Spring Break

I'm skipping ahead on April here a little bit due to the fact that I want to keep caught up and Spring Break is OVER!  No point in holding back on this post and then making more work for myself later, right? Right!

So our Spring Break plans were changed for a bit.  Originally we were leaving Friday for Rhode Island and were going to spend 4 days in New England and then 4 days in New York State.  Unfortunately Leah got sick on Thursday with a stomach bug.  So I canceled the New England portion of our travels till later in June.  By Sunday, Leah was feeling better, but it also gave us time to relax from school, pack our stuff up, and have a more chill trip.  Much nicer than "PACK!  GET UP!  GET IN THE CAR!" like my normal craziness.

We spent Saturday relaxing.  We went to the movies in the afternoon so Astrid could see Beauty and the Beast.  I got the girls their requested ice cream snacks and myself a boat of nachos, and as soon as we sat down, they both ate the nachos so I had to get more.  I had to laugh.

We also went over to the Walmart and got egg dying kits and made Easter eggs.  Astrid found a kit that made Viking eggs (whenever she gets real feisty, we blame her Viking blood) and we found a pearlescent kit for Leah's eggs.  It was a nice way to spend the day. 

Easter Sunday, we got up early, as Leah was powerfully excited for the Easter bunny to have come and dropped off so many goodies.  She woke me up first, then Astrid.  Soon there were candy and toys flying.  Astrid got a gallon of white glue to further her slime making activities, which was a big hit.  She immediately went back to sleep till 1pm.  Leah and I made the traditional Christmas lasagna (?) and then woke Astrid up for what we were assured was a highlight of Danish Easters everywhere:  the Easter Egg roll.  This involved finding a suitable hill and chucking our eggs down them to see who could roll the farthest.  We assigned 1st place 3 points, 2nd place 2 points, and 3rd place 1 point.  We each got 2 rolls--one at the cul de sac at the bottom of our street, the other down a hill in a local park.  We all wound up with exactly 4 points.  A perfect Easter tie!

Afterwards, we came home, ate dinner, and packed up for leaving.  The plan was to get the girls up at 4:30AM so we could be in the car by 5 and drive to Destiny USA, the seventh largest shopping mall in the US.  Unfortunately, my alarm didn't go off, and Astrid woke me up at 5:42.  I'll give my ladies credit though, they were in the car and ready for action before 6:00!!  They watched Ice Age most of the way north, as I had gotten Astrid a box set with all 5 movies in it a while back, and they slept and played on their screens a little bit.  We made it to the mall in Syracuse NY by 2:00 and had 2 hours to spend before driving north to my dad's, as he was expecting us for dinner around 6.  Leah was immediately starving to death, so I got her lunch.  Astrid said she wasn't hungry, so I got her a milkshake and me a sandwich, and she proceeded to eat my lunch.  Are you sensing a theme here? :-)

After a quick bite to eat, we headed to Nordstrom Rack to check out the cheap cosmetics, then Ulta, Sephora, Macy's, and two other make up peddlers that Astrid was dying to check out.  Leah and I skipped out on a couple and walked down to the Lindt store and got free samples of chocolate.  When Astrid was done shopping, we got in the car and headed home to Oswegatchie NY.  PopPop had prepared a truly traditional Polish Easter dinner for us--ham, kielbasa, pierogies--and then we played some Yahtzee and watched Forensics Files, Astrid's new obsession. 

The next day, Tuesday, we headed up to "town" to show Astrid the sites.  She got to see the hospital where I was born, the first house I lived in (which is for sale now!), the school, the post office, the bank, and the new grocery store.  Dad decided we should take a walk in the woods and abandoned his car at a locked gate near the back of the lake.  We walked for quite some time, seeing a beautiful waterfall and lots of nature.  Astrid was excited to hear a woodpecker.  Then we went to my friend Elizabeth's coffee shop, Coffee Fever, for WiFi access so Astrid and Chris could maintain their streak on SnapChat and we all had a nice lunch.  Afterwards, I fell asleep for a while, and then PopPop and Leah made a pizza before PopPop loaded Astrid into the car and took her across the border to Canada for some English country dance lessons.  I cant' say too much about what they did there other than obviously English country dancing (think the kind of dancing you see in Jane Austen movies), but Astrid said she had a great time and it was lots of fun.  They stopped for burgers afterwards and were home by 11:00.

When little sister gets tired, big sister gives her a lift.

