Belated update 2: Edith's outings

Among the family happenings in May and June were several fun occasions that we didn't want to let slip through the cyber-cracks.

In May Edith's class went on a field trip to a lovely nearby wildflower preserve that in 7 years in the area we'd never heard of, and I was able to chaperone.

As far as the kids were concerned, the bus trip was the best part. Edith, Kyra, and Torrey were very excited to be in a group together. Edith kept asking when we were going to be in Pennsylvania, and I kept telling her, when we crossed the river.

"The Nile River?"

"No, the Delaware River."

"Can we cross the Nile River?"

"No, it's in Africa--very far from here. We'd need to take a long plane flight to get there."

Kyra: "Yeah, my mom is expecting me today for dance class, so we probably shouldn't do that."

Following the guide on a nature walk (Edith at far right)

Frogs were the kids' second-favorite part

The last weekend in May, we enjoyed a day at Princeton reunions, replete with food; magician; P-rade, in which we marched under the graduate school banner; and fireworks, which Edith and I attended together as a mommy-daughter date. (For my money, our biggest coup was Edith's dictating a moment of departure that allowed us to enjoy almost the entire show yet still be the first ones out of the impromptu parking lot that promised to be a morass of crawling cars within minutes of the final explosion.)

Edith checks out...

...a member of the American intellectual elite

Edith got into the raucous spirit of reunions by the end, though Alice, a reunions novice, remained somewhat more cautious. Actually, both girls did wonderfully being outside in the sun amid the crowds for the whole day...including attendance at what was a four-hour parade of people celebrating themselves in all their orangeness. (The only reason we stay until the end each year is the chance to visit with an old family friend, who has a regular gig as the announcer at the reviewing stand and thus is free to say hello when the last senior has paraded by.)

Finally, guess who was back in town for his parents' graduation ceremonies? Reunited at last: Edie and Harry! Both a little taller, a little deeper voiced...but essentially the same friends who parted ways when the moving vans rolled out last summer. They enjoyed an all-too-brief rendezvous at the Whole Foods gelato counter, promising to get together again soon.