June

June 1st - 8th, 2024: 

June started on a Saturday.  And it was a fairly busy Saturday at that.  Evan and Aleks had their culminating 5k run to finish off their season of Girls on the Run and Tanya was joining them as Aleks' Running Buddy.  They arrived to the Expo Center around 8:30am to join the hundreds of other people participating in this epic event.  Aleks quickly linked up with her good friend Chelsea and the two took off to go exploring.  In the hour or so leading up to the start of the run free goodies were gathered, singing and dancing was enjoyed, and giant beach balls were thrown around.  At about 10am the race began with our group starting in the second wave.  The Makhlina-Ecksteins started in a small pack with Aleks (and Chelsea) taking the lead and Evan and Tanya (along with Chelsea's sister and running buddy Lilly) taking up the rear.  It was a long, hot run, but in the end they completed the 5k with enough left in the tank for a strong sprint through the finish line.  

After celebrating their finish together and snapping some pictures to celebrate the victory, Aleks and Chelsea parted ways and the Makhlina-Ecksteins headed home for some well-deserved lunch.  Later on, Evan popped over to their storage unit, grabbed their bikes, took Tanya's to the shop quickly to get her tires fixed, and then the trio popped the bikes onto the car and headed to UVM to watch a Vermont Green soccer game together (with plans to go for a family bike ride afterwards).  However, the bike ride plans were foiled by an unexpected hour-long delay as the visiting team's Coach bus had broken down on their way up from Connecticut and caused a significant delay.  Eventually, an hour later than expected, the game started and the Vermont Green team was ready to go.  The game ended with a 7-0 win for the home team and a lot of excitement in the crowd!  The bikes were brought back home for use in the hopefully near future instead.

And, while the Vermont Green creamed their opponents that night, another favored team had a less fortunate evening.  The day ended with a sad finish to an incredible season for the NY Rangers.  While they won the President's Trophy (highest points in the NHL for the regular season) and made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, they were unfortunately defeated in the 6th game of the series by the Florida Panthers to put their amazing season to a sad end; however, with hopes for an even better season next year!

The following day everyone awoke anew, greeted by sunny weather and with plans to join Aleks' friend Shayla and her mom at their community pool for some early summertime fun.  After the swimming and fun the trio returned home for lunch and was later able to go on that belated family bike ride that they had originally planned for the day before.  After biking through some local neighborhoods for a bit they headed back home to grab their stuff so that Aleks would be ready for school the next day (after a night at her dad's) and Evan and Tanya could partake in some soccer fun.  Three hours, and three games, later Evan and Tanya made it home sore, tired, very hungry, and smiling (having thoroughly enjoyed themselves and even made some new friends, as well as seeing some old friends - such as one of Evan's old DREAM connections from back in his college days).

Monday was a mostly normal day, but with Aleks' school day ending in an ice cream celebration with the Girls on the Run team to honor all of their hard work throughout the season as well as at the big 5k event.  Tuesday was similar, except this time the day ended with Aleks getting picked up by Chelsea's family and going back to her house to get her homework done, until Tanya was able to pick her up after getting out of work.  In the end, their original 2-hour homework session/playdate lead to 3 hours, and then 4 hours with Tanya and Aleks not getting home until closer to 7:30pm.

Wednesday was soccer day for Evan and Tanya, but this time at the Shelburne Field House rather than the Tree Farm.  Aleks, having had the chance to meet her upcoming middle school teachers earlier that day, had been picked up from school by her dad and met Evan and Tanya at the game.  There, she was able to play with her friend Isabel while Evan and Tanya kicked it on the pitch.  The next day had a similar vibe to Tuesday, except this time Evan picked up both Aleks and Chelsea from school to bring them back to their house for another homework session/playdate.  Granted, the plans were slightly delayed by some car trouble that resulted in playground time for the girls and testing Evan's newly purchased car battery recharger kit.  Thankfully, the equipment worked as promised and 20min later they were on the road to home.  After Tanya got home, Evan removed the cat from the homework festivities and brought her to a vet appointment to get some bloodwork done (the results of which turned out to be positive, thankfully).  Then, upon returning home he switched the cat for the girls and he and Aleks brought Chelsea home.

Friday after school involved a car appointment for Evan (to try and sort out the battery issues that had been popping up recently) and a ride to her dad's for Aleks (from Tanya).  The extra time together was great for the girls, and Evan left Subaru in a brand new (only 16 miles on it) loaner car and the hopes that his own vehicle would be adequately diagnosed by the start of the next week and he might get some answers to explain his recent car troubles.  Later that night, Evan and Tanya joined some of Tanya's church choir friends at Casa Real (a new Mexican restaurant in Colchester) to enjoy some margaritas, Mexican cuisine, and lots of laughs.  

