Harrison Update

In the past week or so, Peter, Jessa, and Rosie went to Slovenia. 

Rosie celebrated Polish Independence Day at her daycare.

Owen practiced his eating.

Lloyd and Freddie went to Mall of America.

And I ran a 10k.

Breaking Blog News

Owen has met his Uncle John! The meetup happened today in Baltimore. It's a prelude to Monday, when John returns with reinforcements and Owen gets to meet the Aunt Troy, Lloyd, and Freddie.

For now, Uncle John is off to Dewey Beach in Delaware for a Bedik family weekend. 

Meanwhile, this morning in Warsaw, Peter introduced his family to his 8th grade English teacher Ms. Delaney. 

Rosie made a friend and got to borrow a cool hat. Peter, Jessa, and Rosie are in Warsaw for a couple more days enjoying the start of summer now that school's over, then they're onto Amsterdam for a couple days while en route to Tucson, where they arrive next Wednesday!

Flashback Friday

Brad and I are flying home from Warsaw today, but please indulge me as this week's  Flashback will be one more Polish picture. This is the house in Warsaw that we lived in for two years. We walked by it last week but because it's down a long driveway and set back from the road we really couldn't see much of it. Anyway, this house has lots of good memories and I thought it was a fitting time to give it some love as we head home to Tucson after a really good visit with Peter, Jessie, and Rosie in Warsaw.

Warsaw Week Two

Saturday's highlight was that Brad, Rosie, and I spent a solo evening together while Peter and Jessa went to a movie. We had fun playing and hanging out. 

Rosie loves to play, including making food in her kitchen. 

On Sunday we all went out for brunch. Rosie ate a bowl of oatmeal fit for a king - or in her case a queen - and we were all impressed.

In the afternoon we went to Lazienki Park for a Chopin concert at the Chopin Monument. It's something Brad and I have never done before and I'm really glad we went. Rosie liked it too.

Brad and I went to the Warsaw Uprising Museum on Monday. Later in the day I met Jessa and Rosie at a playground after daycare. 

In the evening we went out to pizza and Rosie was, as always, a charming dinner companion.

On Tuesday, Brad and I were guests at The American School of Warsaw. We were living here 24 years ago when this new campus opened and our kids were students. Now Peter works here, the school is vastly remodeled, and the neighborhood around it built up and developed. It was fun to spend a morning in a place with so many happy memories.

Walking to dinner on Tuesday night. When Rosie asks to hold hands, she has no shortage of takers.

On our last full day, Brad and I headed to two adjacent parks. They're called Ujazdowski and Lazienki. Both are beautiful, in different ways. It was finally a warm day and we enjoyed the nice weather. 

Later in the afternoon we went to a playground with Rosie and Jessa. Rosie had been under the weather last night so Jessa stayed home with her today. She had a great time at the park, and later at dinner, so I think her recovery is complete.

After dinner at Peter and Jessa's house we walked down the street for ice cream before saying our goodbyes to Peter and Rosie. We plan to have lunch with Jessa before heading to the airport. It's been a really fun and nostalgic visit. We can't wait to come back to Warsaw and spend time with our favorite local family.

 

Warsaw Week One

We've already been in Warsaw for a week so it's time for a post with highlights from the week. We arrived late Saturday night so our week really started last Sunday. Peter, Jessa, and Rosie met us for a lovely Sunday outing at a brunch market. There were lots of delicious stalls selling food from many different cuisines. It was a really fun day.

We kicked back on Monday, still recovering from jet lag plus our delayed luggage situation. We rented an apartment in the building next door to Peter, Jessa, and Rosie, so the commute to see each other is super easy. This is Rosie heading off to dinner with all of us.

Peter took a personal day on Tuesday so the four adults headed to the southern part of Warsaw that is called Wilanów. This is the area of town where we used to live. We went by our old house and visited some our favorite Polish pottery shop. We also toured Wilanów Palace (above), home of Jan III Sobieski, a beloved king of Poland. 

On Wednesday, Peter went back to work and Jessa joined us at POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. It's a fairly new museum. It was interesting and very well done and got our stamp of approval. 

On Thursday, Brad and I went to a Chopin museum as well as a Cold War museum. The Cold War Museum was in Old Town so we walked around there for awhile (above), but it was quite cold so we didn't saunter.

On Friday we didn't do any touristing. Jessa and I had a girls afternoon and in the evening we all went out for dinner at a Spanish restaurant. It was delicious and a perfect way to start the weekend. We're here until Thursday and we're looking forward to more fun times with special people in this special place.

