wandering seals

first birthday of 2012!

2012-01-31T11:13:00.001-05:00

Every year, Papa tries to find new ways to downplay the importance of his birthday, and every year, we defeat his efforts. This year, we did really well, because the universe conspired to help us celebrate his birthday for a couple of days. Between school and work schedules...we just had to drag the celebration out to three days.

It was fun! And he finally asked for a cake that was not made from a boxed mix this year. It was a fabulous concoction of decadent chocolate and Raspberry European Buttercream that took a really long time to make, but it was delicious and he enjoyed it.

It was a good day.

where there is snow, there is fun?

2012-01-26T17:30:00.000-05:00

Over the past weekend we got some snow. It wasn't really supposed to be that much; but, well, it was enough to make work for the grown ups and provide entertainment for the kids (mostly of the sledding variety, but they think shoveling snow is fun, too--oh, would that they hold on to this ridiculous notion)

I don't really care for the whole snow bunny bit, to be honest. But since Papa is going away next week (to someplace sunny and warm, I feel compelled to add), we figured it was a good idea for me to learn how to use the snow blower. So, I now have a new skill--removing snow with a power tool, which is important...especially if it snows and I am the only one available to de-snow our driveway. So, get excited

After my new snow blowing skills were sufficiently demonstrated I went back inside where it was warm to watch everyone else mess about in the snow. Now that is how you spend a snow day.

More snowy pictures in flickr.

just your atypical day in new england

2012-01-10T14:37:00.000-05:00

Over the last few weeks we have been having unseasonably warm weather in New England. At this time last year, we were buried in snow. This year, not so much.

It was so warm over the weekend (60 degrees F) that we played outside (without jackets!) for a few hours.

We aren't complaining about the weather at all, but it's a little weird. Just an observation. A few more shots in flickr.http://www.flickr.com/photos/wanderingseals/

...and a happy new year

2012-01-01T12:47:00.001-05:00

We aren't really much for raucous midnight celebrations to ring in the new year. The casual observer would easily be able to figure out that we are actually quite boring when it comes to saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new. Our biggest accomplishment on New Year's Day was cleaning up the house and making a ton of bubbles in a tub. This is okay, I think. Overall, 2011 was great, 2012 will be great, too.

Since I know that my mom checks this site multiple times on a daily basis, I resolve to do more frequent updates. How's that?

Happy New Year!

so, this was christmas

2011-12-31T21:45:00.000-05:00

Every year, we always think that we have overdone it just a little...and every year, we are right, really.

We were able to get some "buy in" when it came to Santa..."Santa brings presents to little girls and boys who believe in him." Just trying to extend the magic, I guess.

So, yes, Christmas was merry and all that. Pups were royally spoiled. Papa got a whole bunch of stuff he didn't know he needed plus a lot that he did. And, I got stuff that will in some way increase my productivity or my general well-being. In regards to the consumer-side of Christmas, we did okay.

In terms of the reason for the season, we spent Christmas Eve at the children's service at church which always proves to be entertaining.

We hope your Christmases or Hannakahs were happy, merry and bright.

pups in portraiture

2011-12-22T10:47:00.000-05:00

When looking at Christmas cards in the stores this year, I noticed that selection has gone way down. People just aren't doing Christmas cards anymore, that's a general statement, because we still do. A lot of people have moved to the picture card, which is good, less waste, I suppose. I tend to send the pictures that people send out, but it's probably more an extension of what I spend my work day doing anyway. In any case, we are old school: card, letter, picture. We updated the letter to a timeline this year, but we still had a picture (see above). The portrait of the Pups was the main shot for the year. I might be biased (since I took it) but I think it's a fantastic shot.

I tend to go for portraiture without the trimmings of holiday accoutrement. It's usually a better option for year round display...just my opinion; but, there you are.

I did a lot of shots in the studio over the last three months. It was a fun challenge to learn about studio lighting and photographic lighting in general. I will pop more shots in the flickr site since I know the grandparents like it when that happens.

Part of taking so many shots in the studio was getting shots that were, basically, "misses". I collected them and will put some of those in the flickr site as well, because some of them are just funny. Here is one of my favorites, because, honestly, I have no idea what they are doing or why they are doing it.

We also did an outdoors family picture as well (the capture of which was so painful, I can not even begin to articulate it in this venue). But hey, memories, I guess.

conversations with santa

2011-12-21T21:52:00.001-05:00

So here is a brief synopsis of our visit with Santa this year.

Santa with SP 2.0:

Santa:Have you been a good boy this year, young man?

SP 2.0: No.

Santa: Well, if you haven't been good, then why should you get presents?

SP 2.0: .... [insert maniacal laughter here]

Santa: Oh, well, what do you want for Christmas?

SP 2.0: I want presents. Lots of presents. And Christmas decorations, 'specially nutcrackers. I like nutcrackers. And presents.

Santa: OK, very well then.

And Santa's interaction with Pup, the Elder, after he clued all the other children in line about the Santa myth and how Santa is not really real, which was, as you can imagine, awesome.

SP 1.0: You're not any realler than last year; but, your beard is better this year.

Santa: What do you want for Christmas?

SP 1.0: My mom told me to tell you what I wanted, but I'm pretty sure she and Daddy already got everything. They have been hiding presents in the basement.

Santa: So what would you like for Christmas this year?
SP 1.0: More legos. A wallet. And more paper. I want the legos to be spaceship legos.
Santa: I will see what I can do. Have a Merry Christmas!
SP 1.0: Oh, I will!!

Even though SP 1.0 has been trying to explain to his brother that Santa isn't really real, SP 2.0 will maintain belief in any person, place, or thing, that will serve as a source for gift acquisition. If we have learned anything from all of this, it is this: Seal Pup the younger, his loyalties can be bought.

xmas prep, the 2011 edition

2011-12-16T14:59:00.000-05:00

After we celebrated Seal Pup 2.0's birthday, we immediately kicked things in gear for Christmas preparations. We pulled out the fake mini-tree and all the decorations.

We got a tree (a real one from our usual tree farm).

And in the vein of "we did it because we could" (or really, because we were told to), we went to New York to have lunch with my mom.

It was a two grandmother kind of day!

And then we went back home and decorated the tree.

Christmas, we are ready for you.

par-tay

2011-12-02T21:42:00.002-05:00

Most Esteemed Son #2 turned 3 today. It was a big deal. There was a party at school. And then there was a PAR-TAY at home (no, I don't know what the difference is either--besides desperate grasping for hipster status and the other being, well, English). We had fun. And, of course, HE had fun. So there we are.

Photos and (more) video in flickr.

gobble (x2)

2011-12-01T16:03:00.004-05:00

Did you have a good Thanksgiving? We did (until we didn't). Papa's sister and her family came for a quick visit (and a Thanksgiving feast of epic proportions). There was much screaming from ecstatic children and much eating of food (there was not so much picture taking, but there you are).

Instead of shopping deals and steals over the weekend, I decided it would be a good idea to twist my ankle and spend a few hours in the local ER (which, well, awesome). After I finished with the crutches, I wrenched my back and now I am in physical therapy, just in time to allow birthday fun for Seal Pup 2.0 to ensue. My timing, it is legendary.

...and things here

2011-11-09T14:05:00.006-05:00

So let me fill you in on what's been going on with us.

Seal Pup 1.0, or "Most Esteemed Son #1", as I sometimes like to think of him, had a second first day of kindergarten because we pulled him out of the local school to put him in the regional magnet school program when a space opened up. We were concerned about traumatizing him, but he has settled in fine. Moving from a half day to a full day program with solid programming in languages, art, and music...it's a big deal; and, well, there's the bus ride.
Oh, Pup 1.0 also learned to play chess, and it's become another big deal. I played a 30-minute game with him and the game ended in a stalemate. I am not sure whose chess skills this says more about, mine or his.

Both pups have become models for me for various photo projects over the last few months.That's always exciting.
And then there was Halloween last month. Pup 1.0 was "The President of the United States Running for Re-election in 2012" and Pup 2.0 was the lead agent of his secret service detail. In case you are wondering, his party affiliation was the Independent Party.I went to Texas last week to attend the International Quilt Festival and I saw a lot of quilts...clearly, this might be the top of the list for high point of the year.
Now we are gearing up for Thanksgiving. Because food is involved and that can mean only good things.

big (little) man on campus

2011-09-06T19:45:00.005-04:00

So today was Most Esteemed Son #1's first day of kindergarten.

It seemed kind of weird just popping him on the school bus (which was a really big deal, actually), and watching it roll away. We started counting down the days at 59 days to go.

Irene added a week, but that's okay, especially considering that "kindergarten is so great and [he] loves it!"

I will do a summer wrap up later, but I figured the grandparents would want to see photos of this momentous occasion. Pictures in flickr.

california traditions

2011-08-08T12:09:00.007-04:00

As we do every year in the summer, we headed west to California to visit with family and a few friends (this was at the endof June/beginning of July (at least I am still in the same season, right?).

As always the time was enjoyable.

Fun in the sun, beach, food and shenanigans that people who are on vacation normally participate in.As much as the adults love our reunion, the people who have the best time at this annual get together are the kids.We took the annual Seal Pack pic on the beach again (it's a tradition now!). Funny.

We went to Benihana (tradition!).We went to Disneyland this year, it was as chaotic as you would imagine. But it was fun.

There are a ton of pictures in flickr, which comes as a complete and total surprise, I am sure.

we found a heart in philly

2011-06-23T11:37:00.009-04:00

So, I am playing catch up right now. We went to Philadelphia in June (yes, I know), let me tell you about it.

During Valentine's Weekend (yes, back in February), Pup 1.o saw a special about the human heart exhibit at the Franklin Institute on the Sunday Morning Show. His response to the bit was, "I would like to see the heart at the Franklin Institute." Well of course, why wouldn't one want to see a humongous heart at the Franklin Institute. This of course meant we had to figure out what the Franklin Institute was and where it was--which, had we thought about it, we would have been able to figure it out fairly easily. In any case, after researching it, we decided a little wish fulfillment was in order and we wandered down to Philadelphia for a short weekend of fun.We saw the heart exhibit. We walked through it. Many times. Many, many times.

We explored other thing as well. But mostly we learned a lot and had fun.
We also found (I actually found it when I attended a conference in Philly last year, but whatever) a Korean restuarant called Miga.

Which was conveniently located across the street from a Max Brenner, which of course is awesome.
It was a fun little jaunt down the coast.

More pictures in flickr.

so, about last month

2011-06-22T23:16:00.013-04:00

Funny.
Funnier.
Funniest.We have been doing our fair share of wondering for the last month and a half. How about I tell you about the rest of May?

To celebrate my birthday and Mother's Day, we took a trip down to Washington DC. We spent a day in Maryland, at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, as one does.
That was fun.
And then we explored Washington DC a little bit. Seal Pup 1.0 fell and hurt himself. But he got over it pretty quickly.We cut our trip short because Seal Pup 2.0 got a stomach bug or food poisoning (we never figured out which) in the middle of our second night there, so we left early.

