At the Intrepid

The spring break in a full swing, but we didn't go anywhere this year.
 Here are some pictures from yesterday's NYC outing at the Intrepid museum.

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Max in Guys and Dolls

Max's first performance at SLS stage - he plays a Gambler in "Guys and Dolls, Jr.".

Connecticut welcomes new driver Olga

Quiz: Are you 18?

Max's Homework - Wordly Wise Story “It’s Good to be 18”

Wordly Wise Story “It’s Good to be 18”

By Max Lyakovetsky, Feb 24, 2011

Vocabulary Words:

·        vote
·        jury duty
·        play lottery
·        gamble
·        own a credit card
·        buy rifles and shotguns
·        drive by himself
·        join the military
·        get a piercing or tatoo
·        sue someone
·        be tried as an adult
·        rent an apartment

Hey, Mark! I turned 18 awhile ago and got some sick tattoos! You should swing by my newly rented apartment soon and I can show you the sweet Gatling gun I got at the weapon shop yesterday for some million bucks. When you come, we could play for the lottery together, and party all night with the worry of getting sued and serving jury duty.Then we'll go to Vegas to gamble and  pick up two hot chicks and be like "WHOO!" at our hotel. And since I have a credit card, we could order room service for our ladies. We'll then vote for McCain and Palin, and to straighten ourselves after all of this, we'll go to the Army recruiting center and spend our lives in Afghanistan 'till the War on Terror ends. Wait Mark, you're 18, right?

b.Sanya (standing), her sister Lisa and her brother Sasha, around 1920.

Swan Lake

Last Wednesday, the four of us went to see "Swan Lake" at Lincoln Center. The seats were okay and the sound was a bit too soft and the set design was too minimalistic and Odelia tripped and fell (come on, NYC ballet!) and a person in the next row was coughing not stop, but still, it was wonderful and many thanks to Mom to make it all happen.

 More pictures here

Max's Recital on Feb 8, 2011

"Shenandoah" (also called "Across the Wide Missouri")

Pics from Picnic

Here are some (very good) pics by Kostya from his birthday picnic last fall.

More pictures here.

Class Reunion 2011

 Party in Connecticut

More Snow, Again

 

More Pictures

Ice Dam

All this snow and cold weather caused formation of ice dams on the edge of the roof and the backflow of melted from the house heat snow into the walls and windows. We were inventing all sorts of creative ways to trap water (see picture) and to melt snow. Turns out, all these "salt socks" (pantyhose filled with salt and thrown on the roof) don't work. What works is Carlos and his helper precariously balancing on a tall ladder with buckets of hot water, shovel and a hammer.

It's good to know that we are not the only ones suffering from this - apparently this condition is quite common, but last time it happened so wide spread was in 1993. Come summer, we'll be putting new roof and electric ice melter.

P.S. They promise more damn snow this Friday - kids hope for no school, while I'm dreading the consequences.

Конфеты

Вернулась с зимних каникул Ольга, привезла мешок "русских" конфет.

More Snow

With Piskunov's

We met with our university friends Piskunov's who were in New York to catch up on the past 18 years. We spent an evening in the city and at our place and then we went to see "Billy Elliot", which was very disappointing.

 See more pictures here

Winter Sports

Alik and I went for some cross country skiing in the nearby Huntington State Park in Redding.

Click here to see more pictures.

The roads are all clean and snow is starting to melt, so Leon, meanwhile, went out on his bike.

Snow Day

We've got about a foot of snow this past Sunday and spent some fun time on Monday digging out.

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Killington 2010

Leon and I just came back from the 11th annual trip to Killington. It was overcast all three days but not too cold or too windy. Temps around 25F. Snow was okay, mostly man-made, but not too icy.

Leon with Sergey, Alex, Dennis and Alex's friend

An iPhone video of Leon going down the Chute

Max's Performance at Steinway in Westport Dec 16

This is seriously good! It's only a minute - it's worth a listen.

(sorry for smallish video)

Leon's page for Senior Year Book

 (designed by Leon)

My son and money go to...

 

We haven't signed the papers yet, but it is almost certain.

Celebrities Among Us

 

"... попал под лошадь..."

Here is the link: http://www.greenwichtime.com/default/article/New-ice-age-Skaters-revel-in-expanded-Westport-834313.php

B-Day and T-Day

This Thursday we had lots of friends & family over for Irene's b-day and Thanksgiving. We cooked proper holiday meal, turkey and all, and used the occasion to makeover downstairs rooms (essentially, by pushing all the garbage into my office).

Sorry, we didn't take any pictures hoping that some of our guests would do. So, guests, please add  your pictures to this post.

Max Run at Sherwood Park

Here are some pics from Max's run at Sherwood Park early November.

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Happy Halloween

 

... more pictures ...

Hallway Photoshoot

Ольга

The Diary of Anne Frank

Yesterday we saw "The Diary of Anne Frank" at Westport's Playhouse. It's a hard to watch play, obviously. It was well set and well played. I think no one in the audience remained unmoved and the closing scene brought tears to many. But a somewhat unexpectedly lighter moment came at the very end, when actors came out for a bow. After all actors playing the main characters in the play got their share of applause, the three actors who played Nazis showed up and people in the audience just didn't know how to react... A wave of nervous laughter and some light boos rolled through the audience and then some scattered applause here and there.