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...

just another birthday...

I celebrated another birthday today.  We did it with style and panache (and presents!!), and a fair amount of nerdification, because that, my friends, it how we roll.

After gifts and singing, we went to a library book sale in New London, Connecticut.  I am not going to lie, finding a pickling book for $1 pretty much made it worth the trip there for me, it was like the New London Public Library gave me a birthday gift (with a minimal service charge).

And then we went to the circus.  This wasn't necessarily my original plan, it just happened to be when we were all available to go.  And Papa figured if he had to suffer through it, I should have the privilege as well.  The Pups loved it though, so there's that.

And then Papa and the pups gave me the gift of time.  I dyed a bunch of wool and took a bunch of pictures, effectively knocking out requirements for two classes.  While I was being productive and academic they made me a birthday cake.

It was a great day.

there's no party like a 6 year old's party

So Seal Pup the elder turned 6 last week.  It was a big deal.

As is our way, we celebrated for a week with daily gifts.

There were special dinners with fantastic desserts.

This year he requested a "vanilla cake frosted half-vanilla and half chocolate"--because I am, apparently, made of time--NTS: cake from Nick Malgieri's Perfect Cakes book--vanilla butter cream frosting and milk chocolate ganache with additional heavy cream for extra whip to match butter cream volume).

There were special mom and son birthday breakfasts at The Shack.

And there was a party was a party...with games.

first birthday of 2012!

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.

par-tay

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.

five is good

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.

go shorty...

...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.