Thanksgiving

We had a fine time yesterday for Thanksgiving. We went sledding twice, once with our three girls and then again later when their cousins, Jessie and Carolyn came over (see first 7 pics and attached video). Then the entire extended Blackman clan showed up (some from as far away as California and Prague) and we had quite a feast (pics 8 and 9). Then the girls unwrapped some gifts, which included hilarious dress-up outfits with outrageous wigs (pics 10-14). The girls got me to try on two of the wigs and I must say I do a fine Howard Stern impersonation! (last two pics)

 

We had the most fun-filled, exhausting weekend! On Saturday, it was awards day for Emily's soccer team and she got her official team photo. Then they had their last game and Emily was awesome -- she scored 7 goals in a 7-2 win, and it was against a pretty good team. She's added two big new tools to her scoring toolkit: 1) she can shoot accurately from far away (see the first goal in the video clip attached to the next email -- she shot it from 40' away, between 3 defenders, into the furthest corner of the net); and 2) she used to give up and run back and play defense the moment a defender poked the ball away, but now she just keeps on comin'. It's gotten quite ridiculous -- after her first two goals, both in the "in-can't-believe-I-just-saw-a-6-year-old-do-that" variety, the father of one of Emily's teammates turned to me and said, "She's playing on a totally different level."

Then, Emily's dream came true: Alison's team, for the 2nd weekend in a row, was short a player, so she got to play with the 9 and 10 year olds (wearing a borrowed jersey that she refuses to tuck in, so it looks like a dress). She's an average player among the kids 3-4 years old, but that doesn't stop her from charging around with reckless abandon. Check out the 4th clip in the video attached to the next email -- Emily's on defense, fighting for the ball with the best player on the opposing team, and manages to get in the way enough for Alison to catch up with the play and they both saved a goal. The coach of Alison's team said she's going to be in the Olympics someday -- we'll see...

This morning, Alison's team had awards day and then we went rock climbing. Then, Susan took Alison to see the new Harry Potter movie, which Katharine, Emily and I went bike riding all the way down to the merry-go-round. (As you can see from one of the pics below, I was on my rollerblades, pushing the jogging stroller, so Katharine can hop in for a rest if she gets tired).

Katharine is now completely comfortable on her bike. She rode all the way to Emily's game at 72nd and Riverside on Sat. and to the merry-go-round today. She's got braking down pat, can start up comfortably (as long as it's not uphill), and has total control of the bike. Check out the first clip of the video, as she bombs down a hill, balloon in tow...

After lunch, she was so exhausted that she refused to ride her bike another inch, so I put her in the stroller and she conked out in 2 minutes -- and is still sleeping in her bed now... 

 

It was a gorgeous, warm weekend, so we spent most of it outdoors. Today, I took Katharine (along with Alison and the Kumble twins) on her first major biking expedition, all the way to the merry-go-round at the bottom of the park (about 3 miles). I pushed her a bit on the uphills, but she braked down all of the downhills and made it all the way there and halfway back all by herself. Pic #3 is her posing in front of the merry-go-round, as proof she made it there. She was so proud!

We hit a playground with a huge marble slide on the way back (pics #5 and #6) and then Emily joined us for ice skating this afternoon (pic #7)

On Saturday, Alison scored a goal in her team's 3-1 win, but the real excitement was in Emily's game. The other team had a ringer and she and Emily went at it! Look at how they've locked elbows in picture #8 and are fighting for the ball in #9! No nastiness -- just good hard soccer. They each scored 6 goals in a 6-6 tie and then Emily hung around and played the next game when one team didn't have enough players and scored all 5 goals in a 5-1 win. 

 

Katharine joined the Tilson Family Bike Team on Marathon Day 

 

I'm 39 today! (My first annual 39th birthday -- next year will be my 2nd annual 39th bday, etc...)

Since Susan and I are going out to a charity dinner (at a comedy club) tonight to celebrate, we did cards, cake and singing this morning -- see pics below. Alison made the cake all by herself!