Maine 2021

We returned once again to Maine for our summer vacation, to the Apartment with a View, the beautiful air b&b we discovered last summer.	When in Maine for vacation we stay at the Surry Arts Barn, since they have a piano there for Mateo to use for practice and enjoyable live music performances.
This was the site of watching Copa America Games, World Cup Games, and movies in our Apartment with a View.	Alexi and Mateo woke up early each morning and headed to the adjoining rec room to play ping pong.  We also held a Cats (parents) vs. Kitties (kids) ping pong tournament, and the Kitties won.  Go Kitties!
We returned to one of our favorites from last year, the Blue Hill Co Op, for our vegetarian grocery shopping.	The Bar Harbor Tea Company was a new find this year.  Sharon and David became avid tea drinkers during this coronavirus pandemic, so we re-stocked here.  Chocolate chai was a great find for David.
The #1 reason we stay at the Surry Arts Barn is because they have a piano Mateo is able to use for his daily practice.	We had a lot of cool, cloudy and rainy weather in Maine on our vacation this year, so lots of time was spent at our apartment playing games like chess (that's Cadillac Mountain pictured in the background).
On our second day of vacation, we headed into Bar Harbor and ate dinner at Siam Orchid, since this family LOVES Thai food.	During the coronavirus pandemic we have been trying new foods, and massaman curry has become a favorite.
Thai iced teas are one of Sharon's favorite beverages, both in NYC and Maine.	Old Soaker root beers and blueberry sodas became a family favorite on this trip.
Spring rolls were a delicious app to start the meal...	...followed by some tofu triangles and peanut sauce.
We shared some yummy miso soup simmered with seaweed, scallions & tofu...	...and also some tom yum soup simmered with herbs & spices, fresh lemon grass, bamboo shoots, scallions & mushrooms.
Our entrees consisted of pud see-ew...	...and also some pud thai (a simpler dish related to pad thai).
Every day spent in Bar Harbor *MUST* end with some Mount Dessert Island Ice Cream, the GREATEST ice cream on the planet.  Here Mateo enjoys his fresh mint & grasshopper pie waffle cone.	Alexi ordered a grasshopper pie, mint and butterbeer waffle cone - a delicious combination.
Sharon was very satisfied with her Maine sea salt caramel and coriander lemon curd waffle cone.	David wears a waffle while enjoying the winning trio of grasshopper pie, reverse rootbeer float and buttermint on a waffle cone.
We also made our own homemade kulfi ice cream, from India, using a Little Passports recipe.	And of course when you are in Maine you have to have some delicious Maine blueberries.
Sharon's yoga practice carried over into Maine via Zoom.  Here Sharon is participating in a private         virtual yoga class with Maria.	Saturday mornings always begin with Hatha Flow with Anthony of Bread and Yoga, which always ends with beautiful music and a sound meditation.
Our family shows off our homemade tie-dyed shirts we made last year while camping at KOA at a family mini-golf outing.	We returned this year to Pirate's Cove Mini-Golf, and played 18 holes of Blackbeard's Challenge.
Alexi gets a hole in one on the very challenging hole #8.	David gets a hole in one in the cave at hole #15.
Acadia National Park is one of the best reasons to vacation in Maine.  And no visit to Acadia is complete without a visit to the Jordan Pond House.  We explored the namesake Jordan Pond while waiting 2 hours for an outdoor table.	Alexi, David and Mateo enjoyed venturing out into Jordan Pond and skipping stones along the water.  One day it would be awesome to hike all the way around the lake.
An outdoor table at Jordan Pond House....	...and the infamous popovers that put Jordan Pond House on the map.
Mateo enjoys a popover with strawberry preserves.	Sharon enjoys her popover with an iced chai.
For lunch at the Jordan Pond House David enjoyed some vegetarian risotto.	Alexi had some Ceasar salad with tofu(!) at Jordan Pond House.
Be sure to stop by both the Jordan Pond House Restaurant *and* gift shop.  We bought several popover mixes to bake at home...	and also these new lobster stuffies, Lobster-O and Acadia-O.
At Acadia Mateo and Alexi had a blast swimming in Echo Lake.	Sharon poses in front of Echo Lake before taking a dip.
Last year we woke up early to check out the sunrise over Cadillac Mountain, so this year we decided to check out the sunset after our day at Acadia.	The Acadia Sunset over Cadillac Mountain was majestic and something not to be missed when you travel to Maine.
Sharon brought her Dahon folding bike this year, and enjoyed biking to Newbury Neck Beach.	Mateo loved David reading him Lord of the Rings aloud in Spanish during some downtime in Maine.
On National French Fry Day, we went to Helen's Diner to celebrate.	Mateo enjoyed his French fries while online for his Zoom Summer Book Club.
The cows in Maine are so friendly.  These three cows came by to say hi while Sharon was on a bikeride.	Cows are Sharon and Mateo's favorite animal (tied with cats).
We returned to Pirate's Cove for more mini-golf, and David did his best pirate impression.	Sharon scores a hole in one on the pirate's boat!
A highlight each summer is stopping by Reel Pizza, a converted movie theater that serves Alexi and Mateo's favorite food.	All smiles while eating Reel Pizza in town in Bar Harbor.
We returned to Mount Desert Island Ice Cream for some more delicious ice cream during National Ice Cream Month.  This time Mateo ordered a grasshopper pie and Maine sea salt caramel waffle cone.	Alexi takes his first lick of his cookies and sweet cream, grasshopper pie & Maine sea salt caramel waffle cone.
