That having been said, we just wrapped up a great Memorial Day weekend!
Zoe got a major taste of family all weekend as all branches of Papa's Scherlis clan descended upon Baltimore for the first Family Reunion of the new millenium. Zoe met cousins from all parts of the country as we honored our ancestors who came from Russia to begin a new life new life in America over 100 years ago. So in addition to charming the crowd of 60, her presence was especially meaningful.The weekend continued with a barbecue at Cousin Sharon's. In addition to meeting more new cousins (this time from Mom's family), Zoe--somewhat exhausted by 48 hours of Scherlis shenanigans, was content to just kick back and kibitz with Pop-Pop.
Zoe and Jesse took time out to enjoy the spacious grounds of Chateau Rabinoroll, the San Simeon of Reisterstown.
The "art shot"
For Aunt Har and Cousin Sharon, who've never made the blog.
¶ 11:28 PM 0 comments
Last weekend, Jesse had a few spots on his upper body. I thought to myself...couldn't be. Dr. Mom, of course, had the gut instinct that we were looking at chicken pox. Wait a minute, not possible...he had the varicella vaccine years ago.
At the doctor's the next morning, we learned that the vaccine isn't fullproof (85% success rate) and we were looking at a mild, but very real case of chicken pox. So we scrambled to arrange coverage for Jesse all week since school wasn't an option. So where did this put Zoe? As longtime readers may remember, Zoe had the real deal when we first met her, almost jeopardizing that first trip to Russia. So she wasn't about to catch them again. I had them when I was about Jesse's age. And Sari had the varicella vaccine, which seemed to hold up to do its job for one of us anyway.What does all this have to do with anything? Not much, but it's the only lame excuse I have for a lack of vigilence to blogging detail.
So we've been somewhat homebound without many photo ops of late. But we finally got out today to celebrate cousin Lila's birthday at a brunch thrown by Grandma & Grandpa. Pancakes are now near the top of Zoe's dietary staples--she craves them for breakfast, lunch & dinner and is eating a lot of them. I suspect it's not so much the pancakes as it is the syrup, just the latest in a long line of sweets that have fallen into favor. We'd probably get the same enthusiasm if we offered corrugated cardboard topped with a little Log Cabin.
Uncle Gary taught Zoe some of the finer points of the game of cribbage. 
And she put them to good use by hammering the birthday girl.Rest assured, we're still out here working for you. Look for more bloggable material in the days to come. ¶ 11:01 PM 3 comments
This was not the only monumental occurrence to come out of our Saturday in rural Maryland. Zoe spied a little girl holding a new puppy outside the entrance of a store in which we were shopping. She led me to the dog, but kept her distance. "Sweet Pea" was adorable, but not to the point that Zoe would allow herself to pet her, but she was clearly tempted and got within two feet. Instead, Zoe grabbed onto my arm and maneuvered it, like a robotic device, to pet Sweet Pea on her behalf.
The moment lost some of its charm when Sweet Pea's heavily-tattooed, Red Man cap-wearing owner arrived and tried to encourage Zoe to pet her. "She might nip at you a little, but it's okay...she's just teething." Zoe, of course, refused. As much as I love dogs, family allergies and irresponsibility have always been obstacles to ownership and, as a consequence, I don't know a whole lot about them.
"What kind of breed is this? I don't recognize it," I asked, continuing to stroke Sweet Pea in an effort to encourage Zoe to follow.
"Oh, she's a mix. Half beagle and half pitbull."
As little as I know about dogs, the thought of Sweet Pea's pitbull half locking her jaws onto one of us brought a quick end to this canine Kodak moment.
Yesterday turned into just another lazy Sunday.
Uncle Gary, Aunt Dian and cousin Emmy came early to take some of our old unisex baby clothes and other assorted baby stuff off our hands. Next weekend is our annual community yard sale; the remainder of the "under 3" stuff up in our attic will be finding new homes at that time, as well. 
A visit from Bubbe, Pop-Pop (dubbed "Poppy" to easily distinguish his name from "Papa") and other relatives for a dinner barbecue highlighted the day.
Zoe charmed and performed for the audience. This time she did Twinkle, Twinkle and totally nailed it. The inevitable comparisons to Peggy Lee, Celine Dion and Mrs. Miller were made. Matches were lit as the crowd demanded an encore, but the tempermental star simply walked offstage, in need of chocolate milk and a potty break.
¶ 6:09 AM 2 comments
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