A Disney Vacation

So for Thanksgiving this year, we decided to pack up the family for our first Disney vacation. We couldn't decide whether to go to the theme park or take a cruise, se we took the land/sea package which included 3 days at DisneyWorld and 4 days on the Disney Wonder sailing through the Bahamas.

It was a great decision for us. The theme park portsion of the trip was a constantly high paced/high energy exploration through the enormous and somewhat crowded theme parks to find rides and exhibits all of us could do. We visited Epcot, the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom and found lots to enjoy at all of these locations.

The cruise surpassed our expectations in almost every way. First, the people were all extremely friendly and helpful. There was a Kid's Club for Erazmas that had activities and events basically from 9AM to midnight every day - and when we went to Disney's private island (Castaway Cay) for a day, the Kids Club had activities onshore all day. They met and played with characters from Disney films, excavated a whale skeleton, made "flubber" and were kept busy and entertained with stories and activities the whole time. There was a nursery for Zina that was much like her daycare center - lots of cool activities and things to explore with a quiet room for napping. Unformtunately there was a ration of nersery hours we couldn't exceed, but the nursery did give us time for a couple of adult outings.

Here's a little photo album to explore!

Home now, and back to the usual routine, but with very happy memories!

Halloween 2007

Hot off the presses, here are photos of our Halloween party and trick or treating! Also, here is some video of Zina and Raz we think is very funny.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Raz at Soccer with Shin Guards

Soccer is getting very serious as Raz team is beginning to prepare for their first game against another team. It's crazy, but they are really good! The pass the ball and look for open teammates. Very fun to watch.

Zina's 1st Birthday

Zina's first birthday came along so suddenly. We had a wonderful day and a little party for her. Photos from the party are here.

Lawrence Getting Ready for Mamaite's Art Show

Here Liudas and Lawrence were hanging lights to focus them on the art at Klatch where they held an art show for Milda's grandmother. Photos from the show are available here.

Dressed for the Art Show

Milda with her new haircut getting ready to go to Mamaite's art show with her brother Liudas.

Liudas Visits NYC

So perhaps this picture needs some explaining... or perhaps not. Well, Milda's brother Liudas was visiting NYC for a week and one night we went out to a favorite local haunt - the Brandy Library. Liudas decided he would try the tasting of Armagnacs - eight 1/2 oz pours from a range of armagnacs beginning with something similar to kerosene and ending with something... well, like kerosene, but that's beside the point.

We then spent a very nice couple of hours as Liudas slowly consumed his liquid feast complaining about the low grade pours at the bottom of the list and endorsing the high end pours with sighs of satisfaction.

Playtime

Zina and Raz playing together on the couch - still getting along really well after a year!

Zina Can Walk

Zina loves walking and standing now - she's a stitch as she wanders around the house pulling things off shelves she could not reach a month ago. Here's some standing video...

The video is a bit old - we need to shoot some new video of her walking around.

Late Summer Under in Brooklyn

We walked across the Brookly Bridge and down to an arts festival in DUMBO before finding some very touchable art in a nearby park that had been flattened. Seems that they were a demonstration in homeless housing - carboard lean-tos - that can be distributed to the poor for shelter.

Prince and Princess

At a royalty themed birthday party Raz enjoyed the company of a harem of princesses. The trip to the party on the subway was hilarious too.

Raz Swimming

Raz had a huge summer - bicycling and swimming all in a 2 month period.

Raz Classroom

Here's Raz in his classroom on his first day. The class is great and he really loves his teacher.

First Day

Here's Raz outside of Kindergarten for his first day of school. He was very excited and had a great day.

US Open Seats

Here's where Milda and Raz sat for the US Open

Milda and Raz at the US Open

Milda took Raz to the US Open after his first 1/2 day in Kindergarten as a special treat. They had a blast and saw fantastic seats.

Zina in Daycare

Here's Zina in her new classroom enjoying the kitchen area and her new ability to stand! She walks now too. If I have some video I will post it.

Zina in Climbing Gear

Here's Zina in her climbing gear. Her packmule didn't make the photo...

Bear Mountain 1

It's called Bear Mountain because climbing it is such a bear :-)

We decided to climb Bear Mountain as a little family day trip on what might have been the hottest day in September - hot and humid! By the time we got to the top there was a cool breeze and wonderful views and everyone had really enjoyed our adventure.

Office Party

My office party was a Rye Playland this year - Raz had a blast!

Raz and Milda at the Empire State Bldg

This summer before school, Milda and Raz had a chance to do lotsa of very cool daytrips. Here they are on top of the Empire State Building standing somewhere I would be very uncomfortable. The summer trips were a big hit and produced lots of photos and memories.

Raz Swimming

This summer Raz learned to swim. In this photo he still needed a float, but weeks later he was crossing the deep end with no difficulty (and a great deal of supervision ;-).

He loves swimming and was nearly impossible to get out of the water. If our moving plans are successful, he'll have a pool to play in by December.

Steve Babysitting

Here's Uncle Steve babysitting while Milda and I gave our arms a much needed rest! We had a wonderful time at Ray and Maureen's house one Sunday afternoon in August. Weather was semi-cooperative ;-)

Cousin Gabija's 18th Birthday

Gabija came to Milda and my wedding when she was three. She was the tiny little thing in the white dress following Milda around through the event just so excited to be there. Events like this make you realize how quickly time passes.

Milda's Sojourn Reading

Milda got an Editor's Choice award and publication in Soujourn, the annual arts Magazine of the University of Texas. Here she is reading from her story. It was a very nice event with a number of very talented artists.