I'm back!

HAPPY FALL!

Dear Family and Friends,
I took a little hiatus from writing posts the past several months. To be honest, life has been so busy that my blogging has been on the back burner. I am happy to be writing again, and I have a lot of catching up to do.

Gardening.

August was a good month. The weather was mild and beautiful, unlike the usual hot and humid weather we tend to get during the middle and late part of the summer. For the first time, we planted our garden in the yard instead of doing a container garden on the deck. Everything we grew turned out much better than before. Our cherry and plum tomatoes were absolutely delicious, and we made many dishes out of them. We also grew leaf lettuces such as arugula and kale, and we did a lot of pickling with the cucumbers we grew. Clara was a great helper in the garden, picking tomatoes and basil for salads.

There were several highlights for us during the month of August. Clara and I joined Joey at Incarnation Camp in Ivoryton, CT for his summer Choir Camp. The kids enjoyed singing and learning together and engaging in lots of fun activities, such as swimming, making s'mores and bonding games. Clara loved it, and the kids were really sweet with her. Our cabin was nice and updated, and the food was actually really good for a summer camp. Most importantly, the kids learned a lot, had fun, and left camp as even better friends. Next year we will be there for a whole week.

Choir Camp!

Calvary's awesome choristers!

We had a really nice visit from Joey's mom, her sister Mary and Mary's granddaughter Jessica. We took a couple of fun day trips and enjoyed showing Mary and Jessica around the area. It was their first time to New England. It was great to have them here, and Clara loved her time with Grandma!

The month ended with the wonderful celebration of marriage of my cousin Adam and his wife Natasha. They were married on August 31st in a beautiful ceremony in Montreal, Canada. My parents flew to CT, and we drove together to Montreal. Clara had a special role in the wedding as one of three flower girls. She did a great job walking down the isle in the procession and holding her roses. She danced the night away at the reception, and we all had a great time. The bride and groom were beautiful and totally in love. We are very excited for them and wish them a lifetime of happiness. Congrats Adam and Natasha!

Ready for the rehearsal dinner!

Sweet little flower girl.

Party time!

Bride and Groom.

The transition from summer into fall was quick, and we were off to our busy lives again. Clara started pre-school at Calvary Nursery School this fall. She goes to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30-1:30. She absolutely loves it, and her teachers are amazing. It is such a wonderful school, and we are so lucky that she can be a part of it. 

First day of school!

Clara is also back to ballet this year. She is already learning new things, and she is wanting to practice her moves at home without our pushing her to do so. She seems to be self-motivated when it comes to ballet.

Clara is extremely interested in learning new things, especially in the area of reading and writing. I have started homeschooling her a little bit as a supplement to what she is learning in school. Her reading and writing are coming along well, and she also really enjoys counting. It's easy to teach her because she is so eager to learn. Sometimes when we are working on something, I am the one asking for a break instead of her. It's pretty exciting.

We visited our apple orchard again this year, and Clara loved picking apples and pumpkins to bring home. Clara helped Joey bake an apple pie with the apples she picked, and it was really good! It has been a beautiful fall.

2012

2013

2014

Making apple pie.

Yum!

Earlier this month, my parents came for a visit during my mom's fall teaching break. We took a trip and spent one night on the Mohawk Trail, which is an old indian trade route through parts of Massachusetts. The drive along the trail is very scening and cuts through the Berkshire mountains. We spent one night in Williamstown, MA. It was a really fun trip, and an interesting area to explore. The trail just recently celebrated its 100th birthday. 

This picture cracks me up. It looks like a car commercial. 

View from the hotel.

This past weekend we celebrated my 31st birthday, as well as Clara's half birthday. We took Clara to a halloween-themed ballet which was put on by her ballet school. The ballet was about 20 minutes long and featured older students. It was followed by trick-or-treating in the theatre, and photo opportunities. Clara loved it and was inspired by the dancing. The event was really well done, and we hope they will do it again next year.

Spooktacular!!!

Up on stage after the performance. 

Awesome ghost cake!

Another year older. Sigh...

After the ballet, Clara went over to a friend's house, and Joey and I went out for a wonderful dinner in Mystic, CT thanks to a generous gift card from choir parents last Spring. After dinner, we celebrated with a cute chocolate ghost cake made for me by Joey and Clara. It was really yummy! It was a great birthday.

Our grown up girl.

I think we are finally getting settled into our new schedule. I am teaching 23 students this year, and I have a schedule that I like, which includes some teaching on the mornings when Clara is in school. That frees up my afternoons a bit more. Joey is busy with his church work and teaching. We continue to perform together, and we rehearse regularly with our friend Carly who is a wonderful cellist. It's so much fun to get back into chamber music. Joey and I do really enjoy our Tuesday and sometimes Thursday lunch dates. It's nice to have a couple of times during the week when we can talk and catch up without distraction. However, most of our conversation revolves around Clara anyway!

We hope you are having a nice fall. Thank you for your patience. Life just gets in the way sometimes, but it is good to be back. 

Until next post!
Joey, Erin and Clara

"Minnesota Bound"

Dear Family and Friends,
Summer is officially over. We were blessed with a truly beautiful summer here in Stonington. July and August have always been extremely hot and humid months here, but this year temperatures were mild, there was relatively low humidity and evenings remained cool. Joey and I are not fans of humidity, so for us it was an ideal summer. 

