Essence of Summer

Class of 2010

Before I had kids I thought that the idea of a preschool graduation was ludicrous. In my opinion, it was for over indulgent parents who had to celebrate everything. I mean really...graduating from preschool....ridiculous. Then I had children.....then I had a child graduating from preschool and suddenly it wasn't so ludicrous after all.

Thursday afternoon I sat in a very small gym auditorium and got weepy as my little man paraded down the aisle with all his little friends in their caps and gowns. He looked, well, so darn grown up. Admittedly, preschool graduation is a tad over the top but nevertheless it was still the best graduation I have ever been to.

For those who want to see all of the graduation photos (for as much as I cried, Raif snapped photos) as always you can go to Raif's smug mug page.

Culture Night

This past weekend our friends Ayumi and Taylor passed through on their way from India to Santa Fe (via DC). We took this opportunity to show our culture loving friends some of Nashville's culture. Currently on display at Cheekwood is a Dale Chihuly exhibit. What this man does with blown glass in unreal.....






For more pictures of this incredible exhibit go to Raif's smug-mug account. Raif did an amazing photography job, almost as good as the blown glass if I do say so myself!!

Lost in Translation

Greyson LOVES our local Japanese Steakhouse and therefore we go quite often. Often enough for the manager to know us and we to know Chef Andy. So last night Greyson walks in and proudly announces to Chef Andy that it is his birthday. Within moment of the announcement Chef Andy walks back out with this strange little golden cow toy present. The markings on it were all in Chinese so I wasn't exactly sure what it was. When we got it home I turned the box over and found the directions/warnings in both Chinese and English. This is what it said - word for word - on the bottom of the box.

• In order not course the danger of asphyxial, Please do no to put the spare parts into the mouth.
• In order not course the danger of swallowing, forbidden to give the toy playing by the Children who are not enough 3 years old.
• In order not course the danger of asphyxial, please do not cover the plastic bag on the head or face.
• In order to avoid accident, please safekeeping the toy that make sure the children who are not enough 3 years old not reach the toy.
• Please do not shake and haul the toy.
• Please do not use the sun energy battery tough and don't throw it away.

Yeah...... While it was a lovely gesture by Chef Andy to think of Greyson, I am thinking that this cadmium and lead based death toy might find itself taking an early departure from the Erim household.

5 Years....really???

Can it really have been 5 years?? Seems like yesterday. Happy Birthday to my baby boy. I love you more than you will ever know.

On Pins and Needles

So my son has a small (insert sarcasm) phobia of needles. Can't say I blame the kid. In his short life span he has had more needle pricks, more shots, more IVs that most adults walking around these days. And each one of these pricks has come with a relative stranger holding him down too. No wonder he is needle shy.

While I don't blame him for his phobia, it does make vaccination day, well shall we say, interesting. I have been dreading this day since BGA sent us the friendly reminder a month ago that Greyson needed to have his 5 year vaccinations before starting school. With school starting in less than 3 weeks I couldn't put it off any longer - today was the day.

I picked them up and tried to be as upbeat as possible. I told them we were going for a special surprise...ice cream!! Yippee were they happy. There are only two ice cream shops we frequent around school - the first being right next to Susan Gray and the second being next to the pediatrician's (side note the perfect business plan is to open a ice cream shop next to a pediatrician's office - about 3/4 of the kids getting shots were getting ice cream when we got there). Greyson seemed a bit confused when we drove by the ice cream next to school.

"Mommy why didn't we stop for ice cream?"

"We are going to go to the one next to Dr. Ladd's office today, honey."

"Oh........we aren't going to get shots are we?"

Hmmmm - Mother crisis here. Do I lie and tell him no to stop the pre-shot hysteria as much as possible or tell him the truth like a good person should? I sort of compromised.

"Well, we have to stop and get a piece of paper from Dr. Ladd's office to give to BGA that says you are healthy enough to go to school (truth). The nurse is going to look over the paper and make sure everything is ready for you to go to school (truth)."

"But, no shots???"

