Final round up of Christmas weekend
Posts
Christmas 2007 The children were charmed this morning to see that Santa Claus had indeed made his promised visit. Max claimed he heard reindeer munching carrots during the night - and sure enough, the remains of the carrots and cookies were found on the plate. Here are a few pictorial highlights from this morning.
Whirling dervish I'm not sure exactly what that is, some kind of animal I think (I'll have to ask Max.) But the sound of the words aptly describes what my children look like when they're dancing. A favorite pastime is to put on punk rock music and dance madly around the front room. Dancing generally involves turning in circles until you're dizzy, jumping up and down, or chasing each other in progressively smaller circles until someone gets caught. I've included some action photos that show you how hard it is to capture a picture of my wildlife in action.
As usual Whenever I go to London on a business trip I can count on two things. The first is that it will rain here at least part of the time. The second is that the kids will be sick while I'm away. Sure enough, the forecast is for rain through the weekend (although it is quite warm) and the kids both have stuffy heads and Esme has a cough. I had a chance to talk to them both last night on the phone. Esme asked me 'where are you?' and Max chatted about his day. A nice end to the evening for all of us. BTW... my boss took us for dinner last night at a swank restaurant in Leichester Square... the actor Ralph Fiennes was sitting at the next table! Pretty neat.
First snow We had our first snow (that stuck) overnight and throughout the morning today. After 20 minutes of dressing Esme appropriately we played outside throwing snowballs for about 6 minutes. But both kids were excited to make tracks and play in the first offering of December. The second picture is of Esme reading to her puppies. She climbed up into her chair and tucked them all on her lap under a blanket so she could read them stories. Just like she and mommy do at bedtime. The puppies seemed to appreciate Esme's rendition of the classic board book Put me in the Zoo .
An icon Yesterday morning while I was getting dressed, Esme amused herself by opening the drawers in our window seat to explore what might be inside. For those that are interested, one of them contains extra pillows and the other is full of sweaters. At the top of the sweater pile was a black fleece pull-over. Esme pointed right to it and said "Grandpa's jacket!" Might be time to add some new items to your wardrobe Dad... or maybe not.
Thanksgiving weekend We celebrated Thanksgiving with lots of family this year. The Girard grandparents stopped by for an evening on their way to Pennsylvania and had a chance to spoil the kids for a few hours earlier in the week. My parents and Grandpa Merrill came for the holiday and Rob, Carey, Greta and Lincoln joined us for the day on Saturday to share a turkey. Here are two pictures from the weekend - the kids helping Peter make ceviche with the stripped bass he caught, and Grandpa reading to his two best girls. (I reserve the right, even at 38, to still be considered his only Princess.)
Nature walks Max had two trips to the Rye Nature Center this weekend. The first with daddy on Friday evening for a guided Night Hike. Unfortunately most other children aren't as well behaved as ours and didn't care that running through the woods yelling and shining flashlights into the trees was not conducive to seeing noctural animals. After the hike the kids had some popcorn and drinks and got to see the animals that live (caged) inside. Max was startled and thrilled when the cockatoo said "Hi Max!" Apparently the bird's name is Max as well. Our second visit was on Sunday afternoon when the kids and I met one of Max's classmates for a walk through the woods. The boys quickly ran ahead with Esme following along behind calling out "I'm coming Maxy - I'm coming!" The autumn walk was followed by s'mores at Nicholas' house and some playtime for the boys.
Charmer While she doesn't have a temper, Esme is very strong willed. She let's you know exactly what she wants, get's mad (for a brief moment) if she doesn't get it, and will stare you down during a disagreement. Then she'll turn on the charm and smile hugely at you as if that will make up for her bad behavior. And it does.
A picture to remember This was taken in the morning with Max on his way in to school. One of those pictures that parents call back to memory when needed. Like when Max is whining or irritating his sister on purpose. Or Esme is endlessly repeating "I want [ insert item here ]," or crying "no Maxie, stop it."
Pictures! Grandma and Grandpa visited this weekend, so I have some new pictures to share with you. The kids did some halloween decorating at home and participated in a window painting extravaganza that the town organized. Max and Emily couldn't agree on the image - he wanted a jungle, she wanted witches - so Grandpa suggested a compromise that was happily accepted. This is a witch riding on an elephant. No, really.