But it was fun while it lasted.

More pictures in flickr.

it's that time of year again

2011-05-04T11:30:00.005-04:00

That's right sheep and wool festival season is here! I know that not everyone shares my enthusiasm for this sort of thing. But fortunately for me, the pups still think we go to these things for them.
I understand that this works completely in my favor. Right now. Papa has already mentioned that as soon as they aren't excited to go to these festivals, I will be on my own. Which I am fine with, of course. But it's fun to do this stuff as a family, so long as all parties are interested (or can fake it).
I ~~dragged~~ took the boys to Vernon Rockville, Connecticut for the CT Sheep and Wool Festival. It's nice because it's a smaller festival, not too crowded and you feel like you can accomplish something in a day.
This year there were sheep (obviously, and llamas, alpacas, bunnies, goats, and, well, dogs--of the sheep hearding variety, or course). It was a nice way to kick of the season, and get up ready for the BIG show this weekend.

There are more shots in flickr, of course.

vermont, in a snow storm

2011-04-27T13:41:00.010-04:00

I forgot to mention our great winter adventure. During spring break (that would be March), while normal New Englanders took themselves some place warm , we wandered north to ski country. Our timing could not have been better, apparently. We made it to Stowe, Vermont, just before they shut down the state for the fifth largest snow storm in the state's history. Snow storm or no, there was skiing to be done, well, by the crazy people. I am not a skier, so when Seal Pup 1.0 begged us to let him go back to the hotel room because skiing in a blizzard was no fun, I was willing to bring him in. Papa Seal, weighing the economics of the situation (the class was already paid for, so....) decided, that it would be a good opportunity to build up his moxy (or whatever skiing in snowstorms builds up).
The second day of skiing went much better than the first because the storm blew over and Vermont was left with a foot and a half (maybe more) of fresh snow for the skiers to go crazy on. And go crazy they did. Seal Pup 1.0 finished he second day of lessons by skiing down a green triangle run with his class, and then he did it all over again with his dad. Good times.

(Pretend there is a video here. There was supposed to be, but, well, nevermind).

You might be wondering what Seal Pup 2.0 and I did. Let me tell you! We ate, slept, went shopping and watched other people exert energy performing the fine art of skiing. I can't speak for the masses, but that's my idea of a good vacation.We also stopped at Ben and Jerry's on the way back home. As one does.

easter high jinx

2011-04-27T13:15:00.009-04:00

I hope your Easter celebrations were as enjoyable as ours.

We dyed eggs.
We pretended to be ambassadors for the Easter Bunny.We dressed up in Easter finery (wardrobe selections brought to you by Most Esteemed Child Number One).

We did some egg hunting.And by "some" I mean, we did a great deal of egg hunting.And we made some cupcakes for an Easter luncheon with friends.It was a very celebratory weekend.

five is good

2011-04-05T17:31:00.007-04:00

We did some wandering last month, but I will tell you about that later. I think it's probably more important to tell you about a certain someone turning five. It was a big deal. We celebrated for ten days. That is a record for us. There was birthday week. There was birthday (day). There was a birthday party at school. There was a birthday party that involved a bowling alley.And there was a birthday sweater. So far, being five has been pretty good.

As you can imaginge, there are many more shots in flickr centered around this most auspicious day. If you want to know more about the sweater, see here.

love was in the air

2011-02-23T15:15:00.005-05:00

Somehow, I failed to tell you about the Valentine's Day high jinx we endured in our household. There were cupcakes (it seems like there are always sweets of one sort or another).

There were flowers.

And there were, of course, Valentines. Seal Pup 1.0 decided he was going to write out all his Valentines this year (2.0 decided to just take a nap and let me do his).

He had a lot of fun. It only took him two hours (in which I was required to watch his progress, weeeEEEeee!).

don't forget about the children

2011-01-24T15:54:00.004-05:00

Seal Pup 1.0 has taken to referring to himself and his brother as "the children." I think it's hilarious. We wake up to, "the children are awake now..." We are nudged to come up with meal plans with, "the children are hungry..." and so on and so forth. When school closes for a federal holiday or because of snow, we discovered that the children become especially cranky because they are bored. While the parental units are fun, they are small potatoes compared to teachers and school friends, apparently. In order to entertain "the children" for our last holiday, we visited the southeastern Connecticut Children's Museum for a morning of fun (and apparently, "discovery"). It's a small and modest museum, but it does offer some opportunities for scientific and dramatic exploration
And, well, "the children" had fun. So there's that.
More pictures of "the children" can be found in flickr.

snow daze

2011-01-14T14:48:00.004-05:00

I can't speak for anyone else, but I would not call snow the greatest thing ever. It's cold, it's wet and it requires movement, these are not things that equal a winning combination. But the kids, they like snow.
Which is okay since they think shoveling snow is fun right now.

But I think even they were pleased about the whole snow blower acquisition initiated by the pater familias.

Probably not as pleased as Papa was, but pleased in their own way.
Because less time Papa spends moving snow about in the driveway means more time sledding, which is great, if you are into that sort of thing.You may be shocked to discover that there are more pictures of snow (play and removal) in our flickr site, the most recent photographs are at the end of the set.

out with the old, in with the new

2011-01-05T19:46:00.005-05:00

Due to personal injury (and perhaps a little bit of stupidity), this post is happening a little later than I had planned. I threw out my back while lifting Pup 2.0 from a snowbank (because my life is full of glamour like that). I also sliced into my thumb while washing a pot (not one of my finer moments of 2010, but there you are). In any case, we had a great Christmas. We hope you did too.The pups were royally spoiled. Papa and I agreed that this year was a little...excessive.

We did our traditional Christmas Curry (it'a really ust chicken curry, but if you say it's Christmas Curry, it makes it sound really festive) for dinner, tasty and easy! We take the (extremely) low stress approach to Christmas dinner.

We made pear cake, because is sounded good (it tasted good too).

We took advantage of the after Christmas snow (storm?) to do a little sledding in the back yard. I think snow sports will probably be enjoyed more by Papa and Seal Pup 1.0, because Seal Pup 2.0 and I are the only ones who think that whole playing in the snow business when it's 10 degrees outside is crazypants.We spent our New Year's Eve at the public library in our new neighborhood, because we know how to party. Fun and functional at the same time, library cards for all!

We partied so hard, none of us really made it to midnight. But that's okay, it just means we will be well rested for a great 2011, or something, I have no idea; but, we are looking forward to a great new year.

Happy New Year! And of course, there are lots more pictures in flickr.

holiday spirit, we haz it

2010-12-20T19:02:00.008-05:00

How do you like the new banner? That's what a half hour of boredom gets you, well me, I have no idea what it will get you, but find some boredom and let me know! Anyhoo, we have found the ho, ho, ho in holiday...nevermind, we are all jolly around here now.Of course, it helps when family come into town to help you celebrate (hi Grammy!).

We were able to attend the Holiday Party at the CGA again. This is always a mixture of fun and anxiety, because you never know how the session with Santa is going to go. It was like Disneyworld all over again.

We were able to get our Christmas cards done and out in a timely manner, this is a goal I strive for every year. It's the little things.And we are looking forward to the best Christmas present of all, we close on our house tomorrow (after a delay). We even marked the celebration by buying, painting and installing new gable vents for the new owner, Merry Christmas! But watching Seal Pup 1.0 perform in the mini-Christmas concert at church is always fun, too.

There are, of course more pictures in flickr; but, should you want that mosaic of Christmas card photos that weren't, here you go!

moving, still

2010-12-09T10:45:00.007-05:00

We spent the weekend moving and settling, but mostly moving. If we are being honest here, and I am, the whole process of moving has lost its charm. It's three weeks to Christmas; and, quite frankly, I would rather be doing other things.
But needs must. With the help of friends, we were able to clear out pretty much everything this weekend and now we are left with only the basement (which we have artfully avoided since Halloween). We only have a week left before the house goes to its new owner (hip, hip, hooray!) so we should probably tackle that soon. Soonish...now."

go shorty...

2010-12-02T22:50:00.003-05:00

...It's your birthday.He is feeling, decidedly, mature; as two year olds do, I suppose.

Since we are in the middle of a move, we opted to do a small party at home with just the family (and I feel obligated to use the word "party" only because there were balloons). This laid back celebration was probably for the best for all parties (pun intended) concerned. There was a party at school though, and we rocked that like competitors for Parents of the Year, so you know, small victories.

More shots in flickr.

to florida or bust

2010-12-01T23:31:00.004-05:00

Had we known that we would be in the middle of a move during the holiday season, we would not have planned to go away for Thanksgiving, but we also wouldn't have had as much fun.

We headed down to Orlando, Florida for Thanksgiving week. We stopped to visit with family on our way down.

We went to the Magic Kingdom for two days (we also did a day at Sea World, as is done).

We decided to just kick off Seal Pup 2.0's birthday celebration a little early.It was a good time...

...except when the characters get to close to the Birthday Boy, I guess.

We were also able to stop and see my mom on the way back home.

There are more pictures in flickr; but, my favorite ones are the attempts to get a good Christmas picture for the annual card of Holly and Jolly (you can call them Christmas cards if you want, that's what most people call them). You can tell which pictures are the attempts because the Pups are together. I was thinking about putting together a montage of all the fails in which they either look,1) stoned, 2) confused, 3) mad, or, 4) insane. This one is my favorite, I leave it to you to guess the correct adjective.

It's ridiculous; and, it does nothing for the holiday spirit. It does crack me up, though.

take a hike

2010-11-22T06:27:00.006-05:00

I am not sure if you are aware of this or not, but the Wandering Seals are into the whole hiking thing...still.

We have found that fall is a good time to go hiking in New England. We recently hiked Lantern Hill in Ledyard, Connecticut. It's fun and everything, but pretending to be a pack mule does make for a difficult ascent.

But still fun.

More pictures in flickr.

come fly away...

2010-11-16T15:08:00.005-05:00

I figured that catching up on things we did last month, like Coast Guard Aviation Day would be much more exciting than me talking about moving boxes from one place to another (we are moving, still).
CG Aviation Day involved bringing in an example of each type of Coast Guard aircraft for the 3rd and 4th class (freshman and sophmores) cadets to take a look at. One of the perks to being a member of the Coast Guard is that you can widgeon your family into things like this as well.

And, well, you know, it was free, so there was that too.

More pictures in flickr.

do you remember that time we had two costumes?

2010-11-02T10:29:00.006-04:00

I never really cared for Halloween before, to be honest. Quite frankly, it seemed like a lot of work for minimal reward--if I want candy, I can just go to the store and buy it. I am sure this quirk was fostered by my own parents who were nervous about me traipsing about in our own neighborhood at night for candy, sometimes from strangers...I mean really, people, the whole trick or treating business is a perfect risk assessment scenario...but I digress. This is the first year that I really got into Halloween. I didn't dress up at all, I did that last year to humor Pup 1.0, the pay off was minimal, so I invested my time more accordingly this year.

