Stay tuned for pictures from Mika’s first sleepover party. She has had countless individual sleepovers, but never a bunch of friends over for an actual slumber party…

Time flies: our big girl turned seven today (!)

Thanks to the kids waking up 1.5 hours early, we had a relaxed celebration well before all of us had to go to school/work. Mika finally got her long anticipated, own 20-inch bike after riding a 16-inch loaner from a neighbor boy for almost two years. Omi Hilde generously added a new helmet, and Mika took both for a test ride to- and from school. Opa Addi and Omi Hiltraud wrote a most amazing children’s book (on the number 7), just for Mika, which i have to feature separately. Grandparents Chang outfitted her with a wetsuit to withstand the low water temperatures at her beloved swim class this Winter. I left the office in the early afternoon to celebrate with her class (rainbow cupcakes baked overnight), then we made our way down to Tobin’s school for pickup time. At the end of the day, she insisted on finishing the first of the three Clementine books Uncle Joe and Auntie Grace had given her – with her new reading light. This will come in handy when both kids have the same bedtime, but Mika is allowed to stay up a bit longer, reading in her bed.

Thank you everybody for making her day extra special!

Lieber Papi/Opa Addi,

Wir wünschen Dir alles Liebe und Gute zu Deinem Geburtstag und hoffen, dass der sonnig-milde Tag den Start in ein ebensolches Jahr bedeutet. Bis gleich am Telefon!
@ @ @ @ @

Mi, Ni, To, und Su

The grandparents stayed for three days, and only Wednesday had been rainy. Thursday and Friday were sunny and rather mild again, and the kids had fun outdoors at the Aquarium/Coney Island Beach and at Pier 6.

This year we hosted our second ever, family-centric Thanksgiving – and the visiting grandparents from Baltimore had their first Thanksgiving away from home since they came to the U.S. (!)  As a result, we had twice the amount of food in our house: a full spread of Korean, home cooked favorites – which we started feasting on since Wednesday – followed by a full Thanksgiving menu on Thursday. For logistical reasons, we got a fully roasted bird (no room in the fridge to properly prep a turkey), but took no short cuts regardless. Here is a list of the bounty:

Korean: spicy chicken wings, Asian sweet potato fritters, two styles of mandoo, jap chae (with veggies, crab, and beef), bulgogi beef with broccoli, kim bop (regular- and child sized), two kinds of kimchi, radish pickles, five kinds of rice cake desserts (even home made mochi!)

American: Turkey and gravy, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, candied/brandied yams, french bean salad with vinaigrette, raw Tuscan kale salad, stuffing with chestnuts and sausage, maple roasted Brussels sprouts (and their loose leaves as crispy appetizer chips, pictured), cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and sour cream apple pie with cinnamon crumbs … served à la mode and with whipped cream.

We’re so thankful for our family, near and far. It was a treat to spend these three days together (more pictures to come). Happy Thanksgiving!

Our second grader, in front of the custom background she picked this year. Followed by last year’s first grade school pictures, which i had never posted. If you want to see how much she’s grown, here’s a link to her first public school picture day in 2009.

Sunday morning was our first visit to the recently opened 9/11 memorial. Tobin for the most part didn’t understand the solemn nature of a memorial, but calmed down and showed genuine interest in the fragments of original steel beams and the construction site of the new Freedom Tower. Mika showed more insight as she had heard about 9/11 many times not just from us, but also at school.

Unfortunately, i forgot to put a memory card in my camera and had to take all pictures with my iPhone. The bright morning light blew out every detail of the Memorial Pool shots, but it is safe to say that it will be a much more profound atmosphere at night anyway. We will have to go back another time – without the kids – to see the water and names lit up, and to have some peace and quiet for our thoughts.

Tonight, we met up with hundreds of (half) Germans in Prospect Park for the annual St. Martin lantern parade/walk. Some of our big kid allies from 2010 and 2009 were missing today, but we joined forces with Team Bruno. After the event, we had dinner together and the kids did a great job entertaining each other. We only played the iPhone card well after their regular bedtime, but it made for an extra cuddly photo opp ;-)

In other news: Mika has finally broken a mental barrier and started swimming without flotation devices. So far, she only does it with flippers, but she is so strong that it won’t take long for her to ditch those as well. Her great-grandmother, Omi Hilde, will be so proud!

We finally made it to one of the ambitiously timed “Little Member Mornings” at MoMA – which meant we actually showed up at the museum at 8:00am on a Saturday morning (!)  The kids enjoyed breakfast bites and took worksheets to explore the de Kooning Retrospective in great detail. We also got a preview of the upcoming Diego Rivera exhibit. No pictures allowed, except for some … uh … accidental glimpses that my iPhone captured.

Last time, Tobin tried to draw the Empire State Building like Mika. This time, he drew from memory and focused on function more than form: most importantly, the building’s antenna touches the sky (skyscraper!). Then, he added a super-sized observation deck with lots of visitors and the door through which they have entered. For scale, there are two cars driving in the street below. As you can see, the one time (real life) visit with Halmoni, Harabogi, and Uncle Joe left a deep impression!

We took the kids to an afternoon at Big Apple Circus. It was Mika’s fourth visit and Tobin’s second, and they loved everything about it – the cotton candy, the atmosphere, the acrobats, the animals, the clowns. This year was “grandma’s” farewell tour, and Mika got to say hi and goodbye to the beloved clown. But the most impressive act of all? 10-year old Ysabella, who is one of the world’s youngest professional flying trapeze artists and makes up the 5th generation of “The Flying Cortes”.