The last but not least...

As I am coming to the end of rewinding time and posting the memories and pictures from our NH vacation, I will not pass the actual time spent in the lake.
Beside the fishing, and despite of cool week, the kids and Andrzej enjoyed the water. I preferred just to wet my toes and watch from a chair:)

 



 

Kinga:) 



Geocaching in {phfr} edition

I won't let it go easily. As I mentioned before, too many pictures:)

Some few years ago we started the fun outdoor activity called - geocaching. I have to admit that this year we did not participate until out NH vacation. Andrzej usually is in charge of finding interesting spots. There were plenty of places around the area of our vacationing. All together we have found seven geocaches, if I am not mistaken. One was very well "blended" in. We gave up. But here are some of the geocaches that did not get away:)

{pretty}

 

 

 

While Andrzej and the kids were looking, I decided to go on mushroom-caching. The mushrooms were much easier to find.

 

 

This pretty, green frog was guarding one of the geocaches.

 

{happy}
 

 

 

 

It is always a happy moment, when the geocache is discovered. Checking what is inside it is the next step.

 

{funny}
 

 

In one of the beautiful places while geocaching I decided to take a picture of the four of us ( Kiki was at the camp ). Unfortunately I cut off Andrzej's head! Sorry !!!

 

{real}

 

 

Hazard of geocaching in the woods? The mosquitoes!!! Poor Kubus was bitten in the ear, which tripled in its size. The swelling went down after few days.

 

 As I share another activity from our vacation, I join Like Mother, Like Daughter, for capturing the context of contentment in everyday life!

 

Kinga:)



Theme Thursday and the Pennywise Platter

I am going to take a break from the week long vacation theme today. But I will be back. I took too many pictures to let them just lie around:)

It is funny that the Theme Thursday at Cari is food, since today I have decided to use all of my ripe tomatoes and make spaghetti  sauce.

 

Obviously I did not use the cucumbers, I just like this colorful photo:) 

 



I am indeed proud of my creation, since the tomatoes and basil came from my garden. The abundance of it is tremendous, the only pity is that probably be next week I will be missing them a lot. Too bad the can't ripen one or two per day.

Since it is a food theme it made it easier for me to join the long forgotten Pennywise Platter link up.
Here is the recipe.

- four pounds of tomatoes
- one carrot
- one clove of garlic
- one onion
- fresh basil, parsley, oregano
- salt and black pepper
- olive oil

Basically, the ingredients have to be chopped up and saute in the olive oil until tender and tasty , I would say for about two hours? I am still cooking so I guess I will find out later.

When the sauce is ready I will let it cool down and blend until smooth. For my very picky eaters. As long as they don't taste the piece of a vegetable, they are OK with it.

The recipe is not mine, but modified according to the ingredients found in my house:)
I hope you can enjoy it too, or send me an old, fail proofed, family recipe.

Kinga:)

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

 

Kinga:)



The fish that didn't get away

Zuzia loves everything that has something to do with water creatures. It can be whale in the ocean and a tadpole in a pond. She has already tried fishing a little, but nothing serious. Maybe except for squid fishing. Andrzej took her last year to Newport to the annual squid fishing. This year they were ready too, but for some reason the squids never came, so they did not have a chance to enjoy the after dark activity. She was disappointed.
But going to the lake she had a lot of hopes, fishing rod and a box of worms.

 



 From the first day Zuzia was begging Andrzej to take her fishing. And they did but without any luck on the beginning:(

 

 

After few days they decided to get acquainted with more serious fishermen. And indeed just few tips more, change of the docks ( maybe 30 yards in between ), and the fish started on biting.

 

 

 

Zuzia fished in the morning, she fished in the evening. She even fished right before we were leaving the place. All together she caught twenty nine fish. She had her fishing guide and tried to name the fish. Mostly it was the same just in different life stages.

The girl left happy, she just wished she could catch an even number thirty!

 

 

Kinga:)





Vacation plans

This year was supposed to be different. In vacation plans that is.
First we were planning to go to Washington DC during April vacation and visit few places. We would definitely skip the White House. Not a favorite place those past, few, looong, years:(

The Washington trip would not beat our great Hawaii trip the previous year, but one can't go to Hawaii every year. Especially with three children:)

 



Then for July we had planned to visit Williamsburg and its surroundings. For August we planned Camp Mattakeesett for Kiki and nice hiking in the White Mountains for the rest for the family.

