Dear Asher: 6 Years

Dear Asher,

Happy 6th birthday! I think I say this every year, but this might have been my favorite year so far. You are just so darn loveable. I mean, look at this face!

I love that you genuinely want to spend time with us--whether it's going on adventures in our forest, reading books, playing with Lego, doing science experiments, baking, or just being silly together. We always have a good time playing. You're also becoming more independent though. You've taken your first solo flights (to Texas and Florida) and are getting better at solo play.

You graduated kindergarten and are on your way to first grade! This school year was a big adjustment for you and it wasn't always smooth sailing. But you did a great job communicating with us about what you need. Your teachers also helped a lot, getting you extra help to learn how to write better. Now you're reading, writing, drawing, and doing math problems in your head for fun. Oh, and you're learning Hebrew too. It's a lot! Even though you are still a reluctant reader, it's fun watching you discover the world around you through this unlocked talent.

You made some good friends this year in school and still remain close to your buddies from the Pod from last year. You had several playdates with many of the kids in your class and you got "married" a few times to Roxy, Raquel, and Eva. But Zahara and I still seem to be your number one girls.

I wouldn't necessarily call you an athlete, but I'm proud of the efforts you've been putting in with karate, soccer, swimming, and skiing. Karate and soccer weren't your favorites, but you'd be happy skiing or swimming any day. It's so fun watching you learn a new skill! You'll be out-skiing daddy and I next season!

You finally lost your first teeth just this week! I know you've been telling everyone that you already lost teeth but that's not true. You grew shark teeth just like your sister and the baby teeth are hanging around forever. I'm sure more visits from the Tooth Fairy are just around the corner.

One of my favorite things about you, other than your incredible sense of humor, is your empathy. You are (almost) always thinking of others. You ask about how people are feeling, how their days are, if they'd like to share your food. It's incredibly endearing. Paired with your hilarious sayings, like "this oatmeal is kind of dry if you ask me," you just keep me smiling all day long. Not counting when you go full Hulk mode and start throwing pillows, of course.

Ash, we love the young man you are today and can't wait to see what the next year holds for you. Happiest of happy birthdays! We love you!

Dear Asher: 5 Years

Dear Asher,

Happy birthday to our funny, silly, smart, loving five year old! 

You handled all of this year's changes and uncertainty with grace. The biggest change for you this year was school. With the pandemic still in full-swing, we decided to create a small pod for you, Elnatan, and Adam. We hired the most amazing teacher, Morah Sharon, who taught you math, English, Hebrew, holidays, and more. You baked challah every week, you crafted, you went for hikes, you learned to like dogs...and so much more! We are so lucky that you got to spend your last year in pre-school with a fantastic group.

It's so hard to believe you'll be heading to Kindergarten this fall. You're ready though! You can now write your own name and have even started recognizing some sight words like mom, dad, Zahara, son, sun, cat, and more. Sometimes to get my attention, you'll even call out "M.O.M." It's very fun to see you starting to figure out reading.

Your math skills are growing too. You love asking what numbers add up to and solving equations like 2+2 or 4+4 on your own. This year you've also gotten more excited about science. You got a science kit for Chanukah and you conducted countless experiments with it. You'll make an "experiment" out of almost anything--dirt, worms, food.

And while you're getting so much bigger and more independent in a lot of ways, you're still our little boy. You love being around us, which I know won't last for ever. And as much as we love being with you, sometimes, Asher, you just need to go to the bathroom by yourself without me or daddy reading you a book!

What can I say about you and your sister? The truth is that you guys drive each other crazy. But, you also really love and care about each other. When you're not fighting, you actually play so well together. Daddy and I love seeing that side of your relationship, and we hope that continues to grow.

Asher, you are a true joy to be around. You are constantly telling us you love us, making up songs about how wonderful we are, and smothering us with kisses. You camp counselors tell us there is no staffer who doesn't love you. It's so delightful and I hope that never changes.

Happy fifth birthday Asher! We can't wait to see what this next year brings!

See Asher's other birthday wishes here.

Tonga Week!

As summer comes to a close, we decided to wrap up our around-the-world adventures. I'll have a highlights post with some of our favorites, but for now, I'll fill you in on our last stop on this world tour: Tonga. 

Craft/Culture

Why Tonga, you might ask? Or where is Tonga--another valid question. Tonga is a Polynesian nation of more than 170 islands located in the Pacific Ocean. Only a few of those islands are inhabited, with some islands even disappearing and reappearing with volcanic activity and erosion.

