A Tree Grows in Northborough

A few weeks ago, I mistakenly wrote that only one of our wedding pine trees is living. I had forgotten that one traveled all the way to England and is thriving in the garden of Julian's childhood home in Northborough. It is smaller than Fr. Ralph's tree as it lives in a pot rather than on a vast lawn. My smile, however, was just as big when I recognized the tree.


Thanks to my father-in-law Jim for caring for this tree, and for sharing his love of the garden with his grandchildren while they are here.

The English adventure begins!

Our summer adventure continues with a visit to England. Our trip started with a beautiful sunset viewed over Lake Erie.


We arrived with no problems other than a lack of sleep. We have enjoyed spending time with Grandma, Grandad, and Auntie Tracey.

We went to Ferry Meadows in Nene Park in Peterborough. We walked around the lake, played at the playground, rode the train, played softball tennis and football (soccer), and fed the geese.

























The geese were rather aggressive, coming up to us as soon as they spotted us. One even grabbed Charlotte's hand to get the bread from her. She was so startled and upset that she dropped the remaining bread (as captured in the photo below), and that ended our goose-feeding session.


We have already had many other fun outings, and will post about them later. Cheerio!

How does our garden grow?

I have always liked to fill my apartment with plants, so I was very upset when an infestation of flies caused me to throw away every plant but one. Our place seemed so empty for so long. Once we were rid of the flies, we decided to try again. This time we started from scratch, planting the seeds ourselves. We managed to kill some sprouts, and then tried again. I would like to share our progress with Charlotte and Alexander since they are not here to see the plants themselves.

Charlotte germinated a lima bean in science class, planted it, and then brought it home to be replanted. It was just barely starting to flower when we left for Cleveland. Now we have several bean pods!

Our tomato plants are growing taller.

Our marigolds have flowered.

I hope we can keep the flies away so that we can continue to let our garden flourish!

Scooting away our worries

We've been having a great time at Najm and Najp's in Cleveland. Najm took us to an art class every day last week. It was Safari Week and we made many fun and interesting projects. We went to the zoo and saw a dinosaur exhibit. We played at the park. We ran through the sprinkler.

Even so, we have sometimes missed Mummy and Daddy and wished they were here. Then Najm and Najp bought us scooters. Now we are having a great time scooting around the driveway and the neighborhood.

Mummy and Daddy who?

Partners in crime

Every now and then I can't resist looking through old photos. This was almost five years ago. They still have the same smiles!

Birthday boys

Before we left on our trip, we also celebrated Alexander's birthday a bit early. He loves Tom & Jerry and so I bought him a DVD that we found at Target. We even had time to watch it once before it was time to leave. It was very funny.













Since we will miss Daddy's birthday, we gave him a present as well. We miss you, Daddy, but maybe we'll find you another present before we come home.

Not quite 5

My birthday is coming soon, but I've already started celebrating. Since I'll be in England on the big day, people have been giving me presents when they see me. I already got to celebrate with my Keszepapa (keresztpapa = godfather).


He and my uncles got me everything I need to play my favorite game: T-ball. I now have my own bat, tee, mitt, and balls. Fortunately Najm and Najp have a field behind their house where I can practice. When I get home, I'll probably be bugging Mummy to take me to the park every day.

Happy 4th of July

We celebrated the Fourth of July by watching the Cleveland Indians play the Oakland A's. Since we normally follow the San Francisco Giants, and since the Indians gave us cool red, white, and blue baseball caps for free, and since Najp and Najm wanted the Indians to win, we all decided that we wanted the Indians to win. And they did!



The fireworks display was quite impressive. Well, the adults thought it was impressive. The children found it a bit overwhelming. Alexander and I left shortly after it started. He was less scared by the fireworks we could see off in the distance from the outer concourse, so we didn't miss out entirely.

Visiting Dédi

Dédi is our only living great-grandparent, so no visit to Cleveland is complete with spending time with Dédi. This time the weather was not too hot and not too cold, so we were able to sit out on her patio and run around for a while.




Usually when we are together, we play and Dédi watches. This time we found something that we can play together!

A Tree Grows in Lakewood

Those who attended our wedding in 1998 might remember that some pine tree saplings were passed out as favors. They were planted in pots and gardens around the country and tended by our friends and family (and ourselves) throughout the years. As far as we know, our marriage has outlived most of the pine trees.


This weekend we visited the only tree that we know is still living. In fact, it is still thriving.



Thanks to Fr. Ralph Wiatrowski (standing behind us in the photo). He planted the sapling in the church gardens, and it has grown to about twice my size. He has always had a green thumb. Some say he must nourish his plants with holy water. Whatever his secret, we thank him for taking care of our special tree!

A proud day

I recently celebrated my preschool graduation from the Marina Children's Center. I am slightly nervous about Kindergarten, but I sure was proud of finishing preschool!