So because I overestimated my own sewing abilities and because we are a little busy packing and moving right now (let's be honest, my clothes sewing skills, they are somewhat laughter inducing--sorry mom, I should have paid more attention), I was unable to make the costumes, or rather two black suits, which now in hindsight was probably for the best. I mean really, what was I thinking? Because I waited around too long to order the black suits, the pups had no costumes for the Halloween parade at school, which any 4 year old will tell you, is the end of the world.

And someone had his heart on being Jake Blues for the last two months (seriously, we have been watching You Tube videos and listening to albums, it was a big deal, Pup 2.0 was kind of clueless, but he liked the whole "people give me candy" thing--and by people I mean co-workers because the Halloween parade is all about Papa's co-workers and when we trick or treat we go to local friends and my co-workers, 5-6 houses, the kids will catch on to this one day, I am sure).

In order to fix the "no costume situation", I stayed up into the wee hours of the day of the Halloween parade and prepped robot gear. That is how Anderdroid 1.0 and Dashbot 1.0 were born.You won't see many photos of Pup 2.0 in the bot-box though, he was all about the box before it was shiny and colorful, afterwards, you know, after I spent 2 hours making the costume, he was less enamored.

It was a good Halloween. We hope yours was similarly joyful, if you are into that sort of thing...it's totally okay if you aren't though. Flickr has more Halloween shots, should you be interested in viewing them.

rhinebeck, 2010

2010-10-29T16:20:00.006-04:00

We did go to Rhinebeck, New York for a wool and sheep festival two weekends ago. And we had a great time. The weekend was less about sheep and more about having fun and seeing old (and new friends).

The pups found rides.
And Papa entertained the kids at a knitter's meet-up.
And yes, we saw sheep.

More pictures in flickr!

fall tradition(s)

2010-10-14T10:13:00.004-04:00

Last weekend we engaged in one of our favorite family fall traditions: apple picking. This year, as in years past, we wandered over the Holmberg Orchard in Gales Ferry, CT. There was a tractor ride involved, so obviously it was worth the drive to get there.

We measured ourselves to see how tall we've gotten.

We picked some apples.

And we picked out a pumpkin. Serious business, that.

As exciting as the apples are, prepare yourselves, next week: sheep. Get excited!

We took lots of pictures. You know where the are.

and....we're back

2010-10-07T17:05:00.011-04:00

Back in AUGUST (I know!) we went to Washington DC. Papa Seal had a conference, so the rest of us tagged along. I put the pictures in flickr (there are tons of pictures there for the viewing, really--and some of them are hilarious), but never posted about it. We had a good time.We were able to meet up with my friend Pin.

And the pups and I got a chance to see a lot of the Mall while Papa went to training sessions.

After we got back from DC we kept ourselves busy. I finished a book chapter for a book being published next spring. Get excited. Papa tore apart our downstairs bathroom to renovate it. Seal Pup 2.0 had surgery on his ears.
And we decided to buy a new house while trying to also sell the one we are currently living in. So now we are packing. Good times!
I am sure we did other things that are probably worth mentioning, but I can't think of them now. I will try to be better about updating, so as not to make you think the blog is defunct, because it isn't. I just haven't prioritized updating, which is usually my biggest blogger pet peave (unless, or course, I am the one not blogging). But now we're back.

california days

2010-07-22T10:21:00.007-04:00

At the end of June, we made our annual trek to the west coast to hang out with family (and a friend or two). Who can complain about a week at the beach, really?

Especially when you got to the San Diego Zoo.
And Benihana (it's like a tradition!).
And a playground or two.Oh, and Legoland.
Well, actually, you can complain Legoland if you decide to swing on a chain suspended from a barricade and almost knock yourself senseless on a cement curb. Yes, then you'd have something to complain about, I guess. But then, your parents will probably buy you tons of Lego-related plastic-y bits after you start to normally again, and that might just make you feel better.
The week, for us, is mostly about getting the kids together with their cousins and letting them hang out.

They have fun together and we have fun watching them. There are many more vacation shots in our flickr account; and tons more in (Grand)Papa Seal's flickr account too.

go sox! (red sox, that is)

2010-07-09T14:15:00.004-04:00

I am working my way through pictures from our recent family trip to California. Until I get my act together, how about I share these pictures from Papa and Seal Pup 1.0's adventure to Boston to see a Red Sox game last month? I found the pictures while working on our California pictures last night and thought they were fun, so obviously I thought you'd think they were fun too.

Papa got two tickets to see the Red Sox play the Phillies last month and decided it was time that SP 1.0 saw the Sox play in real life. Getting there involved an automobile, a train, and the T (which was, you know, a great way to start the day, I guess).

And there was food.

Lots of food.
And, I am told, there was actually people playing baseball as well.More pictures in flickr.

when the cats go away

2010-06-24T01:04:00.005-04:00

They have fun. At the end of last month, Papa and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary. Being subscribers of the "go big or go home" ethos when it comes to celebration, we opted to go on a Meditteranean/European cruise sans pups (thanks to Grammy, we felt pretty good about leaving the pups at home, thanks Grammy!). We started off in Spain.

After we got on the cruise ship and cruised for a day we pulled into Naples and took a bus up the Amalfi Coastal stopping in Sorrento, Positano, and Amalfi. Before heading back to the ship we also stopped in Pompeii.

On the third day, we pulled into Cevittivechia a port in Italy. From there, we took a bus to Rome. We were able to walk around the Vatican Museum and see the Sistine Chapel. We also went to the Colisseum. Rome was pretty awesome.

On the third day we pulled into a very industrial port and took a tour bus to Florence. Decidedly beautiful and romantic.

On the fourth day, the boat was anchored just off of the port of Villefranche and took a tourbus to Nice, Eze and Monaco. I enjoyed Nice most.

Papa was a fan of Eze.

On the fifth day, the ship pulled into La Sur La Mer and we took a bus to Marseilles. It was a beautiful city and we had a great time seeing the sights.

We had a lot of fun. There are a ton of pictures in flickr, have a look-see!

so let's talk about maryland...

2010-06-09T15:38:00.007-04:00

I am in the process of sorting through 12oo photographs of European vactioning at the moment, until I can get that taken care of, why don't we talk about our family venture south to Maryland, shall we? Oh and yes, hello, we are back.

At the beginning of last month, the family made the trek down to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, it's a start of summer tradition of sorts for us, but it was really hot. We didn't stay too long.
But we stayed long enough to see sheep, so that's something.
After the heat and sheep exposure, we decided to visit the Naval Academy in Annapolis, and just to be wild and crazy, we decided it would be a good idea to take our kids on the two hour docent lead tour. Good times!Before we headed home on Sunday, we visited some friends in Baltimore and stopped at a little neighborhood playground in Laurel.

It was pretty sweet.

Tons of photos up in flickr!

we saw sheep, we saw wool

2010-04-30T16:12:00.003-04:00

Last weekend the Seal Pups and I (Papa Seal, went to the Academy for a day's worth of meetings) headed north to Vernon Rockville, Connecticut to attend the 101st Connecticut Sheep and Wool Festival. We tend to enjoy these things, so we had fun. We had so much fun that we are heading south to Maryland for the weekend to attend the largest sheep and wool festival in the U.S.

We hope your weekend is going to be a fun one, too (whether sheep are in the forecast or not).

More pics in flickr!

spring has sprung

2010-04-23T11:16:00.006-04:00

It occurred to me that this blog was still celebrating SP1.0's birthday, so clearly, it is time for an update. I meant to post after Easter; but, we were too busy chasing bunnies (we were also cleaning out our basment which got flooded when the northeast was hit with all those rainstorms, but let's not dwell on that).

We haven't been doing much besides enjoying the spring weather and trying to get out of doors as much as possible. We spend an inordinate amount of time outside blowing bubbles. Bubbles have, apparently, become our thing.
We have turned the learning of bike riding into a family affair.
There was kite day at school again. Someone may be over any sort of wariness he had about flying kites in years previous.
Kite day was an important day for the record books, it was the day that I may have conceded and admitted to Papa Seal that Seal Pup 2.0 did, indeed, need a haircut (sometimes his 'do maks Amy Winehouse appear well-groomed).

So we did that. First haircut, went okay. It was just a trim, because his curls are awesome.
And I got a new partner in meal planning. He is very opinionated.
We are going to see some sheep this weekend, so there will probably be cute pictures in the corner of the itnernet net week.

Have a good weekend!

four!

2010-04-05T10:01:00.003-04:00

I almost forgot to share the news of our fourth anniversary of parenthood (or, Seal Pup 1.0's fourth birthday--it's all in how you look at it, I guess).

It was pretty low-key. There was birthday week and lots of presents, a birthday dinner and a special birthday cake ("strawberry" again).

A small party was had, and by party, I mean two sets of family friends, balloons and pizza. And there was a bike...with training wheels (and a helmet). Someone was suitably spoiled.

More birthday celebration picaroos in flickr!

bonjour!

2010-03-16T15:18:00.008-04:00

I meant to talk about our big family trip before we actually went away; but, isn't it so much better that I didn't and can just dive in now? Yes, let's go with that.

So last week, the Wandering Seals wandered across the Atlantic and spent spring break in France. We concentrated our adventures in Normandy with the occasional trip into Paris by train.

It was awesome, and when I saw "awesome," I actually mean mind-blowingly spectacular.
I am not going to lie, international travel with two kids is no cake-walk. It is not for the feint of heart, it is not for the weak, people! But oh, was it worth it!We left Friday(3/5) evening thinking that the kids would, obviously sleep through the whole flight there and wake up ready to go.
Obviously, we are fools. They were so amped up that it took them a few hours to finally sleep and by the time we got there, everyone was tired.

We stayed at a beautiful place in the town of Connelles, right on the Seine (our balcony gave us a great view).

We spent time in Honfleur, quite possibly, the prettiest fishing village, ever.

And we also went to Caen to see the World War II Memorial Museum.
We went to Paris, of course.

Twice, just to get in as much as possible (I can not go to the Paris and not go to Monmatre).
And we went to Rouen.

We also went to Bayeux.
We went to the American Cemetery on the D-Day Beaches and saw Omaha Beach (this was actually the whole purpose of the trip, really--or at least what sparked the initial plan to go).

We spent time in Lyon a la Foret (the prettiest village in France)
.And then we bopped into little towns near Connelles like Val du Ruil, Elbeauf, Louviers, Ande, and Herqueville to shop, eat and explore. We had a great time.
And in case you were unaware, the most popular tourist destination in Europe is Disneyland Paris. I know, it suprised me too, but if Rick Steeves says it's so, it must be true.I put 30% of our photographs from the trip up in flickr; but, there is no processing and no additional information there (because, seriously, I don't have time to comment on 300 images in a timely manner). If you want a little narration and would like to see pictures with a little bit more fine-tuning and more critical selection (hi Papa!) please check out my other flickr account here, there you will find only 10%--but that's still over a hundred pictures, so grab a snack, I guess.

