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. 
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 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!
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). 
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!
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.
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.
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.
We took a ton of pictures, the fun ones are up in flickr!
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. 
It was fun to celebrate another year of life. Lots of photo fun in flickr!
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. 
