School in Session

First day of school already and with Nacho out of town it was up to me to get the girls back on schedule and up and out the door by 7:45 a.m. No small feat considering just the day before I woke up at 9:40 a.m. Yeah, summer has been good to us and the girls are real little people who wake anywhere from 8-10 a.m. depending on what time they went to bed the night before. So adjusting back to the daily grind of a M-F school schedule is something I greet with equal parts dread and delight. Of course, I was looking forward to having the time to myself again. That can't be understated. But the routine is really loathsome and enforces a kind of discipline on this family that I truly resent at times. Who knew that so much of our adult lives would revolve around the school calendar? I guess I never thought much about it when thinking of having kids. It just seemed like it was a part of child rearing like any other. But no. It dominates and anyone who says differently is lying. We arrange travel based on school breaks, make plans weekends in advance because of school events and basically hope for a few odd days off here and there to just give us a glimpse of freedom. Summer is the only real prolonged period of respite and even that has gotten shorter--a mere 8 weeks this year. And since I suppose there's not much I can do about this for another 12 years or so, I will just go with it. Today was the first day of the rest of their lives...First grade and fourth grade. Here we go!

First day pose with bestie Kira--they might be separated but they can never separate them ;)

Emoji Karaoke Party

Since we were away for the first half of August, planning a party for both of my birthday girls would have to wait until we were back, hopefully rested and surrounded by friends...which meant almost the end of the month! Coordinating that with Nacho's schedule was yet another part of the puzzle so once I had the Saturday free for all of us, I booked a few tables at the park and started to think about what kind of invitation and theme to go for. This was still before our trip to Spain so while I had some time to spare, the fact that we wouldn't be back here until about 10 days before the party meant I needed to get on things ASAP. Elisa was really excited about the new Emoji movie (*gag*) and wanted to do something with emojis and both girls had been excited about the impromptu karaoke at the Out of School BBQ. Suddenly I had the goodie bag swag started and an idea to get them their own karaoke machine for a joint present. So emoji karaoke was born and why not? Throw in some poop cupcakes and balloons and we would be laughing--or winking or crying--all afternoon long.

And just like real poop, all of the cupcakes looked different 

Carmen and Leonardo surprised the girls with two goldfish--our first pets!

The karaoke portion of the party was short-lived but intense!

The waiting game...

Last year I couldn't really imagine having the girls' party in the park with everything that had transpired so I jumped at the chance to host it at another venue. We rollerskated in Brooklyn and it was fun to try something new and see just a few close friends join in the fray. But this year, I was ready to have a PARTY! And that we did. And since we enjoy the families we invite so much, it's actually as much of a celebration for us as a birthday party for the girls. And since Nacho was working most of the week leading up to the big day (and landing Saturday morning on a red eye no less), it was up to me to nail down all the little details for the event. But that's half the fun for me, so the ice cream cake edible decoration was designed and emailed to Carvel, Elisa utilized some one-on-one time with me while Carolina attended a sleepover to help me shop at Party City and the girls both pitched in and assembled goodie bags a few days before. We could do this. And we did. What really struck me this year was just how relaxed I felt doing it all. I suppose after nine years of parenting, I'm maybe getting the hang of this stuff. And who knows how much longer I will get away with a combined party for all of their friends. But for now, we are lucky to really that's what they want too (even if Carolina did change her mind and want a Shopkins theme--too late, kid). My girls leaned in and blew out their candles like pros. And that made this momma happy. Especially when they collapsed into bed (but not until they posed in their new Hello Kitty eye masks) and slept off their party hangover well into the next day. Success!

Squeezing Out Summer

No matter what we do each August, the summer seems to ramp up and before I know it, we're in a rush to squeeze out all the goodness that it still has to offer. Sleeping in. Hitting the beach. Hanging with friends. So this last full week before school starts we were in a mood to do it all. First, we feted Leonardo's 9th birthday with an ice cream cake at his place and lots of smiles catching up after his adventures in Toronto and ours in Spain. Then we were off to Fire Island to chill beach-side with some of our Sunnyside gang for the second year in a row. It's such a beautiful little speck of land off the coast of Long Island and this time around, we knew the drill better. We made it to the ferry without all the hubbub and waited for a little bit before catching the 11am boat. In no time we were docking in Ocean Beach greeted by Chris who took us back to the house for a little lunch before beach time. The kids waited patiently for a few hours playing on the beach before they could climb the lifeguard tower and jump once the guards finished for the day. I was pretty sure Carolina gave herself whiplash with her knee buckling head snap, but since everyone kept laughing and jumping who was I to stop them? Another great dinner at Casa Sweetman-Furlong and then it was off for a twilight bike ride through the paths. We returned with enough time to round up the kids and go for ice cream just before the ferry ride back. Another great summer day in the books. 

Summer in the city continued for another week of sweaty days and beautiful sunsets...