Au revoir!

we got yer olympics right here

2010-02-24T17:10:00.004-05:00

We spent President's Weekend (and Valentine's Day) in Vermont. The person who had the most fun was probably Seal Pup 1.0. He spent a day in ski school for 3 and 4 year olds.
He had a really great time. So great, in fact, that we acquired a pair of skis for him for the next ski season. Not being one who spends time on the slopes, I can't find the joy in all of this, but Papa is excited at the prospect of having someone to ski with. But SP1.0 needs to get a little better first, lest he knock Papa down, unapologetically.

We had fun watching the kid have fun. SP2.0 is already strategizing ways to convince us to let him ski next season, which would work out best if he would actually learn to talk, but there you are.

SP1.0 can't wait to go back to Smuggler's Notch (or anywhere, really), to ski again.

And for those who don't ski, Vermont is also home to something else. Ben and Jerry's.
We took a ton of pictures, the fun ones are up in flickr!

we do actually celebrate birthdays, really

2010-02-15T16:42:00.004-05:00

So last month, Papa had a birthday. He isn't really into the whole, "hey, I was born X number of years ago, let's celebrate it!" But since I am, and the kids have recognized the obvious advantages in being celebratory about one's birth, we shove birthday cheer Papa's way once a year and he is forced to accept it.

He still won't actually choose a real cake though. I think cakes baked from boxed cake mixes from a baker who can produce so much awesomeness (ohai, I am really humble) is such a raw deal; but, he likes cakes from boxed mixes. I don't understand it, and a less secure baker would be hurt, I am just confused (and am really excited about the stellar cake I am certain Pup 1.0 is going to select, because when it comes to culinary selection, he does not dissapoint).

There were lots of presents. I like presents...so do the pups, which is why we got so many things. We tried to make them useful things, because Papa doesn't get so excited about kitchy uselessness (which would really make the whole gift-giving thing so much easier and funner, I think; but, I like a challenge).

It was fun to celebrate another year of life. Lots of photo fun in flickr!

new year

2010-01-27T12:29:00.004-05:00

Because the first month of the year will soon come to an end, I figure it only logical to finally get around to sharing how are year ended last year and began this year. The operative word: low-key (technically, that's two). My back went out two days before Christmas (it is still on a little vacation, if you find it, please tell it to come home) and I was a wee incapacitated for about three weeks. I was still able to get our Christmas stockings done, though (because I am, to be sure, a crafting champion). I figure these should last for a while, you know, until the kids have their own favorite nicknames and they start calling us Mom and Dad (which is always better than "hey you").Christmas Day was fun (I am pretty sure, I was asleep for most of it, but the pictures tell the story of great joy, so there you are). The pups were right and properly spoiled.

Papa wasted no time in removing the jolly from our house the day after Christmas, because that is how we roll.

We spent the days after Christmas and around New Year's Day messing about with holiday giftage. Santa brought Papa an HO scale train set, that will be the start of his collection (maybe he will get around to getting the trains from his childhood, too). The whole train thing is a big deal because it's why he got into engineering, and really, I am just glad for him to have a hobby that is, potentially, as expensive as mine (um, all of them).

And then the new year also saw us digging out of snow again. But we also got a chance to practice our snow angel technique.

Happy New Year! Tons of photos in flickr.

preparing for the jolly

2009-12-22T19:49:00.007-05:00

We tried to gear up for Christmas with our usual zest for the holiday; but, we were thrown this year...as we will be from now on, because SP 2.0's birthday is, pretty much, right after Thanksgiving (it was this year, anyways). We want to celebrate his birthday apart from the celebration of the birth of Christ, because it seems important somehow. I also don't want my kid walking around in future thinking he is some kind of poor sucker for drawing the short straw to get born in December (I really did try for a November birthday, Little Dude).

We waited an extra week to get our Christmas tree from our favorite place for that sort of thing, Maple Lane Farms. It was SP2.0's first tree-cutting, as far as he is concerned, it didn't live up to the hype.I threw my Martha-complex out the window this year, and Papa and I let SP1.0 pick the tree. The stipulation being the tree could not be taller than his Dad (or it wouldn't fit in our house). He eventually settled on a tree that happened to be one of the wider trees on the farm. Awesome.
The tree sat undecorated for two weeks due to Papa's end of semester crush and our last minute travels; but, once we got around to decorating it, we started to feel quite jolly.We went to the annual party at the Coast Guard Academy. While most kids used the opportunity to have serious discussions with Santa about how good they were this year and what they deserved, our kids used their moment with the jolly fat man to ask him if he was aware that he was not real (but, please still bring presents, thanks) and wonder why the parental units handed them over to the jolly fat man's temporary care.For those unaware, "Santa is like Thomas the Train, not really real". And what do you say to that? We say, "get outside and play in the snow." Mostly because it was 5 days before Christmas and we still needed a Christmas picture.

And that's what we did after the snowstorm last weekend. Twenty-four inches of white fluffiness. I am not a fan (clearly, SP 2.0 and I are of similar minds on the subject of snow).
But Papa got a change to use a snow-blower and is pretty convinced that this will make an awesome Christmas gift next year (he seems to be aware that I am done on the shopping front, and, you know, so is Santa).

There are a lot of photographs in flickr. There will, of course, be more on Christmas Day.

south and west, and then back again

2009-12-21T19:30:00.007-05:00

In the midst of holiday celebration, we were given some sad news. My grandmother passed away on December 10th, and Papa's grandmother passed away on December 11th. We headed down to New York on the morning of the 12th for my grandmother's funeral; and, from there, we headed west to Dodge City, Kansas, to attend the funeral for Papa's grandmother. We were rushing to make time on the road, so the time spent on the road was not so enjoyable; but, ultimately, we are glad we made the trip. It was a good opportunity to see and spend a little time with family members (I have found that funerals are very good for providing reunions).While we are saddened by the loss of these great women from our lives, we have great memories of our time with them. I think their lives were celebrated in lovely ways at their funeral services; and their memory will live on in the people who loved them.
Papa remarked that the trip out to Dodge will likely be our last trip there, so we wanted to see the house that his father grew up in as well as his grandmother's house.

Papa's mom had some pretty great stories to share about her memories of Dodge City as well.

On the way back home, we made more stops for our sanity and to prevent a mutiny from the seal pups.
They did a great job, considering they were strapped in with little, to no. prepartion for the 50+ hours on the road that they were subjected to.On the return trip home we stopped at the Indianapolis Children's Museum for two short hours to allow the kids a chance to move around a little, it was a good stop.

The Indianapolis Children's Museum is, quite possibly, one of the best Children's Museums we have gone to, and we have gone to quite a few.
As much as we love a good roadtrip, we have established a new benchmark: if it's more than a 15 hour drive to get there, we are flying. I am putting it here, because it's like it's in stone now, and that makes it a real rule...one we will follow, and everything.

There are a goodly amount of photographs from our trip west to the midwest in flickr.

Tomorrow, I will talk about Christmas, because Seal Pup 1.0 wants me to tell you about it, because, "you know, it's four days away."

toljabee!

2009-12-07T12:09:00.007-05:00

Last week we celebrated SP 2.0's advancement in years (or to a year, I guess). The (big) Little Guy turned one year old, and we celebrated the best way we knew how, we threw him a party. A big one. We threw a toljabee.

We observed Korean ceremonial celebrations.
Oh, look. He is going to eat well for the rest of his life. Shocker.

As well as American ones.
There was good fun (and a wardrobe change).

And now SP2.0 is no longer a baby (technically).There are more photos in flickr, I have not done any editing on the photos, so what you see is what you get. I just needed to get the pictures up before my mother started calling me about them, because she was probably wondering where they were last night.

Please excuse me while I go and reconcile the fact that I now have two "big boys."

sp 1.0's five seconds of fame

2009-12-05T02:59:00.004-05:00

So you know how I love flickr? Last month, SP 1.0 got five seconds of fame when a photo of him appeared on the Martha Stewart show (the producers found it on my other flickr feed--which gets tagged with tons of metadata). If you want to watch it, go here. It's about 5:15 seconds into the segment; but, he gets a little air (and you can learn about flickr in the process).

Or, you know, you can just look at the picture here (but you miss the Martha commentary, which, why would you want to miss it? I mean, it's Martha!).

The shot is from almost January of last year. It's blurry and not the greatest (low light, I hadn't yet recieved the awesome lenses that I got for Christmas last year)...but the pie is Martha's recipe, so there you are.

thankful.

2009-12-05T01:25:00.007-05:00

Thanksgiving has come and gone. We are all walking around with a pound or two (or five, whatever) extra about our persons; but we are none the worse for wear. I found myself especially reticent last week since Thanksgiving was, traditionally, a holiday devoted to my father and his visit to New England, as well as the enjoyment of good food. While my dad couldn't join us this year (and won't in future), I think he would be pleased to know that we ate good food. A lot of it, actually (see previous note about extra poundage). We also watched the new Star Trek movie, which I am absolutely certain my dad would have loved (it was quite good, and I say that as a non-Trekkie, not that there is anything wrong with trekkies, perse).

We also kicked off SP 2.0's birthday week (the countdown to '1' began on Thanksgiving this year).

Don't worry, there will be more birthday coverage later, I promise! There is a lot of birthday goodness that will need reporting! Get excited!

This year, we had two Thanksgiving meals, one on Thursday...which, you know, was Thanksgiving. And then we celebrated again on Friday. There was a goodly amount of fabulous food (if I do say so myself, and yes, I do). For those interested in such things, you can find the menu for the dinner tables here (or at least what was intended, I had to change the soup (no fennel) and I opted to make cupcakes instead of the meringue cake that only I would eat).

We had two meals because we had a special visit from some Adventuring Seals and we wanted to celebrate accordingly.

It was fun. And the cousins had a ridiculous good time with each other.
Even the youngest ones!

Watching all the Pups play with each other reminded us all about how we wish we could get them together more often. I think it was a good trip/visit (one of these kids got really sick after this tire swing ride, and it wasn't one of the ones from the west coast).

The trip was a short one, however. Papa had to load up the van to get the Adventurerers back home a few short days after they arrived. Since they were flying out of Boston, there was a little stop in Boston Common to see some ducks before the long flight home.Thanks for visiting!

And for those interested in such things...there are tons more pictures in flickr (hello, grandmas.)

around the house

2009-12-05T01:06:00.003-05:00

A great deal is made about spring cleaning; but, if I were being honest, I would have to say we do more household refurbishment in the fall than at any other time of year. And by refurbishment, I mean anything that improves the status of our home--and here I, indeed, do include such menial tasks as taking out the trash (it's the little things, really). We are busy people, or haven't you noticed?

There is the obvious neccessity of raking and bagging leaves (because, Ohai! We live in New England). There were only 28 bags this year (but there is at least two bags worth sitting in piles, so that's something (what, I have no idea).

And just to shake things up a little, we also painted a room in the house. It only took us 5 and a half years; but, we finally painted the master bedroom (and by we, I mean Papa, with light assist--that was not me).