The beginning of July started out with a visit from my parents and my aunt and uncle from Virginia. We enjoyed celebrating Joey's birthday on July 2nd, and we were planning a big 4th of July celebration in the borough. In fact, we were all ready to walk in the Stonington parade and have a BBQ on the deck, but unfortunately, mother nature had other plans. We experienced huge downpours of rain and thunder and lightening most of the day. Sadly, the parade was cancelled. However, the show must go on, so Joey proceded with his third annual "Stars, Stripes and Pipes" performance, and while we didn't get the usual full house, we still managed to get a pretty full audience. In spite of the weather, the mood was celebratory and everyone had a great time.

Happy Birthday Joey!

New England Lobster Dinner on the deck!

"Stars, Stripes and Pipes!"

Happy 4th of July!

GG, Clara and Uncle Harry, 4th of July!

On July 5th we, along with my parents, began our big trip to Minnesota. Joey was invited to give an organ recital as part of the "Young Artists International Piano Festival" at Bethel University in Saint Paul, so we decided to take a couple of weeks off and also make it a trip to see family and friends. We spent four days in the car on the way to Minnesota. We took a route north up to Canada and crossed the border at Niagra Falls. We came back into the United States in Michigan, where our trip took us through the Upper Peninsula and down through northern Minnestoa, eventually ending in Saint Cloud. The trip was long, but it went very smoothly. Clara was great and enjoyed watching DVDs in the car and singing and coloring. We had fun at Niagra Falls in Canada, and in Michigan we visited my Uncle Thomas at his home in Oxford. We also stopped in Frankenmouth, MI, a touristy German village which houses "the largest Christmas store in the world" as well as other neat shops and restaurants.

Niagra Falls!

Hotel Fun!

Uncle Thomas, Clara and Dandad.

When we got to Minnesota, we were able to spend time with Joey's family in Princeton. We had fun doing various child-friendly activities with Clara, and we got to see some of Joey's extended family and friends. 

Playing Music and Grandma and Grampa Ripka's House.

Summer Fun!

Dancing at the Minneapolis Children's Museum.

Look, it's Thomas the Train!

Historic Carousel at Como Zoo, MN.

Aunt Kimmy and Clara! Kim brought Clara beads from New Orleans.

Jam session.

Bethel Univeristy housed us in their dorms for a few nights prior to Joey's concert, so that he could practice. The dorms were right across from the performance hall, so it was very convenient. Joey had a great experience performing for the students. Many years ago, Joey had been a piano student at the festival, and so he returned this summer as an alum. After the concert, Joey worked with a few students and talked to them about transitioning from piano to organ. The students seemed to enjoy his talk, and were interested in learning more about what it is like making a living as a professional musician. 

Dorm life.

Listening to Daddy practice.

My parents remained in Minnesota, and Joey, Clara and I drove back, stopping to pick up our friend Lois who rode with us back to Connecticut. Lois was in Minnesota visiting her family, and we all agreed that it would be fun to take a road trip together back home to Connecticut. We took a different route home, and we were able to stop in Kenosha, WI to see my brother Steve and his family. Clara had such a good time with her cousins, and we left the visit feeling sad that they don't get to interact more often. I have two brothers with children, and we don't get to see them nearly enough. We are always thankful when an opportunity arrives to visit with them.

Cousins! Madeline, Clara and Mariana.

Joey, Erin, Madeline, Uncle Steve, Clara, Carson, Aunt Christy and Mariana.

Our trip also took us through Ohio, where we visited our old schools, Oberlin Conservatory and the Cleveland Institute of Music. It was summer, so there was not much going on, but it was fun to see our old stomping grounds and to drive by our first apartment as a married couple. There are some great memories there. One of the highlights in Ohio was meeting up for lunch with several of our dear friends from St. Paul's UCC where Joey was organist/choir director for two years. I'm still kicking myself for not getting a group photo, but it was so much fun to see everyone and catch up even though the time together was brief. 

The final stretch of our trip took us though Amish Country near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We stopped at several Amish stores and toured the area. We were impressed by how impeccable the Amish people keep the outsides of their homes. They are beautiful to see, and Clara was very excited about the horse-drawn buggies going down the roads. 

Amish Swing.

An Amish girl who looks a lot like Clara. : )

After such a fun summer trip, we were completely exhausted. We didn't have any lessons scheduled for two days after we returned, and it's a good thing we didn't because we were wiped out. Joey figures we drove a little over 4,000 miles round trip. We had debated about whether or not driving such a long way was really worth it, but when we reflect back on the time we were able to spend seeing family on the way there and back, the interesting and beautiful places we visited (we saw all of the great lakes on our trip!) and how well Clara did on the entire drive, we are really glad that we did it.

MN visit 2013!

MN visit 2014!

It's hard to believe that summer is already over. I've been putting off this post, because the idea of writing about our two week trip to Minnesota seemed a bit daunting. not to mention the fact that I am getting really behind with my blogging. The next post I write will have to be a combination August/September post. There are so many new and exciting things going on in our lives, but it doesn't leave much room for sitting and writing. Once we relax into a routine, things will get easier.

We hope you have had a wonderful summer. I'm always a bit sorry to see summer go, but at the same time, I really enjoy settling into a routine, and we have many fun things to look forward to this fall as a family. 

Until next post,
Joey, Erin and Clara