August at the Art cafe

It was a little sad and weird coming back this fall since so many of our friends from last year have left. Or had they?

It turned out Giacomo and his family were back in town to pack up for their next assignment in Kuwait. We had a great week or so hanging out with them-- and a beUtiful goodbye party on a felucca.


I hope to have more pics of that soon- at one point all the kids climbed up and sat on the canvas roof of the boat and it was quite something--

Then we did a week of art camp at the art cafe. Thomas made some amazing things.


Here he and Emmett show off their art skills at home.




Mulu is back on the scene. If she is a little overwhelmed by this household with a perennially missing father and totally disorganized mother, she has only barely let it show. It turns out she is also a crack shot with a bow and arrow. I don't think we have photos of that, sadly, but here are Diana and Juan taking aim at our new backyard target.


So we do still have some old friends about!

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NYC and then Cairo, year 2

We had such an extraordinary visit to NYC, it was difficult to come back to dusty old Cairo. First, we checked in with those badass Michel girls in Riverdale. No wonder the boys always want to stay with them! What lovelies.







Sadie was her usual charming hostessing self, even though she had mono. That's only fair, because we exposed her to lice last time we were there.



While Sadie and Clare looked after the boys, I got to hit a Fountains of Wayne concert at City Winery! It was rockin'. Their new album is just hitting the airwaves, and I bet I don't need to tell you to snap it up pronto! Especially if you are in that slamming over-40 demographic.



Here they are in action.





Then we stayed chez godmother Julie looking out over the reservoir on 5th avenue. It was like we were back in the country, but with a doorman! You can't take the 718 out of us though- we quickly made our way over to Ocean Parkway to hang with those adorable Erika Lea twins.











They even found a park that had a dragon water feature! Too bad some of us were feeling a little too grumpy to enjoy it-



Then came the main event: a visit to Times Square!





Here we are saluting the corporate flagship. Thanks for all the groovy furniture, that vacay in Dubai, and the plane tix home guys!



But actually, no, the real main event was meeting cousins Ben, Emily and new cousin Shannon in Times Square!!!! For lunch and then Lion King. Here Ben schools Emmett in some family traditions:







Here's the whole gang. Needless to say, we totally approve of beautiful Shannon, and can't wait to offer our ring-bearing services wherever they might be needed.





And then Ben bravely took Thomas solo for some big-boy bonding amidst giant puppets. Thanks fairy godmother Mim for arranging everything, including a tour backstage with Simba himself!!!!





The next day, Uncle Arthur arrived to help us make our airplane home. Thanks to him, the trip to the airport was smooth sailing.







Bye NYC family!!! I really feel like we got to see the best the city had to offer in our short stay!



After all this, it was truly a bit of a letdown to fly home to Cairo with a bunch of smelly Egyptian strangers. And I think we would have felt this way even if the plane hadn't been delayed for 5 hours.



But now we are back and settling in. Ex-pats are slowly straggling back from their summer holidays and everyone is grumpy. You can't help it if you arrive in Cairo in the August heat during Ramadan. No one quite knows what to expect-- more demonstrations? fraudulent elections? War with Israel?



Kath is right-- the first few days in a place you notice things that kind of gloss over later. I'm sure I'd seen this sign at the check-out stations at the Carrefour market before, but, maybe I was jet-lagged, who knows, I found it truly infuriating this time around:






It says, "priority for ladies and disabled."

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More Maine

Here is Thomas starring in the play at camp. The story involves 8 bunnies, and some dragons.

I know, he is great isn't he?

Moments later, one of the bunnies took her cue too early, obviating Thomas' last line. The counselor/ narrator tried to prompt him to say it anyway, but Thomas said quietly that the line no longer made sense. Then, as the situation sank in, he turned and pointed at the little bunny, shouting "SKIPPER!" and "SHE's the one, she skipped my line!" I think he expected the rest of us to join in and begin hurling tomatoes and old shoes at her.

i'm not sure exactly what happened next because I was hiding my face in Mim's shoulder, but cooler heads prevailed.

Yes, that's right, Auntie Mim came all the way to Maine. She fit right in:

And Mim was not the only extremely special guest last weekend. We had all the Creston Leas! Thomas and Cora Jane got on like a house on fire. I think it was her deep Lea voice that captivated him.

I got the chance to hold little Arthur!

It was heaven. In fact, this is exactly what I always used to wish for: me, big and in-charge, and Arthur, tiny and helpless.

Then the Erica Leas came by! Those twins are gorgeous. We are hoping to see them again in NYC.

And now it is nearly time to pack up and say goodbye to our wonderful summer idyll. We are sure going to miss being here!

See you soon Cairo!

Vermont snuggling

We had a fantastic two-week visit to Vermont.

We met Wilbur, super hound. He sure is cute. We weren't quite ready to snuggle with him and his sharp puppy fangs yet, but the thought of future snuggles made us, or Emmett anyway, literally dance with glee.







(that's him under e's chair).

Thomas and Grandma Susan shared a cuddly, if soggy, time on the super slide at bromley thrill zone.












Sadly, their awesome ride was too quick for this papparazo.

Thomas and Emmett got comfy with Holly the pony.













Nobody actually caressed the nearly biblical host of polliwogs in the pond, but we could have, if it came to that.







Thomas went to mini-adventure camp. He sure liked it better than farm camp, though he objected to the idea that his adventures were minuscule. Emmett hung out some with sweet sitter Isabel, for what we liked to call "Isabel adventure camp.". Here they enjoy some reading adventures together-







Here he is suited up for a trip with Isabel to hapgood.






Thomas palled around with cousin Marina. Woe to any little red-headed creeps at camp who tried to bother her when T was around.






But of course, the most magnificent snuggling was with Grandpa Peter, learning about pheasant-poaching as we nestled down for the night.













We miss all you cuddly folk!

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