There are probably some of you who are shocked about this, knowing how much Papa and I loathe home improvement projects that we have to undertake ourselves in general; but this time we had help.

Pretty soon, he is going to be doing it all himself.

Hopefully, he will still think it's fun at that point.

all aboard!

2009-12-05T00:28:00.005-05:00

During the beginning of November, there was a good bit of train adventuring.

I took a day trip to Boston (on an Amtrak train) so could attend a conference (the train ride gave me plenty of time to prep for a session I was chairing); and, Papa and the Pups went to Essex, Connecticut to see Thomas. SP 1.0 is old hat with all this Thomas business. But, Thomas is magpiously shiny and new for SP 2.0.

We aren't totally sure; but, we thing he loved it...maybe.

More shots in flickr!

one weekend's worth of fun

2009-12-04T16:36:00.006-05:00

There was one weekend, back in October, that I never got around to mentioning. I should do that now. During the weekend before Halloween, we went headed up to Maine for our annual LL Bean run. We ended up cutting the trip short because we wanted to have the pups dedicated at church, so we ended up in Maine for an overnight, which was all the time to we needed to do the things we most wanted to do.

We saw our good friend Amy.
We ate a great breakfast (BreaLu is very family friendly, though I love Bintliff's American Cafe, it's hard to have an enjoyable experience there with young children, in my opinion).

And then we went to L.L. Bean. SP1.0 got a winter coat and ski pants--there was a lot of dressing going on (the new duds will see a lot of action, because it will eventually go to SP2.0 (as is the nature of hand-me-downs).
And then we headed Connecticut so we could get the boys dedicated at church. Not a lot of shots from the dedication as we were all on stage (and it still amuses me that so many people in general; but, especially at church think SP2.0 is a girl).

After the dedication we headed to the apple orchard and picked apples.

We picked a pumpkin.And then went home and made applesauce. It was a good weekend!

mousecapades

2009-11-05T12:20:00.006-05:00

During the middle of October (last month), I went to Orlando to attend a conference, it was all about trends in records management. It was about as exciting as it sounds. In any case, one doesn't go to Orlando, or rather, the near vicinity of the Mouse's house and not bring one's family especially if said family includes wee ones. So the whole family went. It was a great inaugural trip for our new luggage.

We crammed a lot of fun in the few days we were in Orlando.

Papa's mom (aka, Grammy) flew out to have fun with us, which was pretty nice (it was also really handy when I attended conference sessions).

We found a Benihana steak house, which has just become this ridiculous tradition when we travel.

And we got a chance to see my oldest sister and her family. Thanks work, I had a great time!

More pictures in flickr. There aren't any pictures of my records conference though, because, well, records...get excited!

ar! here's wishin' ye a happy halloween, matey.

2009-10-31T21:34:00.007-04:00

A commercial costume isn't how I planned to outfit Seal Pup 1.o this year; but, that's just how the cards landed, and sometimes, I like to play. Besided, it was pretty much what I would have made for him (albeit in lower quality fabric, but one can not argue with the construction). And he was such a fierce pirate captain, really.

And he got a lot of treats both at the school Halloween parade on the CGA grounds and in our neighborhood (we go to five houses belonging to people I work with, get excited!).

People were pretty impressed by the pirate gear, which, I have to say, pleased me because we got it at Disney World, so you know, the compliments made the costume worth every penny, I won't lie.

On the evening of Halloween Eve, Papa and the Pups (mostly 1.0, 2.0 ate dinner and watched)carved a jack-o-lantern. I can't get involved in that carving and de-gutting business, so that is, decidedly, their thing.

My thing is more, "hey, leaves are on the ground, let's go sit in them and take pictures."

We spent this morning at the park, no one else was there (which was odd, as it was the perfect fall day), thus lending itself to be the perfect stage for leaf-throwing shenanigans, which we are fans of. Clearly.

I spent a few minutes as a zombie (Papa has no problem admitting that Halloween just isn't his thing, I am willing to fake it--rather convincingly, if I do say so myself, and I do). SP 1.0 kept asking me about my costume, so I felt compelled to come up with something. Zombie Mommy. The prep process for this was hilarious. It really was.

I hope your Halloween's were ghoulishly giddy too. There are more pictures in flickr, because, you know, that's our thing. I will update our mousecapades and northern New England wanderings next week, it seemed like the Halloween post should actually happen on Halloween. Happy Halloween, y'all!

of reunions and homecomings

2009-10-23T10:26:00.006-04:00

I know I am a bit behind, bear with me, it's the story of my life right now. We have been busy with weekend and weekday wanderings; it seemed like a good idea to take a breather and catch things up a bit here or Papa may never remember the fun things we did in the month of October 2009.

During the Columbus Day weekend, the Wandering Seals headed to the USCGA (did you see the rankings?) for my ten year reunion. It was fun seeing all my classmates (that were able to come, almost 50% of the class, actually).

Papa Seal and the pups did a fun run on Saturday morning, we don't have any pictures of that, you will have use your imagination, I am pretty sure it was cute. SP 1.0 is all about running now. It's cute.

My class marched on the football field in true slacker style. We showed up 2 minutes before march on and were stunning in our neat and orderly formation.

I think, maybe, you start caring about neat and orderly formations again when you hit 20 years out, because '89 seemed to have their act together, kind of.

But the other classes were actually quite impressive with their march on bits, most of them anyways. There was one class doing rifle drills with umbrellas, which I am sure had them all rolling on the floor when they were planning it; but, the excecution could have been better.

We stayed for a little bit of the football game, long enough to get a family portrait at least.

And then later in the evening I had dinner with the "girls" of '99 who could make the "Girls Night Out."

Between all of us, we were able to piece together what all of the women of 1999 were up to (those that graduated with us and those that left early). I think it's pretty neat how people have kept in touch. And, quite frankly, my "girls" are doing some pretty awesome things with their lives, whether they stayed in the service or got out. It was a great reunion.

There are some fun shots in flickr, of course. Stay tuned for mad-capped mouse adventures.

like a whirlwind into october

2009-10-09T21:38:00.005-04:00

Things have been a little crazy around here. Since we have more craziness coming up, I figured I should do an update now before things get too ridiculous.

First thing: at the end of September, I ran a 5K (I know some of you are more shocked than I am about this; but, it's true). It was my first 5K in 17 years. I did okay, I won't be winning any prizes anytime soon; but, I ran the whole thing, so that's something.

It was cold.

After my 5K race, we went to CGA for a football game (yes, it's that time of the year).

It was SP2.0's first football game. We arent' sure what his feelings are about the sport as of yet, we will let you know.

After that, we spent a ridiculous amount of time prepping our house for new windows.

They are supposed to be energy efficient.

Quite frankly, we will settle for anything that stops those charming New England drafts that have graced us for our last 5 winters here.

I guess you could say that we are really ready for the winter now.

There is a great mash-up of pictures in flickr.

no sleep till...brooklyn

2009-09-26T21:14:00.005-04:00

Last weekend we wandered south to Brooklyn, New York with a pit stop in Flushing on the way in and out.

My mom wanted to treat Kelly to a birthday dinner at a Korean restuarant called Kum Gang San since January, so we we finally got around to going. It was a fun meal!

We decided to make a weekend trip of it since we have been wanting to take the pups to the Brooklyn Children Museum for a while.

SP 1.0 had a great time, it's fun for kids of all ages; but, they really do a good job of catering to the sense of wonder and fun that the wee ones have.

Even SP 2.0 got in on the fun.

Before we took off for our trip, I did some research on family-friendly restuarants that could be classified as "fine dining" because, quite frankly, you don't go to New York and eat at McDonald's. I was able to find a great Meditteranean French Bistro called Pit Stop (it had an auto racing theme) for lunch that served THE BEST hamburgers; and SP 1.o was impressed with the kids' chicken fingers too (so were we).

It was a great "pit stop".

After lunch we headed to a fiber shop called Brooklyn General, because, you know, I am into that sort of thing--even if the boys are not.

Then we hit Prospect Park. We did a lot of walking. And there was swinging.

Lots of swinging. SP 2.0 has recently graduated to swinging in the cradle swings on the playground, it's a big deal!

And then for dinner, we went to Applewood.

Where we, quite possibly, had one of the best meals of our lives. SP 2.0 enjoyed the culinary experience vicariously!

The chef(s) was very accomodating to my non-dairy lifestyle; and, they made SP 1.0 something that wasn't even on the menu (and gave him extra bread). Papa discovered that he liked pate and I learned that I love apertifs that involve blackberries and gin.

Before leaving Brooklyn, we walked the path to the Brooklyn Bridge and walked a quarter of the bridge.

We stopped in Flushing on the way out of town to eat at Kum Gang San again for lunch; and, we also stopped at Han Ah Reum for some groceries.

It was a great trip! There are tons of pictures in flickr of all our Brooklyn fun.

last bits of summer fun

2009-09-18T13:24:00.004-04:00

Earlier this month we went to Lake Compounce (for a second time after going in August in celebration of Coast Guard Day). SP1.0 is very fond of rides.

The only things we have been doing on the weekends with any sort of consistency is going to Harkness Memorial Park. We went there on Labor Day for a small picnic and some fun, in general.

Other than that, we have just been finding creative things to do at home. SP1.0 wanted to learn to add. No, seriously.

And SP2.0 is contemplating a career in the WWF.

More pictures in flickr. We are heading out of town for the weekend (it must be fall!), so I am thinking we will have tons of fun pictures to share next week!

three quarters

2009-09-09T11:35:00.004-04:00

Or nine months. Seal Pup 2.0 celebrated 9 months of making smiles last week.

We snapped a few photos, of course; but, our favorite thing is this video which I am calling Baby Gymnastics.

Perhaps this is foreshadowing his future as a gold medalist in the sport of gymnastics?

I will put the video (quality might be a little better in flickr) and a few more of SP 2.0's portraits up in flickr.

Tomorrow I will post our weekend doings, because I am sure you are all curious how we spent Labor Day weekend.

settling into fall

2009-08-31T10:48:00.006-04:00

If one were to go by the calendar, one would assume that summer was still in full swing; but, around these parts we have started settling in for fall.

We ended up going to our favorite orchards (Holmberg Orchards) for peaches and raspberries this year (a first for us).

It was fun; but, it reminded us about a favorite fall activity, picking apples. And then that made us think of apple pie, and there is really nothing better on a cozy fall day than a slice of apple pie.

In any case, as far as the Wandering Seals are concerned, summer is over. Kaput. Classes have started at both of the parental Seals' perspective campuses and the motivation for drenching the kids in sunscreen for school in the mornings is on the decline.

I think the great fall trips we have planned doesn't help our observance of summer either. Clearly, we need to find a few fun summer activities to squeeze in to help us enjoy the remainder of summer.

Also on the horizon, Seal Pup 2.0 celebrates 9 months of drool-y goodness on Wednesday. Perhaps some pictures are in order? Just to give you something to smile, here's SP 2.0's last day in the bucket...he is HUGE!

and things here

2009-08-10T13:50:00.007-04:00

The last month or so have been filled with everyday doings for us (really, each of these things could have been a separate blog post; but, I plead laziness--sorry).