Entering Canada

On Wednesday, we headed back to Canada as a family of four.  Dad had a full day planned starting at a llama farm.  Some years ago, he got Leah a little stuffed llama while he was up dancing in Spencerville.  Last year, she asked him for a husband for "Llamie" and he went through hell's half acre to find the creators of the llamas and get her a new one.  Unfortunately, he bought another girl.  Leah was very disappointed that he couldn't look the llama in the eye and know it was a girl.  So he decided to take her up to the farm and have her pick out a boy llama of her own.  We arrived and the lady who owned the place had it locked up for the day, but there was a sign on the shop that we could come to the house for help.  Imagine her shock when 4 bedraggled Americans were standing there, cash in hand, ready to buy some llamas.  Because, of course, as soon as Astrid saw that there were 2 llamas, she couldn't let one be left behind, so Dad bought her the other llama, who is also a boy.  We went and looked at the alpacas and llamas on the property and then headed to Ottawa.  (For the record, Leah's llama is named Dave and Astrid's is called Jasper.)

Dad decided there was no place we were going for lunch but the Hard Rock Cafe in Ottawa.  We arrived only to find it had closed.  He was so disappointed.  It was pouring rain and miserable outside, so we found a nearby Irish pub and they were celebrating their 25th anniversary and the meals were 25% off, which made up for the extra llama.  That was a nice treat.  On our way back through the market, we saw Obama Cookies and stopped in to get some baked goods.  Such an array!  We each got a cookie and they were delicious. 

Astrid and PopPop outside Parliament

Then we were headed to Parliament for a tour.  It took us a while to find a parking spot as there is a lot of construction going on, but eventually we managed and got the last tickets to the top of the Peace Tower in Parliament for the day.  We made it through security and then enjoyed the tour, although it was stuffy from everyone being damp in the rain, and the tour lasted quite a while on hard marble floors.  It was still cool to go there.  We learned a lot and felt very Canadian!

A haunting photo of Astrid inside Parliament

The "Big Ben" of Ottawa

Then it was back into the car, stopped at a Tim Hortons to import some coffee and a Walmart to grab some treats to mail friends, and back to the US we came.  Unfortunately we got lost and drove around Ottawa for a solid hour before admitting defeat and pulling out a map. We got back to Ogdensburg and had dinner at a Mexican restaurant, then he turned over the wheel and I drove us home.

Thursday was our last day at Dad's house.  We spent the morning walking along some back roads and bridges that were things I remembered fondly from my youth.  In the afternoon, I took Leah and Astrid up to the school to play on the playground.  Astrid decided to teach Leah to jump the hurdles on the track.  She did pretty well and only ate dirt twice, but Leah decided it was just easier to crawl underneath the hurdles than to go over top of them.  We had a nice dinner together of meatloaf, then more Yahtzee, Forensics Files, and Raising Hope before heading off to bed so we could depart for our next adventure.

The one family photo I got of us all week. LOL

Astrid on Harriet Tubman's Front Porch

Friday dawned still cloudy and that was a little sad, as it had rained the whole time we were there.  I packed up the car, and after breakfast, we bid PopPop farewell--I don't think Astrid will see him again before she leaves.  Then we drove down to Auburn NY to see the Harriet Tubman House.  We arrived at 11AM and of course the tours started at 10:00 and 12:00, so we decided not to stick around.  We went to the free exhibit and read about Harriet's life and times and death, took a couple of pictures on the porch and then drove out to the cemetery where Astrid was made the navigator to help us find Harriet's grave, which we eventually did.  I guess I never thought about her dying or being buried somewhere.  It was kind of neat being there.  Afterwards, we stopped at Jreck's Subs, my favorite place to eat in the North Country, and the girls enjoyed good food before we packed up and headed to Seneca Falls.

