On Monday the 27th we headed back to NY; the kids were eager to open the presents we’d left behind under the tree.

Blaine was particularly excited about this Harry Potter lego set from Gram and Grand-dad!

Sarah also got right to work on her Harry Potter lego sets!

Once she’d finished her legos, she moved on to this robotic snake.

And we got started on our new puzzles!

On New Year’s Eve, Sarah helped me plant these paperwhite bulbs we’d received from Gram and Grand-dad.

Sarah also did her class winter reading challenge.  For this one she was marking off the item for “reading under a table.”

That afternoon we met up with friends at a playground for some outdoor playtime to end the year.

For dinner we had delicious takeout from Lala Taqueria, followed by a one layer chocolate cake and sparkling wine to celebrate.  No one attempted to stay up until midnight this year!  2021 was a mixed bag — some good (we all got vaccinated!) and some bad (flooding from hurricane Ida).  Mostly it’s sad that our lives are still so centered around dealing with the pandemic.  Hopefully things will be better in 2022!

On New Year’s Day Andrew made his traditional stew of black-eyed peas and collard greens for good fortune in the new year.

To start the new year off right, the kids did return to school as planned on January 3!  And so far, knock on wood, school is still open.  We hope it stays that way.

Lastly, here is a winter picture Sarah brought home.  She has hidden some secret bathroom humor inside the painting, which she proudly told us about (she did not point it out to her teacher).  We were impressed with her creativity and sneakiness.  See if you can find it, or scroll down for the explanation.

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Shh… solution below

The snowman makes a shape like a “B”…

…so Sarah hid the letters “U”, “T”, and “T” in the snowman’s buttons.  BUTT-ons, get it?  Oh boy.  Apologies, just had to share!

Christmas this year felt like it could fall apart at any minute, given the rising threat of omicron.  We were hoping to travel to PA and do the usual gatherings with the Mahoneys, so we took all possible precautions: the kids reached full vaccination status on Dec 17, Andrew and I were boosted, as were all the Mahoneys ages 5 and over.  We all ordered a bunch of rapid antigen tests with the plan to test daily before each gathering.  Still, I figured there was a very low chance we made it through the weekend without someone testing positive.

On the 22nd I finished wrapping presents and made a batch of the chocolate ginger cookies and the salted chocolate chip shortbread.  I figured even if we got a positive and had to stay in NY we could at least have our favorite Christmas cookies!

On Thursday the 23rd we took our first of the rapid antigen tests and they all came back negative!  So we packed up the car and headed to PA.

On Christmas Eve we started the day with more rapid covid tests!  Then it was off to bowling at Wynnewood lanes.

Next came the traditional Mahoney luncheon with filet mignon and mushroom risotto, roasted carrots and salad, followed by Tim’s bread pudding for dessert.  Yum!

We even had the Mahoney Gift Grab!

That evening we went for a walk to enjoy some fresh air before getting ready for Santa.

Christmas morning brought lots of presents!  The kids tore through their gifts this year, no delays.

Christmas morning also brought our third day of negative covid tests!  Hooray!

On Christmas afternoon we went for a walk across this old railroad bridge in Manayunk with Uncle Jim, Aunt Denise, Annie, Aunt Jane, Uncle Fran, and Mom-Mom.

Back at Ingeborg Road, we enjoyed multiple rounds of Candyland and Trouble with Josie, mixed in with Hot Wheels with Nate.

Aunt Jean and Uncle Hank hosted the Mahoneys on Christmas Day for a dinner of delicious lasagna.

The day after Christmas we met up with the Mahoney cousins at a nearby park for some playground time and to try out this rainbow parachute the kids got for Christmas.

Then more board games and hanging out!  The day after Christmas is always so relaxing.

I did not think it was possible we’d make it through the weekend without any positive tests, but we somehow were able to celebrate the holiday without getting or spreading covid.  And we managed to see all the Mahoneys, in person!  It was too bad we weren’t able to see any of the Forsyths for this holiday, hopefully next year.  Thanks to Mom, Tim and Liz for hosting us!

Here are the finished solar panels!