"Well, we will see. I don't know what the nurse will say." (big fat lie, yes but it leaves the door open and technically I didn't know what the nurse would say, right?)

Now in all this there is another little voice in the back talking to. Quinn also had to get some shots and was saying over and over...."But I don't want to get any shots."

I managed to keep the hysteria in check until they called our name and took us back. In that fake mommy voice we all use to let other adults know we are acting I kindly informed the nurse to look over Greyson's records to make sure everything was ready for Kindergarten. With that she left and all was quiet until she came back with the dreaded silver tray filled with needles. Then it was all over.

We tried to get it over as quickly as possible. I hoisted Greyson up and with the dexterity of someone who has done this a million times the nurse quite efficiently poked him 4 times. All the time my son HYSTERICALLY screaming and telling her "NO, YOU KEEP THAT AWAY FROM ME!!!" and "IS IT A SOFT NEEDLE?? I WANT A SOFT NEEDLE."

Once Greyson was done we put him down and I picked Quinn up who wasn't as upset but wasn't the happiest camper in the world. That is when it happened - the big protective brother came out and Greyson PHYSICALLY TACKLED the nurse all the while screaming. "DON'T TOUCH MY SISTER. SHE ISN'T GOING TO KINDERGARTEN SHE DOESN'T NEED SHOTS." Both the nurse and I just stood there with these dumbfounded looks on our faces. I tried to explain to Greyson that Quinn needed shots to go to Susan Gray but Greyson wouldn't let the nurse near Quinn. We actually had to get a second nurse to restrain Greyson so we could give Quinn her shots.

When I walked out of the exam room, having lost a couple years and slightly deaf from the screaming, all eyes were on me. The receptionist kindly let me know that my kids won the loudest screamers of the day. The cherry on the top was when the poor nurse went out to call back another unfortunate child, Greyson, who was still crying, yelled at her and told her she was mean.

Thankfully the enticement of ice cream finally got them to settle down and by the time we got into the elevator all was as calm as can be with two preschoolers running about.

Already looking forward to flu vaccines......

The amusing side note in all of this was as we were having ice cream Quinn told me that her band-aids had skeleton heads on them. I thought that that was pretty odd for a doctor's office and looked and laughed aloud when I saw little Tweety Birds staring back at me. Ahhh, the pitfalls when you don't let your kids watch TV and learn all the cartoon characters.

Bahamas - Day At Sea

Bahamas - Nightlife

After the sand is off for the day and the stomachs have been filled we say goodbye to the day and the sun by walking to the point and watching the sunset.


These colors you just can't find in a Crayola box.


After the kids are down for the count Raif and I take off for the one bar in Treasure Cay - the Tipsy Seagull.


The Tipsy is a most interesting mix of people you will ever see. There are local Bahamians, underage kids whose parents mistakenly believe that the bartenders will actually card them, old salty dog sailors off of their boats from a day or two of deep sea fishing, and families and couples who have found this little oasis and like us have been coming year after year. It never fails that we will see at least one old friend of Raif's (and after a decade of coming mine too) while we are there. But no matter who you are, everyone enjoys listening to the smooth stylings of Chris "The Burner"


Chris has been singing at the Tipsy at least for the past decade (since I have been going). He is the King of bad Karoake. On his good days he knows about 80%-90% of the lyrics of any given song. By the end of the night he is usually unintelligbile as he has moved from his perch near Tony-Tony (his keyboardist) and plunked himself right down on the bar with his microphone sitting beside him so he can better drink his Goombay Smash.

Bahamas - Treasures

Our main goal almost every day was to search for treasures. We found them in all shapes and sizes.... live ones


and formerly live ones.


After the lives ones were carefully examined they were sent back to their homes (always leave nature in nature).


The formerly live ones were laid out to dry and in some cases de-stink and then were carefully packed away for our trip back home.



But even away from the ocean we ran into treasures of the live variety....

Quinn saved this little guy from sure extinction when she found him crossing the road.


And this little cheeky guy has somehow convinced Nini to feed him every day. In all seriousness this little curly tailed lizard comes to the house at the same time every day and begs for cheese. Who knew that you could train lizards??


But the find of the trip was definitely Greyson's conch.


It was gorgeous (the picture really doesn't do the colors justice)- he happened upon it at low tide caught in the sand. Unfortunately he was very much alive (the conch and I guess Greyson too). I tried to convince myself that had we not found him he would have surely died, being beached and out of the water and besides how much 'quality of life' can a conch have?? But in the end I convinced myself (with a little help from my kids...."Mom we have to put him back and save him") that he should go back in the ocean. C'est la vie.

Bahamas - Daily Rhythm

About the time that our plane touches ground in Treasure Cay is about the time I shove my cell phone deep into my purse, not to be heard from until we take back off for the US. The phone is useless there (for the obvious reason that I don't get cell reception) but the other not so obvious reason is that time or at least telling time (which is the other main function of my cell phone) is of little use here.

Back in Nashville our daily rhythm is always molded by a schedule - school start time, dismissal time, dinner time and bedtime. And for the most part these activities come and go at the same time each day. Not that I am a slave to the clock, but she and I hang out quite a bit every day.

But in the Bahamas, that sort of schedule just doesn't work. The Bahamians clearly don't stick to one as the phrase "island time" pretty much means whenever someone gets around to it. So our rhythm changes to match the tides and the sun. In the morning, at low tide we walk across the street to the Windward beach. This side of the island faces the US and so shielded from any large waves brought in by the Atlantic. Most days the waves are about as rough as a lake. With clear blue waters and no pesky waves to contend with we search for treasures on the beach.....


Then either lunch at home or at the Coco bar serving up tasty, tasty, conch fritters. And the view isn't bad either.


After lunch it is off to the main beach - located next to the condos on the Leeward side of the island. This is generally our first contact with any other people, though usually maybe 20 people if that, on the beach at any given time. The larger waves are great for diving into and floating on.


Or occasionally we may hit the pool.


Dinnertime is whenever exhaustion sets in and the sand has been rinsed off for the day. There were nights when I looked up to see that my kids were still up and playing at nine at night. Unheard of at home.

Then it is off to bed to do the same thing again the next day.

The Bahamas - Treasure Cay

For most of you (if not all), you know that we are lucky enough to frequent the Bahamas every year or so, as Raif's parents live there most of the year. When we tell people that we are going to the Bahamas, they at once think of Nassau or Freeport and their minds run to casinos or all inclusive resorts and the like. Our Bahamas couldn't be further from that. So for the next few posts or so I thought I would educate everyone on our Bahamas and who knows maybe it will intrigue you so much that you will want to join us next time.

Raif's parents live in a town call Treasure Cay, located in the Abacos chain of the Bahamas. The Bahamas contains thousands of islands, most of them uninhabited. The island is considered a 'family island' which basically means no casinos, no large hotels, mostly Bahamians and ex-pats like the Erims who have bought vacation homes and second homes.

From the brochure I read in the Treasure Cay airport (which by the way is about the size of a three car garage) TC has about 15,000 inhabitants. It has 3 restaurants (if you can consider a beach bar serving hamburgers a restaurant and none of them are anything to write home about) and 1, yes 1, bar. There are two smallish condo complexes to rent to the casual vacationer. No major hotels - nothing over 3 stories anywhere. The majority of the island is covered in houses - the vast majority are occupied probably less than half the year by snowbirds from Europe, Canada and the US. Add this all up and you have an island with not a lot going on and not a lot of people.

Treasure Cay has pretty much one main road that goes along one beach and one small road that goes along the other. With two roads and everything within 5 minutes by car and with gas at around $5.00/gallon the vast majority of travel is done by golf cart. They have even gone so far as to start a golf cart drive in once a week in an old parking lot. There was a big turnout last week - there were about 4 golf carts and about 15 people or so who walked over with lawn chairs. And mind you that this was a big holiday week - with both 4th of July and Bahamian Independence Day so the island was more crowded than usual.

So what does one do on an island with seemingly nothing going on.....stay tuned.

Hasta La Vista....

We are off to the Bahamas for a much needed vacation.... See ya in a little while....