Our first stop was the National Women's Rights Historic Park where we saw some exhibits and got some materials.  They had a good display about the suffragettes and park rangers on hand to answer questions.  Then we went down to the National Women's Hall of Fame.  I had been there when I was about Astrid's age, but didn't remember it.  And even being there didn't jog any memories for me!  There is really nothing to it, unfortunately.  All the women who have been accepted into the Hall have write ups on plaques, which are hung around the walls of the place. There are some cutouts of famous women to pose with.  There is a mirror that says "Future Inductee" where you can take a picture, and a wall where you can write who inspires you.  And that is it.  They have recently acquired a building across the canal where they're going to make it a real Hall of Fame with artifacts and exhibits, but for now, that's as good as it gets.  There were many women there I hadn't heard of, and they were very interesting to read about.  Leah wrote two notes on the inspiration wall, and we were basically done.  I bought some materials in the little shop for my Pantsuiters group, and then we headed over to the Seneca Falls Visitors Center.  The girls had a great time there.  There was a room in the basement where there were various simple machines they could use to see how the Erie Canal was built.  They operated pumps and waterwheels and gears and pulleys and levers and stuff.  On the middle floor was a room with all the products that were made in Seneca Falls over the years, and they built creations with Seneca Sticks, which we called pre-Legos. They were literally sticks.  But the girls made masterpieces for nearly an hour!  So I guess there's something to them.

Afterwards, we drove down to the bridge which was the inspiration for a famous scene in It's a Wonderful Life.  In the movie, Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey goes to a bridge to commit suicide, but his guardian angel jumps in first and George jumps in to rescue him.  I found this picture of George praying on the bridge:

And here I am on the bridge just a few days ago:

I was weepy over being there.  It turns out, not only did the bridge look the part, but it had its own story which inspired the movie.  If you look on the bridge, you will find this plaque:

Antonio Varacalli was walking on the bridge and saw a woman go over the side.  He jumped in after here and managed to get her to safety before being swept down river and drowned himself.  Now you know a bit more about George Bailey.

Once we were done with all this fun, we headed out to Cortland NY to stay with my dad's lady friend, Miss Linda.  Miss Linda lives about 3 hours closer to our house and is an absolute sweetheart.  We had a great evening with her, eating pizza, chatting, and watching TV.  I was totally exhausted and went to bed early, but I think Astrid and Linda stayed up for quite a while. 

The next morning we were in the car by 9:30 and driving back to Virginia.  We stopped off at our favorite Wegman's to do a potty break, then hit a Sheetz for lunch and gas and made it back to VA by 7:30.  We were all happy to be home and figure that we have about 5 days of traveling together in close proximity before our little crew goes off the rails.  Astrid and I both like a little alone time. :-)

So that's our Spring Break wrap up!!  We had a great time, even if we weren't sunning ourselves on the beach somewhere like you might picture a typical spring break.  Many thanks to PopPop and Miss Linda for their hospitality!  It was especially nice that they both had normal cats who actually liked being around us. ;-)

Time MARCHes On (But Not on Astrid's Bum Toe)

Ok, so we got back from our vacation and immediately were back in the swing of things!  We slept in a little bit on Saturday, but then I was helping out at an event at our church, having organized the first ever Sing-along Sound of Music at UUFF.  I sit on the RE committee at church and we were asked to come up with a family-friendly service item to raise funds for the church, and this was my idea.  Neither Leah nor Astrid had ever seen the movie before, so that was kind of cool that this was their first experience with it.  The idea was that everyone who was coming would show up, bring food for a potluck (on the plus side, I didn't have to cook after our vacation!), we'd enjoy food and then watch the movie and sing along with the songs in the film.  This is a beloved film and apparently they show a singalong version somewhere in the world every single day of the year, so it was cool this was Fredericksburg's offering.  The movie is great, one of my favorites, and the event was well attended.  Both girls enjoyed it very much and were very helpful in the set up and clean up of the event!

On Tuesday were the Winter Sports Awards, and Astrid and two other girls were specially recognized by their coach for helping save the basketball season.  When the season started, there were only 5 or 6 girls playing basketball, and the coach was concerned because they needed a minimum of 5, and then no one could get hurt or foul out.  He had told his daughter to find whoever she could to join the team, and three girls, Astrid included, stepped up to play, even though they knew very little about the game.  It was a proud moment for this mom!!! 

The following Monday, Astrid started up with soccer practice and play practice both.  It was a crazy time, as the play was getting closer and closer, so they were rehearsing longer and later, plus schoolwork, plus soccer.  She managed to juggle it all, though it meant late nights and a lot of fatigue.  I was very proud of her for trying to do it all!  The week of the play, she had two soccer games, and Leah and I decided to drive up to Fairfax to watch her play in one of them, as Leah had a half day off from school and I thought Astrid would like to see us support her team.  It was a rough first half, and the girls were down 2-0 after it.  Leah and I had been sitting in the stands with the families from the other team and feeling out of place, so at the half, Leah asked if we could go surprise Astrid and see her.  I wish I had gotten a picture of her face when she saw us!  She was so surprised and delighted we were there.  She got in some good playing time and she even chose to come home with us afterwards, so we got a little bit of extra time with her before dropping her off for practice at school.

