thanksgiving redux

Thanksgiving has come and gone; but the memories of the day will stay with us. We took the opportunity of the good weather and the day off to explain to the seal pup that he is going to have to start earning his keep (the kid eats monster amounts of food!).

He thought it was all fun and games at first.


He really enjoyed raking the leaves with Papa Seal (and wearing his mama made sweater!).
But then he thought some more and realized that raking leaves is actually a lot of work.

Clearly, Papa Seal knows this.
Despite the work entailed in living in New England, we love it.

We hope your Thanksgivings were happy and full of good food, family and fun.

More leafy fun over in flickr.

we heart nyc; or, no sleep till brooklyn

We are battling the plague and trying to recover for a party on Saturday; but now that my mother has harnessed the power of the internet (Lord, help us all), I now have a constant reminder that I need to "update website more." Yes, ma'am.

Let me tell you where we are going.

We went to New York City and Brooklyn over the past weekend. Papa Seal and I realized that this is a trip we have been planning since we last went to New York more than four years ago (it's not like we live 3 hours away or anything). We made visits to Queens/Flushing when my mom lived there, but Manhattan, that's another story.

One thing that was readily apparent, our priorities are vastly different than they were four or five years ago. It was weird being in NYC and not going to the TKTS booth to score whatever show tickets were scorable that evening (which probably wouldn't have mattered as there was a strike and a lot of shows were canceled).

I wasn't a knitter 4 years ago, so we definitely didn't hunt down yarn shops in the city. How things have changed. (And really, how could I resist the oldest yarn shop in New York?)

Look at all the fun I missed last time! (Brooklyn General Store is my new favorite place on earth.)

Although I was a sewer/quilter 4 years ago, it probably would not have occurred to me to go fabric shop hunting.

Well, maybe it would have. (Purl Patchwork didn't exist back then, so that is my defense, I guess.)

Clearly I am overjoyed to be part of this shopping excursion.

And neither Kelly nor I were that into photography 4 years ago. The times, they have changed.

B&H puts the "super" in Superstore!

Since we were subjecting the Seal Pup to weather that could not, in any way, be described as warm. It seemed fair to make sure he had some fun too (for us this translates into public spaces). He liked looking at the ice skaters in Central Park. The Delacorte Clock (also in Central Park) was really interesting as well.

But clearly, all of the fun was happening in Prospect Park in Brooklyn.

Not only was there a playground. But there were leaves to crunch and kick (though we have tons of those in our backyard, it's different in New York).

We had a great time, we heart New York City and Brooklyn (especially Brooklyn, who knew?!). We would definitely like to make a trip back when it warms up. Also, our trip to the Brooklyn Children's Museum was deterred due to renovatons. So obviously another trip down to New York is in store. Ahem.

We are now going to get back to the business of healing. Anders just shook off his ear infection, I just got antibiotics to treat mine and Kelly's is probably just around the corner. How much do we love day care?!

Want more pictures? You know where to find them.

we brake for trains

We did some local wandering over the weekend to Essex, Connecticut to spend the day with Thomas the Tank Engine. A year ago, we had no idea who (or what) Thomas was; oh, how we have been indoctrinated.


Thanks to our good friends, the Peas, we knew about Thomas' visit to Connecticut. And since the visit coincides with the pup's obsession interest in trains, a perfect weekend outing was born.

Anders' favorite part was getting on this random red train sitting in the yard. But some of the other activites were fun too.

We had an opportunity to take a ride on Thomas (the whistle was very startling!);

but, clearly, the red caboose thing was the clear winner of the day.

The whole family had a great time!

There are a ridiculous number of photos in flickr.

boo-tastic

Choo choo! Thanks to my friends the Peas, I was a train engineer!
The bandana was all my mom though, go mom!
Halloween has come and gone; but, I thought it worth mentioning that the Pup participated in Halloween festivities this year. While Papa Seal and I are of the school that you avoid all Halloween events in all forms and functions, this view does not work when children are involved. So participate we did.

On Halloween Eve, Anders' school had a parade which involved parents pushing their kids in strollers or walking them around part of the CGA grounds (Papa Seal missed out on this crazy action, as he was in Virginia doing engineer-y things that would probably interest some people, but I won't get into here). There were all sorts of candies handed out to the toddlers and pre-schoolers--the most exiting being a 10 inch roll of Shock Tarts. Shock Tarts. For toddlers. Think about it. Anders can't wait for the day we will let him consume that much sugar.

Kelly was home in time to do some trick-or-treating on Halloween night. We went to four houses belonging to co-workers. Don't let it be said that we have no Halloween spirit.

Having never had candy before, the Pup still doesn't realize that you eat the goodies in the boxes and inside the wrapping. He thought the Halloween treats were toys, shakers to be precise. We have not educated him on the matter. That's right, candy is toys! (or, if you rather, go here. I know).

Hope your Halloweens were ghoulishly fantastic and fun!

More pics in flickr.