The First Step Has Been Taken

Last night Sammie to the first step on her trip of a lifetime. and as with any trip is starts with that first step. Taken at Bob Hope Airport.... Well actually the first goodbye was at Bobby's wit a good friend Soldier Mike) The the real event last night at the airport.

With Ashleigh the star trying to distract herself from the later events to the Cell Phone message that she now has on her phone.

I will figure out how to put it on the blog but until then.... you will just have to imagine

I'm wonwey, so wonwey, so wonwey and sadly awone. My sister has weft me so please weave your name and number after the tone.

If you know her number that is great (but please not during school hours)

We then had the long walk to security and then the wait (probably the most entertaining part of the evening) before security for the rest of her traveling party. So here are a few pictures but a flicker will come later.

Summer Is over.....

Here we are at Ashleighs first day of High School....I can remember when she started kindergarten it was actually on the day that we were moving into this house. We had slept in the house and had breakfast out of an ice cooler when we left for the bus the house was empty when they came home it was full of boxes and furniture.... O.k. so memory lane has to stop it is time to look forward.

Celia and Sean are getting situated in their new apartment. The furniture arrived yesterday the cable and internet arrives later today (ohhhh the pleasure of waiting for a service call) and then the phone comes the day after.

Samantha has spent her last night in the house.... yes she leaves tonight for New York and then for Israel on Sunday but that will be another entry. She was not as excited as I expected when I woke her up.

Morgan is back in Florida...waiting to see if she is getting the day off because of hurricane Ernesto. I just heard the news and I think she went to school Ernesto kind of pooped out.

And that brings be back full circle to Miss Ashleigh who is on her way to high school(Sam is just doing the driving). The dichotomy of it is kind of weird yes I know I am off on a tangent. I am looking at the build up for my niece who is on her way to kindergarten (next week) and the excitement of that first day of school (her mom started me on blogging so I am sure hers will be a good one) to the same old same old of sending the last kid off to the first day of high school and it just kind of happens.

Saying goodbye again......

Well I guess you can say it more than once but it doesn't mean that it is any easier the second time or the the third time. As I mentioned in an earlier posting Celia and Sean were back for 3 days and Ashleigh was home from camp and we are 6 days away from Sam leaving for New York and 11 days for Israel. So we had to go to dinner it seems like that is the way we have been saying good-by this year which is not necessarily a bad thing because that way some one else is cooking and cleaning up and we can concentrate on making memories. We read in Celia and Sean's Blog that he was exposed to Sushi for the first time on drive to Portland so it only seemed appropriate that on the second good by down here that we have sushi... He tried a few more items but stuck to what he liked best. Dinner was followed by Ice Cream at our house and good byes from some of their cousins.

Watching my little girls grow up...

Time is an interesting thing. When your in the middle of a project and it seems to moves so slowly but then all of sudden the event is over and then you realize that what you thought happened just yesterday (actually August 1988) was really 18 years ago and you wonder where the time went?went?

And you keep watching and they grow a little here and a little there and three years later they look like this...

and the little girls grew up

And now here we are just 18 years later and look at them two sister on two different sides of the world. Celia in Portland and Sam off to Israel (watch the blog for more details on that adventure)

There are more stars to this story you will just have to come back to the blog to see who they are and how they have grown

Sheee's Back.......

We knew this day would come but it just seemed like a long time coming.... Ashleigh is back from camp and Celia is back from portland (only for 3 days) but tonight we will get to see Sean eat sushi... watch for my next post for details.

Joelle had spent the night at Bubbies so she was on hand to help Sam get ready. and then before we knew it it was 10:30 and we were all down at the synagogue to see the buses come in and see Ashleigh come off ...

It was really good to see her but then we had to find her luggage.... that part was not as easy but we found them and headed home to her favoite fan who was not allowed to come down. Shomer knew something was happening today he could feel it in the air.... so I will let the pictures tell the story.

No More Jamba Juice...