Sharon ordered the fresh mint & blueberry buttermilk flavors (to match her outfit).	David enjoyed a fresh mint, butterbeer & Maine sea salt caramel waffle cone this time (sans waffle).
This summer we got to check out the Great Maine Lumberjack Show, which runs rain or shine.	Mateo got to try out being a lumberjack on stage, and got some autographs from these very talented athletes at the end of the show.
Blueberry muffin day is also in July, and we were very happy to find four remaining homemade muffins baked by a farmer's daughter and sold at a farmstand at the Surry Arts Barn.	Mateo's new dinner job is preparing our salads.
We hiked the Ocean Path from Otter Cliffs to Sand Beach, and got a beautiful view of the conifers and rocky coastline of Maine.	Mateo and Alexi were super excited at the end of the hike (where swimming in the Atlantic Ocean awaited them).
Mateo and Alexi were very happy to spend an afternoon at Sand Beach in Acadia National Park.	Despite the water being a "wicked chilly" 55 degrees, the kids had a blast anyway playing in the waves.
Really cool how Surry Arts Barn has its own compost pile.  As vegetarians we generate lots of organic scraps, so we were happy to recycle them steps away from our lodgings.	We compost our organics in NYC at our local Greenmarket, that Alexi and Sharon bike to on Saturday mornings.  It was cool for Alexi to actually see how a compost pile works (in his new favorite fleece).
On our last day in Maine, Sharon and David walked over to the Little Gallery, owned by Margret Baldwin.  Sharon poses in pink outside.	Margret has beautiful paintings she created for sale at the gallery, as well as work by other local Maine artists.  She is also a former art teacher, so Sharon had a lovely conversation with her about teaching and education.
On our last evening in Maine we attended a live concert in the Surry Arts Barn, performed by Birds on a Wire.	Alexi and Mateo both attend arts-focused schools, so they have been to many performances and are excellent audience members.
We have really enjoyed spending our summers during this coronavirus pandemic at the Surry Arts Barn, getting to see this view of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia every single day.	The Arts Barn looks majestic illuminated at night after a performance.  We enjoyed many live concerts in the barn this summer (sans masks), and in the daytime Mateo practiced piano here.
The White Barn Inn is one of the destinations listed in the book "1,000 Places To See Before You Die" so of course we had to visit while in Maine.	There is a grand piano in the White Barn Inn, and a musician plays live piano music each night continuously during dinner.
Alexi, Sharon and Mateo highly anticipate lunch at Little Barn, the place in the White Barn Inn where lunch is served daily.	American pride is on full display at the White Barn Inn.
We got to sit in a corner table, socially distanced, at Little Barn.  Alexi is catching up in height to David.	Sharon and Mateo are total foodies and enjoy trying new foods when we go out to eat at restaurants.
Our meal at Little Barn started with bites.  David ordered this pickled turmeric cauliflower and it was fabulous.	Mateo and Sharon enjoyed marinated olives for bites (which brought up memories of Spain).
Alexi always orders the most delicious food: warm goat brie with blueberry preserves & honeycomb.	Sharon and Mateo fell in love with the crispy brussels sprout chips.
Alexi and Mateo got to try orzo at Little Barn for the first time.	Sharon and David both had soup and a sandwich for the daily: creamy tomato soup (heavenly) and grilled cheese panini.
Sharon and David had the most amazing non-alcoholic drinks with the coolest names: honolulu honey with hibiscus agave syrup, pineapple, lime and coconut, and also postcard from thailand with thai tea, coconut milk and hibiscus agave.	The bathrooms at the White Barn Inn are so elegant, old-fashioned and lovely.
The desserts at Little Barn are scrumptious.  This molten brownie with vanilla ice cream (right out of the oven) was a family favorite.	Strawberry shortcake is a dessert that the kids and Sharon make at home after we pick strawberries at Alstede Farm, and the Little Barn strawberry shortcake was excellent.
Here is a preview of our 2021 Christmas card you will be receiving in the mail in December.	Our family once again had a wonderful summer vacation in Maine (photographed here at Otter Cliffs in Acadia National Park).
The waters of Maine define this state and have been the site of so many of our summer memories during this coronavirus pandemic.	Your eyes always have to be turned upwards towards heaven in Maine, where such beauty awaits you.
Alexi is now a teenager.  He has grown tremendously (now taller than Sharon!), chosen his own hairstyle in letting his beautiful curls grow out, and is asserting his independence.  He is about to be an 8th grader at nyICE.  Alexi continues to really enjoy soccer and chess, and he is really excited to return to in-person school in September.	Mateo is now eight years old.  Our youngest son is no longer little.  His face and limbs have lost their baby fat, and he is becoming his own person.  Our baby is growing up.  He is about to be a 3rd grader at SMS.  Mateo really enjoys playing piano, taking composition lessons and playing soccer.  As Mateo is unvaccinated, whether he will be going to school remote, hybrid or in-person in September remains unknown.

