Weekend review

Three years

It's been over three years since Nacho's mom Mercedes has been to visit us in New York.  Carolina was just entering the world, in fact abuela was integral to her safe arrival as she helped run the household as we spent time in the hospital with a new baby.  She stayed for six weeks that time, and it was late summer and hot as the dickens.  We've seen her six times in the interim, all trips we've managed to squeeze in to Spain with two kids and limited vacation days. It seems like such a lot of time when I add it all up now.  But no matter, it's never enough. So when Nacho managed to make it to Spain last week for a wedding, he decided to bring his mom back with him on the flight benefits she never uses. Nothing like a little spontaneous visit to perk up our where-the-hell-is-spring doldrums. And it's nice to see the girls spend time with her. They don't always jump at the chance to speak Spanish but since abuela speaks no English, they have to try. So much communication is understood with jus smiles and hugs and laughter. There's been a lot of that this week too. I'm grateful for the time we get to spend with her whenever we get it. Just this week she marked her 50th wedding anniversary (3/20) which brought us all a somewhat somber reminder of just how time can fly.  Just 11 years into her marriage, she was widowed and has been plowing ahead every since. She really is a bundle of energy that needs constant work to stay content, and I've been happy to oblige the cooking and cleaning duties around here. Lord knows I can use the help.  I'm hoping this summer we can make our way to Spain again for another round of visits with the family and a dip in the pool--or better yet, beach.  The girls are really missing their cousins and it would be wonderful to see Amaia in her last bit of pregnancy. We'll see how things shape up, but for now at least we have brought a little bit of Spain to us. And that's what counts.

Queens is catching on

So we now have a Doughnut Plant nine blocks from my home. How crazy is that? The Falchi Building on the other side of the boulevard between 31st Place and 31st Street is now beckoning the cool kids from across the river and it seems Queens is the new hot thing. As if I needed more proof, the New York Times ran another fluff piece on Sunnyside last week, prompting many commentators in Sunnymoms to bemoan the changing face of the neighborhood. Most of what it boils down to is the renter/owner divide of rising real estate prices. While it's true some owners bought small and now cannot afford to upgrade, it's more likely that renters here who had a good deal (ourselves included) will quickly find that fading as landlords boost rents and make it almost impossible to stay in a place we've lived and loved well before it was cool. And maybe because Sunnyside has been my only home in New York, and my first home since Kansas City that I've lived in for 10 years straight, I'm prone to a little defensiveness about my old guard status. To many, being here a decade is nothing and I know that. But more and more, I see the newbies parading around (seriously, what was with the duo at SGP all decked out with their Canada Goose jackets, leather boots and Williamsburg bag?) and it's disheartening. Yes, I want more bars and restaurants and investment in Sunnyside, but at what price? I love this sleepy little community with just enough life to keep us content as we raise our kids in one of the best places in New York City. For how long is the question. 

Thrown in the questions over Nacho's job future and possible choice of cities to work from and sometimes my head is positively spinning about all of this. It also doesn't help that I feel the girls would really love a yard and dog and some of the benefits of a more suburban life. When we host family and friends, it would also be amazing to actually have a third bedroom. Oh, to dream! But for now, I guess we are making the most of where we're at and what we have. So in that vein, we took Abuela out for brunch at Butcher Bar in Astoria on Saturday and then for a quick spin around the waterfront at Hunters Point South. It was a somewhat chilly afternoon with highs in the low 40s and the wind blowing a bit near the East River.  Most of the snow that fell on Friday was melted, but still the air felt more wintry than I'd like. I'm so over this season. Let spring come in, please!  Hopefully it will happen later this week as things warm up. I know April is just around the corner but really, I'm ready. I need a good string of warm days to kick this mental fog. So please hurry up.

Week in review

Last week started with an assembly at AOC in which Elisa's class sang a rap about fiction and non-fiction. God, I love this school. Then we dove headlong into one of the classics of childhood for our nightly reading: Charlotte's Web. I didn't realize how much it would bring up the themes of eating animals and killing things. Oh right. About that pig. Carolina said we shouldn't kill pigs because they are "animals, not food." Girl has a point. So I made some banana oatmeal chocolate chip cookies just to calm things down (recipe here)...Carolina also indulged in a Kinder Surprise egg (or two) after we found them in a local grocery store. And I made it to Elisa's field trip and Carolina's class to read in the same week. Oh, and Nacho took off on a solo trip to Spain for 7 days to attend a friend's wedding. Yeah, I wasn't jealous at all. 

