what does sheer joy look like?

Gael + Jackson + swings + sunny October day in Brooklyn

bouncy fun!

Holy crow, did these boys have fun on the gi-nor-mous bouncy house that Bebe got them! You should have seen them. Jackson and Sammy would go up the ladder, down the slide, bounce around, and do it all again - quite possibly 75 times in a row. They got to the point where they were so tired but wouldn't stop, so they would just stand on the ladder and argue about who's turn was next. I've never seen them have SO MUCH FUN. We'll have to go back up soon for more bouncy time!

Thank you Bebe for the awesome Bouncy!

friday

Yay ~ it's Friday and we're going to Vermont to visit Alec, Michelle, Jamilla and Naoki.

{image from Woman's Day, December 1950, found on flickr}

baby's first visit to the museum of natural history

Today was a big day. We took the subway into the city with Brett, Hayden, and Gael and went to the Museum of Natural History. It was great. It was actually what I thought life with you might be like, when I was pregnant with you, all fun filled days and trips to museums and carousel rides.

I think you liked the bears best of all.

b b b benny and the jets

Over Thanksgiving we went up to Uncle David's and Aunt Kim's. Cousins Catherine, Andrew, and Leo and Julian from Wisconsin were staying over on their way to Vermont. After dinner, Andrew and Jackson, and Jesse on drums, were jamming out - we were all dancing and singing. It was awesome. You, Jackson, were totally into it.

done!

Jon designed an awesome Christmas card and we finally got it off to be printed tonight. Cross one thing off the list.

Thank you, Jon, for your infinite patience, and for your talent and skills with that program we used to make it. I'm always amazed anew every time I watch you work. I'm sorry I kept asking for your help at 10 o'clock at night.

I don't want to ruin the surprise but here are some of the outtakes from our 'Christmas Card Photoshoot 2008':

thanksgiving week

We had such a wonderful week at Mimi and Nonno's. We had so much to be thankful for - playing with new toys with Nonno, reading new books with Mimi, watching tractor shows on TV with Dada, bouncing with Uncle Michael on huge bouncy ball.

And did I mention Thanksgiving dinner? Butternut squash-from-Mimi's-garden soup to start, Nonno's delicious brined-overnight turkey, mashed potatoes, cornbread & pecan stuffing (too sweet - don't use that recipe again), Gwyn's cheddar-chive biscuits, Kim's cranberry relish, green beans and almonds, Grammy's coleslaw...and yummy lemon chiffon tart, squash pies, and Gwyn's mom's apple pie with whipped cream AND ice cream. Dreamy.







And you, at the head of the table:



Happy Thanksgiving, 2008!

We miss Sammy!

We had a great time in Massachusetts this weekend - and here is my FAVORITE picture of the cousins....!

we're off!

To Massachusetts to see Bebe, Papi, Auntie Nikki, Uncle Darin and Cousin Sammy! Yippee!

{postcard found here}

harvest treats

Yesterday Kate came over and we made the most delicious Fleur de Sel Caramel Apples (from scratch, natch) while you napped. When you woke up you wanted to sit next to Kate while she loaded film in her camera. I guess a call came in for her - here's a picture of you holding a phone up to her ear.



PS. I'm sure Kate's pictures will be WAY BETTER than mine above.

photo booth love

How cool is this website: Photobooth.net where you can find out where the closest photo booth is to you? Apparently there used to be one at Atlantic Terminal (our subway stop) but it's not there any longer. Darnit! I really want to get some family photo booth pics!


{photo from flickr}

pajama pizza party

Last Friday we went to Brett's house for a pajama pizza party. Here's some pictures of you guys rockin' it out in the bedroom. I love these pics because they totally capture the fun you were having with Hayden and Gael. And here's Hayden in his sweet shark mask:

summer fun

wednesday from our vacation in saugerties

We hiked up Overlook Mountain. Hiked in 95 degree weather, straight up 3,000 feet. Daddy carried you in the backpack, you fell asleep about ten minutes in. At the top we found the ruins of the Overlook Hotel. We put you down in the path, still sleeping, while we feasted on lunch. We also found wild blueberries, which John and I picked. That night we had fresh wild blueberry/raspberry/peach cobbler. It was DELICIOUS.

97 degrees in the shade

We're in the middle of a heat wave, and boy were we all cranky today. We sweated it out at the playground this morning (notice how we're the only fools there), then stayed inside the rest of the day.

thursday's controversial post

Well, it seems that my last post stirred up a little grumbling from some people, who felt I mis-represented the week upstate by only including the pictures of you and me on the hammock. The following pictures ALSO sum up the wonderful week in Saugerties: