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2022

Highlights

Chronological

Nora is unsure about the orange
Moving Nora from Snoo to full-size crib
Two worried aunts
Weekly family dinner
Modern Art
The mattress we put to go under the monkey bars continues to be the most fun part
Scary part of the movie
Not great packing snow, but we persevered
These seats give you a sitting-up perspective before you have the muscles for actually sitting up
I like how these tubes cushion the bumps of sledding while being much more robust than the older versions
Tolerant Nora
Pseudocousin's birthday party
Part of adjusting to people having a range of levels of covid caution was starting the party with an outdoor portion
Pin the tale on the donkey. The kids love the capes Julia made them.
Anna wants homework
Overnight curlers
Cousins visiting; we go to their house a lot, but them coming here is a rarer treat
This chair gets interesting light
The attic is a much better height for Anna than me
Lily really likes my new electric mandolin
Playing 5x5 Go with Anna
The wedding quilt Jenn and Bronwyn made for us is usually folded, but we got it out for Ricci's visit
Nora loves funny faces
Rick is staying with us for a few days while his housemates get over covid
Compromising between "it's fun to play on ice with your grandkids" and "falling on ice is riskier the older you get"
Sorting through art to divide into "keep", "toss", and "photograph then toss". Anna keeps everything.
Puzzles are easier if you're not on top of them
Playing parlour games
Cecilia DMing D&D with the older two
Big snow!
Nice pile to play in at the dead end by Lexington Park
Anna likes throwing snowballs but doesn't like getting hit by them
The kids really love carrying Nora, but Julia isn't so sure about it
Nora likes it though
Playing in the snow by Erika's house
Everyone wanted to jump off this rock over and over to land in the big pile of snow
Erika can see what will happen next
Back when I worked for a company that sent fun stuff for no reason
Big Slide Park (Robbins Farm Park)
Lily plays full Thurn und Taxis now
Nora loves to 'walk'
Annual order of Cara-Caras from Baldor
Group birthday in Medford
Rosie mittens!
If you want to reach the keys and pedals at the same time this is really the perfect chair
Sledding at Tower Park
When we host we move all our coats up to our bed so the coat hooks can be empty. Soft nest! This one was an EA dinner.
Seeing what they got in their goodybags
Planning which combinations of jellybeans to eat
The last of the bulk sugar from early-pandemic restaurant supply buying. Super clumped, but fun to break up.
Anna loves her birthday/valentine's balloon
Anna's birthday with housemates
I tried this too, and felt very sick and dizzy
BIDA reopens, and Anna helps set up
Everyone's very happy to be back
Grandparents visit from NC
Visiting the only ship in the US Navy that has sunk an enemy ship
Very excited to see real cannonballs
Grandparents at house dinner
The kids love feeding Nora
Making fairy houses
Al's birthday
Lily's enthusiastic about the present she gave Al
Julia's parents were very exicited to get to go sledding
Lots of going down the hill in large blobs
Anna plays my electric mandolin
Cleverly designed hat that's conical inside and fits a huge variety of head sizes. Though Nora's head is a bit past the small end.
Lily likes her birthday beret
Raising money for Ukrainian refugees
Reading the book that makes grownups say silly things
Sleeping on the plane on the way to CA for a wedding
Lily is keeping a journal
There was a big hill in the distance and Lily was determined that we climb it
View from near the top
Julia and Nora stayed back, under a tree. Here's Anna running back to them.
Dancing at the reception
Lily loved the dancing, and stayed up very late
Nora is cute even in her padded sleep suit
We stopped by Claudia and Abe's on the way home, and were very excited to see the trampoline
Lily plays chess with Karen
Anna and Abe play 5x5 Go on an improvised board
One time (not pictured) Anna was holding Nora in this suit on the schoolyard and her teacher thought she was holding a teddy bear. And was then very surprised when she realized it was alive!
Nora falls asleep on my lap while I practice drums and piano
The octave fiddle can be sort of a cello
A warm day in Ricci's backyard
Nora loves to be read to
Playing school in what will be Weiwei's office
I went in to turn off Anna's story tape and found her sleeping almost entirely off her bed.