Elisa's note for Papa...not sure if this means she's glad he's coming home ("here?") or that he got to go ("there?"). Either way, she "mist" him. 

By the time Saturday rolled around last week, I was dunzo, but we managed to make it to a friend's house for a playdate that morning so a couple of us could go and pick up the Girl Scout cookies we'd ordered. It actually worked out well and I was glad to have the company on a rainy old day. We made it home in time to grab some lunch and regroup before heading off again to see the new live action Cinderella in Astoria.  What a fantastic movie! We met up with Kristin and Juliet and I think we all agreed it was very well done and visually beautiful to watch. That dress. OMG, I wanted to watch her dance all night. But alas, we had to come crashing back to reality. And my reality was that with two kids out of whack and no Papa around, the weekend and next few days were going to be rough. Not sure why everyone has been so whiny lately, but after a few choice words with Elisa, we kind of calmed down a bit. It just seems like this is the age for Carolina to be her most demanding and irritable when she hasn't napped. And then Elisa's stubbornness and eagerness to taunt people sets off a chain reaction and Carolina ends up getting in trouble for hitting or biting or pinching when she's really also the victim. It's always a mess to untangle and I'm trying to be better about not yelling at everyone involved. But man, a few nights I was just beat and ready to give up. I really feel like this winter and our lack of travel has made me a bit tense. Wishing Spring Break was already here, but soon enough, I guess. Fortunately, dance night on Tuesday signaled the end of our separation with Nacho and also coincided with the arrival of the costumes. So we watched them perform in the outfits and then hightailed it home to see Nacho and greet Abuela who accompanied him home from Spain. She arrived just in time to usher in the first day of Spring as well as our (hopefully) last snow storm of the season. Yes, it was a busy week and a half and I'm still recovering. Now if only it would warm up a bit and stay that way. Thanks.

Field Trip: New York Public Library

Ah yes, time for another field trip with Elisa's 1st grade class. I went on one at the beginning of the year to the Queens Botanical Gardens, and Elisa mostly behaved though she wanted to leave with me after we returned to school. There have been a few other ones scattered over the winter months, but I've either been busy or not too keen on the trip.  This time, though, I thought I would have fun going into Manhattan with her class to visit the New York Public Library.  It's such a beautiful building inside and out and I thought it would be another good chance to capture some photos of these kids acting like, well, kids. And they certainly did their best. The bus ride in was a pretty tame, if loud, affair, and they offloaded and went straight in without too much hassle. Downstairs in the library we checked out the children's room which is the only lending part of the library. The librarian guiding us that day read a few books after explaining some of the history and answering some of their questions. I think my favorite question of the day was when one little boy asked, "Why is Manhattan so busy?" She didn't quite know how to answer. So we moved on, and went upstairs to see the murals covering the exquisite wood-carved ceilings in the main rotunda. Unfortunately, the Rose Reading Room has been closed for a few months because part of the ceiling fell in and needed immediate repairs. It's where I shot some of Carmen's portraits and it's such an amazing backdrop. I was a little disappointed to not see it again. But maybe next time. As for the kids, we managed to get everyone outside and onto the side steps for a quick class portrait. Ms. Miskin wasn't feeling it when I asked her to jump in, but no matter. The kids' personalities shone through and they pulled some typical antics falling to pieces just as the bus pulled in. Perfect timing. Off we went back to school. And though it wasn't as dramatic as finding out Carolina had cut her head open during my last field trip experience, I did get a text from Nacho that he'd been called into work. So as the bus made its way down Northern Blvd, I got the bright idea to hop off and walk across the 39th Street bridge since I didn't have a car waiting at the school. I was home in about 10 minutes from his text, a small miracle considering, and we were able to have lunch together before he took off for work and a week in Madrid. Mostly, I'm glad our situation allows for me to be part of Elisa's school life in this way and to document it for all the other parents who can't. These kids are growing up so fast, it's hard to remember sometimes but it's true. And even though they are city kids from all walks of life, they still love the "busy" city. And who can blame them?