We went to Sailfest, our town's celebration of sail.

We went to a national model train show held in Hartford, which was pretty fun.

SP 1.0 had his first exposure to Ethiopian food. He is a fan, suprisingly.

Papa went to Florida to take care of some family business for me, since I don't have any vacation time to speak of at the moment. I stayed at home with the pups which as a little tiring.

We spent some time at the beach.

That was fun; but, SP 2.0 is, decidedly, not a fan.

We went to the Greater Hartford Quilt Show, which was really fun (for one of us anways).

Just summer doings. What have you been up to?

I put up pictures of our doings in flickr (surprise!).

to cali or bust

2009-07-14T11:47:00.009-04:00

We returned from our vacation a little over a week ago. My intentions were to process all of pictures before uploading them; but, that would mean you would be waiting till Christmas, so I figured I would just put the pictures up in flickr and give a little recap, as it was a pretty big deal, what with SP 2.0's first plane adventuring taking place. So hey, Christmas in July!

We made our annual trek to Carlsbad, California and it was a ton of fun. Getting there was a bit trying since we were sent home the Friday night we tried to depart (clearly, the airline and airport was unaware that we had some seals to see); but, the airlines fixed us up right and proper for travel on the following Saturday. Note to self (or really, Papa), do not book flights for late afternoons/evenings during thunderstorm season.

The first thing on the schedule after our arrival to the Land of Sun, was an afternoon birthday tea to celebrate a special someone turning five, I don't have to tell you how I feel about birthdays. It was great (for those interested in the requested "photo shoot" you can find those shots in flickr).
The following day included dinner, hibachi style, at Benihana. This might be one of my favorite shots from the whole trip and it's not particularly stellar, technically speaking; but, it's kind of hilarious.

There was beach play (I didn't go, this shots were taken by Papa), I stayed in the air conditioned dwelling...it was very nice.

We went to Legoland, which, while crazy, seemed particularly calm when comparing it to the slimmest possibility of going to Disneyland. But the kids (the ones who needed a ticket to get in anyway) really had fun. The babies, I am pretty sure they thought it was kind of hot; but, yay (!) bright colors!

We had a lot of fun there (I really like this shot of the three of them...it's very Breakfast Club-y).

A lot of fun.

And, as you can imagine, there were a lot of Legos there.

We were also able to see old friends (or rather, meet them in SP2.0's case).

We filled our bellies with ice cream.

And then we returned home (some of us so happy that vehicular hugs were in order).

It was a good trip.

There is a computer-crash-worthy equivalent number of photos in flickr for your perusal, should you, you know, be interested in that sort of thing.

a-wandering we will go

2009-06-26T11:20:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, Seal Pup 1.o's pre-school class went on a little adventure. There was a little walk to "The Secret Garden" otherwise known as the Caroline Black Memorial Garden in the Arboretum on the Campus of Connecticut College. After taking at turn in the gardens, there was a picnic. It was fun. Parents were invited, so Papa and I went.

Aside: I caught a child who biffed it near a little pond, so I was sufficiently puffed with pride when I returned to work after the picnic, it's not easy being a hero.

While Seal Pup 2.0 could not join us on the Garden adventure, we do have good news to report: he found his belly button. Cancel the search parties.

We are going to wander to the left coast for a while. So no updates next week; but, I will make up for it when we get back. Also, if you are catching up with us on a feed reader, I heartily suggest that you click over to the blog to see the new banner which reflects SP2.0's wandering with us. As SP1.o would say, "I did it all on my own."

a hiking endeavor

2009-06-22T09:46:00.006-04:00

We went for our first family hike over the weekend. We stayed close to home while testing the waters of family physical fitness. Also, the weather didn't offer much promise, what with all the rain and June-gloominess New England has been experiencing of late. In any case, we went for a little hike at Bluff Point in Groton, Connecticut.

We opted to do the shorter route which worked out to be a little over two miles, five seemed a bit much for Seal Pup 1.0. And while SP1.0 was very excited about "hiking in the jungle!" we wish he was as excited to actually walk, or rather, hike the hike.

There was a goodly amount of shoulder riding; but, that's okay, he is only three, after all. And since Seal Pup 2.0 didn't have to do any walking whatsoever, well, I guess I can see where he was coming from.

There are a few more pics of our hiking adventure in flickr. And, as promised, there are also a few 3 year and 6 month update, portraity shots in flickr as well (scroll to the bottom of the first page and click to the top of the second). I am playing around with lenses to figure out which I like best for portraiture, so you will likely see more portraits of the pups coming your way.

things to do in baltimore when it rains

2009-06-10T15:51:00.004-04:00

Since it's June, it seemed only natural that I tell you about some wandering we did in May.

We headed south to attend the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival so I could (start the celebration of my birthday and) meet up with some blog-knitting friends (or rather, some of SP 1.0's adoring fans) and buy some fiber--for those interested in more fiber talk, go here.

I am sure a time will come when fiber festivals won't be fun family trips anymore and I will be doing them solo; but, till that time, it's a fun family affair. Because really, how can you not love sheep?

And since we were down there, we also headed to the Baltimore to visit the National Aquarium as well (on the advice of some good friends).

We had a lot of fun at both the festival and the aquarium. It rained off and on at the sheep and wool festival, which, wet wool, yay! But the aquarium was the ideal indoor activity for the following Sunday because the rain was torrential. We had a great time.

We were able to get a hotel pretty close to the aquarium which was good for kiddos who needed naps...or tummy time.

More pics in flickr, of course. Coming up: Pup 2.0's 6 month update, and 1.0's "Hey, I'm 3!" Catch-up. At the end of the week. I promise.

of kites and flying them

2009-05-11T13:08:00.003-04:00

With the coming of spring means the flying of kites. Pup, the elder had a weird fear of flying kites last year, he might have been afraid of the kite flying away, I am not sure; but, to get him ready for his school's Kite Day, we decided to take him to our favorite park, Harkness Memorial, to fly a kite. While a kite was flown, the day could not be labeled a success by any means.

Since Papa and I wanted to see the kiddo have fun with with flying kites, we both went to Kite Day.

And even though it started out a little rocky, he soon found the fun.

Kite flying is a blast, who knew?

If you want to see more kite flying fun, you know where to look!

oh, look. cuteness.

2009-04-16T09:58:00.002-04:00

I was going through some recent pictures and found a couple to be particularly cute. I figured some of you (particularly the grandparents) would find these particularly enjoyable. This one might be my favorite picture of SP2.0 to date:

But SP1.0, of course, is not to be outdone.

I may be biased, but I think these kids are pretty cute.

easter a-go-go

2009-04-13T00:52:00.006-04:00

Because we were driving back to Connecticut on Easter Day (actually, our trek started on Good Friday) after my father's funeral service and other arrangements, there was little to no planning concerning Easter festivities for the wee ones. Luckily some very good friends prepared Easter baskets for the boys which provided a goodly amount of bunny-rific joy.

SP1 did ask where the eggs were however. So upon our return to Connecticut, Papa had to go and find some. Shockingly, he found a grocery store open and bought some eggs for dyeing.

As we ate some of our newly dyed eggs, SP1 wished me a Happy Easter, it was pretty cute. But not as cute as this:

Thanks for the bunny ears Dru, Marley and Lennon!

in memoriam

2009-04-12T22:01:00.007-04:00

My father passed away on April 3rd, 2009. He had just finished his breakfast and was ready to start his work day when his heart failed him. My aunt, who found him, says he had a peaceful expression on his face and he looked as though he was sleeping. I choose to take comfort in the peaceful state he was found in.

Upon hearing about his passing, we packed the mini-van for a return trip to Pensacola, Florida and drove for 25 hours. As sad as the occasion was, I have to say, it was an opportunity to get together with family. I was able to see family members that I haven't seen in years.
I was able to take my kids to some of the great places my dad took me to growing up.

But most importantly, and probably what would please my father the most, I was able to grow a little closer to my two half-sisters (let's just call them sisters, shall we?) who live in Miami.

the expression on SP2's face is priceless

When I was growing up, I was pretty close to my cousins, so it was pretty great that SP1 got a chance to spend time with cousins he had never met before.
He spent a ton of time with the girls (which isn't so shocking, really, he does like girls, afterall).
My dad's funeral was lovely. He always said he wanted something simple (yes, he did talk about his wishes, before hand...morbid, but true) and he wanted a veteran's burial as was his due. I think his girls were able to achieve that for him.
I will miss my dad a great deal. It will be strange to not have my dad to report good news to, I always puffed up a little when he told me he was proud of me. The things I will miss most however are his jokes; the sounds of his laughter (he really did live up to his name, Isaac--he laughs in Hebrew); and his birthday phone calls which usually came two months after my actual birthday (he didn't always remember that I was born two months prematurely).
As sad as I am, I have some really great memories of my dad to cherish; and, those memories will always make me smile.

a birthday, belated

2009-04-12T21:28:00.007-04:00

Some of you may have been wondering how SP1's birthday celebration went last month. Let me assure you, the ascendancy to the age of three was celebrated with due diligence. There was, of course, a birthday week, which began on St. Patrick's Day this year...because it seemed right.

He got a Frisbee on the first day, which in hindsight, was probably not the most brilliant gift to bestow upon someone newly three (feel free to learn from our mistakes).

As our family tradition dictates, the birthday prince/king (there are no princesses as we have no girls save me, and no one bakes cakes for me, really) gets to choose his cake. SP1 said he wanted a "strawberry cake." Which really, could be anything. I took it literally and made him, well, a strawberry cake.

It was Ina Garten's Country Strawberry cake, which really, is a glorified strawberry shortcake; but, there you are.

We had two parties on his actual birthday. First there was the celebration at school.

Eighteen goodie bags--it isn't for the faint of heart--that's the parents' perspective, of course. But it was pretty fun. The kid liked it, so really, that is what matters most.

We also had a few friends over to celebrate at home. It was pretty low key, as low key as we get, I guess.

The Pup's favorite present was the yoga mat he asked us for a month before his birthday. No, seriously.

He said he wanted a yoga mat for his birthday. A blue one.

And then we wrapped up the celebration the day after by writing thank you notes.

The whole celebration was a nice way to welcome in the big three, I think.

carpe diem

2009-04-12T21:10:00.004-04:00

I kept meaning to post about the Florida part of our Spring Break trip and never got around to it. The Florida part of our trip was a pit stop to see my dad in Pensacola followed by a quick trip to Disney World. Little did I know at the time that it would be the last time I would see my dad. He passed away on April 3rd. It was really nice that he got a chance to meet his newest grandson (SP2) before his passing.

SP1 also had fun spending time with him during Spring Break. My dad was quite the Tickle Monster.

After spending some time with my dad, we went down to Orlando for a day at the Magic Kingdom, it was just a taste really.

