From today's recording session - follow-up email from Dan

The last thing we did in Arlington, before leaving for my parents' house (and from here we'll leave for Cairo on Saturday) is spend two hours at Dan's house/studio recording Henry's "Body Song." Then after we left Dan added some bells and whistles. I'll upload the .mp3 as soon as I figure out how. Meanwhile here's Dan's email, sent at 11 o'clock last night.

Henry!
Great work today. I hope I didn't take too many liberties producing up the
song:) I had a lot of fun playing around with it.
Here's an identification guide to all of the sounds:
Ukulele & Henry's vocals (of course!)
Also making appearances (see if you can spot them all!)
the drum sounds are me banging on my accordion case.
2 maracas
a lil tambourine in the bridge
a little electric piano bass line in the chorus
the chime-a-tron bells in the chorus
a train whistle
A slide whistle
accordion
and I think that's it! Let me know if you'd like to hear anything
different!
Bon Voyage,
Dan

Flannery Brothers concert in Medford

It rained, but who cared?

Henry and his classmate Isa doing the "high five dance."

You can do it too, if you spend as much time practicing in your kitchen as we do.

A lot of other favorites -- this is the long note in Broccoli Yet.

Thompson School playground, Arlington

Usually in the afternoon Nirmala takes the kids to the Thompson School playground. It's shady, and as soon as school let out they started turning on the spray fountains. Any wonder it takes Henry and me a few minutes to get out of there when we come to pick her up?

Henry has gotten a lot stronger this year.

Esti has too.

See?

See? Mommy, look at me!

Esti - spring and summer pix

Picnic at DeCordova Museum

A recent picnic at DeCordova with one of Ken's colleagues and his family. Their two adorable girls, 6 and 3, got along very well with Henry and Esti.

An eyeball tree! (Pleasures of modern art.)

Badminton on the lawn.

Patient daddies carrying happy girls around Sandy Pond.

One Castle, three Kafkas

Finally figured how to get photos from my phone to my computer. These are from Prague.

Unfortunately my phone battery died (tech wizard that I am) on my last, really beautiful day of sightseeing. Before then I was mainly walking back and forth from Wenceslaus Square to the conference at Charles University, taking pictures of Kafka stuff...

Henry's long day

In the morning (Sat), Henry was the only boy at a party whose other attendees were named Ada, Emma, Emilia, Sania, Maya, and Katherine (and of course Esti). He gamely participated in the egg-spoon race, treasure hunt, and eating of a gigantic cupcake-shaped birthday cake extravaganza with pink and purple frosting. (Afterwards: "I really should have just left that frosting. It was way too much sugar.")
Then we went to the pond.

He had his first kayak ride, just around the shallow little pond, and he was wearing a lifejacket, don't worry.

The second time in the boat, he insisted on paddling, and actually did pretty well. (I remember struggling to paddle when I was like, 12.)

Now we just have to teach him how to swim. Hopefully next summer.

Harold Parker State Forest, Saturday

A very social weekend! Between a birthday party on Sat morning and one on Sun morning, time for a quick dip and dinner with my folks and some of their visiting friends.
 
 
Esti prepares for Egypt by striking a Pharaonic pose.
 
Empress or babygirl? You decide.