this time: an intensive

more dancing . . 10:30 to 4:30. c has been asking to do this for the past two years . . to dance all day. (should i give her a pair of red shoes for christmas this year?) this photo was taken while waiting for the class to begin.

bells on the high line

we had dinner with clyde this evening, and then we went for a walk to the high line. there's a new art installation up there that features the sounds of bells from around the city. for each minute of the hour there is the sound of a different bell . . i.e. a gong from a temple . . the sound of a bell from the transit museum . . a falcon's bell from chelsea (that one intrigued me).

the wind and the river

the river was beautiful today. it was so much cooler than sunday and monday. we enjoyed sitting on the bench and looking out at the sky and the boats sailing by.

abingdon square green market

c and i walked this morning to abingdon square green market to get some fresh vegetables for dinner tomorrow night. it's nice to have it be summertime again, and to have fresh greens from the farmers. we chose summer yellow and green summer squash, and juicy peaches and strawberries . . and cherries! we didn't choose to buy beans today, though i did think they made a pretty picture!

. . this moment

(joining amanda and her friends in this weekly observance.)

waterpark lunchtime

we went to the waterpark today. m and c and i got there around 10 am. 20 minutes later we were inundated with camp groups and seemingly thousands of little children! we were waiting for janet et al, and i thought to myself . . we really need to get out earlier! 8 am is a nice time! a rise and shine and run around and get wet breakfast! a good way to start the day. however, that wasn't how it started for this thursday day. we waited and waited for our friends, and then had a lovely time chatting, knitting, getting soaked and soaking everyone else, and making new friends. janet is talking here with a lovely woman about homeschooling. the woman's two adorable sons were on a field day with the village community school, and she was wondering what school we were with. how surprised she was when she learned it was our own! she wanted to know how we became involved with the homeschooling community and how we did our lessons. i'm sorry i didn't get her name. i found her very sweet and enchanting. i loved her hat!

walking on the high line

people gasp for wind and wide vistas,
when you reach the top of the stairs, the sky takes your breath away.

june cleaning

we've been doing some much needed apartment cleaning, and when it's done we hope to do some much needed room rearranging. The whole process is very time consuming, slow, and tiring. Through it all, for this week at least, the dancing goes on.

1000 days welcome home party

reid stowe is a sailor and artist who took off in 2007 to set a record for the longest solo voyage (amidst other purposes). he returned on thursday to new york harbor, and his welcome home party was held this evening at pier 66. the beliloveables danced at the festivities, along with reid's son darshan (2 years old and the delight of all the girls). as a thank you gift for their joyous dancing, reid led them on a short tour of his boat, the anne. m and c were beyond ecstatic . .

plymouth church piano recital

the beliloveables had two performances today. the first was at plymouth church in brooklyn heights. it was a piano recital and they danced improvisationally to several of the students' pieces.

colonial lesson time

it was my friend cindi's turn to put together a lesson day for the colonial time period. it was not an easy lesson to put together as she is leaving for summer travels in a few days and has a lot to do! the girls practiced their embroidery stitches and learned many new ones that i look forward to having them show me (i.e. the spider web stitch). they also practiced their handwriting, and learned about the states and geography of the time. we then had a very nice tea together before changing into playclothes and running downstairs into the 21st century playground with popsicles and grand ideas of staging an olympic gymnastics event! it consisted of tumbling, balance beam and bar! the main contestants were: kate wetherall, dorothea callum, and juniper granger.

. . this moment

(joining amanda and her friends in this weekly observance.)

at chelsea piers hudson river park

the hudson river park at chelsea piers was finally completed and opened about a month ago. we visited today and the wide expanse of the lawn felt glorious! everyone enjoyed running and rolling on the grass and . . riding the carousel! yes, there is a carousel. i was rather surprised, and c was rather happy!

she and gael got to go for a ride!

i thought the carousel animals were fun and beautifully made. i think the turtle was made specially for gael!

there was a lot of rolling around on the grass . .


but, you have to be careful if you roll over on top of your sister . .

she might not like it . . !

then it's a "do-over"


there were also a lot of piggy back rides . .


which, thankfully, went smoothly.

i loved feeling the damp, salty breeze on my face, and seeing the river stretching away north and south.

walkaround vermeer performance night

all i can manage to say is . . it was a magical night!

garden party night

it was garden party night, and the group dance went beautifully. t and c also did their solos again . . it was nice that they could do them a second time. c actually left out a part of her dance (i knew the part was left out only because it was my favorite part . . everything else was the same . .) but, she didn't realize it. she did say, afterwards, that something felt strange about it. t was able to get out of her corset and hoop skirt again . . smoothly and without a hitch. but her mom says that next year she would prefer not to have such a complicated costume. (c and i were up early this morning for an orchestra rehearsal, followed by a concert at 1 pm. we then headed for DTW and the 3:30 teenager show, and then garden party . . and now i had better get some sleep. more on the orchestra concert later. vermeer is next.)

con spirito concert

c had her con spirito orchestra concert today. two other third street orchestras played also, sinfonia and philharmonia. a young student, camellia hartman, soloed, and she was very inspiring to hear! con spirito did very well and c had a wonderful time.

cannoli and cappuccino

c had a 9:30 orchestra rehearsal this morning. afterwards, we went over to veniero's for a lobster tail, cannoli and cappuccino. we were passing the time until the 1 pm orchestra concert. over the radio at the cafe was an announcer yelling away in spanish about the world cup. the waiter tried to explain the details to us . . including that south africa was the host country . . and . . hummm . . who was playing?