The Big Apple.

We survived our trip to the Big Apple. We arrived on Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Surprisingly, the airport wasn't that crowded and no one got stopped for a pat down. After a short pit stop at the hotel we spent the afternoon at Central Park. Jimmy and Alex remembered climbing on the big rocks when we came five years ago. Not to be outdone by her brothers, Helen said she remembered too. (She was two years old.) Will had a blast climbing and running everywhere. It was hard to keep up.

We also couldn't resist playing with the leaves. We don't get the change of seasons down south.

On Thursday we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Helen and Yiayia were right up front while the rest of us were a little farther back. Will wasn't too impressed with the parade. He was happy to sit in the hotel lobby with his juice and blanket. I think it was a little too cold for him.

This girl loved it.

The end of the parade when Santa rides in on his sleigh.

Alex and Yiayia warming up in the hotel before we head out for dinner.

Our delicious Thanksgiving feast. Helen requested one of the drumsticks.

Papouli carving the turkey. (Low lighting, no flash, blurry photo, precious memories.)

Friday morning we set off once again to Central Park to explore the zoo.

We met a polar bear...

and stopped for a snack.

Later that night we saw The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. It was a great show! The kids were entertained the entire time, except Will who was fast asleep until right before the end.

Afterward we headed off to Times Square where we met Spiderman...

and got our picture on the giant screen. We're in the top left: Papouli in black coat and white hair, me with Will on my shoulders and Mike next to me. Yiayia and the kids are somewhere nearby.

I wonder what these two were talking about...

We arrived home on Saturday. So good to be back to our routine. It was a busy, but fun four days. Now we're in the midst of Christmas preparations. The tree is up and the house is as decorated as it's going to get. The kids have made their wish lists (which consist of every toy in the Toys R Us catalog) and hung up their stockings. All that's left to do is shopping, wrapping, mailing cards, food shopping, cooking, cleaning, more shopping, more wrapping. On Thursday, Jimmy has a chorus concert at school. Yiayia and Papouli will be joining us. Looking forward to some good Christmas music.

Fort Christmas.

Last Sunday we decided to take a drive. We didn't know where we were headed or what we were going to do. We got on 417 and headed North, then we decided to get on 50 and head east. We remembered that Fort Christmas was located on 50 in the town of Christmas. We had been there only once before several years ago with Jimmy's Boy Scout Troop. It was a beautiful sunny day and a little cool. Perfect weather. 

Any road trip we've taken (to Louisiana, Maryland, Georgia) we've always had to stop at forts and battleships. Both Jimmy and Alex are interested in anything battle-related. The fort here has three buildings which you are able to go inside where they have artifacts and photos on display.

Helen wearing one of her "given by Yiayia" outfits.  

I didn't know they had public phones in the late 1800's.

The rest of the park had several period houses so you could see what life was like back then. The kids couldn't believe how small they were and were amazed at the fact that everyone slept in one room.

                                                               Alex getting the dishes done.

After the tour we headed over to the playground. Mike had promised the kids we would stop at the gift shop before heading home. Unfortunately, they were closed so we decided to get ice-cream instead.

I think yummy ice-cream is better than a gift shop souvenir any day.

Now, we are busy getting ready for our trip to New York to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We went once five years ago, so it will be interesting to see what Jimmy and Alex remember and to see it again through Helen and Will's eyes. Looking forward to a memorable trip!

this.

I made this after checking out the Hambly Screen Prints blog. Such great inspiration. I'm glad I still had some of their Halloween rub ons left over from last year.

A cute and easy way to share pictures with grandparents.

trick or treat.

 A very grim reaper.

A serious S.W.A.T.

One happy Robin.

(yes, she's aware that Robin is a boy. She still chose it for her costume.)

One sad Robin.

He did not want to wear his costume because it was itchy and he refused to wear his mask. Can we say somebody missed their nap time?

For the group photo Mike stepped in for Will. Not sure he would have made that face though.

Mike got the idea to get some shots of the kids "in action." He also thought that Will would jump at the chance to run towards Daddy. As you can see, that didn't work out.

Then we decided to let them do a trial run at our house.

They were shocked we gave them real candy.

After a little sugar rush everyone was ready to head out for real. It was a slow start...it seemed not too many people were home or just not participating. Then we found the neighborhood hot spot. House after house after house. And so many people giving out candy wore costumes and had the cutest/scariest decorations. The kids got tons of candy and had a great time. We made the long...very long walk home with four tired, but happy kids. (Next year we might take the car though.)



Getting ready.

 We've been slowly getting ready for Halloween around here. Only 4 days to go! The kids can't wait to try trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood. They've been plotting their route for weeks now. The first decoration we put up was this giant inflatable cat Yiayia and Papouli gave us.

 The second decoration(s) we put out were my trick-or-treaters by the front door. My Aunt Betty made these for us. Each time we had a baby she would send us one of these cute little guys for Christmas. I think my favorite one is "Helen" with her hair bow and teddy bear.

Finally, yesterday we carved our pumpkin. We decided not to carve it until it got closer to Halloween since last years pumpkins didn't hold up too well in the Florida heat. We ended up having to toss them almost two weeks before the 31st. In the meantime we're keeping this one indoors.

Happy Halloween!

Back to Nature.

On Friday Alex went on a Back to Nature class Field Trip. Here in his own words is what happened:

"The bus stopped near an auto repair shop.  I didn't understand until we went around the building.There, in green letters it said,"Back to Nature." I thought it would be boring. I was wrong! There were so many animals! There was a turtle missing a leg. Poor guy! The place was so big you could hide a Dinosaur there! I saw some animals I have never seen in person before, including lemurs, pumas, and a bald eagle! Unfortunately, the time to leave has come. We boarded the bus at about 2:00PM. As soon as we reached school, we went home. I so want to go back!" -Alex Land

Three Dog Night.

Right now I am loving this song by Three Dog Night.

Seven.

August 29, 2010

Princess Helen turns 7. She celebrated at home with her family. As requested, Daddy made his special homemade pizzas. Here she is opening some of her gifts. Poor Will is disheartened to learn that none of them are for him. Helen received some Barbie dolls, a new outfit with knee-high boots (from Yiayia and Papouli), sidewalk chalk, an electronic pet hamster, rain boots, her own set of Lego's, a DVD of Igor and some chapter books.

Helen with her favorite gift: a Unicorn Pillow Pet. "It's a pillow, it's a pet...it's a pillow pet!" When the kids saw the commercial for these on t.v. they all wanted one (except for Jimmy, of course).

Helen and Will practicing for their shot on "Minute to Win it."

The end of a wonderful day. Helen blowing out the candles on her cake. Chocolate with vanilla icing and pink roses. Happy Birthday, Princess. We love you!