Nora travels well, except for the sleeping part
Julia and Nora went ahead to the UK, and I followed with the older kids a bit later so they could have more days of school
Big kids are very happy to see Nora after we get to London
Exploring London; Lily's still keeping her journal
We see the Gherkin from the distance and want to see it up close. Lily briefly loses her shoe inside it.
Anna sees a castle on the map and decides we should go there next
Remains of Roman wall
Grass and dandilions are more interesting than castle
Butterfly wings as Easter present from Mama
Easter egg hunt in the park outside Julia's conference
This swing looks a lot flatter than it actually is
Playing with Amy and Nathan's family
And Denise and Alex's
Anna is a bear in a cave
Anna volunteers to have Nora nap on her for the bus to Oxford. She's very proud that she got Nora to sleep.
Seeing Rose for the first time in three years
Game where you spray water up into the air
Lily found a feather she wanted to write with. Bought some ink at a stationery shop.
Looking down at punting
Toby made the kids a scavenger hunt
Being statues
Playing at stealing from the sleeping dragon
Trying ginger beer at a pub
Reading to Tarn
Magic sand
Anna still loves pulling things into little bits and making piles. She can focus for a very long time.
Anna doesn't like Cornish Pasties
Visiting Trajan House for an arts and crafts social
Nora is often the center of attention
Philly relatives up for a visit
Nora loves having her belly tickled with heads
Trying to use right-angle glasses
A
Anna learns to ride a bike
Getting closer to walking!
Anna built a throne for Nora. It isn't very sturdy.
First BIDA open band since restarting
A
Much easier on my back when Anna helps Nora walk
Nora loves the swing
Eating all the berries at an EA dinner
One of their friends has a yard with grass
Marlboro! Strawberry!
"I was sharing my coat with Olivia because she was cold"
Nora is very interested in the accordion.
Felix loves Nora, but isn't very careful yet.
Walking from VT to NH across the CT
Show dances in downtown Brattleboro
A
Muddy River Morris
Putting away the Maypole at the end of the weekend
Anna helps too
Kids get one last visit at my work before I leave
Picking juneberries.
Nora turns one
Big fan of the chocolate cream pie
"Not with those hands you don't!"
When Lily was a baby her ~3y older cousin made her a "wrecking ball" toy; Lily made one for Nora
Not sure what Nora loves more: pushing the cart or being pushed in it
So many weddings this year! Making up for 2020 and 2021.
"This cake is so tall!"
Helping with the Brussels sprouts
Summer season family birthdays in Medford
Nora needs help opening presents
Very similar babies
Heading to FL for a dance weekend
Flying out of Logan you can see the Constitution and Langone Park
Early morning flight, naps on the plane
Sitting on the front of the old Cambridge VFW stage, in FL
Dish soap makes good bubbles
Heading straight to family dinner from the airport
Sunset over the nearly complete Green Line Extension
Walking along the new path even though it's not open yet
Nora still needs help to ride a bike
Very cheap Haymarket berries, part of the game is looking through for the ones that aren't moldy
Riding the ferry to Charleston and back for fun
Vacation with Julia's folks in NC
Nora has always loved the water
Getting a picture where all five grandkids are happy isn't practical
Summer: peanut butter and whipped cream sandwiches in the lake
Sousaphone
Summer foods
A demonstration portable organ at the Lowell Folk Festival
Making petit-fours for a garden party with Adeline. In retrospect they're a bit big.
Watching neighborhood turkeys in Medford. There're a lot now; new over the past ~20y.
Nora learns to walk
Nora likes ice cream
Vacation with the Thomfordes
Shucking corn for dinner
Walking on the sea wall is popular
There are so many people (~25 in a 5br) that Nora decides she's not comfortable walking unassisted anymore
"Parking for six"
Lots and lots of gaming
Much less music than usual, though still some.
