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.

maine memories

We had some fun times over the weekend. We headed to points north in the great state of Maine, also known as "vacationland." We drove up on Friday night in the wet miserable rain. Saturday was kind of wet and gloomy too. But Sunday was a gorgeous day to be in New England. We made the most of all of our time there (when we were actually awake).

Papa Seal and the pup decided to take advantage of the comfy hotel bed and sleep in. A great way to start the day, apparently. After waking up, it was off to our favorite breakfast resturant.

Bintliff's is the resturant by which we measure all others for breakfast fare. Try not to go on Sundays, it's packed (think sardines).

Our breakfast was extra fun because I got a chance to catch up with a good friend that I met when I worked in Portland. It's always good to talk to the people on the other side of your cubicle, you might like them (and they might even like you)!

After breakfast, we headed up to Freeport to check out L.L. Bean. It's interesting that the place is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You never know when you might need a flannel shirt, or something.

I am so excited about this coat. Can't you tell?

We needed a good coat for the pup. Winter's coming and he has outgrown his other winter wear.

After Freeport, we headed to Brunswick and Bath to visit a few yarn shops (Purl Diva and Halcyon Yarn), a Wandering Seals Family tradition (at least as far as I am concerned).

Since the forcast was for sun on Sunday, Papa Seal decided to wake up at sunrise to shoot a few shots of Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth.

I decided to let me inner photographer sleep that morning. The pup and I went back with Papa Seal later, at a more hospitable time.

It was also fun to drive by our old apartment (which is really nice now, they tenants have garages even!) and by the cute little lighthouse that was near our old place.

Bug light. A cute little lighthouse, no?

More pictures in flickr.

we love new york; the upstate edition

We had some good times over the past weekend. We drove up to Rhinebeck, New York to go to a fiber festival, usually just referred to as "Rhinebeck," by those in the know. This was our second year attending, so we were well seasoned to the ways of Rhinebeck. It was great. On the way there, Simon the Subaru joined the 100,000 mile club.

Pretty exciting, for us intrepid roadtrippers.

Even Anders found it pretty cool.

Usually there is a lot of equipment for herding and shearing sheep at these fiber festivals; but, this year it seemed like the fiber merchants outnumbered those selling sheep management equipment--not necessarily a bad thing for me.

The main goal this time around was to test drive a spinning wheel, it's fun getting a lesson for free!

There were lots of pretty things to look at and buy...

But Anders was most impressed with the livestock.

Especially when there were people riding the livestock.

We also got a chance to meet a blogging friend and her family (we've never actually "met" before finding each other at Rhinebeck...fun stuff!).

After we left Rhinebeck with loads of fibery fun, we headed further north to Saratoga Springs.

We had a great meal...a grown up meal (don't let anyone tell you pumpkin ravioli sounds weird...so good), even (though, the place is VERY kid friendly).

And then the next day we spent time in Congress Park walking around...


watching ducks....

riding the carousel...

and enjoying the fall foliage.



It was a quick trip, but we had a lot of fun.

There are lots more pictures over in flickr, as always.