Wingnut!

There is nothing in the world I can think of that Gigi loves more that Wings! Looks like she's sure enjoying these, Wouldn't you agree?

Going Green

'Going green' in the summertime around here means fingers, toes, and hair (!) colored in the official colors of the Heritage Hills Hurricanes.

Halibut was half-way to neon-green hair when he decided he liked his 'beach-bum' bleached blond locks well enough to stop right there.




That's what the Psyche -up party is all about. Well, that and throwing pies at the coaches!

Ya got Trouble

Ya got trouble,
Right here in River city!
With a capital "T"
And that rhymes with "P"
And that stands for POOL.
We've surely got trouble!


I had a fun evening with Gigi tonight. We watched a Monty Python movie and listened to Broadway show-tunes on Pandora - noting the next classic musicals that we need to add to our DVD collection: The Music Man, Fiddler on The Roof.

A few weeks ago we borrowed The Music Man from the library. It was quite a hit - but nobody took to it quite like my Gigi. She says that she watched it 5 times. I think it was more.

Tonight was like being in a place where there is usually a constant noise in the background, like music in a store or traffic near a busy street, noise I've become used to, but then having that noise stop, and realizing that there's something really wonderful going on that I haven't noticed before because it's been drowned out by the noise.

Gigi is the classic 'middle child' caught between two remarkable sisters. She is very flexible, easy-going and independent. Of all our kids, she demands the least of my attention, but she always, always has a smile and a hug waiting for me. Well, tonight the other two girls were away. That background noise I'd become accustomed to was strangely absent.

She quotes the movie at random times....like during dinner with the Missionaries the other day.

Are certain words creeping into his conversation?
Words like 'swell?"
And 'so's your old man?"
Well, if so my friends,
Ya got trouble

I never really thought about how funny she can be, how silly, how much she enjoys fun movies and music. She's the first to mimic Tevye's little jig with me: 'If I were a rich man, Daidle deedle daidle daidle daidle deedle daidle dum....' Only Gigi shares my Tim Hawkins addiction.

When she found this song, 'Ya Got Trouble' from The Music Man, on the internet, she just lit up - singing and dancing around. She knows most of the words...I think we just might have a Broadway Star in our future...

This girl already shines!

Giva a Little Bit

Who IS that girl? why it's our very own Gigi - fresh from getting 10 inches of her beautiful hair cut for donating to Locks of Love.

Ever since last year she had been planning on donating her hair as soon as it was long enough, so we had just gone in for a little trim. We thought that the organization that makes wigs for children had a minimum requirement for 12 inches for donation.

When she found out they would take 10 inches, she said "do it!" And she never flinched as all of her hair was bunched up and snipped. Unfortunately we won't be able to find out where it eventually finds its new home...privacy issues.

But being able to contribute something to help another child has been a valuable experience. What more can a person give than a part of themselves (literally!)?

Art, Science, History, and a Little Home-Ec

This was a really educational trip for us: Mom, Starfish, and Gigi. Usually Starfish and I go to her appointments at Yale alone. But this time we took Gigi for a little birthday trip. It sure was fun to have a sister along for the ride!

Along with some amazing sightseeing, shopping, and culinary experiences (Vietnamese anyone?) we got some educational opportunities that would make any private-school-tuition-paying parent positively green with envy. (Thus I had absolutely NO guilt whatsoever about the 3 days lost from school!) And we accomplished all this in a VERY short time and managed a big 6-hour doctor's visit plus a little relaxation too! Here are the highlights:

BODIES REVEALED exhibit at the South Street Seaport - perfect for my aspiring doctor, (above).

What a piece of work is man! How like an angel, how like a god. The beauty of the world! ~William Shakespeare

This was the most amazing museum exhibit I have ever seen. I can't even describe the feelings I had as I was able to see, up close, and in such extraordinary detail, how our bodies were created and function.

The specimens were real human bodies. It was hard not to think about the fact that these were real people, just like us. We all learned so much!

I am humbled and in awe of this gift of a body that we have been given while we spend our time on Earth. It is truly wondrous and magnificent!

MRS. DELANEY'S FLOWERS at the Yale Art Gallery - perfect for my little artist.

The Yale Art Gallery has lots of wonderful things to see. But Mrs. Delaney's Flowers was the headlining exhibit while we were there. Apparently Mrs. Delaney was a very artistic woman who had mastered all of the "leisure arts". Some of these beautiful flowers were created by cutting and arranging tiny paper pieces. Others were embroidered onto a black velvet background and used for dresses or in screens. She took here inspiration directly from nature. I was amazed at what she created without any patterns or color charts.

While we couldn't take photos inside the gallery, I took this at the entrance. This is a massive display of greenery and dried flowers that seem to float in the air to soaring heights. The picture doesn't really do it justice. I walked away wondering how I could duplicate the floating flower effect in my house...

GROUND ZERO at the World Trade Center Site.

We were blown here!

This was not on our list of places to visit, simply because I didn't think we would have time. But when we were trying to figure out the right direction to get to the Bodies exhibit, the wind was so strong and cold that we couldn't really wank in any other direction than the one that brought us here.

I didn't even know we were that close to it!

Unfortunately, we weren't able to see much because the area is all fenced off. But we saw the pictures of what the final monument will look like one day and see the cranes and all the work going on to create it..

Most importantly, I was able to feel that this was indeed a very special place. And feel the hope that comes from seeing the people going on with their lives yet never forgetting...

YALE & The RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE - New Haven, CT

We finally got the chance to explore around Yale and had a good time even though the weather was bad.





A Yale sorority brought cake decorating supplies over to the Ronald McDonald House and the girls had fun decorating a cake--and probably ate way too much frosting in the process!