Greeting Many-Legged Friends

So I've heard these rumors that Staten Island has deer. I haven't been able to put much faith in them. Though we are the greenest of the boroughs, no patch of woods is particularly large or far from a major road. It seems like there should be far more road kills and related traffic jams if they are indeed here. Even in DC, we had deer in Rock Creek Park, which involved confirmed sightings (ok, one actually stood at my front door, preventing me from entering on my way home from work) and traffic accidents. So imagine my surprise when I looked up the block and spotted this graceful creature. As we got closer, it became clear that Penny would have a unique opportunity to personally greet the deer, so I let her out of her stroller. She had fun saying, "Hi" to the deer, but got a bit bored when it didn't respond or move. Apparently, the straps on her stroller were more entertaining.
I'm really pretty proud of how observant and friendly Penny is. When on a walk, she often stops to greet or watch a passing insect. She gets a little too excited occasionally. Trying to pat a beetle on the back for an impressive takeoff and landing can be quite hazardous to the beetle's health. A happy dance around an ant, I'm sure instills a certain degree of terror for the multi-legged friend. So as many times as I introduce her to new friends, I have to play the role of bodyguard to ensure the encounter goes well for both parties. I can't wait until she can call them by name. She knows the names of several letters and is getting better about repeating words we say to her. It's fun stuff and I'm looking forward to more windows into her thought processes.

Big News

It seems like we've been waiting forever for news on any front, then we got hit by a whole flurry of activity last week. Firstly, Dan got his test score back last Tuesday. He got what he was hoping for and received his hospital placement practically overnight. So...he will be starting a psych rotation in Brooklyn in mid-August. Yay!

Last Thursday I had my ultimate interview with the President/CEO at the Brooklyn Children's Museum. It was ultimate in a few ways. Yes, the last interview in a series. Also, I found it to be a very different experience interviewing with a CEO, rather than HR staff folks or people who will become my colleagues. I'm always a little uncomfortable in an interview, but the pressure seemed a little higher somehow. Not because of the president, though - she was quite amiable and I'm excited how much we seem to be on the same page. The interview was also "the ultimate" in the feeling of success on Friday when I got offered the job!

It's really exciting to have found a job that is such a nice match for me. As Manager of Natural Science Education, I'll get to shape all kinds of fun nature programs for families, school groups, youth groups, you name it. I also get to spearhead the Green Threads project, which is geared toward highlighting the museum's newly designed, LEED-rated Green architecture building. I'll admit I don't know much about green architecture yet, but I like the idea of being able to educate people about the difference they can make in the environment while working at an institution that puts their money where their mouth is. Plus, Brooklyn Children's Museum has over 100 years of experience putting together exceptional programming for children, as the oldest museum designed exclusively for children. AND it is officially Penny-approved.

To top off our exciting week, Chris, Karen and Paul invited us to join them for a concert in Prospect Park over in Brooklyn. Prospect Park is Brooklyn's version of Central Park - nice greenspace, but with concert stuff, ball fields, lakes, an ice rink under construction, an Audubon Society nature center, period farm, all kinds of fun. Penny thoroughly enjoyed the concert and sprinting cross country through the baseball fields with Paul.

Just in case that wasn't cool enough on its own, we discovered where the Ghost Busters-mobile went when it retired! Who knew! There are all kinds of wonders in NYC. We're looking forward to having even more of our friends join us here in the coming month or so...it's more fun exploring things together!

Anniversary Trip

Whew! What a whirlwind couple of weeks. Two weekends ago was the tree dedication for my mom. I couldn't track down a camera while there, so these pics are courtesy of Aunt Barbara (She's in red in the top photo). Family and friends had a good time enjoying Camp Rolling Hills, where my mom's Norway Maple is planted. We thumbed through photo albums, my mom's drawing portfolio, and some folks even wore crafts she had made (Thankfully, none of the crazy 70s things I found crochet patterns for). I even got a chance to catch up with some of the "girls" from my Girl Scout troop, which was pretty cool. I was a little sad not to have Penny and Dan along, but it was really the best way to get things prepared in time. I did try to get started on Facebook to help stay in touch with folks I have lost touch with, but I'm not sure I'll be able to maintain so many forms of electronic communication. We'll see how it goes.


I was glad to return home to Penny by July 4th, that was for sure. Plus, she seemed about ready to pop something because she was so excited to have me home! I took Monday off to reassure Penny that I was indeed home, in the flesh...then I went to work on Tuesday for my first week of camp at the zoo. These are my ornery campers on our trip to the Central Park Zoo. They're funny stuff - very excited and knowledgeable, while quite energetic enough to keep anyone on their toes. For my next week, I'm going to work on my classroom management skills ;)

This past weekend we celebrated our fifth anniversary with a little trip to Pennsylvania. We decided it would be cruel to leave Penny again so quickly, so she got to enjoy some fun in the keystone state as well. Our first stop was Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton. We enjoyed a lovely ride on a steam engine all the way to Moscow and back - yep, it was a pretty long cold ride. Did you know that riding in a steam train involves a lot of soot on the passengers? Bad idea to wear white. Penny enjoyed a restful nap on the ride, which helped protect her eyes from flying soot. Dan had lots of inspiration for future building opportunities for his Lego train collection. And I got to see the biggest snow plow I've ever seen!

On Sunday, we headed over to the Del Water Gap to do some hiking. This provided me with a second stamp for my National Parks Passport. I've been to a billion parks, but seem to always forget my passport - but not this time! The park had a great trail that was wheelchair accessible, so we were able to take Penny's stroller with us to a lovely waterfall. She was feeling adventurous, though, so we folded it up and she launched herself up the 250-some stairs to the top of the waterfall. There were a few breaks along the way, occasional switching from one parental set of arms to another, but we made it to the summit safe and sound. Then we returned to the air-conditioned ranger station for a quick rest before heading home. We made it back to New York in time to catch the end of the World Cup game. Now that World Cup is over, what WILL Dan do to occupy his time off before receiving his exam score?!