Chase-Salerno Family Events

So many festivals this time of year, along with seasonal home maintenance like putting up the mums and taking down the pool.

Pile-up on Mo with buddy Daniel at Plattekill Day.

D gets some air on the bouncy slide at the festival.

Quinn helps with prep during “apple-palooza,” processing through our 200 pounds of juicy Cortlands.

Karsten watches as D practices speed-stacking.

Draining the pool.

I led a workshop this weekend for our district called “Sanctuary: Yoga As Spiritual Practice.” Pictured here with friends/colleagues: Fran, who led the second part of the session, Life Journaling, and Mandy, a pastor who helped to coordinate the day’s events.

E in downward-facing dog position.

We’re feeling so lucky to have such terrific weather lately! Here are some things we’ve been up to this week…

Last practice we had our first soccer picture day – here’s D striking the pose.

Game-time at Gemma and Papa’s house with the new puzzles they gave us.

We were thrilled to have a little visit with cousin Anna and her daughter Elizabeth (1.5 yrs.) on their way up to NH this week.

We had a great time meeting up at Rosendale Playground for dinner and playtime with our buddies, Norah…

…Luca, and…

Olin (here sharing a chuckle about a funny card Olin gave to D).

D’s excited to be steady and old enough to ride his 2-wheeled scooter Grandma gave to him last year.

Free spirit!

Lots of beginnings this week! Quinn started her five-week “Growing Together” program at a local farm, and D started new sessions of soccer and gymnastics. I dusted off and played some viola with some friends after about 5 years of my instrument waiting quietly in the corner, and Mike started another season of Sporter Rifle. Finally, we all went apple-picking at the farm where we leased our own tree for the first time this year! We picked 100 lbs. this weekend and barely made a dent – we’ll be heading back soon for more! Certified Naturally Grown Apples from Liberty View Farm, they’re amazing! libertyviewfarm.biz

Quinn gets a bugs-eye view of a ladybug at Phillies Bridge Farm.

Declan and friends show us their bug-mobiles after a workshop with Fairy Una.

Apparently, I left my car keys on the roof of my car while cleaning it out last week, forgot I put them there and couldn’t find them later to drive a friend home, so I used the spare, then never found the other set, vaguely remembering I may have left them on the roof but they were gone at that point and I had no idea where to look for them.

The other day, I found a couple of mangled keys by our mailbox that my neighbor had picked up, probably a battle between them and a lawn mower and/or run over by some cars. Seems I lost them when I pulled out of my driveway and turned left, had enough momentum to shoot them off of the roof. Needless to say, the electronic key fob is history, including the chip I need to use that key (key was intact even though the fob was not). As I searched through our neighbors’ lawns for the additional missing keys on that keychain, one of them loaned us his metal detector! It was great, because it transformed a tedious chore of making our way across the lawns sifting through the grass with our hands, into a treasure-hunting adventure!

Going “apple-picking!” (We couldn’t stop eating them!)

There’s always a last to know…
Our April chicks have apparently grown into mature hens, at least some of them, because one day last week Mike happened across this cache of eggs (pic below)! Just like last year, a whole bunch of them all together, but now an egg appears in that location only occasionally, so we’re on the hunt for their new secret spot. It’s a little frustrating that they don’t lay in the coop, but we’re the ones opting for the free-range life, so I suppose we bring it on ourselves.

Here’s a shot of Quinny (Declan and buddy Cianan somewhere in the background) on a woodland adventure hunting for those elusive chicken eggs!

Another highlight of last week was visiting the Bronx Zoo! It’s free on Wednesdays, and the kids and I met up with some fellow homeschoolers. We had such a great time. The chickens (???), the tigers, and the bear were a real hit with Declan and Quinn. We had a hard time leaving the Children’s Zoo area because they wanted to keep feeding the chickens.

My best friend Linda-Brook and her family moved to their new home this month, close to their former rental and about the same distance from us as before. I’ve taken her kids for a few playdates to help alleviate the load during the moving process, which uses my favorite feature I LOVE about my car (Mazda 5) – its 2 extra seats in the back!
Here’s a picture of Declan and Olin in his new yard, complete with pear trees!

I took everyone to Chuck E. Cheese (an arcade/amusement center) for the evening which was loads of fun. Quinn and Emily giggled a long time about these lollipops they won after redeeming their game tickets.

YES WE CAN! : ) I learned how to can for the first time this week, hosting a group of friends who brought tomatoes, equipment, and know-how, and it was a good experience. I canned the leftover tomatoes myself over the weekend, and Declan really enjoyed helping out!

There were lots of gros bisous (“Big Kisses,” an informal closing to French letters and e-mails) among us as we said good-bye to our French friends/more like family this past week. Our remarkable three weeks of visiting, sharing, and playing, culminated in a wonderful vacation to Cape May at Gemma and Papa’s cottage.

Mathias, age 7, lost a tooth while he was here, and we learned all about the rituals surrounding the tooth “mouse” (no tooth fairy in France) who appreciated the treats Mathias left (2 M&M’s and a thank you note), retrieved said tooth during the night, and left the lucky little guy a whopping $5 Euros!

Of the children, Diane, age 3.5 yrs., seemed to use foreign languages most easily. She would stick an English “Thank you,” or “Please” expression in a conversation at just the right time. She and her brother were also pretty patient with their godmother when I stumbled on phrases like “Play-Doh” or other things I couldn’t remember/didn’t know the French words for. Mathias seemed to understand a lot of English conversation, beyond what he is currently able to say, which is such a powerful language building-block.

