First dance recital!

Diaz and her after-school buddies have been taking a dance class together at a local studio, and we finally got to see what they've been doing. Totally cute, and all of the kids did a great job. A small set of pics is here.

Thanksgiving Weekend!

It was a first! We hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for some of our family this week, and I must say, it was a success. We cheated a little by starting with a fully cooked turkey from Whole Foods, but hey-- we're vegetarians. So sue us.

The long weekend included stops in many fun spots. In the neighborhood, we ate, drank, laughed, arm wrestled, and emptied the quarters out of pockets at Barcade, The Second Chance Saloon, Taco Chulo, and Barosa. We even tried to track down the spirit of Indian Larry. And in Midtown, The Oyster Bar served as a fine spot to rest our feet.

We even got a Christmas Tree! Kelly, Amy, Carol, and Diaz decorated it beautifully... the boys, on the other hand, didn't do doodly-squat. A set of photos is here.

Halloween!

Three or four costume changes, two boroughs, an overflowing bucket full of candy, several cheap plastic vampire teeth, a package of safety pins, a dozen stuffed cats, and a mermaid tail. It was a good year... a couple of pics are here.

Scoopin' pumpkin

Kelly did most of the dirty work...





...but Diaz eventually got messy


We were out of tea light candles, so I'll have to post an illuminated finished product tomorrow.

Kelly's Birthday weekend in New Paltz

Staying in one place for too long makes Kelly jittery. And what better excuse to get out of town than a birthday! We headed upstate to New Paltz to walk in the woods, hang out with some friends, pick some apples, and drop out for a few hours. Mission accomplished. A few pics are here.






New Paltz - Kelly's Birthday weekend from Don Gochenour on Vimeo.

Good lookin'

People say that as a group of people spend time together, they begin to look more and more similar. I don't know what those people are talking about.

Total ham

Saturday afternoon gallery visits with Leif

Our house is pretty wired-- probably more than most. And Diaz is around technology a lot-- she seem to have a genuine interest in both computers and electronics (well, for a 4-year-old, anyway.) She's also around a lot of art: in galleries, in our house, and blasting through our speakers. It was fun today to take Leif and Diaz to Front Room Gallery to see Erik Guzman's kinetic sculptures. It's so refreshing to answer a question like "why is it spinning?" with "because it looks cool and makes awesome shadows."

Kids need art.

Check off another life lesson learned

1) Fill it




2) Revel in its majesty




3) Hurl it at innocent targets


Good job, Diaz! A+ for you!

First week of school: done. It's FRIDAY!

First day of school!

Part of us can't believe it's upon us already, but it is. Diaz had her first day of school today. There were a few tears at the beginning, but they were long gone by the end.

Hershey, Pittsburgh, and Morgantown

With Diaz starting school this week, we wanted to squeeze in one last round of family visits and vacationing before we are all locked into our routine. This was a great one, which included block parties, firetrucks, lots of food, art museums, galleries, football, whipped cream, sewing machines, tearing apart computers, beer, tearing apart DVD players, sidewalk chalk, swimming pools, cooking, lawn care, princesses, calculators, butterfly nets, and tennis balls. Among other things. A loosely coupled set is here.

Summer travels at light speed

As the few friends and family members who follow this blog know (and have commented to me), I've been rather slack about posting updates. We've been back in NYC for about a year now and it seems like every minute has been spoken for (in a good, fun, social way) and writing often gets pushed aside. As summer ends, my goal is to stay more current on these pages-- I enjoy doing it and I enjoy that you read them.

But enough about blog technicalities, let's talk about summer awesomeness. Our season has been filled with street fairs and Coney Island visits. Diaz took particular interest in games like balloon darts where you can win awful, made-in-China stuffed animals. Although we ended up bringing home a few of these cheap prizes against our better judgment, the games provided some cool ideas to Diaz, and she decided to set up her own (pretend) balloon dart booth at home.







Unfortunately for Kelly and I, we've also discovered that Diaz's favorite amusement park rides are the ones that leave you the dizziest. But that's OK, it's fun to be a kid with her.







This week, we're on the Pennsylvania / West Virgina circuit squeezing in a last round of family visits before school starts for Diaz next week. More about our fun soon!

Summer = street fairs!

Leif and Diaz. Who's driving this thing?

4th of July in Tampa!