I know that seems like a very strange thought because there are plenty of them around the neighborhood but on the other hand I could have called the post 7 more days...Because that is all we have left with Sam for a year. And today was her last day at Jamba.

I was talking to a friend of mine today about how fast time seems to have gone by... We were reminiscing about how just a short time ago (o.k. to us it was a short time ago) Sam and Peter were sweet little kids just 4 years old unable to actually follow a cat down some stairs and ending up in a neck brace only to have Sam in her best concerned voice ask "did he broked da bones in his neck?" and now they are both off to college.


And then there is the concept of 50 pounds. It seems like a lot but in reality it is not that much. Just think about Sam can have two suitcases at 50 pounds each and a carryon at 30 pounds however Sam is only 114 pounds...Maybe we will just pack her and be done with it.

Actually it is a lot harder than I thought it would be we have one case packed however I am not sure how we are going to get the next one done. it is kind of cathartic packing these bags making decisions whether to take or to leave, to take now or to ship (20-30 days). My baby is going away and when I am just thinking about it during daylight hours I am fine with it, but when I am winding down or working with her on packing her bag the reality of it sets in. One moment I am so excited she will be in Israel exploring and learning with 90 other kids who love Israel as much as she does. An then we have only 7 days left and we still have so much left to do learn to use skype, finish packing, some good bye dinners, orientation brunch and just getting Ashleigh ready for her first day of High School (she comes home tomorrow) not to mention the clients who are interested in a little of my attention. And finally, she is leaving in 7 days she will be 5 hours away by plane and in 10 days she will be 19 hours away and it is not even the safety issues I feel very safe about sending her but she just won't be here for me, her sister, her grand mother and her step dad.

Well we have one suitcase done and 80 pounds to go.

How Many Times Can Barry Celebrate his Birthday?

On July 24th the girls decided to make it Aug 11th and celebrate

Barry's birthday. Don't those dresses look great they are all the same dress ( I really thought they grew out of being dressed in the same clothes) The three of them built the Bear a bear and if you get to his office you can hear them sing him happy birthday.

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and then on Aug 11th the real birthday for both Barry, Gary and Shomer we had one more little party.

The gang at the office got Barry a blueberry scone and sang him happy birthday

At home we had a little more indepth celebration with all of the fixing for both of the birthday boys.... o.k. the birthday boy and his dog but it was both of their birthdays

And then it was up to Samantha and me we got him an Ice Cream Cake that we did enjoy ... shomer got a greenie.

They Say It's Your BIrthday!!!

Saturday Aug 19 was a beautiful day and we gathered as many members of the family as we could to wish our matriach "Da Bubbe" a very happy 73rd birthday.

although everyone was not available those that were there had a great time. Sam made sure that she was able to get in as many cousins as possible, some were more cooperative than others. and one had eyes only for Jon... to bad he wasn't able to be there. And Sean (jon) if you can't figure it out she is blowing you a kiss.

There were only 11 days left in Samantha's countdown for Israel. And I think it might have been the Pina Colada's but it hit me that she is almost gone and I still have so much left to do. but alas this is one of those moments that you have to hold on to because before you now it they are gone. and no matter how hard you try they don't come back.

Well Ma.. I hope you had the opportunity to grab the day and make some great memories. Happy Birthday

Visitors Day at Camp Ramah

It was a great drive up, the weather was wonderful and I know that I speak for all of us when I say that we were very excited to see Ashleigh... and it was nice to know that she was excited to see us also.

First and most important after the hugs and "Ohhh my God I am so glad to see you" were the slurpeees that we picked up with the Lorch car (our caravan companions) in Oxnard because that was the last 7-11 before Ojai. And for the record if you put the slurpee in a plastic cup and then pack it in ice it will last a pretty long time...however after they were given to Ash and Stacy they didn't last long at all.



We had a wonderful lunch with Ash and while we were there Celia called she and Sean were about 4 hours away from Leslie’s house in Portland. Ash tried to talk to her but Ramah is not known for its cell phone reception.