The following day Evan awoke and dressed in a shirt and tie to participate in the faculty processional at the Milton High School graduation, where his second group of 5th grade students would be graduating (along with another student he had more recently been working with as part of his high school SLP team).  It was a glorious occasion with lots of smiles, laughter, and tears.  Evan, along with his friends Casey and Logan, got to reminisce about the group of students who they were seeing now on the stage dressed in caps and gowns and whom they hadn't seen in about 7 years.  Memories flooded, clapping commenced, and congratulations were given.  And, afterwards, Evan realized that this was going to become an annual tradition for him as the event had a magical sort of impact for the second year in a row.

Later that day, Evan and Tanya headed off to Callahan Park in Burlington to meet up with some friends and play a little pick-up soccer together.  At first they joined a larger group that was getting started, but, afterwards, they separated off to form their own smaller game.  However, their 3v3 game was eventually expanded as they were joined by a bunch of boys who were bored watching their sisters play soccer on the field next to them and wanted to join the friends' little pick-up game instead.  So, now their pick-up game had grown to 5v5 and ranged in age from 7 to 36.  Plenty of fun was had and, before leaving, the original 6 friends partook in a brief game of "World Cup" in which couples competed against each other for fun.  After their energy was adequately spent, all of them drove a little ways down the road to enjoy some Shy Guy gelato together before heading home. 

June 9th - 15th, 2024:

The second week of June was a big week for the Makhlina-Ecksteins.  While it started in a typical fashion full of Sunday soccer and then work and school on Monday, Evan spent a chunk of time after school on Tuesday celebrating the Milton Middle School 8th graders as they "graduated" to high school.  After having wished the no-longer 8th graders best of luck in high school next year, Evan spent a chunk of the following day welcoming many of the current 4th graders into their soon-to-be 5th grade teams and classrooms.  This was a chance for many (both teachers and students) to start to put faces to names, just as Aleks had the chance to do the week prior with her own middle school teachers and team.  That evening, while Tanya finished up at work and Aleks was picked up from school by her dad, Evan had a final meeting of the school year with one of his own teams followed by the last MESA Executive Board Meeting of the year as well - this one hosted at Black Flannel in Essex rather than the MMS Art Room (as per usual).  After discussing some business and an important, hard earned cheers to all they had accomplished that year (with their tasty, off-school-grounds libations) Evan took off for the Tree Farm to meet up with his wife and the rest of the Shinkickers for their soccer game.  Aleks met them at the field and, again, had fun playing in the trees with her friend Isabel until the game was over.  Afterwards, Evan and Aleks hung around for a bit to kick their own soccer ball around some more, and help out some of their friends by gathering some out of bounds balls on their behalf.  

The next day, Aleks went on her final field trip of the year to the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.  There she got to explore all sorts of lake-related learning with her classmates and even make a quick pit stop for ice cream at the Scoop on their way back to Mater Christi School.  While all of this was going on for Aleks, Evan was celebrating the last day of school for the Milton Middle Schoolers with a half day full of fun activities followed by a big waving send-off as all of the MMS faculty and staff lined Herrick Avenue to wave goodbye to all of their students as the busses drove by honking with their students waving and hollering themselves.  After the students had gone, the teachers got together for a potluck lunch and a celebration of several important faculty/staff members who were transitioning to other opportunities next year. Following the celebrations (which also included a surprise baby shower for one of Evan's co-workers), Evan headed back to his office to begin the final stages of the year - pack-up and some prep for next year.  At the end of the day, the employees of Milton Town School District gathered at Maquam Winery to celebrate their collective accomplishments and share some exciting accolades (and well-deserved retirements!).  Also, while Evan celebrated the end of the school year with his colleagues and friends, Aleks and Tanya went on their own bike riding adventure together - in which they found a turtle hanging out on the bike path living his best life!  After stopping for a quick picture, they finished their ride and returned home.

