Helena Isabela & Misha Dov

Two days of the dad-daughter road trip where spent in natural bridge VA. The town is of course named for its natural bridge

Going to post some more photos from the trip shortly but arrived yesterday in Vt to visit grandma and grandpa. Misha stayed beyond with mom, dieda, baba, and Sherlock in Atlanta

Mom joined dad and Helena along with Sherlock for the first leg of the journey. The Great Smokies

One of dad’s old college friend sent a nice surprise in the mail so before taking off on a big rod trip with Helena, he posed for a few pictures with the kids

And fire boy of course too!

The outer banks were a lot of fun although maybe not worth the drive with two little ones. The family has been back for a bit now but still updating the blog from last week’s trip. Helena tolerated the drive and sometimes got into music, a movie, or an audio story. Misha mostly slept but if he didn’t he wasn’t too happy to be in the car. Both children like the beach while Misha seemed to not mind the waves and water in his face but Helena was terrified of the water (waves specifically).

A visit to Kitty Hawk and the Wright Brother’s National Park. Helena was excited until she realized she could not get on the replica plain

Helena is having fun in the front yard with her little pool

Slo-mo slide into the pool: https://youtu.be/8udXQUst81Y

Typical dieda arrival to the house, trying to capture the moment:

Misha has figured out how to crawl forward, instead of his normal backwards!

Meanwhile, Helena continues her adventures daily with dad. They recently visited the Lake Claire land trust and Sweetwater Creek

Some of the latest “Helenaisms” and code switches

Rain = movie

Fire/camping= marshmallow

Shabbat = candy/cookie

When watching films= Is it the credit card yet (the credits at the end of a film- Helena asks throughout movies whether it’s the end yet)?

Is it this number ? = showing fingers and counting

You might to get the virus = why not to do certain things

What number ? = How much time (is left)? Typically when driving in the car

Helena experienced her first glamping trip. Misha experienced his first family trip. The weather was perfect and the kids found some campanions for a really fun time in beautiful north Georgia

Meanwhile misha is helping dieda and baba with their flooring : https://youtu.be/UXciEZlsGL0

Since summer has started but pools are closed, Helena has found other ways to cool off. Misha sometimes joins in the little pool but often stays inside to avoid the heat

Helena sometimes needs some convincing these days when it comes to eating :

And “so good!” One of Helena’s new helenisms

Trying to avoid days being the same. A glimpse of some of the activities Helena has been doing

And Misha is doing his thing too, still with dieda and baba

Helena did the same thing at Misha’s age, maybe they all do, but Misha’s having fun

Helena meanwhile has a variety of options to move with

Meanwhile Misha was back in the Atl studying up on his books:

Helena went strawberry picking and misha enjoyed the fruits of her labor

Helena and papa road tripped down to Pine Mountain GA for this spectacle. It was a lot of fun and sometimes a bit scary even

Helena has passed an important Atlanta right of passage at age 3:the hike up Stone Mountain

Helena stopped loving baths awhile go but fortunately Misha still seems happy to take his bath

Misha still happy as a clam !

Misha is moving closer to crawling, starting the backwards shake just like Helena did years ago

Helena seems to be interested like most babies in music.

Helena took her first nap in a long time, just not in the place you would expect it

Helena took a bike ride to centennial park while misha tried standing and hunting for bubbles in his bath

Certainly a different type of Seder this year

Helena made an instrument and new song along with a lot of jumping to pass her time

Misha wanted to jump but fell asleep instead

Helena’s first trip to the local confederate tourist attraction

Meanwhile, misha still getting to taste all of the new somewhat solid foods

Misha is finally ready for and appreciating his jumper and his bouncer, and great weather to be in his bouncer outside

Helena plays with water: https://youtu.be/5_l_M023e90

Misha just came out of water

Misha doesn’t seem to mind being away from mom and dad. Helena notices that everything is closed and that things are different. She may understand some of what’s going on but not a lot.

During the quarantine, one of Helena’s favorite activities has been jumping while filming them in slow-motion. Here is a sampling, put together by uncle Jonah

Beautiful outdoor playground

Helena turns 2 : http://helenakessel.com/wordpress/index.php/2019/03/26/helena-turns-2/

Helena turns 1 : http://helenakessel.com/wordpress/index.php/2018/03/27/1/

Helena had a much needed local “getaway” and animal encounter this past week meeting a bunch of farm animals. But the highlight and focus of the place was the alpacas. She very much enjoyed interacting with and feeding the animals on a private tour

And a good excuse to finish mom’s birthday cake

Everybody is home now with the corona virus outbreak effecting everybody so lots of family time, minus grandma and grandpa unfortunately

Corona virus or not it is still mom’s birthday and the family wasn’t gonna be stopped from celebrating

Siblings having a good time

Helena and friend Sam played their first soccer game Monday. While their was a lot of hand balls, there were also a lot of foot balls. Good first experience, Helena is ready for more!

About a month and a half old now but forgot to post before!

Misha just yesterday

Helena at a slightly younger age

Pictures from his full time care takers -grandpa and grandma Solomon and Roza

Daycare friend Beatrice is going the way of the burbs as it seems many friends are these days. One last hang out in Grant Park @the fountain

Helena is very into magnetiles these days while misha, like most babies, is into crying. Fortunately it’s usually for a reason

With the grandparents always around, each kid gets individual attention and special activities growing up.

Misha saw an amazing sunset with birds 45 minutes south of Atlanta on a cold winter day: https://youtu.be/_3EmPoxxFKs

While Helena went on a bike ride in the beautiful Peachtree Creek of Atlanta

This time with floaties for everyone!

Misha seemed to like these smashed up banana bits he tried.

In other exciting news, about a week ago dad got his first unprompted “I love you” from Helena.

https://youtu.be/TaSpdjRbYPA and misha sitting, chilling, swinging

Misha went for his first swim and liked it!

Meanwhile Misha is happy at home with grandpa

https://youtu.be/wfxxvJhxyEI
matching frozen slippers

https://youtu.be/TlsnUcZAE9k

Hazel dropped in for a night this weekend and Helena loved the evening play date. They did a lot of running around, screaming, and jumping. They also made cookies, played with toys, played with more toys, played with things ghat weren’t toys, and scaled the backside of the stairs dangerously climbing up until mom and dad noticed.

First time in the baby jumper https://youtu.be/xLTbyetfTK4 not quite sure he’s ready for it though

And first roll-over!

Daycare class, neighbor, gymnastics’ friends !

Helena is now in the upper school with the “bigger” kids in the much bigger room. She’s been very happy with the change.

Her latest “Helenism” is “daddy’s joking” as she’s starting to understand the concept of humor more directly

Helena likes jumping (and climbing ) on everything: https://youtu.be/lF2yWF2aDNc

Misha likes sleeping – wherever/whenever

Helena swims almost once a week at the King Natarium in Atlanta. It’s become one of her favorite activities and she is getting more comfortable in the water each time. Misha is getting over a cold and/or possibly starting teething but is still a sweet baby.

Some more recent Helenisms recently as she discovers humor and other names for emotions

“I’m happy”

“Daddy’s joking”

Misha becomes more interactive every day. Helena has recently made a leap too and say’s new things her parents didn’t know she knew on daily basis.

Some recent Helenisms:

A bit belated but Misha stayed up until midnight and partied deep into the night

Another year gone by and another Florida come and gone. The weather wasn’t quite as good as in some other years but still good enough to get a good 4-5 pool dips in. The family traveled back New Years’ Eve as per the normal routine. Here are a few highlights:

More eco-tourism in Florida with grandpa and grandma and mom and dad