Best of 2020

 Sharon's Best Novels

(1) Beastie Boys Book by Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz and Ada Calhoun

(2) The Road by Cormac McCarthy

(3) The Goldfinch  by Donna Tartt

(4) Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer

(5) Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Sharon's Best Nonfiction

Demoralized: Why Teachers Leave the Profession They Love and How They Can Stay by Doris A. Santoro

David's Book - The Vexations by Caitlin Horrocks

Books Read Aloud by Our Entire Family - Little House in the Big Woods and The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder 

Book Read Aloud by David to Mateo - The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

Books Read Aloud by Sharon to Mateo - Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins Comes Back by P.L. Travers

Book Read by Sharon and Alexi - Solving for M by Jennifer Swender, A King in Hiding by Fahim Mohammad and Animal Farm by George Orwell

Book Read by Sharon, Alexi and Mateo - What Was Ellis Island? by Patricia Brennan Demuth

Our Favorite At Home Grown-Up Movies

(1) Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
(2) The Two Popes

(3) Contagion

(4) Joker

(5) Central Park Five

(6) Knives Out

(7) The Farewell
(8) Motherless Brooklyn

(9) The Incredible Lightness of Being

(10) Bombshell

(11) Winter in Wartime

(12) Crown Heights

(13) 13th 

(14) Snowpiercer

(15) The Family Stone 

Our Favorite At Home Family Movies

(1) Fantasia

(2) Coraline

(3) The Imitation Game

(4) Secret Life of Pets 2

(5) Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins Returns

(6) A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

(7) Garfield Thanksgiving

(8) A Charlie Brown Christmas

(9) Rudolph

(10) Star Wars (Episode I - VI)

Best New Year Activity 

Our family went to the Intrepid, based on Mateo's recommendation.  In all his years living in NYC, David never before visited the Intrepid and was so excited to visit a museum he had wanted to go to ever since he was a little boy.

