little sketches of us…

This summer, Cristian also got into planking. It’s kind of weird. The goal is to lay face down, expressionless, with your arms and legs straight on any surface or in any public area. Then you take a picture. It’s odd. It’s also strangely liberating because you feel like you’re breaking out of the mold somehow. And I guess it’s relaxing in a yoga-like way. Well, try it if you want. Laugh, if you don’t.

The Park Plank

Pool Planks

The kids think it’s funny, and I’ve caught Bird multiple times just doing it at weird moments. It took me a while to figure out what he was saying and I thought he needed something, but he was saying, “Planking.”

Puerto Rico Planks

How many of you have actually seen a funnel cloud forming in your backyard??? Me either. I was teaching a piano lesson or something. But Cristian caught it on video! It’s unbelievable. Even for me. The video doesn’t catch the wind interference, but it was howling. This is a good one. Don’t miss it.

“Oh, what do you do in the summertime when all the world is green?”

In Lexington, lots of things are all about horses, and we happened to find out about a polo game not far from us. We went to watch and learned a lot about the sport while we were there. Did you know players do not actually dismount—they just hop from one horse to the replacement horse—for substitutions. Also, teams travel and some of the players on our favorite team were from Australia and Argentina. The wives of the players seemed to be taking care of the horses throughout the game, so we also got to watch one woman braid, fold under, and triple-loop the horse’s tail after she sprayed him with cool water and took him out for a rest. Merayla loves to have me do her hair in “polo hair” now.

Polo Game VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Did you know you can make it a long weekend and visit New York City from Lexington in just over 12 hours? We added a stop-over in Philadelphia to catch up with Mai and made it in time for Oana’s wedding celebration in Manhattan the next day. Check out the adventures:

Philadelphia

Mai’s family prepared a street BBQ when we arrived, which was so sweet of them, and the kids had fun making friends with Kelvin and his cousins. Vongphakdy, ‘til we meet again!

Thammavongs VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Manhattan

Cristian was able to attend his cousin’s wedding reception with his mom and sister. Oana looked beautiful, and everyone had a fun time.

Hadzhiyskis VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Queens

Gogu and Gina (friends of the Icleanus) live in New York City. They were such generous hosts, and the kids had a lot of fun at their apartment as well. Gina is an excellent cook, so we enjoyed some good Romanian food and were close enough to take the metro the following day.

Chindeas VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Battery Park

Merayla was excited to see the Statue of Liberty, so we got as close as we could get without the 2 hour wait in line for the ferry. The kids had their first trip on the “train” (metro) to get there, and it was tons of fun for them. It was also a bright, sunny day so they got into the fountain at the park immediately. Well, Merayla did and Oliver tried to throw dirt in it.

Kids VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Central Park

We met up with relatives that came for the wedding at Central Park in the afternoon. There was a great place to row boats at the center of the park, and Maddy, Cris, and I had a fun time learning to navigate. 

Rowers VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Long Beach

On our last day in New York, we got to go to the beach on the Atlantic! It was a perfect day, and the waves were warm and big enough to have fun in but small enough that it wasn’t dangerous. Gogu and Gina accompanied us, and Cristian dug his traditional hole in the sand. Merayla chased birds, and Oliver filled our shoes with sand. I carted the stroller through the sand in true pioneer style. We had a great time.

New Yorkers VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

		Dance 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Daddy also managed to catch some video of the two numbers she performed at the rehearsal. Here are “Never Grow Up” and “Little April Showers.” Merayla is the little ballerina in the middle.

We were very grateful for Dad’s surprise offer to truck us back to home to Kentucky! He was taking a load out to Northern Iowa so he loaded our car with the RV on the flatbed trailer, and we all piled into the truck. There was tons of room, and everyone had a great time with “Gumpa,” as Oliver kept saying after he dropped us off near Des Moines. It was sad to say good-bye and traveling together made the 1100 miles seem almost too short! Anyway, here are the pictures of the kids swinging off the truck rafters and lounging on the cloud.

Hitching a Ride VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We got to stay in Geneva for a week, and all of my siblings were able to come for at least some of that time! It was great to see everyone, and the kids had a lot of fun together. Some of the highlights include:

Grandpa & Grandma dancing to the “Raining Men” song with the kids:

Excursions into the wilderness:

Bonding time for the boys:

A luau complete with haystacks (my favorite!!), music, leis, dancing, and decorations. Wow, Mom, thanks for putting on such a fun dinner for us. We had a great time!

Idahoan Luau VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

And plenty of time to just hang out, enjoy the country, and be our usual weird selves:

The Famalia VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Oliver and Merayla are excited. Probably to be out of the car. Cristian has great fun photographing extra-large farm equipment.

Super-Size Farming VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

And I am busy, as shown below.