Romi's First Day of School

Romi's First Day of School

Monday was the big day: Romi's first day of school. It was hard on all three of us. I'm still not convinced that my little guy needs socialization just yet, but he does love hanging out with other kids, so we're going to give it a try. He spent a good portion of the day with his buddy Jacob. They know and like one another, so that helped. His teachers said he did really well, enough so that we are going to bring him back for another day, although we'll see if his Ima's tough enough to handle it! Of course, his emotionally and physically trying day meant he was absolutely, completely exhausted, and he fell asleep shortly after pulling out of the synagogue's driveway. He proceeded to take a wonderful two-hour nap, so maybe this school thing isn't so bad!

Tessa's Big Day

We capped off a summer of simcha celebrations, friends, and family with one more big to-do: Tessa's Bat Mitzvah. On Thursday the three of us headed back out to the airport for our flight to San Jose. Interestingly, the check-in counter attendant actually asked for proof of Romi's age--the first time that's ever occurred. Luckily we had gone back to the house for his passport. The flight was far from full, so we were able to schlep the car seat with us, and Romi did beautifully on both the flight from Tucson to LAX and from LAX to San Jose. We arrived, got our car, grabbed a bite to eat and headed toward the coast, arriving at the Marriott in the early evening. Monterey's chilly temperatures were welcome after our hot Tucson summer, but Romi was most impressed with the pillow presentation on the king-sized bed.

We headed over to Dave and Deb's early Friday morning so Rob could begin his day of baking (he made all the challah for the weekend). We had a wonderful day hanging out, running errands (taking and printing photos of Tess, picking up the cotton candy machine from the correct rental store, hitting the supermarket multiple times, etc.) before running back to the hotel to get presentable for Friday night services. Of the three of us, Romi looked the best.

Shabbat services were lovely and Tessa did a fabulous job. We can't beleive how late Romi stayed up, but it was a special occasion. Before servies we lounged about in bed on Saturday morning, eating our picnic breakfast. I spent a good portion of Saturday morning chasing Romi around the synagogue, who wanted nothing more than to get up on that bimah just as he does at Ima's shul. Luckily the building is small enough that I missed very little of Tessa's bat mitzvah; she did a truly outstanding job.

My favorite parts of Saturday morning are when we arrived and got to see everyone: Matt, Dana, Sarah, Lindsey, Scott, Pam, Alex, Ben, Edna, Jean, Gloria, Taylor and a myriad of friends and other family. As a group we sure clean up well! At one point during the service I let Romi wander into the Sanctuary and toward the front of the room. As he neared the bimah I grabbed him and sat down next to his Uncle Scott. I stood him up on the pew so he could say hi to his cousins behind him and they en mass leaned forward. I have no worries about his being the littlest cousin of all. During lunch the little manster finally crashed, and Rob gently laid him on a pew in the sanctuary, where he slept peacefully under the watchful eyes of the photographer and all his cousins.

Following a fantastic lunch spread put on by Dave and Deb, we headed back to the hotel for a Shabbas schluff. When we got up we trekked over to the house to enjoy a really, really fun afternoon with the family. A slew of us took a walk down to the beach, which turned into quite the excursion. Uncle Matt was quite helpful with the stroller and Romi absolutely loved walking on the boardwalk. It was a completely enjoyable afternoon, spent visiting and eating and enjoying being together. Dad would have loved it.

We had to head out early Saturday morning. We stopped by Dave and Deb's to say goodbye and thank you and to kiss all the cousins who had spent the night. It was hard for all of us to leave because the weekend had been so truly wonderful.

Framily Vacation 2009

Our trip to Flagstaff blended in with another wonderful summer tradition: Framily Vacation with the Brunks and the Dinsdales. The three of us got home early Sunday morning (the freeway was closed in Phoenix) and after returning home from doing a wedding, I found my house full of Brunks! It's amazing that although our three families split up geographically in 2000, we have managed to see each every year for the past nine years. This time, the gang decided to brave the Arizona heat in August and to enjoy the screaming good deals. The Brunks began their week-long Tucson trip at the Lowe's Vantana. They spent their days enjoying the pool and the luxury and still managed to meet up with us at least once a day, either for dinner at our place or out. Rob and Romi played tour guide on some of these days, and the Brunks got to enjoy Sabino Canyon, Mount Lemmon and Bookman's.


The Brunks checked out of Lowe's on Thursday and into Hotel Gludt. Heather and Mark arrived that afternoon, and the mayhem began. The kids were thrilled to see one another, as were the adults. That night we all headed to the Gaslight theater for another hysterical production. Heather said she smiled and laughed so much her face actually hurt. We enjoyed the food (thank you Terry family), the atmosphere, the show and just being together.

Kartchner Caverns was on Friday's agenda, although I had to skip out after spending the night sick. Everyone else had a wonderful time, once the tickets got straighted out. It wasn't Romi's favorite, but he did pretty well. Jacki came with me to Tot Shabbat and we returned home to an amazing Shabbat dinner of turkey and fixings. Heather and Mark joined me for services on Saturday morning, and Shabbat lunch was leftovers, seeing as we had left lunch out all night. Bob came with me to afternoon services, and we returned home to laugh and play and to head out to enjoy Frost.

