PNW Adventures Begin

Easter in the park

Easter this year falls during the middle of Spring Break, so the Sunnyside Gardens Park Egg Hunt happened the Saturday before just in time to kick off the week and bring folks out for a little hunting on a sunny day. The weather was actually a welcome change from the rain of the previous few days. It left the newly seeded field a bit mucky, but nothing too terrible so we opted to let the kids roam free. The event always kicks off our year and last year's was a real success if I was a bit wound up. This time I tried to let go of the details and just stay focused on my little photo booth and that was fun. We sprang for a bunny costume which I hope will be in use for many years to come. Finding volunteers to wear it wasn't too hard since we conned a few spouses, including Nacho, into doing an hour each. And voila! We had polaroids to give away along with little foam frames and the whole thing was a new twist on an old favorite. My girls jumped in once they realized it was Papa in there and so the smiles were especially happy. They loved being in on the secret and didn't care too much that it was just a guy in a costume. Their love of the real Easter Bunny went unchanged. And so we handed out candy and spent the day testing out our event mojo. Definitely a few kinks to work out moving forward (those shed outlets have to get fixed!) but all in all, a good day and a nice change to see so many friends at the park. Now on to Easter and the real loot!

Keeping track

This year since we made our trek to NC early in the month of March, I felt particularly far away for my dad's birthday. So digging out a few old photos and the locket I have from his mother, my Nana, was a good way to hold on to those attachments and celebrate his 69 years on the planet. He'd been a bit under the weather lately, so I'm hoping milder temps and some days resting will do him well and we can get down there to visit again soon enough. It won't happen 'til summer most likely, but I think we're ready for a long visit to their house. It's one of those things I remember clearly from childhood--playing and being bored to death at my grandparents' houses. There was always a stillness and a sense of being left alone to amuse myself that I think is sorely missing from most young lives these days. So who knows. Maybe I can recreate some of that with a visit to see my folks. If not, they will at least get some beach time, yard time and a chance to bike around the cul-de-sac. Not a bad way to pass a few days.  

This week I was also finding a reason to celebrate spring's arrival with a visit to Jackson Heights to have lunch with Jenny and Carmen. We met up at The Arepa Lady which has some pretty tasty offerings though I'm still partial to the ones from Caracas. Afterwards, I stopped by Patel Brothers grocery on 74th Street to see if I could snag some masala chai. The man working there who I badgered was very kind to point me in the right direction even if I prefer the pre-made tea bags to the regular tea and powdery spice mix he suggested. Later in the week I did a favor for a friend and took some head shots in the city, walking around in the rain that seemed to be a constant presence. But eventually the clouds lifted a bit and we were treated to a box of Voodoo Donuts from Nacho's most recent overnight in Portland. Yeah, he's pretty good at spoiling me when he wants to. 

And then by middle of the week, our lives took a bit of a turn for the worse. On Thursday we woke up to find out that Moxie, our favorite dogsit pooch, was missing. Long story short, she broke away from our building some time early Thursday morning and we had flyers up and were canvassing the neighborhood by that afternoon. Elisa was understandably worried and veered from hopeful optimism to absolute dejected certainty that she was dead. "She's probably already hit by a car, right?" she asked me with a look of resignation. Um, yeah. Who knows. I tried to keep things honest but vague. We really didn't know where Moxie was for a good few days, and I feel like we were really invested in her return. Fortunately, the story ends happily and we even got to dog sit her ourselves for a night which was like a total 180. Elisa and Carolina were so giddy at the idea of having Mox to themselves that a walk with Leonardo turned into a bit of a fight. But otherwise, we managed pretty well and I'd say we might just have softened Nacho up a tad bit. We will have a dog. Eventually. 

With April in full bloom it was time to check out some real blooms for a change at the Macy's Flower Show. Katie asked if I was interested in this tourist trap and I figured it would be worth a few pretty pictures, so why not? And I wasn't disappointed. 

Spring Break PNW Edition

In a week we should be setting our sights on Seattle, WA for Spring Break. So far, I have single handedly mapped out our itinerary, choosing hotels and places of interest based loosely on what little Nacho and I have discussed. Happy to finally have everything reserved since it was starting to weigh on me that we'd get there and have NO idea where we were going. And in some sense, we have a lot of room to maneuver in this 8 day cross-state road trip. But mostly, I have the rough outline sketched and now it's up to us to fill in the details. With several national parks, some great cities (big and small) and a whole lot of coastline to explore, I'm pretty excited. I'm also hoping I'm not jinxing us big time with the flights since it all comes down to the numbers the day we leave. But for now, I'm going to exhale a little and get ready to pack. Oh and buy the girls rain boots since it looks like there is a chance of rain nearly every. single. day. We can do this.