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.

Click here to see more pictures.

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.

More Pictures

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.

Welcoming Fall

We celebrated the formal arrival of the fall season with the following (all in the space of 4 days):
 1. Power Outage (two) - have to install the transfer switch, $700 and buy new generator, $500
 2. Fallen tree limb precariously balancing over the power, cable and telephone wires - emergency tree removal, $600
 3. Bent front wheel - hit it on a pothole, had to be replaced, $350
 4. Leaky skylight - for now, I just threw some blue tarp over it.

For tonight and all day tomorrow, they promise "heavy, drenching rain, 2-4 inches and gusty wind". Joy.

Max Runs his First Race

Max's afterschool activity this quarter is cross-country and this Thursday was his first race - about 1.5 miles on the trails in Waveny Park. He finished in the middle of his middle-school field, which is great, especially provided that he is one of the youngest in the group.

Max Invents Rifle for "Lefties"

Max designed a rifle (well, a Lego rifle) with the bolt action that swings over the barrel to work for "lefties" like himself. Said, happen by accident - true invention.

Homebrew

Dad made his first clam chowder. See more in our "sister" blog here.

Facebook "Invite"

BASE jumps at Martha's Vineyard

The wind at the South Beach was too strong for any swimming or sunbathing, but Max and Leon braved the dunes (before got yelled at by the environmentally minded coastguard) and engaged in a little parkour competition.

See more (but less dramatic) parkour pictures here.