Sunday morning saw the Brunks heading home. Heather and Mark hung out for a while and we went to lunch, after which Heather decided to get sick, so we canceled her plane reservation. She hunkered down at our house and a few hours later the Bermans arrived for their visit., another awesome tradition. It took a couple of days for Heather to bounce back, but she toughed it out and went home the next day. It was a great Framily visit, sickness and all.

Some Random Stuff
Mark and Max were sitting on the couch with Romi when Lauren, unbeknownst to the guys, came up behind them and said, "What's up?!" Mark couldn't believe that Romi could talk like that!

When I told Max he couldn't sit on the glass table he actually asked me, "Then what's it there for?"

Romi's new things include bouncing his head in time to music, swinging his right arm vigorously when he walks, and saying banana, although he's only done that once.

Family Vacation 2009

Our (hopefully!) annual trip with the Burg and Werbow families took place this summer in Flagstaff, AZ. Rob, Romi and I set out early on Sunday morning to make the trek to greener and cooler pastures. We made a few stops on the way, including the outlets in Casa Grande and a great lunch with Mike, Kristen and Connor in Phoenix (where I ran into someone for the synagogue. What are the odds? Oh yeah, even money.) The drive was long but beautiful, and Rob and I enjoyed watching the truly stunning change in environment as we climbed out of the hot desert and into the forested areas of Flag. We had very little trouble finding the house, a large Victorian on a corner within walking distance of downtown. We stayed home only long enough to turn on some fans and to touch base with the others, who were a few hours behind us in a van. Rob strapped on Romi and we headed to town for some food.

Flagstaff is an adorable college town with bars and restaurants and bars and shops and trains. The railroad is alive and well in this corner of Arizona, and for safety's sake, the trains blow their whistles as they go through town, which is every 10 minutes. (It's either for safety or because they really hate the residents of Flagstaff.) In any case, we found a pizza place and enjoyed walking around, looking at the people and the dogs and listening to the free concert in the plaza.

Shortly after we got home the troops arrived and it was hugs and kisses all around, especially for Romi who had yet to meet the Werbows or Daniel. We claimed our respective spaces and relaxed until bed. We had an easy day on Monday, all of us recovering from our respective days of travel. We walked into town and enjoyed lunch at a tasty albeit slow vegetarian restaurant. We had homemade Mexican food for dinner, although I forgot the tamales, and everyone slept a bit better on night two.

Tuesday, Elle's birthday, we all headed to Slide Rock, a beautiful area in a mountainous area. The kids loved the natural water slide, although Romi proved a bit too young for the adventure. The rock formations and water were beautiful, although you definitely need to wear shoes for this outing. It was crowded, but everyone was having a wonderful time and no one got hurt, so we call it a successful day. We headed into Sedona for lunch, admiring the rightly famous red rock and all headed home for a relaxing evening of birthday dinner and rainbow cake.

Wednesday was the big day--we all got in the van and drove up to the Grand Canyon. It had only been one year since we had been there, but your mind just can't retain the majestic wonder of it. I honestly think I could go once a year and still be completely in awe. We enjoyed our picnic lunch, walking along the rim, various performances and, of course, some ice cream. Melissa chose to forgo the sugary treat and opted for pretzels, which Romi decided he wanted. Melissa gave him a pretzel of his own, but he clearly indicated how we felt about that and threw it on the ground, continuing to insist through words and gestures that what he really wanted was Melissa's pretzel. She eventually gave in, because as we know, the force is strong with this one. But what we didn't know is that he would throw that pretzel on the ground too, look Melissa straight in the eye and then laugh at her. She claims it was the first time she ever got laughed at by a 15-month old.

After locating the wandering Shamir, we made our way back to the van, back to Flagstaff and back home.That night began Tisha B'Av and Daniel and Mike took turns chanting Eicha by firelight. It was wonderful. Rob, Romi and I stayed home for a quiet morning, breaking our fast at a local Mexican restaurant that got a bit of monsoon. After meeting up with the rest of the gang, we again piled into the car and headed to Sunset Crater, which turned out to be even cooler than it sounded. Only pictures can really do it justice.

Friday we cooked for Shabbat and then headed to the Aquaplex, where Romi was in his absolute glory. The city's pool is indoors and has fountains, wading pools, slides, a lazy river, a vortex and lots of lifeguards, which came in handy when Shamir fell, hit his head, shut down the pool and went to the hospital. Luckily he was just fine. In the meantime, Romi had the time of his life, and even though he cried whenever we took him out of the water, we decided when he turned a dark enough shade of blue that enough was enough.

It was a wonderful Shabbat together, with great food, good friends, and loads of laughing. On Saturday we schlepped to a park where I mistook Miriam's Burt's Bees diaper ointment for Melissa's Burt's Bees sunscreen, lathering Romi up in a thick white coat. Rob, Romi and I headed home late Saturday night, physically and emotionally rested but sad to say goodbye to such good friends.