What is visitors day... while we were driving up I was saying that it was a Bad Idea... here we go (parents, grand parents, siblings, friends) just 10 days before they come home, up to camp to disrupt the sessions. Kids who might have been homesick were over it and now they are seeing their parents again this is not good. And if you decided not to go up then your kid was the only one without parents and no one to bring them the good food that they were not getting at camp (just for the record we brought: Greek salad, pita and dips, goldfish, crackerjacks, gushers, Arizona tea, soda, spinach artichoke dip and various chips).

What I realized was this day was not for the campers it was for the counselors and not that they should have the day off but so their friends could come and visit them. How do I know this well first I brought one of the visiting friends with us in our car, no not Sam she did come to see her sister ... even though she disappeared from time to time with some of her people. But we also had Jason D in the car with us and on the bus up to camp however once we got up there he was gone. He had people to see and counselors to hug.

Now I have to admit I did enjoy the day. I had really been missing Ashleigh even though it did give us a chance to really clean her room without her saying that she wanted to keep everything. But it is just not the same around the house without her humor and smile. Besides she got to show us some of her art work and her tent. We had a chance to meet her counselors. She has some really great counselors this year one of them was on Nativ last year so it was good for Ash to hear first hand about the stuff that Sam will be doing soon.

One Little Chick All by Herself

We started the summer with 4 little chick.... and what a great summer it was

but it was not going to last and soon we said goodbye to Ashleigh as she left for Camp....

and then there were three
but that would only last one night... When our next little chick Morgan would fly the coop and I mean fly all the way back to Florida to start school (but that is a story for another blog entry)


and then we were down to two....

the two that are going the farthest away...

On Saturday Aug 12 Celia and Sean started their move north and they have arrived safely.



Which brings me back to the first picture of Sam all by herself... But that won't last to much longer because Ashleigh will be back in just 10 days and in 16 days Sam will be gone for a year.

Well it's not like they are moving to Siberia...



On Thursday we had a final dinner so to speak... Because after this coming Saturday we will only be having dinner with them when they come back to visit or we go up to see them.

We had a great time and the only part of the evening that was missing was Ashleigh and Morgan

These two little chicks are going far away and it will be a while till they have the time to play... It seem so surrealistic to think that I have kids old enough to be going away for a year of college and forget the concept of them moving
off to start a home of their own and to make their own nest... It is amazing to see the cycle continue.

In his best "Father Knows Best Style" Barry sent them off with matching folder on how to keep the relationship alive and not to sweat the small stuff and most of all a big bear hug and that we love them and wish them safe travels.

At 4:22 p.m. on Sunday August 13 they made it safley to Portland.

Isn't this what young love should look like.

We have been saying so many good-by's that I really didn't get a chance to see this day catching up on us.

Tomorrow night Celia and Sean will be joining us for a kind of last supper.... well at least a last supper with us for a while.

This Saturday they will leave for Portland... I have known about this day for a while but everything has been so busy that I haven't had a lot of time to really think about it... we have been boxing things up... and throwing things out ... but now it's time. We have been joking about the chicks flying the coop... However this really is my first chick flying the coop to start her own nest. O.k. Mom, consider this an apology... I don't quite know for what but I apologize. So I guess we will be visiting Portland more often. I know that we will be keeping track of what they are up to with their little place on the net.

For Celia and Sam this will be a longer separation then they have ever had. Because even thought Celia will be back down here Samantha will be leaving for Israel (for 10 Months) before she comes back down. Ashleigh said her good by's before she left for camp but there is always winter break. And I can only hope that Morgan will be able to coordinate her vacation out here with Celia and Sean coming down.

A part of me is sad to see this chapter close, we will never have just "my 4 girls" again. The family events will now have a new family to that will join the mix.... and where Celia was once part of our gang it will now be Celia and Sean as their own family unit. And that new chapter makes me very excited. So I guess we will all have to watch their blog and see how their story plays out.