Sarah and Andrew Visit

In May, Sarah and Andrew came for a visit.  They took a red eye, arrived early in the morning Thursday and stayed until Monday.  Thursday night we hired a sitter and went out just the adults.  We went to dinner and met up with the Lepines.  Then we watched Blaine perform with The Improvised Shakespeare Company.  It was a bit of a Bakersfield reunion night :)  We were home well after midnight and I must admit it was the latest I had stayed up in a long time :)

Saturday morning we woke up to an overcast day that was threatening to rain.  Our plan was to go on a double-decker bus tour but had envisioned doing so in the sun.   The weather report was partly sunny and in the 70s. So we decided to go out to breakfast and wait for the clouds to burn off.

By 1pm it still had not burned off and was actually getting worse, raining, we decided to just go for it.  So we spent about 2.5 hours on the double-decker bus touring Manhattan in our life saving plastic ponchos. Since we moved to the city Luna has always wanted to go on the double-decker buses.  She enjoyed listening to the tour guide (through headphones) and looking at the sites.  Rachel mostly just looked around.  At one point Rachel asked Daddy "Is that guy (the tour guide) talking?" Brian had not put on her headphones, so she listen for a bit.  It was fun, but cold, wet and windy.  We did not make it the whole tour but enjoyed the part we did experience.

Sunday night Sarah and Andrew watched the girls so Brian and I could go out.   Luna had been looking forward to this time.  For Christmas, Sarah and Andrew gave her an Easy Bake Oven.  She loves it and wants to constantly bake treats.  So we have a reward system with noodles for her to earn a baking session.  The week before their visit Luna worked hard to earn her noodles so that she could do an "bake it easy oven" with Sarah.  So they baked while Brian and I went out.   

Thanks Sarah and Andrew for visiting us.  We loved spending one on one time with you!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was a few weeks back and we had a great day.  I was treated royally by my family.  The girls and Daddy made me a delicious breakfast.  Luna had made me a beautiful picture and a vase (out of paper) with some pipe cleaner flowers.  Rachel made me a pencil holder, painted blue (my favorite color).   I love their homemade gifts and the thought that went into them.

After breakfast we headed up to church.   Our pastor gave a nice light hearted Mother's Day message on Hell :)  After church, we grabbed a quick lunch at our favorite flatbread restaurant (Tribeca Flatbread) and then headed out to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.  The flowers were beautiful and it was fun to walk around enjoying all the vibrant colors.  We took the subway back home.  Everyone was tired from all the walking and were eager for bed (kiddos) or relaxing (parents).  I love that feeling of living a full day, it was a wonderful Mother's Day.

As real as they get

The other night Luna and I had an interesting conversation.  It started out with her asking me why Daddy and I look the same.  I asked how Daddy and I looked the same.  She went on to explain.  After some confusing comments she said your skin is the same and mine is different.

This is the first time she has wondered why Daddy and I had the same skin color and she had a different color.  I was not sure exactly how to explain this to her.  So I started to explain how Daddy's birth mommy (Gramma Laurie) and Daddy have the same skin color and my birth mommy (Grandma) and I have the same skin color.  Then I told her you have the same skin color has your birth mommy.  To which she quickly pointed out that her skin color is actually darker than her birth mommy's.  Which is true, we have a photo of her and Luna does have darker skin.  So then I mentioned her birth Daddy and how he probably had dark skin.  I quickly realized how all this is so confusing to explain to a 5 year old and I was not doing a good job or even an adequate job.  Being a parent can be so hard at times.

Then she asked "But you are my real mom, right?"  I knew some day she would ask that question but it is still hard to hear.  My response to my precious daughter was "of course I am your real mommy, I am not pretend am I?" to which she gave me a huge heart melting smile.

 This is a picture Luna drew of the two of us.  I love this sweet little girl.

Paparazzi

There are frequently movies, shows or commercials being filmed in our neighborhood.  This past week, Cameron Diaz was filming a movie in our neighborhood.  Her movie trailer was parked directly in front of Rachel's school.  Of course, where there are famous people there are often times paparazzi.  Here are a couple paparazzi hanging out right in front of door to Rachel's school and right in front of the movie trailer.  You can kind of, see their huge cameras over their shoulders.  They had just got into a bit of an argument with Cameron Diaz's security detail.  Oh the problems of the rich and famous ;)

Cape Cod

Back in January, we spent a weekend on the Cape with friends of ours from Massachusetts.  It was a wonderful weekend.  We love these families and any time we get to spend with them is a little gift of joy and encouragement to us.