For Soph’s birthday this year we took her and a few friends to a restaurant called POD, which is on Penn’s campus in West Philly. It’s a restaurant that Dave and I frequented in college, then it closed for a bit, and now it’s back and has the same vibe. You can reserve a sort of private area called a pod, which is what we did for Soph and her friends. Dave, Lauren, my mom and I sat at a table far enough away so that we didn’t cramp their style, but we could still spy 😉
At our house beforehandIn their own POD
The next day we celebrated at home with a cake and family and her friend Jojo.
The birthday girlSoph and Jojoshowing off her new kicks
Well, it happened. Sophia is 13! We had a small family party for her on the big day, which was a Wednesday, and then she wanted to go to a Sixers game with her friends, so the following Saturday Dave took her and three friends to a game against the Celtics. The had a heartbreaking loss, but everyone had a good time anyway.
Ralph Macchio, heart be still! Cake 1 was a strawberry shortcakeCake 2 was a strawberry cakeDave and the girls at the Sixers game
In November we all went down to St. Pete Florida to celebrate Dad’s 70th birthday. It was a nice warm break from the cold weather back home. We stayed in a resort right on the beach that had pools, a huge blowup slide on the beach, and activities for the kids like paddle boats and zip lines. It was a really nice, relaxing getaway and a fun celebration.
the beach babesLauren and AriCousins! Not the best family photo
For Dad’s birthday dinner we went to a seafood restaurant that had a huge aquarium in the dining room.
The birthday boyThe whole fam
I think Dad enjoyed the weekend having the whole family around and just chilling on the beach. Happy Birthday, dad! We love you!
My birthday was on a Friday this year and we spent it (big surprise) in Rock Hall. The kids had spent the previous week in Va. with my family and then drove up to spend the weekend with us.
On Friday night, Dave’s dad’s band, Unknown Legends, played at Waterman’s, so we all went there for dinner and to hear them. They’re pretty good and they even sang me happy birthday!
Afterward we went back to the house for some cake.
And we celebrated again the following night with the Townsends as well.
This birthday sure beat last year’s where I was 3 days post-surgery and laid up on the couch in the living room. It was a great weekend, filled with family and friends. What more could you want!
On March 2nd we celebrated Sophie’s 12th birthday! It was a Wednesday, so the Saturday before she had a slumber party with a few friends from school. We went out to Teppenyaki in our neighborhood, which was an idea that a lot of people had, because it was crazy crowded. We all smooshed around a table and were entertained and fed.
At Teppenyaki with her friends
Then we headed back to our house where we set up an ice cream sundae bar and the kids watched movies in the livingroom – while Dave, Lauren, and I all watched Encanto in the basement.
Nightand morning
I’m not sure what time they were all asleep, but I did need to come down at 2AM to tell them to be quite. There were some very tired kids in the morning.
On her actual birthday the Sharps came over for dinner and cake. She opened presents – a skateboard and fleece from the Sharps, crop hoodie and fluffy pillow cases from my parents, Lauren made her a wall clock, and we got her a VR set that she’s been asking for for ages.
clock made by LaurenVR setthe beautiful birthday girl!
There were a lot of things that happened in Sophie’s 11th year – she started middle school, she got braces, she joined the school theater group, she joined the Gender and Sexuality Alliance at school, she sang the national anthem at an Eagles game, she (just) started going to school without a mast required. We’re looking forward to all that will come in year 12!
On December 28th we celebrated Lauren’s 9th birthday! My family was still here, so we celebrated Lauren all day and then that night had a combined birthday celebration with Lauren and Ari, whose birthday is January 6th.
Lauren had an indoor climbing birthday at Philly Rock Gym. Since the party was on a Tuesday and between Christmas and New Years there were a lot of friends out of town. But even with a small crowd, Lauren had a great time.
Lauren, Ari, Sophie
I even got into it!
Norah & Sophie
Lauren
That night the Sharps came over and we had pizza, chocolate cupcakes, and opened presents. Lauren’s favorite gift was moon bounce shoes from my mom.
Moon bounce shoes
The birthday girl!
Happy birthday to our sweet, funny, full of energy girl!