Best Baking 

Sharon, Alexi & Mateo baked a different elaborate cake every month from Martha Stewart Living:

January - Martha's Meyer Lemon Anniversary Cake

February - Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

March - Cardamom Streusel Coffee Cake

April - Spring Shower Almond Petits Fours

May - Teatime Coconut Layer Cake

June - Cocoa Buttermilk Cake

July - Berry Pound Cakes with Whipped Cream Ribbons

August - Peaches and Cream Ice Cream Cake

September - "Bake Sale Cookie" Cupcakes

October - Darkest Chocolate Crêpe Cake

November - Apple Pie Cake and "Pumpkin Pie" Cheesecake

December - Snow Capped Fruitcake

Best NYC Film Festival - NYC International Children's Film Festival

Favorite People/Places/Publications to follow on Twitter

1. MORE-UFT - @MOREcaucusUFT

2. DOE - @DOECorruption

3. PRESS NYC - @safeschoolsny

Best Art Exhibits/Museum Show - Agnes Denes: Absolutes and Intermediates @ The Shed

Best Broadway Musicals - The Lion King & Wicked

Best Broadway Play - A Soldier's Play

Best History Museums - Ellis Island and Fraunces Tavern Museum

Best Museum for Kids - MoMath

Best Museum for Families - SPYSCAPE

Best Kid Event - Sloomoo Institute (Alexi and Mateo got covered in SLIME!)

Best Yoga  - 30 Day Yoga Challenge with Alyssa of Mind Body Soul Yoga (RIP MBS yoga studio)

Best Family Cycling  - Palisades in New Jersey to see fall foliage

Best NYC Park - Central Park (private soccer classes there every week for Alexi and Mateo)

Best Concert/Live Musical Events - Moon Hooch & Adam Neely & Sungazer @ The Bowery Ballroom

Best Family Member Performance -  David playing oboe and recorders in the "100 Days of Practice" social media challenge

Best TV Series - The Americans

Best Math Event - Sharon presenting (virtually) at the Critical Issues in Mathematics Education Conference

Best Press Event - Sharon speaking on a panel on colleges going test optional at the Education Writers Association Racial Reckonings Virtual Seminar

Best Math for America Event - Sharon presenting her talk "101 Days" at the virtual Master Teachers on Teaching (MT^2) Event

Best Travel Destination - Surry, Maine

Best Halloween Event - Socially Distanced Trick or Treating in Dumont

Best Vegetarian Restaurant - Seasoned Vegan

Best Restaurant - Thai Basil in Ithaca (only restaurant where we ate indoors as a family all year)

Best Pick-Your-Own Fruit - Alstede Farm for strawberries, raspberries and apples

Best Holiday Event - Decorating our Nordmann Fir Christmas tree at home with holiday Sonos tunes playing

Best Christmas Surprise - two adopted kittens Cocoa and Cookie (aka Covid Cats) arriving a few days before Christmas

Best View of NYC - Washington Heights outside our window when we were participating in the citywide clap for essential workers each night at 7 pm while sheltering-in-place in our apartment during the coronavirus pandemic

Top 5 Reasons to Love New York City:

(1)  HOME - Living in the midst of a pandemic meant we spent most weekdays and weekends in our NYC pre-war apartment instead of out at lessons, games, concerts, museums and movies.  We love being all together at home.

(2) MUSIC -  This year the music we heard came from within our own apartment.  Piano music fills our home early every morning and every evening, and oboe or recorder music waffles throughout our rooms late at night.  David posted a practice or performance video on Instagram for 100 consecutive days as part of the "100 Days of Practice" Challenge.  We also supported the arts by making donations and listening to "live" concerts on Zoom and Youtube.   

(3) PARKS -  David bikes with Mateo and Alexi to Central Park every weekend for a private soccer classes with SMS friends.  Alexi and Mateo had lots of fun this summer playing soccer in J. Hood Wright Park, at the newly installed NYCFC mini-soccer field.  Sharon walks around Bennett Park while Mateo and Alexi play soccer there.  Summer mornings Sharon spent walking around Fort Tryon Park or biking in Riverside Park.  

(4) CYCLING - We stopped taking subways and buses, and now travel everywhere outside our neighborhood by bike.  Sharon and Alexi bike to the Inwood Greenmarket on Saturdays, David rides Citibike to go shopping or pick up special meals from UWS restaurants, and Mateo learned how to ride a bike this year(!)

(5) VIRTUAL SCHOOLS - Alexi and Mateo have been attending virtual school since mid-March, and Sharon has been teaching remotely from the living room since then also.  Remote school, unlike what you hear about in the media, can be incredibly successful - why would we ever return to "normal"? 