Surprise visit Scott & Deena called on Saturday morning to wish us a happy anniversary, and ask what we were doing for dinner. They found themselves unexpectedly without their kids this weekend and decided on the spur of the moment to drive to Rye. We had a very nice visit and a fabulous dinner and they left first thing this morning to head home and pick up Connor and Rya. What marvelous friends we have!
So many activities... so few pictures That sums up our weekend. Colleen, Jim, Liam and Molly visited on Saturday and Sunday. We had two hot summer days, so spent them accordingly: picnic lunch, a visit to the beach and exploration of the tidal pools, a boat ride and some fishing. The kids had a great time and were exhausted at the end of the day on Saturday. The parents had a nice visit once they all went to bed! Sunday afternoon was our neighbor Rachel's 3rd birthday party. Esme joined right in with the princess theme, happily donning her tiara and fluffy skirt and dancing around the room before filling up on ice cream. Peter had to work yesterday, so Carin and I took the kids apple picking which turned out to also involve hay rides, pony rides, and homemade donuts. Other people had cameras, so I'll try to get some photos off of them to share!
Conversation I know, I'm very behind... This week I have an excuse as I'm in London. Yesterday morning I called home before everyone left for the day and got to talk to both the kids on the phone. Esme took the line and said "hi, mommy." I asked her how she was and she answered "good." Then I asked her what she was doing and she said "nothing." I thought that answer wasn't supposed to come up until she's a teenager!
First day for Esme Esme will be attending the same school Max went to last year, in the 2-year-old program two days a week. On Tuesday she and I went together to meet the teachers and visit the classroom along with a few other kids. She was very interested in the toys, especially the play kitchen. She got out a bunch of food and plates and went about feeding one of the dolls. When another girl came over to play with her (or take stuff off her - hard to tell at this age), Esme rushed at her with her arms waving, saying "NO! Very Hot!" Today was the first real day of school. The deal is that you drop your kid at the door and the teacher takes them in. I wasn't particularly worried about Esme in this situation as she's always been fiercely independent, but I wondered nonetheless. Caroline said Esme only hesitated for a second leaving her, and came out after two hours looking happy. I am continually impressed by how confident both my kids are. And tonight in the car comin...
A day off There was no school on Friday because of the holiday, so Max came to NYC with me and spent the morning at the office. I took the afternoon off and we met our friends for a trip to the Central Park Zoo. Small and accessible, the kids had great time seeing the animals and watching the sea lions perform for their lunch. Here are some pictures of Max, Emily, Rachel, Polar Bear, Snow Monkey, and Turtle. Max reminds me that we also saw a pirranah, a red panda, penguins and puffins. It was a very fun and satisfying day for everyone.
Meet Daisy. I haven't had the camera out lately, but will at least post a story for you. Last week I stayed home for a couple of days so I could take Max to school and learn his new routine. School was only until 12, which meant Max got to stay home with me in the afternoons. While I was stuck working on the computer he came up with some very elaborate projects to amuse himself. The first was a dinosaur fossil hunt. Max drew a picture of a dino skeleton and then cut out all the pieces. These were then hidden under a large piece of cardboard where we proceeded to 'find' them and then assemble the puzzle. The next day he took me on a deep sea dive. After drawing several pictures and taping them up around the house, Max took me on a guided tour. He narrated along the way, even to the extent of telling me what I should ask about. We started upstairs, in the shallow water, made our way downstairs to the deep dark sea, got lost, and eventually found our way up toward the ...
Zoo To round off our nice long weekend we spent the afternoon at the Bronx Zoo. I'd never been before, and was impressed by what a nice experience it was. Not too crowded, and lovely tree lined walks. The Bronx Zoo borders the Botanical Gardens if that gives you any indication of the varied topography. The kids enjoyed it - I couldn't get any pictures of them actually looking at the camera because they were too busy checking out the animals. Max tells me to write that "the animals were amazing." The peacock is real, by the way, and stood admiring itself in the reflective ball the whole time we were walking around this square. All stereotypes ar e based in fact I guess...