Well, the first plans went down the drain in March when I got sick. We had to give up the Washington DC. Instead we dealt with me trying to figure out what's wrong and replacing the floors.

So we moved Washington DC in with Williamsburg for July.
July came, the heat came, I was still miserable, so we stayed home. On the other hand girls had so many different activities, that I did not feel bad about it. Actually Kiki would just prefer to stay home and read or text or play games.

We kept August almost intact, when it comes to the time. Kiki's camp was still taking place. We forgo the hiking part ( when, oh when will I be myself again, if ever?! ).
Instead we opted for a peaceful time at the Winnipesaukee lake. The idea was great, the timing a little off. Unfortunately all of the lake cabins that we liked, were already rented.

We found though a nice looking ( on the website ) cabin in Wolfeboro.



The place was beautiful, peaceful, serene. The different activities kept us at the bay, and Andrzej did not even wanted to go hiking, anywhere; just swimming, fishing, kayaking etc. We went for few geocaching walks, one can't even call them hikes, so short and flat.

 

The weather was gorgeous. For some too chilly, for me perfect:)

But going back to cabin... it is a different story, It was clean, yes, but... very, very small for those claimed " up to six people ". There was no storage space. So one can imagine five/four people with supplies for a whole week, pillows, covers, sleeping bags, raincoats, tennis/badminton rackets, basket/soccer balls, paddle boards, books, toys, etc. Not a cozy feeling!

The worst part was yet to come...mice! And I saw it and then obviously heard it every night. So much for relaxing time at the lake! So I was complaining, not feeling happy, unless siting at the lake and photographing and most definitely wanting to go home and sleep in my own, spacious, miceless house.

But I have to admit it that the lake time itself was awesome, and I want to do it again, to the point that I would not mind having our own summer place on the lake. Next time however, I think we will skip being adventurous and stay in more comfortable place.

 I won't complain anymore. Next time we will go fishing:)

 

Kinga:)



The first meet

 

 



 



The day that we were leaving for our lake vacation, was also Zuzia's  first swim meet.
She was happy, excited and eager to do her best:)

Happy swimming Mini Marlin!

Kinga:)

August 17 1995

I have just got back from vacation from Winnipesauke Lake in NH. The lake was great, the accommodation...another story. But that is not what I wanted to write about  today, so the picture here is totally unrelated to the subject of my post, but since there were not posts without pictures, so it is. The beautiful and serene Winnipesauke Lake:)

 



I and Andrzej are finally adults now. Adults in the years of having America as our home.
It is still hard to believe that I was barely 23 year old when I set my foot for the first time here and not knowing that it will be our permanent home, as it seems.

Those 18 years ago we were still flying at this hour...
As of evening the 16th, we packed our all possessions in two suitcases and two boxes. We took train from our hometown, Skawina ( right at the foot of beautiful Krakow ), to Warszawa. From there we flew to Helsinki, Finland. That was my first airplane flight ever, and I can't believe that it went smoothly. From Helsinki we flew to NYC. I did not realize at that time, that the plane was very old and looking suspicious. Andrzej told me later that he had some doubts that we will end up in NYC. But we did:)

After going through the passport and visa clearance, we recovered all of our belongings and moved to a plane going to Dallas, Texas. On the Dallas airport for the first time in my life I have experience such a tremendous tiredness, that I thought I will fall asleep while standing. It was very overwhelming feeling! Once we got on the plane to Austin, we barely sat in our seats...and then it was time to leave the airplane; at midnight. I think we have traveled at this moment for 36 hours straight!

I wasn't this tired to noticed that it was very hot at midnight in Texas, but way too sleepy to pay too much attention. It came later. But don't think I will write about it. Maybe one day...

So here we are, this time in Rhode Island for the last twelve years.

