Summer 2011

Greetings Bloggers, Family, Countrymen!
We are home, at sea. Handsome Turkish Maitre D’ is still here despite rumors to the contrary, and Charles McCune Brigham (calls himself Chu Mu now for short) wore a blue blazer and loafers without being asked twice. He also screamed he had no pants on in front of the Danish royal family in the Carlyle, and asked What does masturbation mean in the limo from the Airport (Frederick basically asked why he had not learned that as God intended, from Mrs. Dorfler) He also asked the Sommelier to take away his amuse bouche. We told him that was the wrong person to ask, but we will draw him a chart.

Before we get to the Queen Mary 2, a few words on New York: bliss. Hot, but blissful. Charlie was delighted with first class on Virgin America (Feddie it’s beautiful!!!!!!!!!) and with the blonde Eloise look-a -like stewardess. God he is amusing. He asks for a coke or two more than his parents would allow, he asks why the sommelier is not the same as a bus boy, but he accepts the answers. Frederick is glued to an etiquette book we got at Brooks Brothers (it is like the playbook for invading Poland. F digs the specificity: “a gentleman always passes bread basket to the left, except when..blah blah….Charlie is happy to hear the condensed version. There is a lot to do here as it is.

Young Charles eats everything, loves everything, laughs at everything, and generally charms the pants off of all others. We went to central park for a well-deserved sprinkler run..and some New York kid with a few too many hours of park avenue self confidence training (age four) basically challenged him to a duel after saying he looked like a girl. I am pleased to report that Charlie wasted no time in squashing this little pain in the ass’ dreams quickly and repeatedly.
Thomas says enough is enough…not all of us are winners and no four year old can beat CMB at tag.

A little Russian girl poo-ed in the playground for the second time, and I lost it. I nailed her to the wall and demanded she tell me who her mother was. Then told her babysitter who finally appeared, to deal with her charge and the poo on her shoes so my little darlings would not run in the same sprinklers as she did. How I love New York! All this honesty!

Then the QM2….oh how lovely it is to leave land. Really…my kid gets more and more apoplectic each time, like he knows what it means to be out here. He is beside himself with joy. Charlie is happy in the hot tub with a coke…happy with everything: not reverent about it yet perhaps. But we’ll see what seven days at sea does for a little Aquarius child. (By the way, we told them they were not allowed on deck 7 without us-because the guard rail goes to my high waist and I cannot bear to see them peering over.)

So it is all good out here people, all good. We are laughing all the time. Really- being around Charlie is like being back in my early youth-with Andrew and all the circus that life was. By the way, the next-door neighbor at dinner remarked on our well-behaved children (!!!!!)
Sucker.

Full day report tomorrow.