Flashback Friday

Today's Flashback is another picture from Warsaw. We're here and having a wonderful visit. I'll do a post when I get a chance. In the meantime, here are Geneva and Brad on May 1, 2001, at the Warsaw Uprising Monument. 

Flashback Friday

Over spring break of 2001, the kids and I decided to be tourists in Warsaw. We had just moved there in February and we'd spent most of the first couple of months getting settled. This picture is taken on April 9, 2001, in front of Wilanow Palace, which was near our house. Brad and I are excited that we too will get to be tourists in Warsaw, starting tomorrow. Not only that, but we get to spend time with Peter, Jessa, and Rosie and see their new life in a place that's near and dear to our hearts.

Flashback Friday

It was on this day in 2001 that the whole family arrived in Warsaw for our two year stay. Brad had already been here for a couple of months but Valentine's Day was when the kids and I joined. I don't have any photos of people during that time. So the best I can do is share a photo of our house.

Flashback Friday

As I write this, Peter, Jessa, and Rosie are on an overnight train en route to their fall break in Hungary. After boarding, they sent some pictures of their sleeping berth. I must say, it's a gigantic upgrade from the trains we used to take overnight when we lived in Poland. (And which we thought were pretty great.) At the same time, over in Denver we have Lloyd, who's become fascinated with trains. So, I'm combining these two situations to bring you this week's train-themed Flashback. Above is John in November of 2001, boarding a train on a snowy night in Zakopane, Poland, bound for Warsaw.

Making Up for Lost Time

Today I have happenings from Harrisons far and wide. Last weekend we were at Geneva's house in Sun City to celebrate her birthday.

On Friday night we went out for Thai food with her three Arizona sons and their wives.

On Saturday we had Friday's group, plus some grandkids and great-grandkids, at Geneva's house for a second celebration. It was a fun weekend.

Now it's time to talk about the newest generation. Over in Poland, Rosie's new bike seat works as well on Jessa's bike as it does on Peter's. She's starting to rack up the miles.

This is Rosie out on a walk with her daycare. Her walking skills are really coming along. I think she still mostly rides in a stroller, but she's persevering with her walking and can go for quite a way before falling.

Rosie is doing her best to study up for her job as everybody's favorite Polish tutor. Fortunately for us all, her daycare has a lot of books and as you can see she's already hard at work.

When she's not learning Polish, Rosie is taking in Polish culture. This weekend she and her parents visited everybody's favorite medieval castle, Malbork.

In 2002, her dad and the rest of our family made our own pilgrimage to Malbork. But I digress.

Over in Denver, there are two sweet brothers.

Freddie is enjoying the perks of being a younger brother. He fits into the cute frog outfit that Lloyd used to wear.

And he gets to wear Lloyd's barbecue onesie and use his bouncy chair.

Speaking of big brother Lloyd, he's a kid who's always on the move. 

Over in Baltimore, this kid is only on the move as much as his/her mom is, but you can see s/he already looks like a baby. Mary's graduated into her second trimester and March 27 is getting closer by the day!

 


 

I'm Totally Burying the Lede

Agnes is one of the two best cared-for cats in Warsaw. And as you can see, the trauma of their long trip over from Philadelphia hasn't left any scars.

The same goes for Lola, the other best-cared for cat in Warsaw. It seems like both koty are adjusting nicely to their new home.

Speaking of adjusting nicely to her new home: Rosie's Tour de Warsaw continues. Last week she went on her first tram ride.

She and Jessa also visited the jewel of Warsaw: Royal Łazienki Park.

Rosie starts daycare next week, which will make her a local - no longer a newcomer. In one of her last Tour de Warsaw stops as a newcomer, she went out for cookies and tea with her mom.

Meanwhile in Denver, Freddie's bulking up. Last week he gained 8 ounces and this week he gained 12 ounces. This preemie is tipping the scales and busting out of his newborn clothes!

Freddie's got his eyes on his big brother. When I see him do that he reminds me a lot of his dad at that age.

Here in Tucson it's all about hummingbirds. We always have some around, but they're migrating through and now we have a lot around. I've gone from filling the feeders every 2-3 weeks to now having to add 4 cups of nectar every day.

In one of our backyard nests we have a couple of hummingbirds babies. 

Wait, did someone say BABIES?! Because yep, there's another Harrison grandbaby on the way! Mary and Andy are expecting and we couldn't be more excited. Due date is March 27! Above is little baby Phelps, making his or her (we'll find out which when s/he arrives) blog debut!