Friday brought a similar level of excitement for Aleks as she finished her 5th grade school year following a half-day at MCS.  While Aleks was finishing up her 5th grade year, Evan was at his school trying to finish packing up the rest of the things in his office so that it would all be ready to go for the big summer cleaning that happened each year.  Unfortunately, Evan did not finish his task before he had to take off (thus requiring an extra visit the following week), but Aleks most certainly achieved her goal and left Mater Christi School at 11:30am that day with a big, proud smile on her face and another grade level under her belt.  While Evan had a zoom training with a new colleague of his from the Stern Center (where he would be working this upcoming summer), Tanya brought Aleks home from school for some lunch and to change into bathing suits to attend an End-of-Year Pool Party hosted by Aleks' friend Shayla at a nearby pool.  There, Aleks also saw her friend Hannah (who lived in the neighborhood) and made a few new friends as well.  Eventually, they all met back up at home for dinner together before making a special evening trek over to Yogurt City for a celebratory ice cream treat to congratulate Aleks on all that she had achieved this past school year and celebrate all of her hard work and effort.  The walk back, as per usual, involved a variety of tag-related shenanigans and other sweet and silly adventures as they made their way home.

The week concluded with some strawberry picking at Mazza's berry farm - an activity that proved to be surprisingly more complicated than it should've been.  The Mazza name is a very common one around these parts and, while Evan and Tanya had confirmed with Aly (Aleks' friend Chelsea's mom, whom they were going strawberry picking with) that it was Paul Mazza's Berry Farm that they were going to (rather than Sam Mazza's) they had forgotten to clarify which of the two Paul Mazza's Berry Farms it was (as, it turned out, there were two of them).  So, Evan, Tanya, and Aleks mistakenly drove all the way to Colchester and through Paul Mazza's fields to the parking area just to learn that they had arrived at the wrong Paul Mazza's.  They then turned around, hopped back on the road, and arrived 30min. late to Paul Mazza's Berry Farm in Essex (which was much closer to their home it turned out).  However, once all of that was remedied, they were able to join their friends and embark on an enjoyable strawberry picking experience in which they selected some of the most delicious strawberries any of them had ever tasted.  They picked plenty, and ate plenty more, and eventually left with a box full of delectable strawberries.  Later that evening, as another End-of-the-Year celebratory activity, the trio went to the Essex Cinema to watch a newly released movie in 3D - Inside Out 2!  They left having enjoyed the movie (and the movie snacks they had snuck in) and with hopes of returning in the somewhat near future to see another they were now excited about (as they were all intrigued by the preview they saw for a famous musical about to be turned into a movie - Wicked!).  

June 16th - 22nd, 2024:

The third week of June took a very unexpected and unfortunate turn.  It started out in a lovely way, with Father's Day.  Aleks, being the amazing and incredible daughter that she is, made Evan a very special breakfast - pancakes in his favorite color with his favorite ingredients and in his NAME!  Not only that, but she was able to spell most of "Happy Father's Day" as well, which was a very impressive feat.  Later on, Aleks took on a personal project of creating her own dollhouse out of an old shoebox.  The completed product was similarly impressive to the pancake feat earlier that morning.  Afterwards, the girls took Evan for a special Father's Day Starbucks treat (his favorite) before heading off for a Shinkickers soccer game.  There, Aleks was picked up by her dad to finish off Father's Day with him and spend the rest of the week at his house.  Evan and Tanya managed their immediate wistfulness at the departure of their beautiful daughter by embarking on another couple of soccer games to run it out.  While that didn't quite do the trick, it certainly helped a bit.  

The following day Tanya headed off to work, as per usual, and Evan, while he should've been starting his summer break, headed back to school as well, as he still had a bunch of packing up he needed to finish in his office before he could completely say goodbye to the building for the next couple of months.  Several hours later, with that task finished up, he headed home to begin prepping for his new summer job with the Stern Center.  

Tanya got home while Evan was in the midst of his prep work.  She headed off to play some pick-up soccer at Williston Central School, but Evan chose to stay behind and try to finish up the task he was so close to completing (at least this stage of it).  Upon her return, the two took off for Palmer Lane to enjoy some tasty ice cream together.  While they were reveling in the sweetness of their Maple/Peach Twists they received a far less sweet phone call...Evan's mom was calling to sadly inform them that Evan's Uncle/Cousin Ronnie had passed away earlier that day.  The entirety of his sickly experience is still beyond belief or comprehension, but somehow he had gone from a fairly routine check-in with his pulmonologist to try and address an annoying, lingering cough to liver and kidney levels that were through the roof and, while it seemed at one point that he may have been getting better, he eventually passed within only a few days of having been admitted to the hospital to begin with.

