Max and Esme

The kids organized a special morning for Dad on Father's Day.  Max had found instructions for a Valentine's Day breakfast-in-bed event in his Kid's Almanac and we adapted it for the occasion.  Peter was brought his coffee in bed, but joined his family at the dining room table for heart shaped pancakes with blueberries.  An early morning arts & crafts project resulted in a secret scroll containing a special message for Dad. And Max had framed an original dinosaur painting for Dad and one of a rabbit for me. Since the boys went to the Yankee game, Esme and I embraced our gender roles and went to the mall.  She insisted on changing into one of her new dresses as soon as we got home, and accessorized it with a neckace, bracelets and a headband. Then she told me I had to change into a dress to look beautiful when Daddy got home.

Peter and Max had an unexpected father's day treat - tickets to the Yankees vs. Mets subway series game.  They had a great view of the grand slam homerun that resulted in the Yankees 4 Mets 0 score.

At one of the coolest birthday parties we've attended recently Max got to do some serious rock climbing. He's the one in the red shirt.  This picture doesn't give you the best sense of scale, but this wall was about 60 feet high and included an angled section to get past as you see here.  Max was amazing.  I was really impressed!

After two kids and four years we bid a fond farewell to Ridge Street Country School. There was an end-of-school party for the oldest preschool class on Wednesday evening. Parents only invited, so Max had an extended playdate with a friend. The three classes came together and did a round-up performance of seasonal songs they had learned throughout the year. And each class had a special song they sang on their own - Esme's was It's a Wonderful World. Here are some pictures of our beautiful daughter.

I was lucky enough to chaparone Max's class field trip yesterday aboard a Schooner.  The floating classroom sailed around Long Island Sound for a couple of hours while the kids learned about the ship and the ecology of the area.  We dropped a trawl net and the kids helped haul the rope. They raised the sails, learned about plankton, salt marshes, water pollution and got to discuss the animals in the touch tank. No need to tell you that Max had a great time!

We spent a great weekend at the Swenson's lake house for their annual Carp Diem. The kids were in the water about eight hours out of the day. The crowd caught lots of small sunfish and bass, but no carp. Plenty of food and beer and good company. We all enjoyed ourselves. Here's a quick pic of a happy mommy and daughter.