We have plans to go back before the end of the year. There are lots of pictures of our visit to Pensacola as well as Orlando in flickr, of course.

on the road again

2009-03-17T16:29:00.008-04:00

The real inaugural trip for our mini-van, aka Rocket, aka the Bus, aka the Mom-mobile was a trip to southern climes involving grandparents, a childhood friend and her kids and a mouse.

For the sake of sanity, I am breaking this into two posts. Our first destination was Suwanee, Georgia, because that is where my mom lives.

She was glad to see me and everything, but really, it was all about the pups.

She (my mom, aka Halmoni-grandmother in Korean) bought a house and it had a swing set in the back.

There were also rings, because every parent loves it when their kids expose themselves to hazardous playground equipment. Luckily, my mom's husband was on safety watch.

It was a big yard perfect for running around; or, playing golf with your Hadabogee (grandfather in Korean).

We also had a chance to meet up with a childhood friend I have always thought of as a sister.

It was great getting our kids together. It's like they were old friends.

We took them to the aquarium--the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta...I think it's the biggest in the the world? I have no idea, it was large. As you can imagine, there were fish.

The kids were very impressed with the marine life.

They had a ton of fun. There was great debate over whether the jellyfish swim up and down or down and up and in and out. Right. They were pretty much saying the same thing, but whatever.

It was a good family thing to do (SP2.0 is sleeping--out of the shot. You snooze, you lose in this family--also, this is, quite possibly, the cheesiest "cheese" face that SP1.0 has).

Then we said goodbye to my mom and packed up for more adventures further south.

The bits I left out: we drove two vehicles because we were taking my old Subaru to my dad. One of us got a speeding ticket in North Carolina...for speeding (guess who it was!). We stopped in Harrisburg, PA for 6 hours sleep on the way down.

More photos in flickr, naturally.

with the threat of snow comes adventure

2009-03-05T10:41:00.007-05:00

Last weekend we decided to go on a little adventure to Worcester, Massachusetts to get an EZ pass thing-a-ma-bob for our spring break travels. No pictures, because, well, it was Worcester. But then, sort of on a whim, we decided to go to the Connecticut Home Show in Hartford, Connecticut. It was fun. We looked at little houses.

Seal Pup 1.0 met a Lego Boy just his size...

We checked out sprinkler systems (which we had no intention of buying, but the demo was fun).

And we did it all in style in our new Seal Mobile, a fun mini-van that SP1.0 has dubbed "Rocket" (yes, like the Rocket of Little Einsteins fame); but, the name is entirely subject to change, he also tossed out names like, "Mini-van, Table and Toothbrush." No, I don't know either.

After our adventures on Saturday, the northeast was slammed with snow the following Sunday. We got our biggest snowfall all season; I think we received about 8-10 inches of snow. It may not seem like much to midwesterners; but, it was enough for a snow day the following Monday.

So we all got cozy at home and celebrated a 3 day weekend.

There are a couple more pictures in flickr (surprise!!). We are heading out for the "Seals Go South Tour of 2009" this weekend, so we will have some fun adventures to share, I am sure. If I have an interneat connection I will try to do incremental updates, as a final post to sum up the whole trip would be a little crazy-making. Stay warm and smile!

ohai! we r n ur computr

2009-02-25T09:40:00.006-05:00

Okay, it's been a month. I didn't feel as though there was anything interesting to report on our end; but, when people you work with tell you to update your family website, well, clearly something is wrong. So here are the things we have been up to since I last posted. Firstly, bonding.

We celebrated Papa Seals' birthday. It was low-key, just like he likes it.

There was cake. A very fancy one from Nick Malgieri's Perfect Cakes book.

We took a road trip to a Whole Foods in Glastonbury, CT, because there isn't one more local to us.

If we didn't have to use so much gas to get there, I would say it was rather green of us; but, no.

The first week of February saw me returning to work after my 2 month vacation maternity leave. I could have taken longer but we were already paying for daycare and I needed the structure that work provides...also, I missed the books.

There were a few snow storms in our neck of the woods. We watched the cars get covered with snow quite a bit.

We also went outside to play in it; or, at least, think about playing in it.

The littlest Seal Pup packed on the pounds and has quickly learned that he would be more successful in coaxing the 'rents with smiles and cooing rather than cries and screeching.

The change in his disposition (which was probably brought about due to a change in my diet...ice cream, how I miss you) has been an improvement for all parties concerned.

So, I suppose I will be doing more regular updates since starting this weekend, we will be doing some wandering...in style...but more on that later. Now, just focus on cuteness.

For the sake of more cuteness, I uploaded a ton of photographs in flickr, since the grandparents have been asking about them--oh, and for you too Angie.

hi, happy new year

2009-01-24T23:17:00.005-05:00

I wish I could report adventures and wanderings of all sorts; but, no, not so much. We had a great Christmas.
Some of us were not so excited about celebrating; but, it's hard being new.

I received various and sundry photographic equipment which guarantees tons more photos to look at in flickr (woo hoo!). I spent some time testing out a new lens. I think it's a keeper.

What do you think?

Our New Year celebration involved everyone sleeping at midnight (even if some of us were awake shortly after, sigh). But how can you hold early morning wake-ups against an offender this cute?

You can not. Well, I can't. Happy New Year, everyone!

and now we are four

2008-12-23T22:39:00.004-05:00

A family of four, that is. This is Seal Pup 2.0 or SP2.0 for short. He is cute, we think we'll keep him.

So this is a few weeks overdue; but, better the post than the baby, right? Get it? Nevermind, here are some pictures.

Post delivery, prior to my asking for drugs.

Seal pups meeting for the first time. SP1.0 is clearly a fan, we aren't sure if SP2.0 feels the same way though. After this photo, Papa was admonished for using the flash because his "little brother doesn't like the flash."

SP1.0 has a thing for"touching [his] baby brother." I think that "touching" is a euphemism for "aggravating," but that is just me. I think, really, Seal Pup the elder just wanted to hold his baby brother which was nixed as he was diseased with some sort of winter contagion at the time.

Another person who couldn't stop "touching" or holding the baby was my mom. She kept saying, "I want to take him home in my pocket" so much, even SP1.0 began to worry that she would actually do it. And then we all concluded that, while small, SP2.0 would not actually fit in a pocket.There are some more pictures in flickr, of course. And with Christmas coming up, you know there will be a photo refresher before the end of the year.

holiday mash-up

2008-12-01T23:32:00.006-05:00

We like the winter holidays, or rather, the fall holidays that take us into the winter ones...whatever. Last week was Thanksgiving.

Since I am sporting a belly the size of Texas, you will understand if the prospect of many days' preparation for culinary feast did not thrill me. But my dad was flying up from Florida for a feast, so a feast he was given, albeit a modest one. But really, his interest seemed more tied with tickling the Pup, so everyone was pleased, I think.
So we went low key this year. Papa decided that he would make the turkey this year (too heavy for me to lift--we will forget that my job requires that I lift 40-50 pound boxes daily though). I did some sides, no soup or salad this year though. I sort of missed the soup, to be honest. But I am pretty glad my dad finally told me he doesn't actually like pecan or pumpkin pie (I am not really a fan either, to be honest). But it was nice to have relaxing tasty meal.Even if it wasn't seasoned to everyone's taste.
After a day of rest on Friday, we jumped into Yuletide cheer by getting a Christmas tree. I couldn't go (as extended walking would likely "put me in labor" seriously, that's what the medical professionals said).

While the boys were whoopin' it up a Maple Lane Farms, I was at home working on Christmas cards, because you know, one can never start that process too early.
Especially with the expediently approaching arrival of a new pup.
More pictures in flickr. The next post should have good tidings and cheer.

new england traditions: fallen foliage

2008-11-26T13:12:00.005-05:00

Everyone likes leaf-peeping in New England. "Oooh, pretty fall foliage," etcetera. But here is the thing: that fall foliage falls off the trees living one big mess. We have sort of perfected the fine art of procrastination when it comes to leaf collection (much to our neighbors' dismay).

We basically rake our leaves once a year. It seems sort of futile to do it any more than that, what with all the maple trees in our yard. In any case, the one time a year we actually do it, it's pretty fun (I suppose it's easy to say that when you are not the one doing the leaf collecting; but, there you are). The Pup was very excited to rake up leaves (or pretend to).

But he was even more excited to play in the piles.

A couple more leaf shots in flickr, because, you know, that is what we do.

a boy and a train

2008-11-20T21:44:00.006-05:00

So it's that time of the year in Connecticut. The time of year when Thomas the Tank Engine comes to town--or close to town. We wandered over to Essex, Connecticut for a day with the smling train.

While the parental units debated the charm factor of the train on an older and wiser Seal Pup--he had so much fun last year, would it be the same this time? Better? A bust?), the pup relished in the day's activities.

Proving that we, indeed, truly don't know anything.

Leave it to the tot to school the 'rents.

More pictures from the day are in flickr, of course.

Next up...raking up dead leaves. A New England tradition.

um, boo?

2008-10-31T16:14:00.005-04:00

Whoa, it's the Roaming Gnome! Totally scary, right?! Well, maybe try this face, this is kind of scary. Yeah, he wasn't so into the belt.

For Halloween this year, the Pup declared the Roaming Gnome to be the coolness. So I made him a costume so he could be all gnome-y. The hat is, clearly, the best part. If you are interested in how this costume came together, read this post here-recapping seems too redundant.

While Papa and I don't normally get all jolly over the ghoulish delights of Halloween, the Pup's excitement for it sort of won us over and we did (most of) the things parents who are raising main stream kids are supposed to do for Halloween. Like carving pumpkins.

Dressing up and going trick or treating (twice, no less).

And making festive cupcakes for cadets (or whoever you want, I realize that not everyone has a captive audience for culinary attempts at their beck and call) for the purpose of making them smile.
And, yes, let's not forget the costumery. I am particularly proud of that. So is the kid.

Happy Halloween, or if you are being politically correct, Happy Orange and Black Day!

As you can imagine, there are tons of photos sitting in flickr just waiting for your ghoulish perusal.

we brake for sheep

2008-10-30T18:17:00.004-04:00

In my head, I wrote this post and put it up last week. In reality, I, obviously, did no such thing. So in the spirit of chronological order, let's talk about our trip to Rhinebeck, New York, shall we? On the 17th, we headed to upstate New York to go to a fiber festival, because, you know, "we" are into that sort of thing. There was a lot of yarn and fiber to spin to make yarn.

We ate like kings (I am eating for two now, so I too ate like a king, my friends).

I could go on at great length about the irony of eating lamb at a sheep and wool festival, but I won't go there.

The Pup found the best part of the day involved riding on trains... (which I totally don't get, it has nothing to do with sheep, knitting, weaving or what have you, but there you are).

And he also experienced the joy of fried dough, or, as he calls it, "dough with snow."

More pictures in flickr (because that is totally unexpected). Tomorrow (and I totally mean it), I will post about Halloween, because doing so after the fact might be a little gauche and also, I am too lazy to catch things up after a flurry of expected activity in the coming days...

our little apple tradition

2008-10-16T20:59:00.004-04:00

For the last four years (maybe it's 5 now, we didn't blog back then, so I don't know) we have made our way to a local apple orchard to buy, pick and eat local and have a little autumnal fun.