We might not have many days left before school starts, but there was time to squeeze in a sleep over and let me and Elisa hit the coffee shop together. My big girl is such a little foodie these days and I love watching her try new things. She loved the green juice at the new Brookside Market and I got my egg sandwich on again. The Great Wall of Savas along 43rd Street had some wonderful new artwork up and we stopped to admire it. The city is really alive in the summer and taking it all in is the best way to prove you were here. 

N I N E

When our Spanish summer was coming to an end, I was debating how best to celebrate Elisa's birthday and was really hoping we'd make it back home by then. Since my trip to Paris was a last minute idea turned to reality, I pushed back our return until at least the 16th--the day after I landed in Madrid. Loads were looking okay, but not great for a flight home that day, with odds improving closer to the 18th after Spaniards took off on their own mid-month vacations. What I really didn't want to happen was for us to miss a flight on the 16th and then try again on the 17th, Elisa's actual birthday. I figured if we didn't make it home before her big day, we'd have to wait until after. I mean, who wants to sit on a plane for 8 hours to mark the occasion? The family seemed okay with this plan and we took a chance on the 16th and woke bright and early to give it a shot. I was feeling mostly optimistic about it, but without Nacho checking loads every 5 min to give me an update, I was also dangerously out of touch and perhaps delusional. Luckily, we made it on after all and arriving mid-day to NYC on the 16th, I was able to get home, shower and still make it out to Party City for a few birthday decoration odds and ends. Even better, we returned to find the packages that had been delivered in my absence so that Elisa's birthday surprises would actually appear the next day. And just like that, we had a full fledged birthday extravaganza on our hands. Emojis were the chosen theme and Nacho did me a solid and got balloons inflated at the Dollar Store after the girls went to bed. It was nearing 10pm and I was finally ready to say goodnight to this table of goodies for both girls. Since Carolina kind of got the shaft with her vacation birthday, she had her own pile of presents to wake up to. And they shared the new karaoke machine which would be the center piece of their park party later in the month. Yes, it was all looking very emoji-rific and I was ready to collapse. 

The girls woke up bright and early--like 4:50am early--the next day and I was almost ready to jump out of bed. I knew it would be hard to contain them with jet lag and the excitement of birthday presents, but damn, it was a groggy start to the festivities. They devoured their presents and were very eager to build their Legos and play with their Shopkins dolls. Elisa had been asking about getting her own camera and she wanted one like mine that printed photos. So I opted to get her a Fujifilm Instax Mini in the perfect cool mint color she likes. Let's just say it was the first present she opened and her mouth never fully closed again. I think it was a hit.  Nacho and I had already agreed to Elisa's plan that we'd hit Coney Island that day, but after checking online I realized the amusement park didn't even open until noon. It was only 6 a.m. and we'd have a lot of time to kill. 

By the time we made it to Luna Park at Coney Island around 1 p.m., we were ready to hit the ground running. I opted against wristbands for $50 each and instead bought us a card with $100 worth of credits plus a bonus $40 so that we could all use it and take turns going on the rides and even play games. This seemed like a bit of a gamble, but in the end it was worth it I think. The girls loved all their rides, won two Shopkins stuffies at the Whack-A-Mole (operated by a very kind-hearted young man who let us rig it for them) and managed to endure not one but TWO rollercoasters with Nacho and I that probably scared the shit out of them but in reality weren't that bad. I might have overestimated how minor the first ride was, but with its topsy turvy spinning seats and backwards diving motions, it even made me a little nauseous. Carolina was absolutely frozen in fear. But she survived and she even laughed. Elisa was mostly good about sticking with her sister except for a ride at the very end of the day. But by then, we were all starting to show our fatigue and even a brief refueling at Nathan's wasn't enough to sustain us for much longer. No, we grabbed some slushies at the ice cream shop and walked on the boardwalk for a few minutes and then it was time to pack it up. 

We made it back home around 7 p.m. and Nacho began cooking dinner of guisantes (Elisa's request) and chicken cutlets. I had the girls FaceTime grandma and grandpa and it was clear Elisa was drifting into a very sleepy place. By dinner I had to drag her out of her bed and away from her tablet to sit at the table but it wasn't to last. She complained of a headache and didn't want to eat, so I told her to take 5 minutes and go lay down. When I went to check on her, she was out cold. This year there would be no cake or singing happy birthday. She had partied hard all day long but even at nine, she had her limits. And that was fine. I woke her just enough to get her changed into jammies and told her we would save her ice cream cake for the next day with friends and she sleepily said okay. We invited Carmen and José and Irene over the next evening to continue the celebrations and try out the new karaoke machine and it was a big success. I think Elisa was more than happy to extend her birthday and we all enjoyed catching up after our summer vacations. Nine is definitely a number I hope will suit our growing girl as I see a lot of maturity in her some days. It's that funny place of being like a big little kid with all the mixed emotions of wanting to be bigger than she is while reminding me that she's really still so young. More and more she looks the part of a 12 year old but she lacks that mental framework. So we'll ride out 9 and hope that it gives her just a little push forward to get ready for next year and those double digits.