dog days of august

it's hot again, and it looks like it's going to be hot all week. chanda was upstate enjoying some cooler weather with a friend and i'm relieved that she got to go swimming in a lake. she's been complaining about not getting much swimming in this summer. morgana and i spent the morning at german church and then came home for lunch. i visited a cafe, an ice cream store and a restaurant with my friend who is considering a new tenant for her commercial space on the bowery (they were all owned by the same person who would like to rent her space and they were all very nice and i had a delicious kale salad and elderberry lime fizz) . . and morgana reorganized her shelves in her room, cleaned the bathroom and made dinner (deviled eggs and salad). i'm not looking forward to a hot week . . i was looking forward to cool autumn weather . . 

meeting allegra

 today we headed uptown to meet little allegra who is two months old (her baby shower was here).

 she's a happy child to be bounced around in mama's arms . . 

she started out in the stroller but never made it back in. the stroller carried our bags and big brother's toys instead.

 big brother did well with all the chit chat we made! though he did roll around on the ground for a bit . . 

 we passed a beautiful tall bald cypress tree.

 we were in the north of the park, an area i haven't walked around in much. 

 black eyed susans and one big bumblebee . . 

 it was such an incredible day . . the last cool day we had on sunday, the 23rd, did not last long at all and with the heat and humidity i fell back into my sleepy ways . . well sleepy during the day from the heat and then awake and uncomfortable at night because of the heat! wait, that doesn't make sense . . ?

 the world's best brother at the boys' gate . . 

 giving the world's best brother a big push . . 

 world's best baby toe . . 

 can never get enough of the sweet baby cheeks . . 

our friend and chanda's ballet teacher is a wonderful mama . . so relaxed and happy . . wearing and nursing her baby and running with her boy along paths and through greens . . 

 i really miss these days of dusk falling around you while playing and relaxing in the playground . . 

and the moon shining bright in the coming night sky . . 

cooler days

the humidity finally went down and we all feel better because of it . . and the wildflowers in the courtyard are spectacular. we're really appreciating these last beautiful days of august. i'm off to get breakfast on so we can be ready for german church this morning. have a wonderful summer sunday.

fabrice's intensive

 chanda attended fabrice herrault's ballet intensive these past two weeks. today was the last day of class and family members and friends were invited to attend. 

 practicing . . 

i apologize for this poor quality movie!

 she really enjoyed herself and said it was a great group of people. 

 ballerina sofiane sylve (from the san francisco ballet) taught the variations part of the intensive and chanda enjoyed working on a piece from la bayadere.

 at chobani after the intensive.

and so the ballet portion of the summer comes to a close!

what's up doc?

greg's mom and dad visited from the 4th through the 11th . . and ever since they left it's been too hot or too humid or both. i've been both tired and restless and consequently unmotivated to write or even go online. i hope it gets cooler soon . . i just don't handle nyc summertime heat well anymore. it's only supposed to go up to 84 or so for the rest of the week, but the humidity is supposed to remain. the humidity is 82% right now. yuck.

at the met with grandma and grandpa

 we started out the day by taking the train to the time inc. building to meet greg for lunch.

 but first we ran across the green market at rockefeller center where korrina bought some delicious cherry tomatoes.

 taking pictures in front of the flags . . 

 (korrina was lost in the market stalls) . . 

 lunch with greg. after going through security we all picked out salads or burgers or tacos. i had sushi and shrimp tempura.

 greg had to get back to work soon . . 

 we we were on our way uptown on the A train to 86th street . . 

 to walk across the park to the museum.

climbing paul manship's group of bears just south of the museum by fifth avenue.

raison d'etra . . 

relaxing in the shade . .

 et voila!

 our first stop was the greek and roman wing . . 

 and then we walked through africa in search of the european impressionist paintings . . 

 the petrie court . . 

 morgana acted as tour guide . . 

 but she got a bit turned around and grandma and grandpa and i had to sit down and laugh a bit while we waited for her to come back with instructions. we couldn't help but wonder if she had left a trail of bread crumbs . . but with chanda's help they figured it out and we found the impressionists . . 

and also jules bastien-lepage's st. joan of arc . . (1879)

 van gogh's olive trees (1889)

 rodin's beside the sea (1907)

 it was a long day and we were all ready to hop on the bus for the ride home . . 

 where i made fettucini alfredo with faicoo's italian sausages and a salad! (can't believe i did that)

we were all very hungry . . !