The next day, she wasn't feeling well and was very tired, so she asked if she could stay home from school.  I told her that was fine, and we wound up having some kind of issue with our pipes.  I get VERY stressed out about issues pertaining to my house and car, so it was good having Astrid there to keep me calm while the county came out, the plumbers were in and out.  In the midst of all this, Astrid stubbed her toe, or so we thought.  When the pain didn't go away by the next morning, I took her to the ER, and sure enough, she had broken her toe!  :-(  This put a damper on her soccer season.  We had to go see an orthopedist, so we called up Ross, who was a host father this year for another AFS'er and he got us in to see her.  She was sidelined until April 24, and we thought that was the end of the soccer season for her.  Devastated.  Soccer is her sport and she'd been so looking forward to playing, so to hear that she wouldn't be able to, that was a very bitter pill to swallow.  Happily, we have since found out that the soccer season runs into May and she'll be back on the field after Spring Break!!! YAY! 

Astrid gets instructions from "The Hot Doctor"

The time for the play arrived, and I invited several people to come and see it.  She had the role of Sue Draper, I think was the name, the nosy neighbor of the family in the show.  Many of her friends and teammates were in the show with her, and the kids all did a great job.  In addition to Astrid being in a boot for her toe, another girl from the soccer team had broken her arm and was in a cast!  The play was very well done and very well received by all who attended.  The first night, my friends Jason and Nancy came to see it, and the second night, my sister and her family came.  The kids were fidgety and had a hard time concentrating, so I took them out to the playground for most of the show, but we came back in when it started to get dark and they managed to finish it out.  I'm very grateful to everyone who supports Astrid in her endeavors!

In the midst of the play, Chris FINALLY asked Astrid to the prom.  We had been discussing if Astrid should ask HIM to the prom, as it was taking a while, and I had been busily Googling prom-posals that we could do for him if he didn't ask her.  But after the opening night of the play, her friend came up to her and asked her if he could see her backstage for a minute.  She went with him, and there was Chris, holding up a sign asking her to prom.  She was just about crying she was so happy. It was so sweet!

Of course she said yes, and the date was set! <3  Leah loves Chris, and finds it hilarious to yell at him, so he's understandably a little anxious around her, but he bravely stood with her for a post-promposal picture.  One of my favorites of the year!

Leah loved big sister snuggle time most of all!

Along the way, we also had my friend Andy down for a movie day.  I have a list of movies I think Astrid needs to see before she goes home, movies that really talk about all aspects of American culture and it was clear that without serious action taken, we weren't going to get to them all.  We saw 5 movies on March 11--As Good As It Gets, Wayne's World, The Breakfast Club, The Sandlot, The Burbs, and we watched an episode of Bosom Buddies so Astrid could see Tom Hanks in his breakout role.  It was a blast to watch all these films.  We had lots of snacks, I made a nice dinner, it was a really great time and so relaxing in the midst of the whirlwind of everything going on.  Leah got nervous during The Burbs, which is a Tom Hanks comedy horror movie, so she snuggled up with Astrid for protection.  They've had a rough patch--Leah had some trouble having a sibling for a while, so it was nice that it was Astrid she turned to for protection from her fears!

So the play was over, Astrid kept going to soccer practice to stay a part of the team, which is important to her, and things settled down a bit. We were able to get back to being a family a little more regularly with meals together and seeing each other a bit more, which had been a little bit hard on me having her out of the house so much.  I was glad for a return to some normalcy.  And glad she has kept up with soccer.  I know it will make a big difference to her when she gets back on the field in another week and Leah and I will be able to attend her games again!

Family hilarity at the Jefferson Memorial

We spent the first Monday after the play up in DC.  It was Cherry Blossom time and I wanted to take the girls to see the flowers.  Most everyone I knew had gone up during the weekend, so I picked the girls up right after school and we drove up Monday.  It was crowded, but not nearly as crazy as it was on the weekend, and in fact, we had no trouble getting a parking spot.  I had stopped off at Wegmans to buy us all a picnic dinner, and we started walking from the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial and made our way over to the Jefferson Memorial.  I was worried about Astrid's toe, so we went by way of the FDR Memorial, instead of making the full loop around the Tidal Basin, although she did fairly well.  The flowers were absolutely gorgeous and it rained the next day, so it was good we went when we did, as a lot were washed away the next day.  The weather was great, we enjoyed a nice meal, went up in the Jefferson Memorial and paid our respects to Tom, and just had a nice time reconnecting! 