Fall Foliage Trip to Niagara Falls

We went to upstate New York for this camping  trip.  Our family stayed in a cabin in Grand Island, New York, during the designated Halloween Weekend at this campsite.	Halloween Weekend consisted of awesome Halloween decorations everywhere, as well Halloween-themed activities for kids.
One of the cool kids activities at our campsite was painting pumpkins (during a very windy day).	Alexi and Mateo are obsessed with cats, so they painted cat faces on their pumpkins.
A mini-golf course was right next to our campsite.  Of course there is a mini-waterfall, representative of Niagara Falls which is a ten minute ride away.	Sharon LOVES mini-golf; she played with her family every summer down the shore.  She had a great game and came in 1st place(!)
Mateo sets up the perfect putt with his blue ball, that matches his shirt.	Alexi sets up his shot with his yellow ball, both his favorite color and the color that matches his Crocs.
Right next door to mini-golf was go-carts, which are one of Alexi's most favorite things in the world.	Mateo immensely enjoyed riding in a go-cart with David.
Alexi and Mateo got to go trick or treating at our campsite!  Alexi dressed up as a chess knight and Mateo was a Revolutionary War general.	Can you spot a chess knight and general in this pic???!!!
Alexi and Mateo pose with their goodie bags full of treats...	...and they only encountered one trick along the way!
After trick-or-treating we drove to Niagara Falls to see it illuminated at night in various colors.  Pictured here is one of Sharon's favorites...GREEN!	Niagara Falls is free to visit at night, and attracts many visitors from all over the United States.
Niagara Falls illuminated in a pale green...	...and here the patriotic red, white and blue.
Alexi and Mateo woke up early each morning of our camping trip and headed straight to the basketball court.	Is this shot going to go in the hoop?  Mateo and Alexi's eyes follow the ball.
Early in the morning we headed back to Niagara Falls.  We took Alexi to Horseshoe Falls when he was two on an earlier fall foliage trip.	First stop: Maid of the Mist Boat Tour.
We went on the Maid of the Mist for the first time ever as a family of four.	Mateo and Alexi show off their *PINK* ponchos, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Maid of the Mist is named so appropriately; you get incredibly close to the mist coming off the Falls.	We saw a RAINBOW while on Maid of the Mist.
We got soooooo incredibly close to Niagara Falls...	...and we got TOTALLY SOAKED by the Falls while on Maid of the Mist!  It was AWESOME!
Drying off on this windy day after our *FABULOUS* Maid of the Mist boat ride.	Family photo by Niagara Falls, with iconic Canadian landmarks in the background.
Niagara Falls looks different in daylight, though still absolutely beautiful.	Mateo and Sharon pose in front of yet another rainbow at this lookout.
In the late afternoon we visited Cave of the Winds and got SOAKED once again(!)	In the Cave of the Winds Tour you get incredibly close to Niagara Falls.
Mateo is SUPER EXCITED for Halloween!	Alexi is SUPER EXCITED that he found a one dollar bill at our campsite!
We enjoyed riding paddleboats at our campsite...for the first time ever, Mateo got to paddle!	Sharon and Alexi paddled out to the middle of the pond.
On Indigenous People's Day, Sharon had to work, so while Sharon was teaching remotely in the cabin David took Alexi and Mateo to the batting cages.  Alexi missed his Little League Season this spring due to the coronavirus pandemic, so he was super excited to get back up to bat.	Mateo is up to bat&ready to make contact.  He has always loved baseball, and this was his first time going to batting cages.
On our drive back to NYC we spotted this sign and made a stop.	Sharon adores roadside farm stands operating on the honor system.  This one had exactly what we were looking for...PUMPKINS!!!
These are the best pumpkin pickers a girl could ever ask for in the universe!	From this table we selected both an orange and yellow(!) pumpkin, and dropped our payment in a plastic bag with rocks and put it inside the door to be found the next morning.
David wanted to get back to his Ithaca roots, so we stopped at Thai Basil in Ithaca to enjoy eating inside an actual restaurant.  Due to the pandemic, we have not been inside a restaurant since early March.	Sharon and Mateo are total foodies who LOVE Thai food!
Alexi shows off his love of cats with his facemask.	We had a fabulous fall foliage camping trip to Niagara Falls.