Year 3: Return to Camp!

The A-Team returned to camp for yet another summer under the pine trees and in the lake.  Here they are on their first day waiting for the bus:

This year they were assigned to the Pueblo and Algonquin tribes.  Here are some of the early tribe photos:

Menotomy Knights

Adam is playing AA baseball this year for the Menotomy Knights.  You can catch him on the diamond twice a week (when it's not raining).

(back row, 3rd child in from the left)

Old City in Lego

We used 70,000 Lego bricks to build the Old City of Jerusalem one weekend.  What a wild time!

Family Photo

When we took Noah's 5 month photos in April, I also tried to take a family photo w/ MLD and the kids.  This wasn't easy to do.  Here are some of the outtakes:

Tate:  I'm not going to look at the camera.

Adam:  My turn... I'm not going to look at the camera.

Noah:  I give up.  Can't we just look at the camera???

And the winner is:

Cousins Photo

Many years ago, there was a "famous" family photo of me, my siblings, and my cousins.  We piled on to the stairs in my grandmother's home, all looked at the camera at the same time, and smiled.  Success!

MLG doesn't have the same type of stairs, but for one exciting moment, we got everyone together and smiled.  Even little Noah!

This photo includes not only our cousins, but our "extended" family as well.  MLG/MLP's friends from college, Mark and Marilyn, were visiting with their grandchildren.  Talk about a photo spanning generations!

Timing

It's all about the timing.  Trying to get both brothers to look at the camera at the same time is like trying to catch a cloud and pin it down. 

As close as we could get!

Eyes shut. Eyes open.

Straight ahead.  Looking left.

What's happening stage right???

Big and Lil Bro

Watching these two together is a joy.  It's happiness and contentment combined. 

Lazy Sunday

Every now and then we have a lazy Sunday...

Because MLM and MLD are exhausted.

Spring Kayaking

The weather was beautiful, so Ilya decided to take the boys for a kayak ride, or ki-YAK-ing, as Tate likes to call it.

First Food

Adam took on a very big responsibility:  he fed Noah his very first food.  Rice cereal.  After months of waiting, Noah didn't seem terribly thrilled.  I think he's waiting for the chocolate formulac that Grandma keeps promising to deliver.

4 Couch 'Taters

Count 'em closely.  You'll see there are four couch potatoes and one au pair!

Two Month Rewind

The last two months have been busy around our home!  There was the Daddy Daughter Dance, the start of baseball season, a celebration or two of exciting cars and our usual hijinx.  We've been so busy running around that there wasn't much time to post to our family blog.

Just ten days ago something very sad and unexpected happened:  little Noah fought, and then conceded, a brief but courageous battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

For the next series of posts, we're going to rewind the clock and share the past two months with you just as they occurred, including all of the fun moments we're had with Noah.

Smile at Noah, because he's smiling at all of us in these photos.

Mommy, I am not going to smile in this photo.  These glasses are just silly!

Guest Videographer

Today dear reader, you have a job:  can you guess who today's videographer was?  Watch the videos and then guess!

Patriot Spirit

The A-Team models their Patriot team spirit!

Twin Team

Every now and then these two collaborate in a very endearing way:

Mail Delivery

Adam and Tate set off to deliver some thank you notes to our neighbors.  What handsome boys they are -- and do you see Adam's fantastic new haircut?

"Honiku" by Adam

Some samples of Adam's writing were sent home last week.  Not only does this show his writing skills, but it also highlights his artistic skills (note the drawings at the top of each page) and what he learns on Sundays.  Watching your kid put all of the pieces together is just priceless.  It's hard for even the adults to spell some of the Hebrew words. Best thing to do is to read each image closely and then check the spellings in the captions below.

Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday.  The first Hanukkah was about 2,000 years ago.  Hanukkah lasts 8 nights.

Title:  "The Game 'Dratl' [dreidel]"
A dreidel is a spinning top tha has 4 sides. Each side has a Hebrew letter on it.  The letters are Nun, Gimmel, Hay and Shin.  They stand for this: 'A great miracle happened there."  It happened in Israel.
[MLM's note: Adam added the correct Hebrew letter written in block form next to each written out letter sound.  Thats my kid!]

Title:  "What you need"
You need candles, dreidels, gelt, matches and do not forget the menorah!  One menorah can hold 9 candles.  And gelt is chocolate coins.  The wrapping is gold or silver or bronze.

Title:  "The Hanukkah Story"
Hanukkah  started by war.  Many people died.  But before the war, all Jewish people had to bow down to Greek idols.  If they did not they were killed.  After the war their synagogue was full of garbage.

But the Jewish people rebuily the synagogue and when it came time to light the lamp they only found a jar of pure oil only enough for ...

... one night but it lasted 8 nights!  That is why Hanukkah started.

Future IOU?

Someone should tell Adam not to put promises of household chores in writing because one day when he's a teen and wants to go out with his friends, we'll show this to him.  And hand him a rake:

There's good news for Adam though. Noah will probably be over the "hold me now" phase by then.

From Adam's Desk

This kid shows some serious talent when you give him pens, paper and time: