Thanksgiving Trip Part 5 (The Thanksgivinging)

The Thanksgiving week rundown continues with, appropriately enough, Thanksgiving Day.

After a reasonably calm morning...

...it was time to get dressed and be ready for family:

Of course, with dinner still to come later, we needed a pre-thanksgiving banana-snack, just like the pilgrims ate!

Pretty soon, Great Aunt Ava, Great Uncle Steve, and cousins Erica, Mitch, Lauren, and Taylor were here. 

Beads were once again the toy of the moment and Sadie even shared some with Ava.

 Aunt Renee surprised the family with an art project she and Sadie had been working on together (Handprint and scribbles courtesy of Sadie).

No photos of the meal (or the amazing ice cream pie Lauren made), but we think everyone had a good time.

Not sure when this photo was taken, but it's likely that engineer Great Uncle Steve may have had something to do with it.

Next - the zoo!!!

Thanksgiving Trip Part 4

Wednesday was a much calmer day, allowing us to spend some quality time checking out our St. Louis toys.

 We also got to break out a favorite toy of Dad's from his toddler years.

All kids who come to Grandma and Grandpa's seem to enjoy these multicolored coasters. In fact, it looks like Aunt Renee is tickling Sadie just to get them for herself!

That night, we went to Spiro's, a longtime favorite, but a first trip for Sadie (and Mom, due to the fire Spiro's had some years back). Sadie was great at the table, charming much of our section of the restaurant. 

Sadie's working on her sense of humor...

Thanksgiving Trip Part 3 (Photo Day)

We once again took some family portraits during the Thanksgiving holiday but rather than head to a super crowded studio, we had a photographer come to Grandma and Grandpa's house.* Unlike last year's fuddy-duddies, this photographer had no problem with us snapping pictures of the photo shoot in general.

* This was photographer attempt #4 as photographer #1 wasn't able to confidently leave North County and her backups (#2 and #3) refused to travel at all on Tuesday.

Actual photographer photos from the shoot will be available in a few weeks, but in the meantime, here is Sadie on a rocking chair that was Dad's in his youth...

Between shoots, Sadie relaxed just like Mom, with a pillow in her lap.

While not quite for the photos, Sadie couldn't pass up an opportunity to accessorize!

After that, it was time to check out her brand new book with Aunt Renee

Tuesday night also marked Mom and Dad's night out while Sadie to got spend quality time with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Renee without pesky parents around. She clearly didn't even miss us because at bedtime, she gave Grandpa a 20 minute (!) hug.

Thanksgiving continues soon, this time with more trains!

Thanksgiving Trip Part 2

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our week in St. Louis continues as Sadie enjoys the various toys at Chez Grandma and Grandpa

Any trip to visit family of course involves copious food. Sometimes ordered in (sushi)...

... and trips to the grocery store where Sadie has been enthusiastically helping carry things to the cart.

Stay tuned for picture day!

Thanksgiving Trip 2014

On Saturday we flew into St. Louis for our annual Thanksgiving Pilgrimage, away from the home of the actual American Pilgrims and to a land of blended cheeses, "toasted" raviolis, and short o's pronounced as AH's.

Upon arrival, Sadie quickly made herself at home, accounting for all toys, beads, Aunts, and Grandpa's Cardinals hats she could find.

In order to fully inculcate ourselves into the suburban experience, we all headed to the mall. Being a Proper Suburban Mall, it also has a toy store that has a pay by the hour playroom where Sadie took to all of the toys quite quickly.

They also had a great dress-up collection:

That afternoon, born-on-the-same-day Elana came over to play; both Grandmas enjoyed it too.

Many more photos to come...

Sadie's requests

Sadie has been really obsessed with these beads we've had lying around the house.  She's particularly gotten very specific about putting them on and then having Mom and Dad put them on too.  Here's a picture of dad obliging...

That is one satisfied customer!

Hearty New England Stock

It's getting really cold around here, but like the Swedes, we believe there is no bad weather just bad clothing for the weather.  Sadie still got to enjoy the play ground this weekend even though temperatures were hovering around freezing the entire time.

Sadie's first blog post

Always interested in Dad's keyboard, Dad decided to open up a copy of MS Word and let Sadie go to town.

So now, Sadie's first post:

  Nn          nhghg               g g                      cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc                                                                                                                          nc    nvvnnnn vnn           b bb c                                                                     m bbbbbbbb                          nv  xcbbbggb         a`         a           n q2    w         1uy b ytvntrdjyhnhhh hhhhhhn rtttb n …. M      cnhn1vxqaaaaazb n msfrjkdyuioo,465                                  cvf ngggggg        bsbxs  azxn z N  UY                                                                                                      8                                                     

Thanks Sadie! We look forward to you becoming a regular contributor once you become literate.

Dad and Sadie Weekend

Mom was away this weekend so Dad and Sadie were on their own.  On Saturday Sadie put on her new frog shoes (purchased at the Cape a couple of months ago) since she finally outgrew her trusty dino sneakers.  She also picked a different hat out of the drawer...

Then Dad took Sadie to the Children's Museum. Sadie did a pretty good job of figuring out what to do in a car despite her limited exposure.

 

Not pictured, Sadie got to play with some play-dough, pop many bubbles, and serve dinner in a play kitchen. She also fell asleep during the train ride home, leading her to believe she didn't need a post-lunch nap. Thank you to Alice for coming over in the evening to give Dad a short "break" to take out garbage, do dishes, make dinner, and maybe, just maybe, run across the street to pick up a beverage to enjoy after Sadie's bedtime.

Then on Sunday they went out to breakfast to our favorite diner.

Sadie napped just fine Sunday and even got to watch a bit of the Saints/49ers overtime game while waiting for Mom to come home.

Mom missed everyone and was happy to get lots of hugs when she got back Sunday afternoon.

First Winter Weather

Yesterday we had our first snow here in Massachusetts. It didn't stick, but the weather was pretty miserable nonetheless.  We were all kind of going a bit stir crazy inside.  Finally, when it stopped, and it was just wet out, we decided to try out Sadie's new winter gear and go on a family walk.  Here she is modeling most of her winter ensemble - waterproof winter boots, waterproof winter coat, wool socks, and a winter shark hat.  The only piece not called for were the waterproof warm pants...

Here comes winter, ready or not...