While the entire family was in shock, plans were being put into place to ensure that everything was still taken care of in a timely manner.  The next day (Tuesday) Evan spent most of at the Stern Center reacclimating himself with the environment, spaces, and materials available to him while Tanya was at work.  He received his official keycard and continued to prepare for the following week where he would be meeting all of his summer clients for the very first time.  However, when he and Tanya both arrived at home they had some decisions to make.  By that point, Uncle Ron's funeral had been scheduled - for the next day at 12pm.  While Evan and Tanya had originally planned to drive down to Otis together on Thursday to spend the weekend with the Sandelman family, those plans were quickly adjusted so that Evan could, instead, drive down to Connecticut that night and be there with the rest of the family to honor his unbelievable uncle at the funeral service and subsequent ceremonial burial.  

So, for the remainder of the week the Makhlina-Ecksteins each followed their own separate paths, all while the Northeast experienced one of the most intense heat waves it had seen in quite some time.  Aleks remained at her dad's house for the week.  Tanya busied herself with work (by necessity) and then split her free time between house projects (e.g., cleaning the washer machine and dishwasher along with the rest of the house, doing the laundry, etc.) and more enjoyable activities (e.g., playing pick-up soccer with friends followed by a joint ice cream venture, cuddling with the cat on the couch and watching some cartoons [TV], pizza and board/card games with her Mama and Mish, a rainy hike with her friends Sienna and Edwin at Libby's Lookout in Bolton and then dinner at Waterworks later that night with her friend Kristen).

Evan joined his parents and extended family at his uncle's funeral in Hawthorne, NY followed by a graveside service and subsequent burial in Paramus, NJ (near Evan's grandparents Sheila and Cliff AKA Grammy and Poppy).  The funeral was marked by two heartfelt eulogies from Evan's cousin Tim (Ron's youngest child) and Evan's uncle/cousin Alan (Ron's brother).  The graveside service that followed involved some additional prayers from the rabbi and a ceremonial burial in which everyone present took part.  However, to ensure that their beloved father/brother/cousin/uncle/son/grandfather/friend was properly buried, despite the audacious heat and their bewildering attire, several family members (Evan included among them) remained and continued to take turns piling the dirt onto his casket to ensure that he would be covered in love by his family and protected forevermore.

When his beloved uncle was sufficiently buried Evan joined the rest of the Sandelman gang at the eternal resting place of his late grandmother and grandfather (Grammy and Poppy) to pay his respects and send them love.  Afterwards, Evan and his mom joined Evan's aunt Karyn (aka Auntie K) and Duane to attend the first day of Shiva at the Schliftman house, while Evan's dad drove to the Westchester Airport to pick up Evan's brother (Jordan), sister-in-law (Shannon), and niece (Kenna) who were flying in that day.  The rest of that day was mostly marked with immense sadness, immense amounts of food, and immense love as the family came together, as they always did in times of need, to support one another during this extremely unexpected and challenging time.  Evan and his dad (when he arrived with Jordan, Shannon, and Kenna) sported Rangers jersey in honor of Ron and his never-ending love for the team (along with the rest of the Gang family).  Evan spent some extra time at the end of that night out back around a fire pit with his cousins Matt (Ron's oldest child) and Jenn (Matt's wife).  And, for just a moment, the reconnecting that they did and the love that was shared between them overcame the sadness in the air, or at least blocked it out for a while.

The next day started with some Eckstein family time as Kenna entertained the Eckstein crew with her adorable new skills (walking, talking [sort of], and genuine cuteness in all things) and Evan made an egg breakfast for the group.  As afternoon arrived, some of the Ecksteins went to his aunt and uncle's (Lisa & Mickey's) for some pool and cousin time, before the day's Shiva began around 2pm.  However, Evan stayed behind to finish up some prep work for his upcoming first week at the Stern Center and his dad embarked on a shopping trip to prepare for the weekend ahead in Otis.  Eventually, Evan and his dad joined the rest of the Gang family at the Schliftman household (with a quick pitstop at Trader Joes, so Evan could arrive with some sparking cider - a special ode to his late uncle who always supplied some at Thanksgiving time, and at Starbucks, as that Starbucks in particular represented a nostalgic pastime for Evan and his dad and Evan's days with a Learner's Permit).

