4th of July!

Hello Everyone,
I'm sorry about the absence of homemade photos, but we don't have the Camera plug with us in Neskowin, in about a week and a half, we will start posting them again. In a week from today we are going to Ashland to take our annual trip. We are seeing two plays- The Diary of Anne Frank and A Winter's Tale. We are very excited. My mum, Taylor, Zia, and I are in Neskowin, and our Dad is arriving tonight. Amazingly, I still haven't learned how to ride a bike, but, once my Dad gets here, I am going to learn. Yesterday, I went swimming in a creek on the beach that connects to the ocean with my Friend Katie (shown in the "Nerd" picture). It was COLD. It was in the low sixties outside and the water was much colder, but, despite the cold, we still had a good time. We have been watching the World Cup and tomorrow, close family friends are coming to watch a game with us, later on that evening we are having our annual beach fire with them. On Tuesday (Fourth of July) there will be a parade, sandcastle building competition, and fire works show. I would love to know what everyone else is doing to celebrate. Anyways, talk to you soon. Love you all so much!
Kelsey

You Can't Stop the Beat!

Well, we saw Hairspray and it was AWESOME! It is now one of my favorite musicals. I hope everyone gets to see it eventually (Perhaps in the form of one of me and Taylor's performances). Last night, our family went for a picnic at Lewis and Clark College, which has a gorgeous campus. We took Zia, and while there she was attacked by three big dogs off-leash. The owners were able to restrain their dogs before anything happened, but it was extremely scary. Last night (after the picnic) Taylor and I watched Syriana, a film about many things, including the corruption of the oil business and terrorism (both of our parents fell asleep in the first five minutes, though not because the film was boring). It was very warm today, and even Zia was panting (doesn't happen very often) we might try to escape from the heat tomorrow by going swimming. Anyways, I love you all a ton!
Love,
Kelsey

It's been so long, I don't know what to say...

(One of my best friends dressed up for her school's Nerd Day)

Hello everyone!
Sorry I haven't posted for a long time, I've had lazy summer syndrom. Not much going on in P-town, been getting kind of boring. This weekend, we are seeing Hair Spray, as T already mentioned. On Saturday it is supposed to be 90 degrees, and then creeping up to an astounding 100 degrees on Sunday, CRAZY! It's probably about ten times hotter in Texas, but we're whimps... Luckily on Monday, my sister, my mom, and I will be heading down to the cooler coast, which will be nice; I'm sick of being in P-town!!! I'm so sorry about your house Grammy and Poppy and I hope things will turn out alright in the end. Thank you all for the Birthday greetings as well as the gifts- Angi, I got your present and it's out on the coast. My mum got back from Iowa yesterday (Thursday) and had a great time and loved seeing people that she hadn't seen for at least eighteen years! About two weeks ago, I got out of school and about three weeks ago I had my eighth grade graduation (one year early). Anyways, I love you and miss you all so much and CANNOT WAIT to see you this summer, we're going to have so much fun!
Sending lots of love, hugs, kisses, etc.,
Kelsey

P.S. Did I mention that I love you?

The Other Side of Summer

Hello,
Sorry not to have posted in so long.
Grammy and Poppy: I am so sorry about your house. I hope that everything turns out all right.

Yesterday I went to the Young Scholars 2006 Orientation and did a talk for about half an hour. It was fun. I don't know if I said, but a good friend of Kelsey and I got a grant, so I got to see her.
This weekend we're seeing Hairspray, the smash-hit-Best-Musical-Tony winning show. We're very excited.
I love and miss every one of you and will see you soon (though not soon enough).
Love,
Taylor

The New Fluffy

Fluffy was being set free by Andi. I actually remember the day I bought it for her birthday & she was thrilled. You couldn't see Fluffy's eyes for all the long hair hanging from his face & body. Well, Andi has outgrown Fluffy. I brought Fluffy to Dallas for adoption into our family for Danijela. I washed Fluffy today. Don't think that was the problem. Drying was the problem. All Fluffy's long hair is now tightly wound around Fluffy. Kelsey & Taylor could probably tell me what breed Fluffy looks like now ...

Happy Birthday Mike

Hope you're lookin better now. Happy Birthday. Love you, M

Uncle Mike

Happy birthday, Uncle Mike! You are old. I went swimming today. Mama must have taken my cute seahorse swimsuit & swim diaper thing off when I was sleeping! How weird is that? I never fall asleep by myself. Anyway, I think I had fun today. I don't remember a whole lot. Hope you had fun on your birthday too. Kiss. Kiss. -- Danijela

Celebrate....

Sorry I haven't posted. So many events since we last spoke. First of all, I pulled off another great birthday party for Andi. Of course her expectations are always so high so I really have to produce. This year we did a tea party and I found the prettiest tea cups which we used in the party and the children took with them. However, probably almost as high on Andi's list of birthday fun was going to Krispy Kreme on her actual birthday. It has to be a big event for us to give in on Krispy Kreme. I took her and Sam and they both got a chocolate covered donut with custard on the inside. Of course, Sam has to do whatever Andi does so he ate his donut the exact same way she did. Starting at the bottom pinching piece by piece off, eating the cream out and ending with a donut bowl that was the skin of the top covered with chocolate. All of this with fingers. Sam was kind of upset that his bowl wasn't as good as Andi's. He didn't understand that you have to only eat the middle out to achieve this effect. He had eaten too much of the sides. He got over it pretty quick though when the sugar high took over.

Next came Andi's kindergarten graduation. It was a very sweet celebration. We have watched it for 2 years and this was our year to watch Andi cross the bridge. Family and younger kindergartners look on as one by one the kids who are going to 1st grade cross the bridge. It is very quiet during the celebration and many grownups are teary eyed. In Waldorf the passing from Kindergarten to 1st grade signifies a real transition from being a kindergartner full of imagination to a child going on to real school work. Andi was very excited.

Andi, Sam, Milla, and I just returned from a night of camping. We swam in the river all day yesterday and came back exhausted. Good fun.

Love you guys! Love Auntie M

P.S. Kelsey, happy birthday. XXXXXOOOO Give us the highlights of your special day. Did you get to go to Krispy Kreme?

Mubarak

Hello everyone,
The blog has not been very busy so I hope you are all still alive.
Well, last night we went to a great Lebanese restaurant downtown, to celebrate Dad's birthday, Kelsey's graduation and the end of my Monty Python class. The food was wonderful, and so was the atmosphere. There was a Middle Eastern dancer, Claudia, who danced. We chatted afterwards, since she had gotten me up to dance and saw that I knew what I was doing. She was very nice and I may start taking classes from her next fall (that's her in the picture).
Kelsey had a graduation ceremony at school, and then afterwards the 8th grade graduates, family and teachers ate pizza and dessert in the commons. All of Kelsey's teachers had high praise for her.
My Monty Python performance went smashingly, at least for me. I had a lot of fun and I think everyone else did, too. I played Mr. Mousebender in the Cheese Shop sketch, and the Sergeant in the Self-defence Against Fresh Fruit sketch (coincidentally, both characters were originally played by John Cleese. Not that it's all the same to you, that is).
Love you all.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
T