On 12/3 the kids got their second doses of the Pfizer vaccine, this time at a Rite-Aid in Mt Vernon.  I forgot to take a celebratory picture!  For our second “vaccine party” we got takeout from the Shake Shack in Yonkers and brought it home.  Here we are taking in the Christmas decor at the Cross County Mall while we waited for our food.

The kids asked if the next day could be a pajama day!  Blaine was pretty tired and had a slight temp after his second shot, and spent most of the day reading on the couch.

Sarah was in better shape and helped decorate the Christmas tree.

Later that week we went by our local chocolate shop, cocoa, and picked up our teacher gifts for the holidays.  We also enjoyed a cup of hot cocoa (really Belgian drinking chocolate) that we’d always had in the past during the tree lighting ceremony in town.  We skipped the event this year since it was the day the kids were on the couch resting from their shots.

Sarah was really into building with Keva blocks this month!  Here are some of her creations.

In this pic she is demonstrating how one of the support columns can be removed without causing the structure to topple.

We were so happy to have Aunt Jody and Uncle John visit us for a weekend in December!  Here is an impromptu musical performance with Sarah and Jody on the piano and vocals, John on the ukulele, and Andrew on the p-bone.  They played “This Land is Your Land,” which Sarah was learning on the piano.

On Sunday we attempted to assemble the gingerbread houses that Gram sent us!  Here’s Blaine mixing up the frosting.

We were very lucky to have Aunt Jody and Uncle John there to help us!  One house that Blaine and I were working on collapsed in on itself and did not make it.  🙂  The second one, which J&J worked on with Sarah, was a success!

Check it out!  I was very impressed with Jody’s decoration techniques, particularly the sliced gumdrops for roof shingles.

There was a small hole near the roof on one side, and Sarah suggested that it needed a ladder to access it, so Aunt Jody made it out of candy canes.

We were so happy to see Jody and John in person after more than two years since our visit to CA!  We were finally able to congratulate them in person on their wedding and new house.

So behind on posting, so here are all the pics from November dumped into one post.  Sarah made some panda string art:

Blaine performed in his first 4th grade band concert, playing “Hot Cross Buns.”  The four trombone players were in the back so he’s not really visible in this photo, sadly.

It felt like the old days when I was able to help out Sarah’s class in the garden one day.  They learned about prepping a garden for the winter and harvested some marigolds for making dye.

The big cause for celebration in November was that the kids were finally eligible for the first dose of the covid vaccine!  Hooray!!  Most doses were only available in the city so I got an appointment at a mobile vaccine clinic in the Bronx.  It was very efficient, we waited outside and then went into one bus for the vaccines, and another bus to wait the 15 minutes for any reaction.  Easy peasy.  Plus each kid got a $100 gift certificate!

Our other excitement in November came from Sarah’s soccer league.  Her team (USA) went undefeated the entire season, winning both of the season trophies (one for the regular season and the other for the “Pele Cup” tournament).

Blaine got some new glasses!

We spent Thanksgiving here in NY, and Blaine requested that we make Gram’s famous persimmon pudding again to celebrate.

On Thanksgiving morning we went on a hike at the Marshlands to try to spot the wild turkeys!

No turkey sightings this year, unfortunately.

Andrew got a new infrared cooker for the turkey this year.

And here is the pudding, fresh out of the pot.

For dinner we had turkey, mushroom stuffing, mac and cheese, roasted broccoli, gravy and cranberry sauce.

For dessert we had persimmon pudding, chocolate turkey, and pecan pie (Melissa Clark’s recipe that the NY Times was featuring this year — maybe the best pecan pie I’ve made!).

Some quiet reading time, post-Thanksgiving.

That weekend we also went and got our Christmas tree!

We also had our solar panels delivered!  Hooray!

We started off the Halloween season with the usual Larchmont window decorating!  This year the kids painted one of the windows at Wasabi.

Here it is!  A zombie pumpkin, I believe!

One weekend we drove out to Twin Ponds on the Farm in Montgomery, NY, for my favorite fall activity — the corn maze!  This one was 7 acres and took us about 45 minutes with one stop for snack.

We also got a great deal on pumpkins — they were all $5!  No matter the size.

And I finally got the apple cider donuts I’d been craving.

This year for Halloween, Sarah wanted to be Link from Breath of the Wild!  The cute little ears wouldn’t stay on so this was the only time she wore them.

Blaine dressed up as a red ninja (based on the red ninja from Ninjago).

The Chatsworth Halloween parade went forward as planned this year!  This was the first time Sarah was able to walk in the parade — in Kindergarten it was rained out, and in 1st grade it was cancelled for the pandemic!

The day before Halloween we carved our pumpkins!

Blaine also got these little water gel beads called “Orbeez” which he wanted to use to make stress balls with balloons.  The plan was to sell them in a stand on the sidewalk as an alternative to lemonade but we haven’t gotten past production.

Here are the kids all dressed up on Halloween night!  We went trick or treating with our neighbors this year and visited a lot more houses than we did two years ago!  So much candy.

Blaine started off his 9th birthday with some chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.

For dinner he wanted Walter’s hot dogs and fries.  Sarah was disappointed that there was a curly fry shortage going on!

Then Blaine opened presents!

For dessert he wanted a Bona Bona chocolate/chocolate ice cream sandwich.

On Saturday team USA got another win, and Coach Jeanne arranged for the Mister Softee truck to come to the field after the game was over so the whole team could have ice cream.

On Sunday Sarah turned 7!  She started the day with waffles, and then wanted to open all her presents so she could play with them.  She was very excited to get this gigantic Lego Ninjago set she’s wanted since last Christmas.

It was a rainy day so in the afternoon Sarah wanted to watch the first Harry Potter movie.  She also wanted to keep the entire bowl of popcorn for herself.

For dinner she requested filet mignon, plain bread, and crispy cauliflower.  We don’t have much red meat anymore so it was really a treat!

Then she asked for homemade yellow cake with chocolate frosting for dessert.  We made the 1234 yellow cake and chocolate satin icing from Joy of Cooking.

She finished this Ninjago dragon set before her birthday was over!

Blaine has been very anti-Harry Potter and would go to great lengths to avoid hearing the read-aloud of the first book that we’ve been doing with Sarah at bedtime.  But his curiosity got the better of him and he caught the end of the movie that afternoon, and then got so interested in what was going to happen he went right into book 2.  I think he must have been scared of Voldemort because he proceeded to skim the entire series, skipping to the endings of each book to find out what would happen.  I wouldn’t say he’s read the whole series at this point, but at least he’ll be familiar when his friends are talking about it from now on.

On Monday the kids had off from school and we hosted three of Blaine’s friends for a small birthday gathering for a Shake Shack lunch, video games, and ice cream sundaes.

It only took Sarah a few days to finish her giant Ninjago lego set, with 10 bags.  She said she would have finished faster if she didn’t have to go to school.

Here’s Sarah with another new friend over for a playdate that week.

The big birthday present was this giant climbing dome for the backyard.

We made good use of it for Sarah’s small birthday gathering with two friends on Sunday, 10/17.  Sarah wanted pizza for lunch, followed by legos (of course), and then homemade cupcakes for dessert.

We were glad that we were able to celebrate the kids’ birthdays with friends despite the circumstances, and it felt good to keep the parties small to limit the exposure to germs.  It’s hard to believe they are 7 and 9!

The schools have been testing all the kids weekly for covid, but that hasn’t stopped other germs going around!  The kids caught their first cold in a long while in October and had to take a few days off school to contain the germs and get more PCR tests (negative!).  There have been two covid cases in Sarah’s class, though, so we are still on high alert!  Here’s Blaine on one of his days at home, making an elaborate drawing of a coral reef.

Andrew bought me some beautiful dahlias from the farmer’s market on 10/2, our wedding anniversary.  Dahlias were the main flowers in my wedding bouquet!  We had to cancel our dinner plans since the kids were both sniffly but we still had a nice celebration at home.

Another day the kids and I went back to Rye Nature Center and we built another fort from sticks.

