Thursday, June 14, 2012

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2007 at a theme park called Dutch Wonderland. Mattie was not in this picture. The reason why was because he was sitting right next to me in a cable car as we were flying over the park. Naturally going on this ride was Peter and Mattie's idea. I on the other hand couldn't look down, and was scared out of my mind. In the midst of screaming, I snapped a picture of where we were. So this was a bird's eye view of what we were seeing. This was Mattie's first and last cable car ride and he loved it!


Quote of the day: He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, more present than the living man. ~ Antoine de Saint Exupery

This week, I went back to my zumba class twice. I went on Tuesday and Thursday, and I find a regular routine like this helps. After class, I went to my friend Tina's house. We spent the day together working on a project, and I feel honored that Tina values our friendship enough to always include me on all the activities she is involved in. But most importantly she verbalizes how she enjoys our time together. That is a special gift to hear and to receive.

As promised, the Walk pictures continue. So far over the past two days you saw the following children activities: balloon animals, face painting, juggling, the childlife table, and the lego tables. Tonight, I will show you pictures from the moon bounce, nail art, and the magic show.

Last year, a friend of ours suggested that we consider adding a moon bounce to our Walk activities. I wasn't sure how popular these structures were anymore. But our friend was correct! This was a big hit, especially with the smaller children. In this picture, our photographer captured a girl going down the moon bounce slide, with her balloon creature in hand. Clearly she was holding onto her balloon and trying to protect it!

Thanks to Celina, the owner of the Molecule Salon in Washington, DC, a team of  professionals provided nail art to children of all ages at the Walk. This tent and table was VERY popular this year!

You can see nail work in progress in this picture.

and Voila........... pretty in pink!

In 2009, Mattie's community planned and hosted a Mattie March. Which was a family fun day, not unlike our Foundation Walks. At this March, Bob Weiman (aka The Magic Man), Mattie's head of the lower school, performed several magic tricks with Mattie. From that point onward, the magic show became a tradition that Bob upholds each year. It is certainly entertaining for the children and adults, but to me it is also symbolic of the connection Mattie and Bob shared. As you can see the children were very absorbed and focused upon the tricks done before their eyes.

This picture captures the Magic Man performing a trick with Gavin. Gavin is my friend Carolyn's son, and like Peter an avid Red Sox fan! What I notice about this picture however, was Gavin's huge smile as he was participating in this trick.

The magic show is loved by ALL ages. In this picture is the Cooper Family. The children are Campbell and Livi. Campbell was one of Mattie's closest kindergarten buddies, and for my faithful readers, these are the two children who we recently saw and spent time with at Ellen's beach house.

Bob performed a trick I have never seen him do! Thanks to the pictures, I got to see him in action. The trick involves putting a metal rod through a balloon!

Here was the final product! I am amazed to see this rod through the balloon, and as the picture below indicates, the children were amazed too.

I love this picture! It captures the intrigue felt by the children as they watched a rod go through the balloon. Tomorrow I will highlight a few more children activities from the Walk, and by the weekend I will be able to share with you actual pictures from the walk, the walk ceremony, and other highlights.