While the heaviness of recent events was still thick in the air at Shiva (along with the excessive heat and related humidity), the love of family (and good food) helped to slowly lighten the mood a little.  The increased amount of Rangers attire in the room helped as well (as now Evan, his dad, his brother, and his Uncle Mickey were participating in the tribute - with little Kenna and lovely Aunt Laurel to follow suit the next day).  Evan spent much of Thursday's Shiva playing outside with his younger cousin Dylan (Tim's youngest child), which was truly wonderful as Dylan needed to be active and Evan appreciated the welcome distraction - as well as the bonding time with his younger cousin whom he didn't get to see nearly often enough (as they lived in DC).  While the emotions of the day were hard at times, the family presence was a consistently heartwarming relief.

The following morning brought Bagelman breakfast sandwiches to start the day and a packing up of cars in preparation for a weekend in Otis following that day's Shiva call at the Schliftman house.  With everything (mostly) ready to go, the Eckstein crew headed to the Schliftman's for another Shiva visit.  More food and more family were present once again, and as the day went on the air seemed to continue to lighten just a bit as the moments passed.  Eventually, the entire Sandelman gang departed the Schliftman home (following many, many hugs - as was the custom in their family) to head to Otis for their Sandelman gang weekend getaway.  After everyone checked into their respective Otis stays, they all reconvened at Lisa and Mickey's house for pizza and partying (while ensuring to pay tribute to their dear uncle and enjoy their time together in his honor, as that is certainly how he would've wanted it - big smiles and all).

After their late departure back to their respective "homes" for the weekend, the Ecksteins awoke the following morning and enjoyed a relaxed start to the day.  Kenna, as always, was the center of attention (and rightfully so) and breakfast was eventually consumed (thanks to Evan's brother Jordan).  Then, the Ecksteins met up with the Marks and Dobbs teams at the Beckett Quarry trailhead for a nice hike through the woods that culminated in a beautiful view of the Beckett Quarry.  Afterwards, they headed over to the Route 8 Pub for a late lunch before heading back to their respective "homes" for an afternoon recalibration (or nap).  Later on they gathered again at Lisa & Mickey's for dinner, drinks, and other delights.  When it was time for most of the Ecksteins to head home, Evan and his brother Jordan decided to stay for a little bit longer to enjoy the last bit of time they had with their cousins before their departure the following day.  It was time well spent, as family time always is.

June 23rd - 30th, 2024:

The week began with a wonderful homecoming.  Evan returned home to his loving wife and cat&pet after his (almost) week away and then, later that day, Aleks returned home to them all after her week away.  Everyone was very excited to be together again and with their soccer game cancelled for the evening due to torrential rain and high winds (even tornado warnings in the area) the Makhlina-Ecksteins enjoyed a nice, relaxing evening at home together once again.

The following day Tanya headed off to work, Aleks spent the day with her Grandma and Mish, and Evan began his new summer job at the Stern Center entering his first day working with his new clients.  Aleks got to go on a little birthday shopping spree (with a special Starbucks treat thrown in) with her grandparents and Evan got to meet several of his brand new clients that first day.

When they all returned home after their respective, busy days the girls began packing up for a couple of nights at a Tiny House they had rented for just the two of them to have a long overdue Mama-Daughter camp for a little while.  Evan packed their bikes onto Tanya's car and kissed them both goodbye as they took off for a Tiny House in Shelburne.  Evan then spent the rest of that evening cuddling with the cat and watching the Stanley Cup Finals - Game 7 while the girls got setup in the adorable little Tiny House they had found (which just so happened to be owned by some of Tanya's friends - Anne & Ethan), went for a bike ride, and enjoyed some homemade mac & cheese for dinner.

The next day Evan got to run a few errands before meeting a handful more of his summer clients.  Afterwards, he had hopes of playing some pick-up soccer, but when it turned out that the game he had heard about had seemingly been canceled (unbeknownst to him) he ended up hunting around for another game at another field and ultimately decided that, despite the fact that there seemed to be no games happening on any fields anywhere, he still wanted to play soccer so he ended up practicing by himself - because that's what he wanted to do.  About an hour later he went home sweaty, tired, and hungry and enjoyed a relaxing rest of the evening on the couch with the cat once again.

Aleks and Tanya had a very busy day of their own as well.  They decided to take to their bikes for local transportation and biked all around Shelburne - including breakfast at Le Marche Cafe, ice cream at Shelburne Country Store, groceries/snacks at Shelburne Market, and an exploration of Shelburne Museum.  They capped their long day off with some dinner and Phase 10 at the Tiny House.

Wednesday was another day at work for Evan, but with the exciting finale of the girls coming home and the family finally reunited once again.  And to capitalize on that excitement, Aleks joined Evan and Tanya at their soccer game in Shelburne that evening where Evan scored the only goal of the game to win it 1-0!  Afterwards, Aleks demonstrated some of her own growing soccer skills on the field with Evan and Tanya before they all returned home victorious.  