This week I let Zahara choose the country. She had recently listened to a podcast called Wow in the World (family favorite!) that highlighted this island nation and wanted to learn more about it. I'm all about interest-led learning, so off we went!

I posted earlier about how we used this country week as an excuse to visit a nearby waterfall (see here). It was a bit of a stretch, but we had fun pretending we were exploring a Tongan island and that the sand and mud were volcanic. 

Dan helped get us into the spirit of the week by buying a young coconut. We drank the water and then used the shell to make a coconut bra. Ha! Mixed verdict on the water. The meat wasn't ready to eat--it was more gelatinous than I was expecting, and the water was a little bitter. But two thumbs up for Dan's engineering skills and Zahara's dancing skills!

We also watched Moana this week. It was a nice tie-in to talk about the Polynesian culture and their ancient traditions. I love this movie. It's so beautiful. And of course the songs are incredible. 

Food

When Zahara first mentioned Tonga, I wasn't sure there would be much to eat this week. Turns out there are a ton of Tongan dishes that we could make at home. You won't be surprised to find out that almost all of them center around coconut. Here was our menu: ota'ika, lu pulu, lu sipi, kale moa, otai. No, I'd never heard of any of these before either.

Ota'ika is a little like a Tongan ceviche. It's raw tuna mixed with coconut milk, tomatoes, and bell peppers. It was pretty good, actually. We got all of our ingredients from H Mart.

Lu pulu and lu sipi are the same dish, but with different proteins. Lu pulu is lamb and lu sipi is beef. You make them both of them by wrapping the meat, onions, and coconut milk in taro or banana leaves and then cooking them in the oven. Traditionally, lu sipi uses canned corned beef. We made our own corned beef instead, and it turned out great. This was a really different dish--and not at all visually appealing, but I enjoyed it.

Kale moa is a chicken curry with...you guessed it. Coconut milk! I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but Asher was a great sous chef. 

This watermelon drink was really refreshing! We made it the traditional way without coconut. We all loved it, and Zahara even asked for seconds.

I was really surprised that we were able to make a whole week out of this tiny country, but we did! This was a good reminder to me to not say no automatically to my kids' ideas, but instead to explore and learn with them. Tonga was a wonderful host for our last week around the world.

See our other country weeks here.

Summer Musings by Asher

I can't keep up with writing down all the hilarious things Asher is saying these days. He's so chatty, and is at the stage where he's curious about everything. And I mean everything.

Thought 1:
Asher: Dear G-d, You are the best G-d ever. You make the plants grow. Thank you.

Thought 2:
Asher: Mommy, let's both be monkeys. That's my dream.

Thought 3:
Asher: Mommy, can I see your vagina?

Me: No, that's private. We don't show people our private parts.

Asher: Can I see my penis?

Me: Yes, you can look at your own penis.

Asher, checking his pants: Yup, it's great!

Click here to see some of Asher's previous thoughts.
And to see his equally insightful and hilarious sister, click here.

Spain Week!

This week it was back to Europe to visit Spain. Spain is one of my favorite countries. I've been a few times, and each time I fell in love with the food, the culture, and the smell of oranges that pervade the Valencia region.  

In Spain with my parents and sister (and pregnant with Z); 2013

Culture

Dan hit it out of the park with this one. He found some fantastic videos to watch that taught us fascinating new traditions. Of course we've heard of the running of the bulls, but watching this video was eye-opening. We didn't watch it in advance, so we found ourselves in an interesting position of explaining bull-fighting to the kids. Let's just say they were not fans.

We also already knew about Gaudi, but seeing his creations all together was cool. The kids loved the gingerbread house the most, but were also pretty excited about the stone forest and gorgeous stained glass in La Sagrada Famila. We watched this video to learn more about his work.

Back in the days when we were traveling a ton (man, I really miss those days), we loved learning about new destinations from Rick Steves. We did several of his walking and audio tours (British Museum, Montepulciano, Rhine Valley, Notre Dame) and always found him to provide helpful tidbits and interesting facts. This video provided the same about the Andalucian region in Spain. We learned about their lifestyle, history, and eating habits.

But the piece de resistance was learning about a Catalan tradition called castells. These are incredible human towers can reach several stories high! Each tower involves around 1,000 people, and usually includes a small child (around age 7-9) at the top. It's really hard to describe how incredible this is. Please watch this video and learn more about it. 

Source

We also looked through our travel pictures and showed the kids our favorite parts of Spain. I've been to Spain five times. I traveled with my friend Leah in college and went on a girls' trip to Alicante while living in England. Together, Dan, Zahara and I visited Barcelona and Tenerife, and we traveled with my family to Malaga when I was seven months pregnant. 

