The Blizzard that Ate Christmas

We had some grand plans for the holidays this year... we were headed down to Long Island with all of the usual festivities, xmas eve with Grandpa DaDa, dinner at Dan & Paulettes, then a late evening rendezvous at the Rising Family xmas gathering... but in addition to all that, the plan was to head into Manhattan for xmas day and have the Kulis family christmas at Kenny & Zanne's new apartment. And, since they generously offered to put us up in their guest bedroom (what luxury in Manhattan!), Andy, Aiden, Haley and I were going to stay overnight and spend the next day exploring the city. Aiden had never been to NYC before, other than driving through it (always too frustrating to point out much of anything in between honking and cursing) so we were excited to show him the big tree at Rockefeller Center, all the tall skyscrapers, and (of course) the dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural History. We hyped it ALL up. Of course. And then...

THE BLIZZARD THAT ATE CHRISTMAS!!! OH NO!!

We did make it in to Manhattan, and had a wonderful dinner and evening with the Kulis clan (including Great Grandma Guppy)...but with everyone on their smartphones and ipads all evening relaying the moment-to-moment changes in the forecast for the next morning and subsequent two days... we chickened out/smartened up and headed back out to the island later that night. It was a definite bummer; I felt terrible breaking the news to Aiden that he wouldn't get to see the huge T. rex skeleton after all (maybe summer?) but he took it like a typical four-year-old. Which is to say, he was sad for about 5 minutes and then moved on to the next most exciting thing going on... cool, i get to watch back-to-back Dinosaur Train episodes all the way back to Grandma's house? Awesome!

The blizzard trapped us in the house with blowing 50mph winds, sleet, and snow all of the next day. Luckily we had a giant stash of xmas loot to entertain us. When all the swirling flakes settled, there was well over a foot of heavy wet snow to shovel (thanks Andy) before we could venture out onto semi-trecherous roads to continue our holiday visiting. We spent a nice lunch play-date with William and Elizabeth at the Hamm's house, popped in on the Great Grandma Rising and the Siegers to meet little (big!) Peter, and then headed back over to Grandpa Dada's for one more dinner. It was our usual whirlwind tour, only shorter and with higher winds! Merry Christmas to everyone :) Photos of our adventures below...

Haley on Xmas eve

H with Grandpa DaDa

Dan & Paulette's living room on xmas eve

Paulette feeing Little Doo

Andy got this giant At-At for xmas from his mom... yes, that's right, I said ANDY...not Aiden! He's been waiting 24 years for it!

Santa came! Xmas morning in Patchogue

Haley entertaining Great Grandma Guppy at Kenny & Zanne's in manhattan. Haley and her Great Grandma smiled and cooed at each other for hours :)

Christmas elf asleep in the big city

Michelle, Ian, Douglas & Kenny

That elf again...

Just another cute shot

After returning from Manhattan...waiting for the snowstorm to begin (T minus 1 hour at this point)

Camp Christmas Chaos

Windy Hill, Aiden's preschool, is closed for 2 weeks around the holidays. Their schedule is based on the Colby-Sawyer College calendar, so parents who are faculty/staff are all set- they already have the same days off. For those of us not associated with the college, two weeks is a long time to miss work. So a group of families who live within a few miles of one another decided to band together and each take a day to watch the kids as a group. On the days we're not watching, theoretically, we're able to go to work and spare the vacation/sick days.

Today was our day to host "Camp Chaos" as Andy and I are calling it. Three four-year olds and a three-year old. How hard could it be?! Well, as it turned out, it wasn't terribly hard... but I wouldn't say it was easy either. I handled the morning on my own, and then Andy came home for a half day of reinforcements in the afternoon. I was glad for the back-up. We did art projects, played trains and puppy rescue, visited the library and the ice cream shop, played hockey on the public ice rink on the green, and watched Ice Age 2. Then we were fresh out of ideas, so it was basically a free-for-all from that point forward.

We learned that 15 minutes is about as long as you can reasonably expect four 3-4 yr olds to concentrate on any one activity. We learned that getting four kids to nap at the same time is not even something you want to attempt. We learned that 1 meltdown/hour is about average for a group that size. We learned that even if you keep them playing out in the cold for a few hours, that doesn't mean they'll be ready to chill out quietly (even if there's TV involved) when they get back inside. Finally I'd say we have a sincere and newfound respect for the Windy Hill teachers who take these little monster-angels for 8 hours every day at a ratio of 6 kids to 1 staff. Don't know how they do it, but we are seriously impressed!

Holiday Cheer

It's that time of year... we can't turn a corner without running into a christmas tree or some holiday lights or something else that reminds Aiden he's about to hit pay-dirt. Like a big guy dressed in a red suit. He's everywhere! Aiden's sat on more than one jolly red lap in the last few weeks, and the wheels are starting to turn in his head. "Hey Mom, why are there so many santas?"... "Hey Dad, why didn't that santa have a long beard?" ... "Hey Mom..." We're having to come up with an elaborate set of fabrications to keep the dream alive, if you see what I mean. I think this may be the last year we can leverage good behavior on Mr. Saint Nick's decision to stop at 21 Gould Road. Oh well. I just feel badly for poor little Haley... she doesn't stand a chance at swallowing this Santa business with a critically minded brother 4 years her senior.