The following day involved more introductions to some new clients for Evan (as well as some continued introductions to some, still fairly new clients) and more bike riding for Aleks and Tanya.  It seemed that Aleks and Tanya, after all of their bike riding adventures in Shelburne, had caught the bicycling bug and, this time, decided to bike around their home town of Williston.  They started off towards Williston Central School to play on the playground and practice some more soccer on their fields, with a quick pitstop at the local library to renew their library cards.  Afterwards, they took a detour to Adam's Apple Orchard & Farm Market for some tasty treats before returning home.  

Friday finished the work week for Evan with a shorter day (only 2 clients) and an opportunity to come home for lunch and then stay there (rather than returning back for more clients in the afternoon).  While Evan had originally planned to play some pickleball with some friends, he decided to spend the afternoon with his girls instead.  So, after eating some lunch they packed up some sand toys (most of which were brand new, early birthday gifts from Grandma and Mish), a few beach towels, a pair of goggles and a Mermaid tail set, and headed off to Lake Iroquois for a family beach day!  The water was...reasonable, the sand was...rocky, but none of that stopped them from having a great time, which included some Mermaid chasing and catching in the water followed by a decently sized bathtub construction on the beach.  In the end, all of this was only the very tip of a very fun-filled family weekend.

With only two days left to the month of June and, therefore, Aleks' birthday quickly arriving, it was finally time to spring Aleks' big birthday gift surprise!  Saturday morning started out pretty low key - a lazy breakfast on the couch, lots of laundry, a few board games, etc. until about 11:00am rolled around.  At that point, an "unexpected" doorbell ring occurred in the Makhlina-Eckstein household.  Aleks, curious about who it could possibly be, answered and was shocked to see one of her best friends (Lucy), who had just this past September moved to Massachusetts, standing in the doorway with an overnight bag slung over her shoulder!!  Aleks was speechless for a moment and then wrapped Lucy in the biggest of "I've missed you" hugs.  [NOTE: While Aleks and Lucy had been in touch over the school year through several back-and-forth letters as well as a couple of FaceTimes, this was the first time that had seen each other in person since Lucy's big move.]

Aleks and Lucy came inside and went straight upstairs to put Lucy's overnight bag down and start to play.  Evan and Tanya caught up with Lucy's mom (Molly) and her younger brother (Beckham) for a bit.  Over the course of their conversation, it was determined that Molly and Beckham were going to stay the night as well (as there were no affordable hotels around for the night).  Now that plans were in place, Molly and Beckham headed off to see Molly's dad while Evan, Tanya, Aleks, and Lucy went off to jump around at Get Air; however, Evan dropped the girls off and took a quick detour to the storage unit to grab some air mattresses for Molly and Beckham, before returning to Get Air to join in the festivities (and, subsequently, bumping into his good friend Casey and her husband, Matt, and daughter, Maeve, as well as his friend Deb and her daughter, Ari, whose birthday they had been celebrating).  

After jumping for about an hour and a half, the active quartet took off to quickly change at home into bathing suits (well, Aleks and Lucy at least) before popping over to The Edge in Essex for some swim time.  About 45 minutes later they were headed back home, sufficiently soaked, to pick up some pizza and play.  The evening continued with Ramuntos pizza, dinosaurs and Magnetiles, and then an indoor game of tag (which Lucy's brother Beckham joined in on once he and his mom had returned to La Casa Makhlina-Eckstein).  Finally the evening settled down with some Uno Attack and a Carvel Ice Cream Birthday Cake.  All in all, it was a wonderful way to celebrate a birthday - and yet, the festivities had not quite concluded...

The next day Evan and Tanya took Aleks and Lucy on a 2 hour trip to go to the Six Flags Great Escape in Lake George, NY!  Aleks and Lucy had a blast together going on as many rides as they could, getting soaked on the water slides and in the wave pool (despite a lack of bathing suits), and living it up as much as possible.  Thankfully, Tanya had a spare change of clothes in her car that the girls were able to change into after their water adventures and they both got some celebratory Great Escape t-shirts to commemorate the epic events of the day.  After they finally returned home from their exhilarating day it was time to bid farewell to Lucy and her family as they headed back to Massachusetts.  However, the girls were sure to part ways with a "see you again soon" rather than a "goodbye" and with high hopes of another adventure again together in the not too distant future.