We spent a long weekend visiting Kelly's sister Amy in Florida over this past holiday weekend, and I can't believe Diaz isn't still waterlogged from the dozens of hours in the pool. Between one trip to the beach and about eight trips to the backyard pool, Diaz and Kelly were in full mermaid mode. A set is here.

San Francisco revisited

Eight months after our departure, we were finally able to make it back to SF as a family at the end of June. We got to hang out with with friends and Diaz attended her first wedding-- which featured a 100% vegan reception at Millennium. Yum: champagne and black bean torte! A few pics are here.





Maria gets quadruple-teamed

The girls head to Pittsburgh

The first weekend in June brought a couple of family firsts with it:

1) Kelly and Diaz flew to Pittsburgh to visit Kelly's folks. Diaz has flown dozens of times, but this was our first attempt at a single-parent trip. A success on all fronts.

2) With the girls away, this was Don's first weekend alone at home in over four years. Whoa.

This was a HOT weekend-- high 90's, high humidity. While Don sweat his way through Bushwick open studios, Diaz and Pap Pap were running through the sprinkler. A few pics from Pittsburgh are here.

Coney Island Baby

Memorial Day weekend marked Diaz's first trip to Coney Island in about 3 years. And since she doesn't remember being 1 year old, for all practical purposes this was her first visit. It was soooo fun-- we rode everything! Cheese fries and cotton candy on the beach, fried clams, sand castles, and roller coasters. That's how we roll.

A few pics are here.

Whoa, it's been two months?

It's been super busy around here... but in a good way. Between Diaz's school and social calendar, it surprising that there's any room left for a couple careers and an adult social life. I can't believe it's been two months since this blog got updated. Oops. So much has happened since we last spoke and I'm not sure I can go back and recall all of it, so I'll just go back a couple of weeks.

Diaz is FOUR! To celebrate, we made the family rounds in Pittsburgh and Hershey, eventually hooking up with Diaz's cousin Luca for a joint 4-year / 5-year birthday cupcake-a-thon. We also discovered on this trip that Diaz is a wiffle ball natural! A few pics are here.

Diaz and Hana in Chelsea

Snow day!

A few pics of the cold wet fun are here.




Sidewalk angels on Graham Ave.

Snake charming with Leif & Valentina

More Diaz-off-school-for-the-week fun! Leif and Valentina joined us at the AMNH for some snake handling... when do we get to touch the cobras?





Leif and Valentina



Valentina and Diaz

Presidents Day on the South Side

Like a lot of kids, Diaz had the day off from school, so Don decided to drag her around the neighborhood and then to Chinatown and Nolita. Points of note included a stop at Momenta Art, shopping for cheap jade jewelry on Center St., and eating french fries in an Irish pub on Bowery. A couple of shots from the Brooklyn part of the adventure are here.

An enterprising young lady

Setting up shop on the kitchen table, Diaz opened her first store, "Polkadot." She's charging around $50 for a plastic bracelet-- welcome to New York.





Credit cards accepted



The stock room

A few minutes with Diaz

On the roof with Diaz

It's a lovely February Sunday, so Diaz and I headed up the roof with a camera to see what we could see. Diaz quickly started art directing and many shots of the mechanicals on the roof followed. A small set is here.





Our view to the NW



Windy D



One of her creations

Sleepover at Donna's!

What a treat. Donna offered to host a sleep over for Bella, Luca, and Diaz... sans parents. So while the kids were sacked out in Manhattan, we parents were very much not tucked in around Brooklyn. A night out without having to be home for the sitter.

The fun actually started earlier that afternoon, as all of us headed to the American Museum of Natural History for a chinchilla visit. Three cheers for family! A small set is here.





Beth and Diaz play with snakes at the AMNH



Diaz, the day after. Does anyone really sleep at a sleepover?

A family tree grows in Brooklyn

Diaz had to make a family tree for school, so we spent a Sunday turning the living room into her art studio. In the end, she crafted a lovely Family Flower and we all had fun! A few photos of this project are here.





The finished product

Back to normal, Diaz style

Almost two months under our belt back in Brooklyn, and the pressures and worries of the move have all but melted away. It's nice to feel at home again-- just a couple shots showing Diaz enjoying her home town.





Getting in bed during the day-- that's the life.



Checking on "Puppy Sweetie," Diaz's Webkinz.



Fast and furious after dark!



Waiting for the train, looking sour.



Diaz's subway photography