Haley looking a little bit like Kenny from South Park

That doesn't mean Aiden hasn't fully embraced the holiday season though. He's been super excited to decorate the Christmas tree, open his advent calendar every morning, listen to Christmas songs (beautiful and terrible alike) and reacquaint himself with sledding, skating, hockey and other snow pursuits. He's given each of the presents under the tree a good shaking too. And despite his skepticism, he did write and mail a letter to Santa. So we're full of holiday cheer over here in New London. Come on down, Santa!

Hockey on the ice rink on the town green

Decorating the tree

Haley after a few hours watching her dad & bro play hockey

Rockin' the MiniVan

I've been in denial for years now... trying to hold off the inevitable fact that eventually we would need to purchase an even more "family friendly" vehicle than a subaru wagon. I loved my sube, and Andy's before that one... they are so good in our sleety nasty winters, they are nice to drive even for long distances, and they just sort of scream "outdoorsy" too. What's not to like?

Well, I'll tell you. What's not to like is a 4+ hour car ride to somewhere with a screaming infant and a bored 4 year old, with yours truly sandwiched in between their two carseats where there is clearly not enough room for a behind your size, desperately trying to heat up a bottle of something to placate the infant while answering 10,000 questions and simultaneously trying to play a game of I Spy with the older one. Never mind the seatbelt for you. Just kindly ask your hubbie to please not crash the vehicle while driving 75 on the highway and potentially send you blasting through the windshield. That's when i knew Andy was right (ack, I hate saying that)... it was time to look at minivans.

We didn't look long or hard, because there's only one minivan that comes in AWD. So we ended up with a Toyota Sienna, in blue since that's what was available off the lot. It's a smooth ride but feels like a bus compared to the Outback. Aiden ADORES it, especially the automatic sliding doors. I'm still adjusting. It still feels all-wrong, even though I know it was a good decision for us. Aside from poking shameless fun at us, friends and family are telling me I need to "ROCK" the minivan. In other words, own it. love it. flaunt it. brag about it. It's the party mobile, a dream for long road trips, a living room on wheels! So far, I'm not there yet. Talk to me after our 6 hour xmas trip to Long Island in a few weeks...

Milk's favorite cookie...gets the Aiden treatment

I think maybe we dropped the ball somewhere with the whole table manners thing. Maybe there's no right way to eat an oreo, but I've certainly seen neater attempts. This is actually one of Aiden's cleaner oreo consumptions...

Oh, and the oreo is red because it's a special holiday version...

Thanksgiving in VT

Thanksgiving this year was a short trip to my parents' in Vermont. It was wonderfully relaxing with no real agenda except eating and making wreaths for the next big holiday. There is so much to be thankful for in our family this year, with two new bright-eyed little girls. One was difficult in the making and the other difficult in the cooking but they both arrived within 4 weeks of one another this year, healthy and perfect. They barely acknowledge each other yet, but already they are so stinkin' cute to see together. It's just going to get more fun from here on out...

Tummy time... and then the faceplant!

And of course we are always thankful for our Aiden too... he's growing into such a nice little man lately. He has his momentary lapses in common sense, as I think most 4 year olds do, but overall he really really tries hard to be a good boy and an excellent big brother to his sister. We are very lucky. Sometimes it's hard to keep that in perspective in the rat-race of daily life that occurs between working, daycare, house chores, yardwork, finances, and feeding, bathing and raising the kids, but we are very lucky. Everyone is healthy, everyone is loved, and we have everything we need. Enough said.

Annual making of the wreaths

Aiden made his first wreath. He was so proud of it, and we have it hanging on our door at home.

At this time of year we always say goodbye to HaPa and Grandma as they migrate with the birds (though I think most birds would say they're behind the 8-ball waiting til the first week of December) to a warmer climate. The next time we see them will be in Florida in late January for a much-needed vitamin D boost. Wishing them safe travels and sunny skies when they arrive at their destination. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Aiden and HaPa have a cattail duel...

Not sure who won

Haley is happy one moment...

Then we get the pouty face the next. We'll need to keep our eye on this one!

What a belly!

Trail of Turkeys

Aiden and I shared a Thanksgiving family tradition with his class at Windy Hill this week... apple turkeys! There are many different versions of this craft out there, but ever since I was a child we made ours with apples, cranberries, raisins and mini-marshmallows. It was a sort of controlled chaos in the art room at Windy Hill as 15 kids stuck the four ingredients together in every conceivable combination using only toothpicks and their imaginations. Some turkeys had 100 legs, others a single feather, and still others were covered completely with gorgeous mallow plumage. Few of the creations were recognizable as turkeys to anyone but their owners, but that was definitely not the point. We had lots of fun, ate lots of mini-marshmallows, and shared something we love. At the end of the visit, we lined all the turkeys up in the school's foyer so that everyone could see the lovely trail of turkeys as they walked in. Hopefully we can share something else again soon. Happy Thanksgiving!