week fifty-two!

We ended the year SICK. Sick, sick, sick. A photo of the humidifier would be more appropriate. Or tissues. Or the bathroom...

Instead is here Christmas eve (store-bought cookies testify to our ill-health) and one from Christmas morning. (I know Christmas eve is really still in week fifty-one...but only by a couple of hours.)

There's nice symmetry in this last picture. The photo in this first post can be seen on the toy bins here. Nice, huh? [I was thinking there was too much visual clutter in this photo, but there only two from which to choose. Later, I realized that this linked the beginning and end of 2010's photos and it seemed kismetal. (That should be a word.)]

week fifty-one

(Okay, that picture above sums up the week. Below are all the pictures from our trip. I'll review it here later. We're both really, really sick and not up to much. In short: this is not a trip for the under 12's.)

week fifty

I love the look on Lexi's face...

...and Thera's face in the midst of this good-bye dogpile of second graders.
(She wasn't the one leaving.)

week forty-nine

both are of Catherine's Palace in Tsarke Selo, Pushkin

week forty-eight

week forty-seven

note: the excellent and beloved whisk-er above has lost another tooth

week forty-six

something from school

week forty-five

week forty-four

My week numbers got all wonky.

Trick-or-treating for the first time. In France.

week forty-three

week forty-two

week forty-one

(taken 10/10/10)

week forty

Our guards are SO kind to my little girl. They all just love for her to stop and chat and, I think, have enjoyed seeing her grow and bloom. She's a charmer!

I snuck up on Lexi but not the guard. I wanted to catch Sasha playing football with her, but he caught me and stepped back, thinking I wanted a picture of her. This was even more poignant an almost-shot because his son (in his 20's, I think) had very recently passed away.

week thirty-nine

week thirty-eight

week thirty-seven

Not a single picture on the home computer.

week thirty-six

week thirty-five

I need to add a picture from school here.

week thirty-four

outside church with George

week thirty-three

She must be a cowgirl!

That was Lexi's opinion of this woman ahead of us on the path into Pavlosk. When I asked why, Lexi pointed out her hat. How could I not have noticed?

week thirty-two

week thirty-one

week thirty

week twenty-nine

week twenty-eight

week twenty-seven

week twenty-six

week twenty-five

I didn't take it...but I asked for it to be taken.

With Alex at the Bronx Zoo (the second time). Photo by Ann Marie

week twenty-four

week twenty-three

International Day at school. Here she is looking All-American.

week 22

not a single picture in my library

week twenty-one

Just before bedtime we headed over to the angel (otherwise known as Palace Square) to see what, if anything, was still going on for St. Petersburg's birthday celebration. We heard the very beginning of a set by a renowned Muscovite jazz musician named Sergei (according to his intro).

This was before he came on. The girl can dance!

week twenty

Yeah. I thought you'd notice.

I'm not very good at choosing ONE picture each week.
And didn't I say this blog wasn't just going to be darling
photos of my little cherub? Huh.

Well, change is good.

This week: Peterhoff!

(And believe me, that was selective.)

also week nineteen

A quiet morning in the park behind Church on Spilled Blood.

And an afternoon of bubbles on Palace Square.