We stopped at Milk and Cookies in Mamaroneck for a treat and took our snack into Harbor Island to look at the boats and the swans.

The kids went back to school on Monday, 9/13!  School was the same as it was in the Spring: the kids are fully masked indoors and desks are 3 feet apart.  They eat lunch and have recess outside, weather-permitting.  Here’s Blaine on the first day — Sarah was upset about something and refused to take a photo.

Here’s a photo she did allow on another day when she was in her soccer uniform.  Team USA has been doing really well this year, the coach is really dedicated and teaches them a lot in weekly practices on Fridays.  Sarah prefers to play defense but has also gotten to try forward and mid-field.  The league is made up of 2nd and 3rd grade girls who live in Larchmont.

Here’s another pic on a day that she had a new friend over for a playdate on the patio!

And here is Sarah’s Link character from Breath of the Wild.  We enjoyed that the “stealth” outfit included a covid-ready mask.

The kids had off from school on 9/16 for Yom Kippur so we took a trip to the Storm King Art Center.  It’s a large open air sculpture park about an hour and a half from here.  It was a beautiful day and the huge sculptures looked amazing against the natural settings.

We stopped for lunch at the cafe and then hopped on the tram to see the rest of the park more easily.

We all loved this particular sculpture called “Storm King Wavefield” by artisit Maya Lin, which is appears to be grassy waves.

I also loved this stone wall which twists and turns to accommodate the trees.

It was a beautiful way to spend a fall day!

The last week of summer we did the usual — lots of doctor’s appointments interspersed with outdoor time!  One day the kids took me to all their secret spots at the Rye Nature Center.

Blaine and I drove into the city for his annual doctor’s appointment!

One day we found this neat park in Harrison in between PT and a makeup Swim Tank lesson for Sarah.

On the evening of September 1 we were hit by the remnants of tropical storm Ida, and the area received its worst flooding since we’ve lived here.  We were alarmed to see the rain was filling up the window well egress from the basement.

Our portable Everbilt pump was running for 24 hours straight but wasn’t able to manage the water rushing into our basement!  It got up to 11-12 inches in the deepest part.

The next day was beautiful!  Sadly we were expecting a visit from Mom-Mom, Aunt Molly, and Uncle Fran, but they weren’t able to make it thanks to the traffic from all the flooding.

But they were able to make it the next day, Friday!  Hooray!  Here we are having lunch at bartaco in Port Chester.  From there we went to Rye Playland where we were somewhat appalled by the crowds and didn’t end up going on that many rides (though we did make Uncle Fran ride the grown-up size “Whip”!).

I liked how Molly’s mask could double as a stylish headband.

We also enjoyed some Carvel!

Andrew made his famous lamb curry which Mom always envies when she hears he is making it!  He even made the roti to go with it — delicious.  The next day we took the group over to Manor Park for a walk and to enjoy the view.

When we returned to the cars to drive back to the house Mom found that her car wouldn’t start!  She called AAA and they were able to come by and found the battery had died.  They jumped it and then Mom and Andrew drove around until they found a replacement battery at the Honda dealership!  Meanwhile, the rest of the group got ready for the Labor Day celebration at the beach.

Mom and Andrew met us there and we were finally able to relax and enjoy a beer.

We’re not sure if it was a coincidence or if Blaine put in a request but he enjoyed the rendition of one of his favorite songs, “American Pie.”

That night Andrew made fish for dinner and we had smores on the patio!  The Mahoneys left early the next morning; it was a brief but fun visit!

After their departure, we got back to dealing with the basement!  🙁  The builders had made some poor choices and all the materials seemed designed to soak up and retain the water!  We started out removing the baseboard, then moved on to the beadboard and top molding.  Then we cut out the bottom of the drywall and pulled out the insulation which was still dripping wet.  At that point the dehumidifier and fans were really able to do their jobs.

It was a sad experience to be ripping out all the finishing on our “finished” basement, and to realize that it’ll probably be awhile before we can get the work done to fix the water problem and get it back into usable shape.  Oh well!  At least Andrew and I were able to do it quickly, figuring it would be awhile before we could get a contractor.  The kids got a lot of video game time.  :/

School was scheduled to start on Thursday, 9/9, but ended up being delayed until 9/13 due to the flood damage to all the schools.  So I took the kids on some end of summer outings.  On 9/7 we went to see the Yayoi Kusama exhibit at the NY Botanical Gardens.

