2020

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

New Year's Eve 2017/18 was definitely one of the livelier ones in recent years. I wasn't sure what to do this year in fact, but after hearing that Irene and José would be out of town, I thought perhaps it was time to shake things up. We've hosted or spent the last few NYEs with them and Carmen and a few others always celebrated with the kids. I often find that New Year's is a better night for staying close to home and not expecting much in terms of excitement so it's worked out well. But this year I was ready for something else. And with my parents here I thought what perfect built-in babysitters. Fast forward a few weeks and it turned out Nacho was scheduled for a last minute trip over the New Year. Since his IOE trip before Christmas got cut short due to the captain's wife's illness, we were expecting something to change. But still, I was hoping he'd be off for New Year's Eve--a true holiday trifecta since he had Thanksgiving and Christmas Day this year. But it wasn't to be. So I took that as my cue to celebrate with friends for most of the evening and come back home to ring in midnight and the ball drop with family. I made my way over to Tania's a little before 8p.m. to find a huge spread of food and all the cocktails and champagne I could want. The photo booth upstairs was a great place to kick off the evening and I was happy to spend some chill time with these Playgroup ladies who I've known for 9 going on 10 years already. What a decade it's been! 

The plan to split my time on this special night worked out beautifully and I think a good time was had by all. The girls hung out with Grandma and Grandpa and I had a pizza delivered to make it easy on everybody. They asked several times if I was going to make it home in time and of course I did. I raced back by about 11:45pm and pulled out the champagne flutes in time to pour some kid wine and some real cava for our midnight toast. A quick text to Olive and she decided to join us since she was home alone. At the stroke of 12 we were firing off the canisters of dollar store confetti and the girls erupted into screams of joy. What a fun night all around.  So cheers to another year of friendship and family and making the best out of every day. That's really all I can do. And I'm getting pretty good at it.

Feliz Año!

Happy New Year!! We made it. We put the nails in the coffin of 2016 and I can't say I'm too sad about that. It was a rough week transitioning from Christmas to the new year with a bit too much indoor time and not a whole lot going on. I had a head cold that just left me knackered and the girls were mostly content to play with new toys each day even if they were fighting like sisters. Nacho took off again to work after spending his birthday evening with us so he just made it back in time for the festivities on NYE at José and Irene's. They offered to host the party this year and though I am usually up for entertaining at our place, I wasn't really up to the task. So handing it off felt just right this year. My only concern was whether or not they would be okay with confetti soaking their living room at the stroke of midnight. But they were and so we had two countdowns just like in years passed. The kids celebrated at 10:30pm so that Birdie and Jasper could make it too and then they departed. And the rest of us lingered until the real deal at midnight and another countdown only with grapes to celebrate the Spanish way!

The kids had their King Julien countdown on Netflix at 10:30pm and 

they loved toasting with kid wine

Of course I got a call from mom and dad just about a quarter til midnight asking if there was a time warp in NYC. Mom didn't realize we had counted down an hour and a half earlier thanks to the magic of streaming media. So no, there was no time warp in Times Square just a lot of revelers and we were safely tucked into a cozy living room in Sunnyside enjoying our friends and family and eating way too much. The spread was very Spanish and I was happy to share this evening with our Españoles de Sunnyside who make living here between two cultures a bit easier. Irene and José also had Spanish friends Olga and Santi and their two boys visiting from DC staying with them, so that made things even more festive. A little before midnight Mindy made it down with Poppy and Charlie and the kidfest was really in full swing. I've never been one to enjoy going out on NYE and as a mom that hasn't really changed. So it's nice to be able to see the girls' enthusiasm through til midnight and then wrap it up. We made it home and in bed just after 1:30 a.m. and everyone slept til almost 10:30am the next day. New Year success! Now to see what this turning of the calendar has in store for us all. If 2016 was a terrible year for the country, it was actually a pretty great year for our family. We made two trips to Spain, saw San Fran and Yosemite, visited NC beaches and made a surprise trip to Brussels. I loved all of these experiences for our budding travelers and it helped me feel a connection to that piece of myself that loves exploring new places. So who knows where this year will take us, but I hope it will be far. Happy 2017. 

Polar Bear Plunge

Earlier this winter, it sounded like the West Coast phenomenon El Niño was set to bring much warmer weather our way. We took a chance and had the park's Holiday Boutique outdoors in early December and were rewarded with a balmy 55F degree day. As Christmas approached and the temps rebounded from a momentary bit of cooler weather, we enjoyed a rainy, almost 70F degree Christmas day. It was almost too warm, in my opinion. I don't love the cold weather, but it's part of the feel of this time of year so I expect it. When I saw the temps for New Year's Eve and Day were going to be more seasonable in the 40s, I figured that was an improvement. Little did I know that Nacho would pick this year to do his first ever Polar Bear Plunge on Coney Island, Brooklyn on New Year's Day. The ocean temps were in the low 50s which apparently is about 10 degrees warmer than normal. And really the air temps in the low 40s wasn't too terrible though the wind gusting was a definite damper on me joining him. It also didn't help that I was having my second full day of stomach cramping (more on that later). But with friends Kenny and his daughter Krystal already veterans of the plunge, we knew we had good company for the eventful day. So we woke up after our NYE party at home and managed to get to the beachfront just before the 1p.m. start time. We weren't officially registered or anything, but it was still a great day and the fact that Nacho made it in and out of the water despite his daughters' pleas that he reconsider (they were NOT impressed) was more courageous. You would have thought from their reactions that he was going off to war. But no, it was just some chilly water though I have to say, I don't think I was inspired to join him in the future. But for this year, I was proud of his accomplishing this goal. Now I can forgive him for his "polar plunge" in Puerto Rico last year on the same day.