happiness is...

...taking advantage of every second of summer you can squeeze in.

Wait. Wait. How does this work again?

We had a lot of fun over the past weekend (despite being sick). We went to a party (in Niantic, CT) to celebrate some engineers passing their professional exams (sounds geeky, but it was fun); and we went to see some friends of ours renew their vows in honor of their 40th anniversary. Forty years of wedded bliss? Now, THAT is happiness.

They threw themselves a party at their home in Gales Ferry, CT, which, really, is the thing to do when you have been married for 40 years.

There were fun beverages and food.

And there were kids to play with.

Notice who is a ball hog...

And a fun dog.

Run doggy, run. For your safety, stay away from the kid!!

A much loved dog.

It was a good and happy weekend. Just what we needed to prep for a busy and scary week ahead.

The Mama Seal has a "business" trip coming up and will be leaving the boys at home...alone. For 4 days. Pray for us.

How innocent and sweet do I look? Heh.
My mum will miss me and my dad will want to pull his hair out in a few days.

But really, I am so fun!

Please.

goodbye, summer

Even though the calendar would suggest that summer still has a month to accomplish its goals, we know better.

Every year, Kelly's department at work has an "end of summer, hello fall" picnic in Old Saybrook, CT to gear up for the academic year.
It's always a fun gathering, but it pretty much signals the end of summer for us. It means Kelly has to put finishing touches on lesson plans. It means no more lazy weekends. It means no more shortened work days.

It means less time to hang out with friends.
But we definitely make the most of the picnic and all its summer-y fun.
But it's still hard to say goodbye to summer.

meet me in st. louie, louie, or, feeling hot hot hot

We got back from a trip to St. Louis a few days ago. We drove the 18 hour drive to get there and needed to recuperate (mental note: driving more than 8 hours at a time with a toddler is not such a good idea).

St. Louis is a fun city, it is also a hot city during the summer (we saw the thermometer go over 100 quite often, very exciting). The original impetus for our trip to the great mid-west was a wedding for one of Papa Seal's cousins. The wedding was put on hiatus when the groom had to have surgery in Germany and needed to stay there to recover. So the wedding turned into a family reunion of sorts.

The intense heat drove many decisions as far as entertainment. Papa Seal basically summed it up thusly, "we need to find things to do indoors. We don't need to be outside." That said, we did try to convince the Seal Pup that sitting in 100 degree heat on a muggy day to get your picture taken at the arch was fun. It sort of worked, but not really. If we were outside, the Pup just wasn't happy.

In any case, we did a lot of museum activities.

We went to The Magic House, which is St. Louis' children's museum. To say that Anders had fun with his cousins there would be the understatement of the century. They all had a pretty good time.

But they had more fun at the City Museum (even if they got startled every now and again).

The City Museum is a really interesting and fun place. We all found something to occupy our interests there. There was a fun little Toddler Town section, but I think older kids would enjoy this place most, especially if they like exploring and climbing about. There are are also other activites of a more sedantary nature.

Kirgami, anyone?

Kelly's mom and I had a Japanese paper cutting session where we made animal snowflakes.

It was a lot of fun. I bought books to make the doo-dads at home sometime.

There was also a roller coast for the toddlers. Seal Pup and his cousin, Adventure Girl, had a great time.

And there was cotton candy...just what kids need at dinner time, right?

There was a fun dinner at Rigazzi's one evening. Rigazzi's is the site of very good Italian food (a certain kind of cheese called Provel is used with great frequency at the resturant...and generally in St. Louis. I thought it tasted a bit like Cheese Wiz, but what do I know?),

it's also the home of the fishbowl.... A fishbowl of beer. I have no idea why anyone would need to be served beer--or any beverage-- in a 32 ounce bowl; but, there you are.

We also went to a lunch gathering when the wedding would have taken place. Instead of nuptials, there was basketball.
Lots of basketball.

The kids went a little nuts.

And just in case you were wondering, yes, the Mama Seal did indeed find a yarn shop thanks to the keen navigating and driving skills of a good sisterly seal.

St. Louis was fun, despite the heat. We aren't sure if we will be able to make it back for the wedding since school is about to start; but, we would love to go back to St. Louie, Louie...maybe when it's not so hot.

Tons more photographic fun is over in flickr.

happy coast guard day!

For those not in the know, today is Coast Guard Day. The U.S. Coast Guard is 217 years old today, a little trivia for you.
In these here parts, the Coast Guard likes to celebrate by having a huge picnic at Lake Compounce (it's America's oldest amusement park, who knew?) in Bristol, Connecticut (of ESPN fame).

We went. We ate. We rode rides.

A little rainstorm helped to clear the park of the crowds, leaving the park pretty empty (with next to no lines for rides!).

Anders tried to convince the parental units that it really was okay to go on a kiddie ride. We finally relented.

I think we made him nervous at first.

But he had a lot of fun.

So much so that we had to let him ride the catepillar just once more.

It was fun! Someone can't wait till next year, because height counts at amusement parks.
As always more pictures over in the flickr account.