Funny story: Dan and I knew what we were naming Zahara, but no one else did. We INSISTED we visit the Spanish town of Zahara to collect some memorabilia and take pictures. Sadly, it was pouring rain, so the only thing we saw there was a cozy restaurant and a cemetery. All the shops were closed, so the only memento we got was a picture of a storm drain. This picture still hangs in her room today. 

Food

Spanish food is such a treat. I love having lots of little things, so tapas are perfect for me (as long as I don't have to share with too many people--ha!). In addition to tapas though, we made several other Spanish dishes. Here was our menu for the week: tortilla de patatas, tinto de verano, sangria, albondigas, various tapas, patatas bravas, rabo de toro, and arroz con leche.

The tortilla was so good we made it twice! The second time we added one more egg and cut the potatoes smaller. It's delicious!

We had a couple of Spanish drinks this week. Sangria is one of my favorite drinks, especially in summer. It's so nice and refreshing. But, apparently, locals don't really drink sangria. Spaniards drink something called tinto de verano ("summer red wine"), which tastes a lot like sangria but is less complicated to make. It's just red wine and sprite! Sounds crazy, but is really tasty.

Albondigas are Spanish meatballs. These were good, but I didn't get a real "Spanish" taste from them. I probably wouldn't make this recipe again. Same with the patatas bravas. They were perfectly crunchy, and I liked the sauce a lot. But the potatoes were a bit salty.

We ordered in from Jaleo to experience a few different Spanish tapas. I love Jose Andres restaurants (as seen here, here, and here). We got gazpacho, ensalada Rusa, marinated olives, cauliflower and dates, manchego flautas, roasted salmon, marinated mushrooms, spinach and raisins, and more manchego cheese. It was a spread!

We made our own tapas plate the next night with leftovers and veggies.

We tried to make a traditional oxtail stew, but had a hard time finding kosher oxtail. Instead, Dan made this recipe with short ribs. It was really tasty--especially with Dan's homemade sourdough to sop up the sauce!

I've never been a huge fan of rice pudding, but this was pretty good. The kids and Dan loved it. I can see how some people consider it a comfort food.

It's easy to see why I love Spain so much. It's such a wonderful country with so much to explore. I hope to visit in person again one day soon with the kids. Meanwhile, next country is a bit of a surprise. Stay tuned for our trip to Tonga!

See our other country weeks here.

Chasing Waterfalls at Patapsco Park

We are busy soaking up the last bits of summer here. I know everyone says it, but time is so crazy right now. It simultaneously feels like it was just March and also like it's always been summer. 

We've been doing our best to explore the cool towns and gorgeous parks around here. This week we explored Patapsco Valley and its Cascade Falls. We've heard great things about this park from others, and the pictures were enough to convince us to give it ago.

Apparently everyone else also had the same idea this weekend; we had a hard time getting into the park. First, the Google directions led us to a private driveway, then, when we finally found the correct entrance, the park ranger had just closed the park because it reached capacity. Thankfully, there was another entrance on the other side of the park that was still open. We raced to that entrance and crossed our fingers it would still be open when we got there. Thankfully, it was!

This entrance was a mile from the falls and the swinging bridge, whereas the other entrance was right next to them. Thankfully, though the terrain was pretty rough, the kids did amazing. I'm a week behind in our country week reports (asynchronous learning, right?), but this week we're in Tonga. We pretended that we were exploring one of the 170 islands that make up Tonga as we hiked through the dense jungle and swam in the waterfall and river. 

It took us an hour and a half to hike one mile, but honestly, I'm so impressed with the kids. There were no complaints, only joy. To say Zahara is not a walker is an understatement, so this was a big deal for us.

The walk was totally worth it. We got to the waterfall and were able to swim and take some pictures. The water was pretty chilly, but we all had a good time. 

After chilling in the waterfall for a bit, we climbed down and across the swinging bridge and down to the beach. 

This park used to house the Orange Grove Flour Mill, but it was destroyed in fire in 1905. Today, red bricks from the mill are scattered around the beach and in the river. The kids loved building structures with these bricks and the rocks they found in the shallow, warm waters.

The hike back took us around an hour, and the kids mostly did well. There were a few well-timed bribes of lychee fruit (which is apparently Asher's new favorite fruit). I'd highly recommend this park to anyone who wants a lovely day out. Have you been? Where else around Maryland should we explore? Leave me a comment below!