Girl Power

The kids' school does a huge (like, really really long) lesson on dinosaurs in Pre-K.  As you can imagine, Avery enjoyed it, but never really got TOO into it.  Alex on the other hand?  LOVED it.  I mean, the kid still struggles with proper grammar at times and yet he knows every single dinosaur name and pronounces it nearly perfectly every time.  It is pretty impressive.

That said, Josh came up with the idea of taking him to NYC for the weekend so that they could go to the Museum of Natural History to see the dinosaur exhibit there.  Given that I was going to Amsterdam a few weeks later (more on that in another post), we decided that it would be just a guys' trip and that Avery and I would stay at home and do girl stuff.

Our weekend started on Saturday morning when we both went to get our hair done.  Avery was in desperate need of a hair cut.  I vowed I would never pay what my salon charges on her hair given that it is just a trim, but I needed my hair done anyway and my hairdresser does a great job on both, so we stopped by the bank, took our a second mortgage, and went. 

 

 

After getting our hair done, we did as all girls with fresh cut, blow dried (and in Avery's case) curled hair do....we went to Home Depot!  I have wanted to start a garden for a long time, but the idea of me out in the field with a rototiller attempting to do this was daunting to say the least.  So, instead?  I decided that I was going to build a raised garden bed.  I mean, seriously.  Building a box and filling it with dirt has GOT to be easier than digging up the dirt on my own.  So, I researched a bit and found that my idol, the Pioneer Woman, had done an entire blog post with step by step instructions on how to build a garden bed.  I mean, I couldn't have been more of that "classic girl" walking around Home Depot with my iPhone in hand so that I could receive my list of items from the Pioneer Woman. And, OF COURSE, I said no whenever any of the 100 Home Depot employees asked me if I needed help.  An hour later (twice as long as if I would have said yes to that help), Avery and I had everything that we needed to start building.

After Home Depot, we grabbed some lunch at Subway (did you know that they now do flat bread pizzas???? Delicious I tell you.  Delicious) and then headed home.  We had just enough time to take Deacon for a walk (on the REAL road - Avery felt very grownup) and then we had to get ready for dinner and the Little Mermaid performance at the kids' school.

I have to say that the play was really well done.  For a small, private school, they really did a great job with the set, costumes, etc.  And, the kids enjoyed it, which is all that matters.

Overall - it was a great girls' weekend!  More on Al-Man's NYC experience and my garden later.  Stay tuned!

Baby, it's cold outside!

NOTE FROM WEH:

Ok, so I've fallen off the blogging bandwagon.  But, I'm really going to do my best to get back on it.  That said, I started this post on Thanksgiving a few months ago and just now finished it, so I'm posting it.  My plan is to keep posting about day to day things that happen, but will also include posts on bigger occasions (primarily Xmas) as I have time to write them.  Wish me luck!  Don't give up on me!
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As always, we had a great trip to Texas this year for Thanksgiving.  However, as luck would have it, a cold front blew in on the day that we got there and decided not to really leave until the day that we left.  When I say it blew in the day that we got there, I'm not exaggerating.  My mom said that she was outside walking the dogs and it was 80 degrees.  All of a sudden, a gust of wind came and it dropped to 50!  And, of course, the day before?  It was 90.  We come?  50.  Ugh.  Whatever.  That just meant that we had to get a bit creative and figure out things to do inside.

We decided to suck it up and fly out on Friday afternoon - knowing that we would not get in until late, but it would be worth it in order to get started down to Mom and Dad's that next day.  Granted, I wasn't really planning on the 2 hour delay, so "late" turned into midnight, vs. the original 10 PM arrival.  I'm not sure who it sucked for worse - me, the kids, or Lexi who had to stay up to pick us up! 

The next morning, I got to meet up with Jess, which was great.  Again, one of those get-togethers where you feel like you just saw each other yesterday - even though it had been a year.  We went to this great restaurant and had a delicious brunch and really cool cappuccinos (as it turns out, cappuccinos are far more delicious when made with cream vs. skim milk)...

That afternoon, we headed out to drive to Opa and Grandma's.  Luckily for us, all 4 kids slept most of the way.  In fact, I think that the only thing that woke them up was when we stopped to get a dipped cone at Dairy Queen.  MMMmmmmmm....Dairy Queen.

 

Once in AP, we spent the week doing lots of indoor activities...

 

Cooking with Grandma

 

Playing games with Opa and Aunt Lexi (love the look on both Opa and Avery's face in this one)

 

The annual (albeit a bit chillier) visit to Snoopy's for dinner...

 

 

 Not all indoor activities were spent at Opa and Grandma's.  We did actually venture out quite a bit.  My favorite?  Chuck E Cheese.  Mind you - this suggestion was not met with the level of enthusiasm that I had hoped (the the adults). However, once we got there?  I think that we can all agree that everyone had a great time. I will say that it helped that this Chuck E Cheese happened to be one of the cleanest ones that I've ever seen.  That doesn't mean that we didn't bathe the kids in a tub of Purelle immediately upon leaving.  But, overall, it wasn't too bad.

 

 

In an act of true desperation, we took the kids to the maritime museum in Rockport. I only say this because, for those of you who know me, you know that museums aren't necessarily number one of my list of things to do. But, when you know that it will occupy 4 kids for an hour AND that a lunch of Mexican food is waiting for you afterwards? I'm ok with the trip to the museum.

 

 

Don't worry - we did do our fair share of outdoor activities as well.  I mean, really?  It was like in the 50's, so compared to New England, it was balmy.  On one of the nicer days, we took the kids to the aquarium, which is part indoor and part outdoor. 

 

 

And of course, there were the scooter rides - whether it was cold or warm outside...

 

 

 

And, our traditional champagne on the beach for William and Lexi's pseudo wedding anniversary (the Wednesday before Thanksgiving - regardless of the actual date).

And, of course...Thanksgiving day!  We started with our traditional appetizer lunch...

And, instead of a walk on the beach, we took a boat ride while dinner cooked.  It was the perfect sunset cruise...champagne and all (shocking, I know).  As you can see, I got dressed up for the occasion.  I don't bust these slippers out for just anyone...

And, then of course, the turkey dinner, which as always didn't disappoint...

Overall, as you can see, it was another great trip with the entire family (and I only included about half of what we did - not to mention only about 20/886ths of the pictures - yes, I know that fraction could be broken down a bit, but whatever.).  It's always a good thing when not only the kids, but the adults as well, can hang out for as long as we do every year and still have fun.  We're a pretty lucky family!