Weekend Update

I've been toooo busy to post. Sorry. Here's a quick update:

Friday night we took the kids to see Suzanne Vega and Mark Cohn at the Zoo. Marc Cohn was better than I expected - very bluesy. The music was great, but the kids weren't as thrilled to be there as we were. They did like "The Soldier and the Queen" song by Suzanne Vega, they sing that one at home sometimes. Otherwise the kids seemed kind of bored, though much better than at the Blues Festival a couple of weeks ago. It helped that we had a big picnic dinner, and Andrew brought his book. Mali got lost on the way back from the bathroom when she ran ahead of me and then stopped at a kiosk to shop. I returned to our blanket to accusations of losing my daughter. Smartly, she had the presence to troop to security and ask if they'd seen me (a guy in a yellow shirt), which was where I was headed.

Saturday morning was their first swim meet of the year. They did great, and are both determined to practice hard this week for the next one. I've found my calling: In the bullpen, calling out the kids for each heat.

Saturday night we had a BIG barbecue with all the neighbors. Pablo made his chimichurri, which was delicious as always with italian sausage and tomatoes on baguette. I made burgers for the kids. Gayle made an incredible dessert - a huge flan with all fresh picked fruit. Delicious and beautiful! Pablo also made his spinach dip, by special request from Mali. The girls (Mali, Zoe, Hannah, Kelsey) grabbed a bunch of the dip to eat in their playhouse hideout (no boys allowed!), and there was a lot of running and racing around by all the kids.

This morning Susy had to go to work, but wasn't in a big hurry to get there, so instead we all went to see the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie. We all loved it! I was pleasantly surprised, since the first one with Gene Wilder is one of my all time favorites. It was a marvelous new adaption of the book, with many different scenes and a nice updated feel to it.