them most of the time.

There are many more glitzy decor touches that I just don’t quite go for:

Mirrors on the beds. (??)

Fake flowers are an abomination and should be banned from all existence on this earth.

The house has all these attempts at glamour, and yet the maintenance is a bit shabby, like the chandelier with only a few working light bulbs.

I’ve saved the best for last. In the dining room, there is a throne. Yes, a throne. I ceremoniously placed all our school books on it. We call it The Seat of Education.

We started homeschooling in earnest last week. I’m using Rod and Staff for Esther, and the Logos 2nd Grade curriculum for Marica. So far I’m very happy with it. The workload seems good and the work is at just the right difficulty for both of them. I aim to be done by lunchtime every day so that they can use the afternoon for playing.

We also have signed the lease for an apartment for a year, starting in April. We’ll be living in the Heights section of Jersey City in a 3-bedroom duplex. It has a great big open space downstairs which I hope to turn into a playroom/schoolroom, which will double as a guest room when we have guests. I look forward to settling in there — I’m getting a little tired of being in so many temporary places! We’ll post pictures of the new place when we’re there. :-)

Marica got some Lego this past weekend as a belated birthday present from me. We went to ToysRUs and got totally overwhelmed with the selection but she’s happy with the one we ended up with. Man, Lego is much cheaper here than in New Zealand!

There is no plug for the bath, so the kids have been taking showers, and Laurelin’s been having baths in the kitchen sink. This cutie melts my heart, and has her sisters twisted around her little finger!