morgana's birthday party

we began the day with a tie dyeing craft.

i soaked t-shirts in soda ash overnight and then placed them in plastic bags; one for each child.

relaxing in the grass, under the trees is such a treat. over the years, the two trees we sit under have grown together more, and give us better shade.

in the background, you can see a large section of the grass is cordoned off. it was being re-seeded. the fencing served to keep away the many ball and frisbee game groups that usually congregate (we have been hit in the head by flying frisbees in past years)! we didn't miss them this year.

the scarf grows longer every year . . !

the three-legged race team . .

the children like to play a lot of relay races . .

hmmmm . . i'm not even sure what this one was. morgana organized all the games with the help of her friends and her sisters.

i just had to make sure to retrieve the potato sacks from my friend's cellar . .

they're actually coffee sacks, and my friend brought a few extra this year so all the young people were able to race at the same time.

we had a lot of salads . . and sandwiches.

my favorite is the dilly brown rice salad from cynthia lair's feeding the whole family. we also had quinoa salad and tortellini salad.

there were many beautiful handmade gifts . .

and flourless chocolate cake for dessert.

the highlight of the day was capture the flag . .

it was really a very exciting day, and all the fresh air made for a good night's sleep!

second day: sledding

yes! we decided to go sledding.

we stopped on greenwich street to meet up with our special sledding friends, and then got on the 3 train to brooklyn. the train moved very slowly, and there weren't many people traveling. it felt very quiet and holiday-like with everyone on vacation.

into the wilds of brooklyn . . prospect park.

gael couldn't ask for a nicer or more fun sister . .

this year the snow was blown completely through the tunnel . .

i love this view after coming through the tunnel. here it is from last year: 2010; and in 2009. both were snowier days, but today was the most windy and the most cold! the wind was brutal and would blow in gusts that took your breath away.

first ride!

we have two sleds, and one toboggan. two of them broke as soon as we got there. this one survived and chanda, gael, gabriel and i took turns riding down on it.

everyone capsized a second after this shot was taken. i think i was in the way . . . 

every once in awhile the wind would whip by, and you would have to turn your back for a good while to shield your face.

tea break. time to warm up. bagels and lox. biscotti and panettone and alpine berry tea. oh! and french chocolates!

well, we tried to warm up. but the wind was "vicious" as a few of us said, and our fingers and toes were icicles. when i said "it's time to go," others answered, "yes!" (can you imagine how cold they really must have been to agree with me!!!!) anyway, the sun was setting . .
 camille's toes were very cold . . luckily, the train was very warm! we melted and left the seats damp and on the floor: a puddle.

everyone was hungry and any leftover food from the snowy tea break was consumed. i think we will all sleep well tonight.

at home, morgana made hot chocolate to warm us up. 

after watching bedknobs and broomsticks, we had leftovers and perogis for dinner.

prospect park gargoyles

with k off to the beach, m and c and i got ready to do a coop shift for my friend janet (who is camping out on a lake in canada with her five children and grandma and grandpa and assorted siblings and cousins!). we were all happy to be given check out . . janet had been a walker lately, and we thought we would be escorting shoppers to their cars with their bags of groceries. but no! luckily, we were able to scan everyone's items and see what latest yummy produce was in stock (IPM corn . . just fyi, ipm is integrated pest managment). m and c even got to check people out which they have been craving to do for years. so it was a very successful workshift. afterwards, we had a picnic in prospect park and visited third street playground. they ran through the sprinklers and cooled off before we started for home.

this moment . .

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

at the sugar bowl on memorial day

we started having m's birthday parties at the sugar bowl in prospect park, brooklyn, when she was 5 or so. for a number of years after we moved back to manhattan, we didn't have a party in brooklyn. we had them in our building's lovely courtyard instead. however, the children outgrew the courtyard. when m turned 12, she insisted on renewing our brooklyn tradition. i didn't want to! . . i didn't want to traipse all the way to brooklyn . . with cake and salad and chips and blankets and jump ropes and water and . . no, thank you! but, as you can see, we did and we do. why? because there's magic that happens at the sugar bowl . . magic for children who become warriors and knights in search of a flag, or intrepid athletes struggling to be the first to cross the finish line in a sack race, or a fairy in the trees watching the others in a circle game . . and magic for the moms and dads who can finally lay on their backs and watch the clouds blowing over, but wonder how is it that we can be so tired and it all goes by so fast?

the birthday card

m's friend created a special birthday card for her this year. it has all their friends on it, and everyone had fun trying to find themselves. m is running after the blond haired figure, and her friend is with c (dressed in her party outfit, brown skort and coral seashell top) to her left, just past the tree.

the day