I woke up early with a noisy baby and the countertops were very cool, so it seemed like a good time to make pastry
Lily puts on a puppet show for her cousins
Nora got knee bouncing rhymes, and then everyone wanted them
"The Sparkle Girls"
Kites at Trum Field
First family dinner after cousins move to Brattleboro. Anna sits at the former kids' table alone in protest.
Canobie lake. The "Flower Power" ride is very well designed and almost always no line. There's tons of anticipation as you approach the corners, the transitions are ~instantaneous and the thrill is just the right length.
Kingfisher played a Spark in the Dark and the kids came to dance
The kids drew on each other with highlighters to get ready
Video calling the cousins from the park
Helping Ruthie get her new house ready
Fresh paint rollers are super cuddly
Anna blatantly cheating
I stopped by the new Brattleboro house after rehearsing with Amy and Audrey in VT
Self-administering airplane peas
The older kids have started taking fiddle lessons with Cecilia
Swat friends over
Lauren and Diego's wedding
The kids got bored waiting for dinner and wanted to go climb a mountain
Nora is fun to dance with
Another try at climbing the mountain, in warmer weather and better clothes
Nora needs help launching the stomp rocket
Everyone loves to play the piano
Uncle Stephen comes for a visit
Rick shows off a steam engine he built with Oli
Bouncy castle builds up a lot of static
Building loft beds for the kids
Going overboard making snacks for a gaming party
Apple picking
Flying to Ann Arbor for a dance weekend
Our hosts had a wonderful backyard
Sleeping backstage
Visiting the neighbor's farm and playing with their leftover corn
Exploring a corn field. Kids briefly got slightly lost.
I forget what I'd asked her
Picking out 2021 pictures
Nora plays the smallest standup bass
The kids host a halloween party for friends
Instead of bobbing for apples they try to bite them off strings
Pin the features on the pumpkin
Shopping for wood for shelves
This year Lily didn't find the pumpkin innards too gross
The quieter room at an EA dinner
Knight, princess, dragon, and positive covid test
Kindergarten made cardboard houses and invited parents to school to see them
The kids like Erika a lot
The kids like to come early for BIDA
Disco baby
Amy came down to lead the open band and Lily and Anna are super excited to play with Baxter again
Lots of good park toys. Not something I remember from when I was a kid.
Walk in the Fells
Nora really likes to sit on things
When I was 3rd-5th grade I had a hat like this I wore almost all the time
Julia got melt beads for arts and crafts with coworkers but they were too small. But Lily and Anna have very small hands.
Cranberry-orange relish for Thanksgiving
Nora is not a fan
I tried to make Apply Cider Syrup but burned it. I warned Anna but she still wanted to try it.
Not so good
But lots of fun to play with
Blockus with relatives
Making giaotze
Flying to NC to visit grandparents
Zoo visit
Twister
At these ages they seem so far apart
Not sure what to make of the pets
Wanting up
Nora makes sure she knows where all the exits are
Julia came home separately via a work thing
Playing with frost "just like Laura and Mary"
Lantern festival at the elementary school
Some of the kids being peaceful
Nora loves this word book
Setting up for the secular solstice
For a few weeks Lily got very into fire safety and telling us how dangerous everything was
Nora loves to drink out of the top of my water bottle
Helping Ricci decorate his tree
Everyone likes it when the timing works for Nora to walk to school with the big kids
The airplane is Nora's favorite thing in the book (and maybe outside the book)
Christmas caroling with the aunts and uncles
Anna is hiding, but Nora knows where she is
Lily sometimes likes time alone to read, and made herself a cave
Nora plays Boggle with us
Anna gets a bracelet
Nora slowly works at unwrapping her present
Anna loves her new fox
The unicorn earmuffs are much too big, but actually are just right when worn over her coat's puffy hood
The kids are very excited to get squishmallows
The "grab" (Yankee Swap) with Thomfordes
Nora would prefer her nails left alone
Setting up the dominos so Nora can knock them over
Nora will talk on anything as a phone
Celebrating New Years (on Azores Standard Time)