We had some frozen yogurt at Frost for an afternoon snack.  I’m with Sarah on this one, we didn’t think it was the best froyo ever.  Blaine enjoyed it!

A friend invited us over to swim in their pool on 9/8 and both kids managed to get onto this bull-riding floaty.

Sarah also had her first practice for the local rec league soccer (LJSL); she is on team USA.

On 9/10 we went to the Bronx Zoo!  We had not been in a long time so we visited all our favorite spots.  We went on the monorail, did the ropes course, and went to the Children’s Zoo.

We also happened to catch some giant tortoises in a romantic moment, not pictured to respect their privacy.

We had a trip planned to Martha’s Vineyard for August 21-28 so we were keeping an eye on the path of Hurricane Henri.  In the end we decided to go when it looked like the storm was going to hit Rhode Island rather than the Vineyard.  We stopped on the Cape for lunch and I had my first lobster roll of the trip at the Lobster Trap (sadly I’d already eaten the whole roll when I thought to take a picture!).

Then we played a round of mini golf and I got a hole in one!

Our ferry left Woods Hole at about 4pm.

Once we arrived at the house and settled in we took a walk down to the local beach.  Unfortunately shortly after I took this photo Sarah tripped and fell and skinned her knee on the rough walkway!  Andrew carried her all the way back to the house.

On Sunday Henri was passing by and all we got was a windy drizzly day.  So we went out for breakfast and then took a drive around the island and saw the beautiful Cliffs of Aquinnah!

We stopped for a short hike on the drive back and then went out to dinner (lobster roll #2) at the Square Rigger Restaurant near Edgartown.

Our last stop of the day was for some ice cream in Edgartown!  The famous place was closed (Mad Martha’s) so we ended up at Scoop Shack, which turned out to be our favorite ice cream of the trip.

On Monday we had reserved a kayak tour in the famous “pond” featured in the Jaws movie, Sengekontacket Pond.  We had two two-person kayaks and a guide and we saw lots of birds.  It was hard work!

That afternoon we met up with the Merchants at South Beach!  The waves were huge from the remains of Henri.

On Tuesday we decided to go back to South Beach to spend the day.

And that night we had a delicious dinner at Lucky Hank’s in Edgartown.  I particularly enjoyed the lobster devilled egg appetizer, pictured below.  After dinner we picked up some pints at the Village Scoop ice cream shop in Edgartown.

On Wednesday we went to check out Joseph Sylvia State Beach, which is where most of the beach scenes were filmed for the Jaws movie.  The water is very calm which was fun for the kids.  We checked out the “Jaws Bridge” where people jump off into the water, though no one in our group was up for the challenge.

That night we were invited over to the Merchants’ rental for pool time and dinner.  The kids loved getting some pool and friend time!

On Thursday we took the ferry over to Chappaquiddick to check out the Japanese Garden and other sites.

The ferries are named “On Time” because there is no schedule, so they are always on time.  The ride takes about 90 seconds but each ferry only holds three cars so we had to wait about 45 minutes to make the crossing.

Here we are at the Mytoi Japanese gardens.

Then we drove out to see the infamous Dike Bridge.

And we had a picnic lunch and spent the afternoon at Wasque.

We finally succeeded in getting ice cream at Mad Martha’s that afternoon, though we ended up not being all that impressed with the quality.  Maybe our expectations were too high?  We had dinner at the Offshore Ale Co in Oak Bluffs, and I had another lobster roll!

Friday was our last day and we chose to go back to South Beach for the day.  It was beautiful– the sand, the waves, the breeze.

On Saturday we had reservations on an early ferry back to Woods Hole.

We stopped at Captain Scott’s Lobster Dock in New London and I opted for the scallop BLT again because the last one was so good!  It did not disappoint.

It was a great vacation we will definitely hope to be back to Martha’s Vineyard again someday!