christmas, this year (2013)

Did y"all have an enjoyable Christmas? Ours was enjoyable.  We saw a pretty hilarious Christmas pageant at church (it was no Best Christmas Pageant Ever, but still...).  There were serious philosophical discussions about Santa's ability to consume so many cookies (still unresolved, ahem).

The pups got too many gifts and ate a lot of candy.

Business as usual around here, I suppose.

Santa brought gifts that were musically themed this here (appropriately sized keyboard for Seal Pup 2.0 and an appropriate sized guitar for Seal Pup, the Elder--I forsee some family jam sessions in our future).  The gifts seemed to be a hit (and arrived on time!).

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

Obviously, given that Christmas is tomorrow...  And, given that Christmas is tomorrow, how about I tell you about our Christmas preparations?

Sure, why not?! You wouldn't be reading this if you weren't interest, right?

We celebrated Seal Pup 2.0's birthday.  Because, he just happened to be born in December; and, it's us!

We celebrate birthdays like it's our job!

Grammy came to visit.  It was awesome.

We picked a tree and cut it down.

There were some shenanigans with a snow man.

We did our annual Christmas card photo shoot, here is an outtake, because I think it's cute, even if it didn't make the cut.

We are going to the Christmas Eve service at church this afternoon, there may even be bow ties....

oh, did i mention the florida thing?

A bit late to the party here; but, it's never to late for fun, right?  So anyways, we spent Thanksgiving week in Florida.  We drove down in 22 or so hours, spent 5 days there and then drove back in 24 hours.

The trip is, quite possibly, the most insane thing we have ever done.  Or, actually, it's pretty much business as usual around here.

We tried to leave the Nutmeg State on Friday night; but, we ended up turning around an hour out, somewhere outside of New Haven because we got a nail in our tire--it was the opposite of awesome.  We drove back home, slept in our own beds, got the tire fixed the next morning and then headed out again.

We got to Orlando, checked out the hotel, the Liki Tiki (no, I am totally not kidding) and then crashed.

The next day, Monday, and the three days thereafter were spent at one Disney park or another.

We rode the people mover ride 5 or 6 times.  Because, well, it moves people, I guess?

The kids had fun, but honestly, the parents were thinking harikari by the middle of the second day.

Also, the whole family rode the Tower of Terror.  It has that name for a reason, I think.  The Pups LOVED it though.  Not wanting to be a killjoy, I just said that "it [was] nice [they] enjoyed it so much."

And since we had already committed ourselves, we opted to go to Legoland Florida on Friday, you know, before driving back home...on Black Friday.  Yep, that's how we roll.  Literally.

I know there was doubt, but yes, I do believe that Parents of the Year trophy can be sent our way for 2013...yes, indeed...

We are getting a book made of our Florida adventures, because apparently that's what you do now.  If you come visit us, you can take a look at it and live vicariously through our adventures...

boo howdy!

  There are cowboys in Connecticut, apparently.  Didn't you know?  They rustle up all manner of awesome.

Or something like that.  Giving them rope was probably not the best idea; but, well, you know.  Cowboys need to have their lassos (or so I am told).

We had an excellent Halloween--the prep for and the day itself...

We hope yours was frightfully good as well!

busiest weekends are the best weekends

We had some fun adventures over this past weekend.  Papa's Papa (you know, the dad of the one I am married to) flew in from the west coast for a visit; and, he and I went with a group of my photo friends from RISD to New York City.  We Started out at B&H Photo, and then hit the PDN Photoplus Photography Expo.  

There were vendors, seminars and a bunch of awesome.  Also, Papa's Papa got to meet Julianne Kost; which, if you are really into Adobe products, like we are, means something to you. 

From there we went to the 9/11 Memorial and then to the Strand book store.  

It was a day packed with destinations and interesting and reflective things.

On Saturday, the pups had their last day of soccer.  Seal Pup 2.0 “kicked the ball 5 times.”  

It may not seem like the biggest deal; but, for a while there, all he did during scrimmages was turn his back to the ball.  He often mentioned that he “love baseball,” which is great…since he was playing soccer.  

To be fair, he might actually love baseball.  I guess we will find out in the spring when he actually plays baseball (and not soccer).  Seal Pup 1.0 got to try his hand at goalie (ha, you see what I did there, oh, nevermind).  I think he is a fan.

While the boys were finishing up soccer, I went to the Salem Public Library’s fall book sale and bought 73 books for $21.  It was kind of awesome.  The pups certainly aren't complaining (guess who got all the books). 

On Sunday, we took a trip to Clyde’s Cider Mill.  

We got to see a old fashioned cider press, ate cider donuts and drank hot apple cider.  It was a New England kind of day!

rhinebeck or bust (the 2013 edition)

As if we didn't do enough last weekend, we also did a bit of traveling.  We headed north to upstate New York to attend the New York Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, New York.  You know, as we do.  It was pretty fantastic (it usually is).

We saw all sorts of fiber-y goodness.

We saw lots of sheep, probably not a surprise at all.

We ate lots of really healthy food.

Although there were no rides this year, there were lots of kids activities like a mad scientist show.

There was also a gem "panning" station.

Papa calls the trip a success because we went to a festival and the only thing we bought was the food we ate (because honestly, I don't really need anything of the wool variety right now).  It was a good trip!  We can't wait to go back next year!