On the way home, we stopped off at Ikea to get supplies for Astrid's speech (see below).  I snapped a sweet picture of the girls in front of a sign I thought was hilarious.

This last week in March was also a whirlwind of activity!  Prom was on Saturday, and it was foreign language week at school.  Astrid had been asked to give a presentation about Denmark to the school and asked me and Leah to come hear her.  She hadn't practiced beforehand and hadn't shown me her slideshow, so I had no idea what to expect.  She did an amazing job!  Leah decided she would stand up in front with Astrid, which I attempted to dissuade, but Astrid said she was fine and actually wanted her up there.  The kids learned a lot about Denmark and Astrid's slide and interactive quiz were big hits!  Afterwards, she had brought her favorite salty licorice candies for everyone to try and many of the kids bravely tried a piece.  We had a trash can handy as Astrid said "Every American I've given this to has spit it out, so don't worry if you can't finish it".  Many kids did spit it out, but a few bravely finished it.  One kid hilariously remarked "Congratulations, Denmark, you've taken something awful and made it even worse."  I was cracking up.

What Astrid thought America would be like before coming here

Mr. Durso, the head of the upper school, tries salty licorice

Friday was the foreign language potluck.  I spent the morning making traditional open faced sandwiches with salmon, shrimp, and cheese toppings.  The salmon in particular were a big hit!  I volunteered to help at the luncheon and there was so much food, we got to bring some home and I again didn't have to cook much for the weekend.  It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed seeing Astrid with her peeps.  I sat at a table with some of the other moms, and it turned out to be the charging table the senior class of 2015 donated to the school--Ine's name was on there.  It made me happy to see it and made me miss her and feel close to her all over again!  So sweet! :)

On Saturday was prom, and Astrid had borrowed a dress from a friend.  She did her own hair and make up and went over to her friend Hannah's house around 5:30 or so.  Everyone was gathering at 6:30 at Kenmore, a local historic site, for pictures, so Leah and I went over there to take pictures.  The kids looked absolutely amazing.  Seeing Astrid and Chris together was very sweet, and Chris's parents and I were angling for pictures like everyone else! :)  It was a great night and you just felt looking at the kids that anything was possible for their bright, beautiful futures. 

They just looked amazing, all of them.

Astrid and Chris looked like fashion models, in my opinion!!

Astrid of course also had plenty of time with young kids this month...

I got a desperate plea from a friend to help with babysitting in the nursery at her moms group.  I asked Astrid if she'd be interested in doing it, and she was, so she spent two hours one morning in the two year olds room at the Methodist Church.  She is wonderful with young children and even though we were hopelessly outnumbered 7-3, she did a good job entertaining the kids and keeping things moving smoothly with another babysitter. 

We also attended a dance at Leah's school somewhere around St. Patrick's Day, and our friend Toni was there with her baby, little 3 month old Addie.  Astrid hadn't had a chance to see her and hold her yet, but as soon as we arrived, Astrid scooped Addie up and that was the end of that! 

My nephew William also spent the night with us one weekend, and followed Astrid around like a lost puppy.  Getting them all ready for bed was hilarious.

William wasn't getting ready unless Astrid was getting ready, and Astrid and I usually watch our favorite TV program, Forensics Files, together after Leah goes to bed, so she had to pretend to get ready so we could get William to bed.

And finally, since Astrid was now home on Wednesday nights, the first thing she asked was "Is Bup coming over!?"  Bup far prefers Leah's company, but Leah would far rather that Bup was Astrid's problem, so it makes for an interesting dynamic.  This past week, I told Astrid to adopt Leah's tactics of totally ignoring Bup and sure enough, he was far more interested in Astrid when she pretended not to be interested in him.  New plan! :D

So that pretty much brings us up to date.  April has been quiet--we've had a few things going on that I will blog about, but mainly it's been soccer practice and getting ready for Spring Break. Our plans changed when Leah got a stomach flu, so we have modified our travel plans, as we were supposed to leave for New England today and then New York on Wednesday, but now we are leaving for New York Monday and will head to New England in June.    So stay tuned for that, as well as a report on Astrid being the "serving wench" at Leah's birthday party, etc!  Bye for now!