We usually go to Holmberg Orchards in Gales Ferry, CT. It's not too far away and they grow plenty of my favorite apples (the Mutsu, it's a beautiful fruit).

And since I am a (self-proclaimed) pie-baking queen, we had to pick some golden delicious apples for pie (with a cheddar pastry crust, because it is truly better with cheddar). We also picked some red delicious for munching (these are Papa's favorite, I think they are sort of bland in comparison to the Mutsu, but that is just me). Papa and the pup think the apples are truly delicious (...one can lead them to water--or the Mutsu...).

After picking about 30 or so apples, I guess it gets kind of old. So to entertain the Pup we scouted out some pumpkins post haste.

The orchard going made for a fun weekend activity and suitably wore out the kid enough to sleep in his new bed in his new room (who's a big boy?). Very exciting.

Trivia: It's been almost a year (to the day) since the Pup switched from his crib to a toddler bed.

More apple-y (and pumpkin-y) pictures can be found in flickr. And stay tuned; our next adventure will involve fall foliage and sheep (those of you rolling your eyes can stop now)!

edward's house

2008-10-10T13:59:00.004-04:00

After our "Go Coast Guard!" weekend, we decided to take a day trip up to Massachussetts to town of Yarmouthport on the Cape. We have been wanting to take a visit to the Edward Gorey House for quite some time, and the days seemed suitably rainy and dreary to set the stage for a trip.

We are fortunate that the Pup just sort of tags along with us right now. There will come a point that he won't think trips like this are fun...till then...

It was fun. Edward Gorey was a character. He was an ecclectic collector of pretty much everything. When he died, 25,000 volumes of books were found in his home. That's pretty crazy.

The Pup had fun messing about with "The Doubtful Guest" outside when the rain stopped.

It's a fun little house museum that sheds a lot of light on the life of Edward Gorey. The exhibits/displays were very well done and they were fun and interesting.

As always, more pictures from our excursion can be found in flickr.

welcome home; or, we bleed blue and white

2008-10-07T10:49:00.008-04:00

Last weekend was really busy, so I am going to break it into two posts. The first post (that would be the one you are reading presently) is going to cover the crazy that was homecoming weekend at CGA.

It was Papa's 10 year reunion. He somehow (I have labeled it as the "inability to say no," you can call it something else if you like) became the default chair of his class's homecoming planning committee. He was pretty busy and taxed his usually introverted self, what with all the socializing, and socializing. It was fun though. Here are some highlights (this will, admitedly be of more interest to you if you either 1) attended CGA, 2) graduated from said institution in 1998 or, 3) just want to see some cute pictures of the Seal Pup, aka Progeny 1.0).

The weekend started with cadet drill. The Pup has decided that the best part of drill is the end when the cadets clear the lawn and he can run on the parade field (running is better with friends).

Friday night there was a party at Camp Rell. We were in a cabin that had stuffed and mounted animal heads around the room.

While the decor was charming, it left parents with the need to be overly creative when explaining the decor to their impressionable, and in some cases frightened, children.

Saturday started out with a dedication ceremony at the CGA chapel for Kevin Carpenter, a classmate who passed away during his second year at the academy. The class of '98 helped to install a patio extension to the Chapel and laid a stone marker in Kevin's memory.
The ceremony was well-attended by members of the class.

After the dedication, there was a tailgate party before the football game. There was much socializing.

There was also a great deal of consumption of beverages containing alcohol. The pup was curious to know the location of the juice boxes.

There were no juice boxes but he got a fine explaination of the virtues of seasonal brews for Octoberfest. Oh, well, maybe next year when the class of '99 throws the big show.

After the tailgate, the celebrating 5 and 10 year classes did the homecoming march-on onto the football field. The class of '98 was not told that they should be in any sort of formation...so they weren't.

But they had a good time, and they looked really snazzy in the CGA homecoming gear. Papa sported some of the head gear during the football game.

We won the football game, but I had to hear about the win later (not that I minded this, of course, as being a spectator of the great American game is not high on my list of things to do--if we are being honest here). Papa had to get back to organizing and planning, and the Pup and I were tired and worn out. Also we had to prepare for a little adventure for the following day. But more on that later in the next post.

There are more pictures in flickr. Members of the class of '98 who might be interested in the rest of the pics from Friday and Saturday just e-mail us, we can send a disc to you.

we have spirit

2008-10-02T17:01:00.007-04:00

Since we are looking forward to another weekend of CGA revelry and excitement, I figured I should hurry up and get this post up so as not to inundate the masses (um, the 5 of you who read this blog) with Coast Guard spirit.

Two weekends ago the Coast Guard Academy tried its very best to impress the parents who have entrusted that fine institution with the care, education and training of their children. I have to say, when you haven't gone through the machine, you probably find such machinations of granduer impressive.

I just like to people-watch. Papa likes to support the old alma mater, and the Pup, well, he is just facinated with cadets (I am pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that they are all in uniform and tend to have pretty shiny buttons and pins; but, what do I know?).

In any case, after getting the Pup a "regulation" haircut (it's short, isn't it? Papa=1, Mama=0), we started our day at CGA bright and early by attending drill. It was the Pup's second, so he found it less thrilling than the first time, but he had a lot of questions about the man in the skirt (or the cadet in the kilt playing the bagpipes, it was funny). Also, he really likes to do the hand salute.

Here he is with his sweetheart, L (one of many, heartbreaker) doing mutual hand salutes. It's nice to know that they respect each other.

There was a soccer game.

And then there was a football game. We lost, but we cheered on the Bears like it was our job (and I suppose for one of us, it sort of was in some way).

And then we went home because at least two of us needed naps.

Stay tuned, more Coast Guard spirit coming your way soon. It is, after all, that time of the year.

More pictures? You know where they are.

i went to san francisco and i didn't get a t-shirt

2008-09-18T10:48:00.009-04:00

(self-portrait in Japantown Center)

At the end of last month I took a solo trip to San Francisco to attend a conference for work. Classes had already started for the Papa Seal so he managed the homefront with the Seal Pup while I flew the coop. I missed my boys, but I have to honest, I had a really good time.

with knitblogging friends Risa and Rangsiwan

In addition to the whole professional development thing (which, admittedly was the purpose for said trip), I was able to meet up with knitbloggers that I have "known" for the last 2 years but I never really met (with the excpetion of 2 of them).

knitbloggers before the great Thai chowdown

I got a chance to hang out with my friend K who I saw in May and June, but whose company I never tire of.

taken after a REALLY good meal

I went to Chinatown with a colleague/library school friend, J, and we did a lot of shopping. (That's what Papa said when I came home and gave him receipts, "oh, you did a lot of shopping.") It was fun.

there are 3 bajillion shops like this one in a one mile stretch of road

Oh, and I ate.

lunch at Samovar Tea Lounge (right across the street from Imagiknit)

A lot.

pastry display at Tartine Bakery

With gusto, even.

ice cream consumption at Mitchell's

While I was gone, Papa and the Pup finished up their renovation project. They turned our old family room into a craft room.

Optimistically, I wish I could say it was done simply out of kindness; but, I think the real reason was that Papa Seal was tired of seeing all mechanations of craft spread out thoughout the house.

I sort of have a lot of stuff. Kind of.

Also, Papa Seal really wanted to try his hand at installing laminate flooring (the tile was kind of driving him nuts).

Obviously, the Pup helped too.

I won't question it, I now have a whole room dedicated to craft, all is right in the world.

And since I just realized that I failed to make mention of another project in development...um, here is a picture of Seal Pup 2.0. The Pup is very excited for you to know about his little brother, joining us in December (on the 2nd around 8:45 a.m. EST, to be more specific).

More San Francisco pics in the usual place.

we missed the dnc by thismuch

2008-09-09T16:35:00.005-04:00

To those who are certain we have wandered somewhere in the last two months, you would be right. Long time no travel reports on our end. Apologies, we have been a little busy. Before I launch into tales of busy-ness (um, excuses), I thought I'd share some wandering we did at the end of July (I know). We went to Colorado for a weekend. It was, awesome.

We flew into the Denver airport and spent the evening getting aclimated to the altitude. When we travel, the Pup likes to get his stretch on by doing yoga poses (he has excellent form, R this shot is for your mom!).

The purpose of our trip to Colorado was a wedding of a high school friend of mine.

The wedding was in Breckenridge; and, it was a great place to have or attend a wedding (unless you suffer from altitude sickness, which I did). The scenery is stunning. And Breckenridge is a fun town. And there is a Continental Divide that you can dress up to visit, if that is your thing.

Since we were going to be "in the area" (or rather, the same state) we decided to take a "quick side trip" to Colorado Springs for another academic institution photo op with the Pup, the US Air Force Academy, the pup is a fan.

Clearly.

And since you can't go there and not get a picture with the chapel as a background...

For those family and friendly types that want to see more pictures, you know where to find them (click on the link, mom).

We'll do a couple of "things here" updates soon (there is a little matter of a missing camera to contend with, but it's bound to be around here somewhere). We are, as they say, back in the saddle.

california dreaming

2008-07-30T14:10:00.006-04:00

Since the end of July is nearly upon us...how about some tales of California travels from June?

I had a conference to attend in LA toward the end of last month, so we decided to take the whole family and call it vacation (we do this a lot, in case you haven't noticed a trend here). We had some good times in the southern part of California, mostly because we got to see family again. And there are some people who are into the whole beach thing (I am not one of them--odd for a seal, I know; but, there you are).

We had a chance to take the Pup sailing for the first time. For people who know me and the Papa Seal, I don't have to go into what a big deal this was for us.

And, also we got a chance to see Shamu at Seaworld; the Pup is, clearly, a fan.

And then of course there was the Mouse's House (um, his summer home?).

A place for both the young and the young at heart. Whatever, the hats were free.

I was able to see a friend from undergrad days, I hadn't seen J in 9 years so it was fun to get together; also, she owns rabbits--clearly this is what set the parameter for "fun" for the Pup.

And then I went solo to my conference which was sited at a hotel as well as The Getty (a great place to have a conference, by the way). It shall never be said that special collections librarians do not know how to rock (well, it'll probably be said; but not by anyone in "the know").

After three days of dialoging about rare books in the digital world, the boys picked me up and we explored LA. The Pup cheered on the Bruins--sure he does this at whatever college or university is local to our travels; but I thought this shot especially winning (anyone in the public affairs department at UCLA should feel free to contact me about marketing, heh).

We found a place for me to buy fiber related goods (the Pup also likes to peruse).

And then we said goodbye to California and came home. It was a good trip.

There are a ridiculous number of photographs in flickr of this whole excursion. You will probably care more about them if you are related to us or we saw you in California during this trip. But of course, there are some good shots of the Pup looking cute (none showing him throwing tantrums as these are moments best left uncaptured for the ages).

Next report...Colorado.