Would I change anything about the decision that we made those many years ago? It is hard to tell.
Yes, we were looking for better opportunities for Andrzej to develop his talents. We were looking for better life for our family. I also wanted to learn the language, and meet different culture.
I remember that I wanted to be a traveler when I was young. Even though my dreams took me to Australia, settling in America was not a bad idea either. It was still in opinion of many, the country of flowing milk and honey:)

The worst part was to leave the people behind. The family, however difficult it might be; and all of the celebrations. Namedays, birthdays, weddings, christenings, first communions, and so on. The list is endless. How about friends ? The ones from elementary school and high school or collage. Yes, you can always make new ones but it is not the same. You did not grow up with them, took daily walks to school, laughed and cried, studied, complained, told secrets and plans for future. They were left behind too.

The country that we grew up, the beautiful landscape, the mountains...the Tatry? The gorgeous Tatry! We left our culture, our language, our people, the long, beautiful, although not always glorious, history. The country of Great John Paul II. The pope of our youth...

It is hard for me to judge myself, ourselves. But  deep in my heart I believe that it was a right decision. Somehow maybe we made a difference not only in our and our children lives, but also in those who we met along our journey in this country. This I know for sure that I am very thankful for the new friendships that I was lucky enough to make, the new roads that I traveled on, and wonderful places that had a chance to visit!

Until next year:)

Kinga.

Turning eight

 



Eight years ago she was already here. The whole 7 pounds and 7 ounces of her. She came out screaming at 5:45pm and she continued screaming through the night, unless I nursed her.
I was afraid that she will end up like her older sister. Colicky!

Unfortunately that poor child continued her colic problems until turning one. I literally pulled hair out of my head and kept on crying and not sleeping. When she turned one, she became so calm and sweet that the previous year seemed only like a bad dream. And she is still like that today.

She is caring, sweet and sensitive. She likes to spend time with her family and she likes to help.
She is very friendly and for one hug she will give back ten more. She is easy going. She prefers to play outside with the earthly creatures than spend time indoors. She is very eager gardener and plans to grow more vegetables and open a stand on the farmers market with me.

She dreams about becoming a marine biologist living on the farm run by her future husband, who will also take care of their children:) Those dreams. Funny and big, open and bold like the sky...

But today she is young eight. She woke up early. She put pretty clothes on, sprayed perfume and painted her nails. Blue. Color of the sea. Then she waited and waited for requested Belgian waffles for breakfast. She had to wait long. I slept in ...

Then she opened a present of Lego blocks and Pokémon book, because those are other things than she likes. She gave up on the American Girl doll, since she realized that dolls don't interest her and she prefers to build Mines of Moria from Lord of the Rings than to have doll which collects dust. I like the independent and uninfluenced mind of her.

Andrzej took her whale watching later in the day, while the rest of the family worked on the cake. The sea dragon cake. She loves fantasy books that have dragons in them. The good dragons.

After the dinner of cheese pizza  and the birthday cake, she came to me thanking for the best cake ever  and asking if this the end of her birthday surprises. And I had to say yes:(

Until next year my dear Zuzia, but for now I want to keep you being eight and I don't want to rush the time.
Happy birthday my sweet, loving daughter, I love you very much!

Post o Zuzi. W jej osme urodziny.
Czekala z niecierpliwoscia na ten dzien. Postanowila ubrac sie ladnie, "psiknac" perfume i wymalowac paznokcie na jej ulubiony kolor, niebieski:)
Po sniadaniu dostala prezent klockow Lego i ksiazke "Pokemon". Woli to niz bawic sie lalkami.

Popoludniu Andrzej ja zabral na bezkrwawa wyprawe na wieloryby. Frajda to dla Zuzi ktorej ulubionymi zwierzetami sa stworzenia morskie.

Ja z Kiki pracowalysmy nad tortem. Postanowilam go zrobic w ksztalcie smoka. Zuzia uwielbia czytac ksiazki o smokach. Dazy je wielka sympatia i nawet bardzo ja smuci Legeda o Smoku Wawelskim. Bo zginal:(

Zuzia stwierdzila ze to najlepszy tort jaki kiedykolwiek miala i bardzo mi za niego dziekowala.
Poczym ze smutkiem stwierdzila ze to juz koniec jej urodzinowych niespodzianek. Trzeba znowu czekac rok...

Nie poganiaj czasu dziecko, ciesz sie kazda chwila!
Wszystkiego najlepszego kochana Zuziu. Kocham Cie bardzo!


Kinga:)