Declan had fun peppering his evening conversations with “Bonne nuit” (goodnight) and practicing questions for Mathias, like “Want to play superheroes with me?” and “Did you learn any more English words, yet?” with an incredible accent. He seemed to both enjoy and get frustrated (since he couldn’t understand) hearing me speak French, something he doesn’t usually witness except during tutoring sessions.

Quinn was an equal-opportunity language learner, echoing loudly the ends of anything anyone else said loudly. So if Diane shouted “Maman!!!!!” for something, Quinny did the same thing. There were a number of occasions when Nat and I both responded to the beckoning call, not sure which girl was looking for her mom.

Kisses for Papa during the brunch Olga and Sal hosted for Nat’s family.

Declan had a blast after giving boogie-boarding another try.

Everyone loves the Italian ice at Rita’s.

Our first time climbing to the top of the Cape May Lighthouse. These two goofs counted every one of the 199 steps!

The kids worked so hard trying to make a lake in their sand castle.

All of the kids flying kites!

Snuggling and gros bisous from Nat.

We are thrilled to host long-time friends Nathalie, Philippe, and their children Mathias (7 yrs.) and Diane (3.5 yrs.) for a three-week trip. I’ve known Nathalie for 21 years, since our time together at Emma Willard when she was an exchange student, and we’ve stayed in touch ever since, including attending each other’s weddings, and I’m the godmother to her beautiful children. The family lives in Marseille, France (near Nice, in the south), and it’s the children’s first visit to the US.

After spending a few days in New York City, they are here in New Paltz taking in the sights and enjoying elements of American life. The children are each learning a bit of the other’s language, and they have fun playing together.

We’re so glad they’re here!!

A mini-reunion I hosted for fellow Emma Willard classmates to see Nat. From L to R: Nat, Erica, Sarah, Lisa. I’ve known Lisa for 32 years since we attended elementary school together. Unbelievable!

Cheering on the local Hudson Valley Renegades, the Frenchies’ (as Mike calls them) first baseball game. After a long tie of 7-7 and extra innings, the Renegades won!

Declan and Mathias play super-hero at Central Park in New York City.

Quinn and Diane “hanging around” at the Metropolitan Museum.

Group shot of the kids in Central Park.

Declan turns 5 this Tuesday, and we had a carnival-themed birthday party for him this weekend, including classic games like balloon darts, knock down cans, and floating rubber ducks, as well as some temporary Spiderman and assorted Nick Jr. character tattoos. His favorite part was the candy/toy-filled pinata! Quinny’s favorite part was holding on to Papa the entire time!

Afterwards, we headed over to the Ulster County fair for more games, fair food, and animals – D even got to milk a cow!

D gets ready for cake as friends Abby, Karsten and a popcorn-costumed mommy look on.

Q plays with Aunt Tracey.

Pinata fun!

Q keeps Papa’s focus on her!

D beats Dad in the squirt race at the fair.

D milks his first cow!

We had a blast this week with our cousins Kai, Alex, and Elizabeth. With families scattered across the country, we feel so fortunate to have such a special place to come together every summer in Whitefield.

Playing “Red Light, Green Light” on the Homestead Lawn

Collecting snails and mussels at Forest Lake

Playground fun in Littleton

Raspberry picking/eating out back

Playing hide and seek at the Homestead

I can’t get enough of my awesome niece!!

Feel the love!

We have bunnies! After Declan told us he really wanted a bunny, we found two free bunnies with hutches off of Craig’s List and picked them up this week. Declan named the male “Monster Truck” and the female “Hopper” whom I keep calling Bun-Bun for some inexplicable reason.

Genius Renaissance Man Mike renovated the large hutch with a screened in wall so the two bunnies can be close together, but not, you know, that close. We are learning a ton about rabbits, including the fact that they are very hard to catch. We let them loose in our fenced in area while Mike worked on the coop, and well, you know that phrase “quick like a bunny?” Um, it’s taken on a whole new meaning for us.

We’ve looked into spaying/neutering them but haven’t moved on it yet. When the two were out and about hopping around, they sniffed noses a couple of times, but nothing more than that. Then, faster than you can say “Don’t you want to get to know each other first?” Monster Truck was on top of Hopper doing, well, what bunnies do. We’ve never seen anyone move so fast in our lives! So we separated them, they hopped in opposite directions, and then they went at it again, unreal!

We finally caught Monster Truck and put him back in his hutch while Mike finished up the hutch make-over. We then got to enjoy Hopper interact with the chickens (the chickens kept circling her, utterly captivated, like, what. is. that.?!) and Easy came outside to have a look.

Easy, our mellow 12-year old greyhound who doesn’t react to cats, squirrels, chipmunks, chickens, crazy toddlers, and anything else he’s been exposed to here over the years, well, Mr. Perfect apparently has got something in him for rabbits. We’re not sure what, since we haven’t let him explore it too fully, but he had a couple of sniffs of the rabbit and then kind of lunged toward her. Maybe she’s bringing back memories for him of chasing the decoy at the racetrack years ago? Anyway, we had to keep him out of the action while she was hopping around checking things out.

While the bunnies are in the hutch, he sniffs around like he would any tree or bush but doesn’t seems especially fascinated or anything. Just when they’re out loose. Later on, we tried a harness/leash with Hopper but she slipped right out of it, so we’re still figuring out how to give her some free-range time but still catch-able afterwards.

Declan, so excited about his rabbit, Monster Truck.

Quinny looks on as buddy Livi tempts Hopper with a bunny favorite.

Checking out her bunny’s new digs.

We attended a local minor-leagues Renegades baseball game this week with buddy Olin and had loads of fun. Our team lost (5-3) but no one could put a damper on these fans’ faces!

We’re loving summer!

Superheroes Declan and Olin fly for justice!

Quinny loves pooltime!