One of the most amazing things that happened in Charlotte aside from seeing all of the relatives was that Riley got to play on his great-grandmother's 1947 Steinway. It was the first piano to come to Charlotte from Germany after World War II. She was very proud of it. It's now with my cousin, Charlie Henley. They had it tuned and fixed up for Riley's impromptu recital.
My mom and Aunt Tet were there as well and it was amazing to be seated in the midst of the musical atavistic line starting with my grandmother, Shessie, through my mom and me to Riley. He played 4 pieces, two Mozart sonatas, a Scarlatti sonata and Dr. Gradus ad Parnassum by Debussy. Here's the video:
We took a very short family trip to Charlotte to go to the wedding of Daniel and Rachel. Most of my family were there and it was wonderful to see everyone and reconnect. There were two camps, the Sims who stayed with Jake and Patricia’s, and the Barkers who stayed at the Hyatt in downtown Charlotte. Friday evening everyone descended on Jake’s house for a cookout and backyard fun for the kids. There was a large open-pit barbecue over which the kids toasted marshmallows for s’mores!
We played various sports and had to chase some homeruns over the fence into other people’s yards! There were some strong hitters. Mona and Tet were there and seemed to have a good time.
Back at the hotel there were some pool activities and much eating and drinking! The wedding was in a lovely setting in Charlotte and it all went off without a hitch (no pun intended!). Here are two videos from the weekend.
It was a lovely late autumn day the Saturday after Thanksgiving and we were out in the Rambles of Central Park just hiking around when we saw Pale Male, the New York City Red Tail Hawk sitting in a high branch checking things out. We rented a row boat and went out on the lake and got another good view of the hawk.
It is amazing that all this hiking and woodsy adventure is right in the middle of New York City.
Max scared the life out of us showing off his new trick at the playground. The bars are about 5 feet apart but he was so sure of himself we had to let him do it.
Max had his 7th birthday party on Columbus Day last week. It had an Angry Birds Theme and the main event was the water balloon slingshot-launcher that would send water balloons 40-50 yards through the air, perfect for 7-9 year old boys. Miranda made a fantastic Angry Birds cake and the weather was fantastic, 80 and sunny. We had to “break into” the field as the Park Conservancy had not officially opened the field. Charles was worried we might get kicked out but there was no problem.
After various games we got to the slingshot. The target was a large piece of cardboard on which Riley had drawn the King Pig and various other Pigs from the Angry Birds Game and Max, Riley, Miranda and any passing friend took turns coloring in. It wasn’t easy to hit as it was so far away but Max hit it twice and was the winner of the day. It’s wonderful to see his self-confidence grow. The party went overtime by over an hour so the boys must have been having a good time. It’s going to be hard to top that next year.
