Streb Kiss the Air Show at the Armory: The kids' teachers perform

Streb's Kiss the Air show at the armory was an acrobatic feast for our eyes.

We sat in the front row, right where the acrobatics took a wet turn, splashing onto us, so they gave us raincoats. All the Freeman cousins came too!

The incredibly expressive Jackie (Boom's teacher for his Kid Action acrobatics class at Streb) in a duet, but really a solo given how you can't take your eyes off her her expressive dancer self. Click HERE to see the dance called "Blown Away" in action.

The German wheel was an incredible act of balance and  movement to watch. Click HERE to see it on video.

The Fountain - click HERE to see this signature Streb act. Just striking. All 3 of the kids' Streb teachers were in it.

A dramatic moment, with the camera focused on Uys ("Ace"), Alice and Grif's trapeze teacher. Showing their sweat and dramatic near-fear, or just heightened anticipation and breathe before jumping.

BOOM!

December 19, 2011

Alice's blog: Friends, Jewishness, and Cats

Alice's Hebrew school Family Shabbat. She is offering me challah bread.

Alice's dear friend Amelia, who surprised us on our return from Malaysia by moving in two doors down from us!

Climbing the rope tower in Prospect Park. These girls are clearly hard-core climbers.

Grammie's new kitty!

December, 2011


Alice's blog: We went to Grammy and Harvey's house and I went up into my room and looked at the kittens. We tried to catch the kittens. It was hard because they were so fast. But, when we caught one, they were soft. Since they are just kittens, they are really scared so we help calm them down. In this picture, I am sitting on the couch cuddling a kitten named Sadie.

Marie is born!

November, 2011

Oh my god! Marie is born, finally! Rebecca and Jay gave birth to their fourth,and, thank god, a girl! They didn't need more boy energy in that house. And, what a girl! She's just so snuggly, lovely, gorgeous, and perfect as a solid, growing girl. Becca and Jay have been blessed. And, they deserve it after a rough pregnancy with Becca breaking her ankle, leading to a very painful and rough time for all the family. Thank god she healed and is now getting around great, just in time to be VERY busy with many younguns trailing her, like a momma duck and her many ducklings...

Tuck Dinner with Mario and friends

Courtney and Matthew were magnanimous in their generosity, by bidding and winning a night with Mario Batali for them and their close friends, at Babbo. You can see what joy it gives Courtney to share this with all of us -- why I love her so! Mario surprised us all by not only inviting us first for drinks into his private wine cellar and for dinner in a cozy room just for us, but he also sat with us and chatted the entire night. He is not just a showman, but he's actually very knowledgeable about all the food he serves and more. He is on the right in the photo above.

The best prosciutto I have ever had. Wow. Mario's father makes the pork, prosciutto, and sausage himself, at his Seattle pork restaurant that has a line of diners out the door at lunchtime.

You can see Mario's passion for food. Why does Matthew always look so mischievous?

Mario's Dad's pork - delish!

Mario explaining his Dad's pork to us.

A toast from the Tucks. Click HERE for Matthew's touching and funny toast to friends - that's us!

Terry and Patty to the right of Matthew. Soooo lovely to reconnect with Patty and Terry.

Blissed-out Courtney and Mike

The boyz, who all, including Ken, ended up going out for more drinks in the village afterwards. Stamina! Thanks so much, Matthew and Courtney!!

December 5, 2011

Friday soccer

On Friday afternoons, all the kids played soccer in Prospect Park with Tani as their fearless leader, always ending in an adult versus kid game. The kids would swarm us adults like bees, confusing us slow, bouldering adults, then scoring.

December, 2011

Thanksgiving, 2011 Freeman Turn!

At the end of a short, very wet hike where they had to lay branches out to climb over stretches of flooded path, out to the Saugerties lighthouse. Griffin's jungle hiking instincts kicked in, as did Ken's. At least there were no leeches in Saugerties.

Oh, my birthday! Nanny and Papa made my birthday cake and dinner. Always makes the kids equally happy to celebrate my birthday as it does me, making my birthday feel so festive and me feel so loved.

Thanksgiving, a la Freemen. These turkeys were the creative product of Julia! We all somehow stuffed 21 of us into Mary and Harv's upstate place, with me tiptoeing over sleeping adolescent bodies when I took Shadow out for his morning run.

Lots of chats round the table after meals

The prince of the cousins - our oldest nephew, Avery - returned from his first semester at Michigan, thin from not having eaten enough and partied too much, going through hazing as a pledge at a fraternity. Gotta ask - is this hazing a necessary ritual? Avery insists yes. Ken probably agrees.

Family hike, to the tower

Paint job on Mary's mailbox, which has been repeatedly whacked by bored neighborhood teenagers who whizz by, drunk, in their cars and hit the mailbox with a bat

Much beloved Thanksgiving football. We also have a great annual soccer game too. Note here that Ken and Bruce get to relive their glory days on the football field, in a match pitting brother's kid football strategies versus brother's.

Bruce rallying his team, planning out a key maneuver. To see the hilarious maneuver, click HERE.

Harvey joins, as does Alice. Alice freaked out, crying some, when challenged by this new game. Her perfectionism makes it tough for her to learn a new activity by trial and error, involving many mistakes, especially public mistakes. Ken talked her through it, and typical of Alice, she left the boys in the dust (and for one, in tears) repeatedly, with her gazelle running.

November 24, 2011