To celebrate her 96th birthday, Nana rented a beautiful waterfront house in Rock Hall (how convenient!) for the whole family. Between our house and the rented house we were able to have the whole group together. Some people were there for a whole week, and others just the weekend. We didn’t want to take the kids out of school (they’re far enough behind as it is), so we were part of the weekend crew.
It was a beautiful fall weekend and we spent a lot of it outside.
Lauren, Sophie, Ari, Kishore, Ashwini
Nana and Mom on the lawn in front of the house
Dave, Dan, Doug on the house’s dock
Ashwini, Kishore, Maithili
Lauren and Ari got a lot of time to play and love each other. The time together is never long enough for those two.
The great-grandkids also got in some good Gigi time.
We had a big Italian birthday dinner on Saturday night and I made an apple bourbon cake for dinner. It was a very happy and festive celebration!
We also got in some sailing. Dave captained two crews. On Saturday there was wind and they were able to do some sailing. Doug, Vicki, Carly, Chris, Julia, Maithili, Dad and Sophie went on that trip. And on Sunday there was little wind, but it was still beautiful, so Mom, Becky, Dan, Maithili, me and all the kids went. It was Ari’s first time on a boat and at first she was nervous, but eventually got comfortable, and event went up to the bow to sit with Sophie for a bit. We toured around the harbor and enjoyed some wine and snacks. It was lovely.
On Saturday right before the birthday dinner there was a beautiful rainbow that spanned the entire back of the house. Very fitting.
Sticking with the low key theme that has been our theme for the last 18 months, Dave welcomed 42 with a small family birthday celebration. And, we didn’t even celebrate on this actual birthday as he had to be in Atlanta, so we had dinner, cake and presents on the Friday after. While his travel hasn’t started up fully yet, it’s begun in earnest with a few trips so far.
A week after his birthday, he ran in the Philly Distance Run, which is an annual 1/2 marathon through Center City and Fairmount. And he got a PR! This man makes 42 look good!
I mentioned in the previous post that at the 4th of July BBQ at The Sharps, Petunia ran right into the side of my knee. After having several sets of x-rays I found out my tibial plateau was fractured and required surgery to repair it.
On July 12th, I had that surgery at Penn. The surgeon begin arthroscopically, but ended up needing to make an incision to tamp the bone back into place, and then two screws were placed beneath it to hold everything together. Unless there’s an issue down the road, those screws will remain in my knee indefinitely.
The surgery was outpatient and took about 2 hours and I was home by the afternoon.
Pre-surgery
Car ride back home after surgery
Below are x-rays from before and after. In the before x-ray you can see that the bone looks a little crushed down on the right (which is actually the left side of my left leg), which was then pushed back into place and held up with screws.
The first week after surgery I stayed downstairs exclusively and barely moved from the sleeper couch in our living room. Once the nerve block wore off I was in a lot of pain until I got the right combo of pain pills going. After about four days I started feeling better, and after a week I didn’t need to take pain pills anymore.
My view the first week home
I have another set of x-rays scheduled for next week and will have a better idea of my recovery plan, but for now I know I’m on crutches for at least six weeks, with little to no pressure on my left leg while the bone heals. It’s been both mentally and physically very challenging, but Dave and the girls have been my hands and legs. And my mom even flew in for five days to help out when Dave had to travel to Chicago (his first travel since the pandemic!).
My 42nd birthday also landed three days after surgery, when I was still pretty immobile on the sleeper couch. So we did a birthday dinner in the living room. As is my birthday tradition, I always have a hamburger, so Dave made a delicious one bedside!
We’re leaving for vacation on Dave/Pop pop’s actual birthday, so we celebrated a week early with a nice dinner and wine pairing down in Rock Hall. If it was non-COVID times we probably would have thrown a big party, but this was the second best option. Dave cooked the whole dinner and I made a cake. It was another beautiful early spring weekend, so we got to spend a lot of time outside.
The birthday boy!
The menu
On Sunday morning we walked to the beach where the Bay was like glass. Petunia loves to run around on the beach and will dip into the water, but won’t go in past her chest.
It was a really great, relaxing and celebratory weekend. It made me very excited for this coming summer and warm weather! This has been a long, cold winter and these glimpses of spring have been wonderful.
