The end of the school year comes with a lot of finishing celebrations and parties..
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Jad finished up his 1st soccer season!
Here with Conor and Coaches Nancy and Adi |
Kai also finished his soccer season. They did pretty good this year and hopefully, much of the team will be able to stay together when the fall season rolls around. Unfortunately, they did not have enough people to do the tournament this year so this was the last game they had together.
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| Kai's team and coach Hector |
We haven't seen too much of Micah and his parents, Grace and Caleb recently but Michael celebrated his birthday recently and wanted Kai to come to Golfland with him. The kids all had a lot of fun playing mini golf and arcade games as well. Maybe next year, Kai will be in the same class as Micah!
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| Kids strikin' a pose |
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| Arcade games! |
We hosted the Rock Canyon surgical garage party this past month and it was a great success. We had a bunch of people come by and hang out in the driveway, lit up a bonfire and hung out late into the evening.
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| I love our neighborhood :) |
Jad had a lot of fun days during the last week of school, including Donuts for Dads. He was very proud to show me his class as well as the food that he had gotten me. What a sweet kid :)
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I think that's supposed to be me on the brown
bag though I don't think he's ever seen me in a tie :D |
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| Donuts for Dads .. or Jad? |
Summertime means that kids being at home more which means less time for Amy and I. I suppose we could enroll them in more full day camps but we want them to relax during the two months of summer as well so mostly we have them in a few activities with empty weeks in between.
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Amy and I squeezed in one last lunch date before summer
vacation started :) |
Sora and Kai have both been practicing their class dances for the Noble Dance Festival. Kai spoke for his class and their dance had a Super Mario Theme with the song "Peaches", a current favorite on the home speakers as well. Sora had a more complex dance with a western theme.
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Sora was very proud/anxious to be chosen to
be in front during the dance. |
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Kai did a great job announcing his
class dance and was excited for the Mario Theme |
Earlier this year, I got a notice about our 20th(!) year reunion for medical school. I didn't really think too much about going because I'm already in touch with many of the people that I want to stay in touch with and it was also during the last week of school for the kids so they wouldn't want to go. I happened to mention it to David, Amy's brother, and he said he wanted to go to Boston because he's a big history buff and also was listening to a biography of JFK. So, we decided to go together and tie it with a trip to NYC to visit Harsha and others as well. Honestly, it was a really nice vacation. I love the kids but when I'm with them, so much of my attention is thinking about them that it's hard to be mindful of other things. I was able to look at interesting sights and people, wander without much direction and stay up late and wake up on my own time. It was very relaxing and I have to thank Amy for letting me go while she took care of the kids. She's a much better parent than I am though with more patience for the kids' shenanigans and difficulties. I did get very lucky with her. Some highlights..
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| Having some clam chowda in a Bahston bahr :D |
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| Walkin' the freedom trail |
I spent the most time with Jean and Suzanne and it was really nice to catch up with all of them. Again, it was nice to be able to hang out without worrying about the kids. I also caught up with some others.. people are doing amazing things, founding companies, working for pharma, research. I told everyone, in all honestly, that I am having a hard time just trying to be a good dad and husband :p
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| So good to see Jean and Suz |
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One of the formal dinner events I didn't go to :p
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It was so cold and rainy on the quad..
odd weather for June |
I was also able to catch up with old friends. I loved walking by the old homestead (1347 Beacon St!) and Coolidge Corner and especially the Brookline Booksmith, which is just a spectacular local book store. We met up with Sagar and his girlfriend Johanna and their new dog. And I was able to visit Dave Tytell and Adam Badik, friends from high school who have relocated to Boston.
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| Hanging out in the basement of the Booksmith |
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| I've known Dave since 7th grade |
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| The old apartment, now above Wild Goose Chase |
We managed to hit the greats in Boston including getting a Lobster roll, cannoli from Mikes pastry, visiting some famous gravestones and sites, running around the Charles river and catching a Red Sox game at Fenway Pahk :)
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| Site of the Boston Massacre |
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Attended an Episcopal service at
the Trinity Church |
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| Getting ice cream at JP Licks |
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My 2nd Red Sox game at Fenway.. Thanks for
getting us tickets, Suz! |
After three days in Boston, David and I took the Amtrak to NYC to meet up with Harsha, who was himself just getting back from Rwanda. I spent three days wandering Manhattan and then left to come back home while David stayed for the week.
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| Wandering the West Village |
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June is Gay Pride month so there were rainbows
everywhere.. the famous Stonewall park/area |
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A designer skater clothing/brand store that we stopped in..
I thought it was funny that real skaters probably couldn't
afford anything that was shown here |
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| A view from the roof bar of CitizenM hotel |
One of the coolest places we discovered was the Museum of Street Art. Not a traditional museum in any sense, it was basically a small stairwell of the CitizenM hotel that was given to these artists to graffiti/paint in to celebrate the street art of the 5 points area. It was super cool and each floor has a different artist with different style and methods. Super neat space.
MoSA!
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| Bball players |
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| Night scene in the Bowery |
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| some nice lettering |
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I like how they used the light to cast
a shadow in the art here |
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On the 1st floor of the hotel there was also a great cafe/bar
space where we hung out and did some serious dudes talk |
We also caught up with friends who have settled in the city and Brooklyn over the subsequent days and saw a few cool sights before I headed back home to reality :)
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| Caught up with Jeff and Greg |
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Also, saw Mei Li along with Daniel and his
girlfriend, Gabby and met Miryam, Harsha's good friend |
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| Standing on the streets looking for dessert :) |
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Nice exhibit on Darwin's letters at
the New York Public Library |
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| Prometheus bringing fire down from Olympus |
We also happened to be there when the smoke from wildfires in Canada blew down and covered everything. It wasn't as bad as it was in California a few years ago but still did give a very post apocalyptic vibe to the city.
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| Hazy Time Square |
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| Red Empire State Sun |
I got back for the kids last days of school and, this week, we're in full summer mode. Sora and Jad are doing VBS this week for the mornings while Kai is at home with Amy most days. I have a lot of work this week to make up for the days I was away. We've also had a lot of cat drama while I was gone. Mama cat got caught, spayed and released the day before I left and while I was gone, we used the airtag tracker to find the kittens. Turns out they were in our backyard all along, hidden underneath the ferns in a corner! The day I flew back, everyone corralled the kittens and caught them all and we sheltered them in our downstairs bathroom. Since then, they have been to the vet and shelter where we were told they have to grow more to be adopted out and also socialized so they are friendlier as well so that's why we have 4 kittens in our house now.
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The kids love them, of course. They already named them:
Kiwi, Pepper, Shadow and Popper |
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Kiwi is the smallest and friendliest. She was the runt of the litter
and semi-abandoned by mom
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We set up a camera to watch them without bothering them too much
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| They are slowly becoming more friendly |
Kiwi (named by Sora) is the smallest but also bravest and will come up to get petted. I think she latched on to us because mom had left her behind for a bit. Shadow (named by Kai) is the biggest but still shy along with Popper (who was named by Jad and I). Pepper (named by Amy) is the spiciest of the group and will often hiss but she's getting better too. We already told the kids that we're not keeping any of them but it's still fun to foster them for a bit, even if our house smells like the pet store :p
