TODDLER_TOUR_2011_LEG_2_GRAMMA AND GRANDPA'S COOKOUT!

After the awful drive we had, it was a relief to finally make it to Grandma Debbie's and Grandpa's place! Since the drive was so long, I was happy to get to cool off in the little pool that Gramma Debbie had so kindly set up for me...


While they were cooking dinner (hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken skewers) I took my time having a blast in the pool.

It took a bit of convincing to get me in there, but Dad joined me while Mom took pictures, and we had a lot of fun playing with the ball and splashing each other.

Once dinner was ready, I got out, toweled off, and had myself a hot dog, in addition to some other lovely side dishes. Gramma is a great cook! Since I ate so well, I was rewarded with something I had never had before...an ice cream sandwich! Who can I hug for creating such a thing!?!? I mean, I enjoy regular old sandwiches as much as the next guy, but who came up with putting ice cream in between two chocolate wafers, and calling it a sandwich!? AMAZING!

Can EVERY sandwich be like this?! PLEASE!?

OK....I gotta bring it down...gotta bring it back down...I can only hope that another ice cream, sandwich (or six) lies somewhere in my future...

As dinner wound down, I had some time to play with my cousins Nicholas and Braelynn again, and though I was chastised for throwing a toy at Braelynn, and swinging a hanging swing at her (It was all out of love...I swear) in general, it was a good time, and we played together nicely. I was just getting a bit tired, having had no nap, and was acting out a bit...I have to get it down that I'm the big cousin here, and I have to provide protection and guidance for the little ones...

As is typical for weekends like this, Mom and I headed up for Gramma Mindy's for the weekend, and Dad went off to the train station to head back home to work...

TODDLER_TOUR_2011_LEG_2_NYC IN SUMMER!

Well, Mom got to go on another business trip again last weekend (Look at me almost all caught up!) so once again, Dad and I accompanied her, and as always, we had a splendid time!

We arrived on Thursday, and went directly to a branch of the New York Library....the group that Mom was meeting was there, so while Dad and I checked out the stacks, Mom met up with her group and touched base.

Once she was done, she was kind enough to walk around the library with me (And by "around the library, I mean up and down the awesome staircase)

We went up and down a few times, and once we were done, we set off from there to find a spot to have dinner.

We went back towards our hotel, and found a little Italian place directly across the street...Dad asked if this was where I wanted to eat, and I replied with an enthusiastic "yes!"

We sat down, and had some really good Italian food...I shared spaghetti and meatballs with Dad, and we all had some fried mozzarella sticks. It was a nice little family place, and Mom swears that we were one of the few groups that wasn't friends with the owner. It was like a sitcom, but in a good way...

Back at the hotel, we had a chance to explore our very nice room...it was a bit small, but as always, I found the bed to be quite conducive to being bounced on.

Behind the bed was a really cool screen deal that opened and closed with a button next to the bed. It was cool to watch, and the lighting was very calming....

We also had a balcony with a gorgeous view of the Empire State building...

It was a little noisy out on the balcony, so we didn't spend a TON of time out there, but I enjoyed looking around, especially at the ornate carvings of cows over on the building across the street from our hotel...

OK...yeah, I know...those are actually carvings of lions, but I insisted for some time that they were cows, until Mom and Dad showed me the error of my ways, and convinced me that they were actually lions...Oh well, they were still really cool.

The next day, while Mom was at meetings throughout the morning, Dad and I went out on our own, and got breakfast at a little place just down the block. We also walked up to the big Times Square Toys R Us to try and find me a new pair of sunglasses (Mine were broken, most likely by me a few days earlier)

While we didn't find a new pair of sunglasses, I DID get to meet one of my heroes....SPIDERMAN! I don't have any pictures of the meeting, because they charged exorbitant fees to take pictures with him...however, he DID still take time to give me a high five, and shake my hand, which was VERY exciting!

We walked back to the hotel, met up with Mom, and hopped into the car to head back to Connecticut to visit with the fam for the weekend. Traffic was horrendous, and it was a record-breaking painful drive back to Connecticut...but it was worth the trip, as you will see in my next few posts!!

Leah and Teague's Wedding!

Mom and Dad sure do go to a lot of weddings!

Apparently, this is kind of a "light" year for them, in that they have "only" been invited to three of them, and are "only" going to two of them.

Crazy, right?

Well, a couple weekends ago, we got to go to a nice little olde tymey town hall for a wedding for some friends of my Mom's (Who over the years have also morphed into friends of my Dad's)

Even though Mom and Dad had hoped I'd sleep in the car on the way, I was so jazzed up about the Big Party, that I simply couldn't sleep...so it would be a grand experiment...a highly stimulating event, with me running on no nap for the first time ever.

Yeah...I know, right?


I was told several things about the event...the first part was the wedding, and I had to be quiet like in church, and the second part was the big party, where I got to be as loud as I wanted to be...and lastly, that I got to have cake at the end of the event...


I did my best to be quiet during the ceremony (though, I DID keep whispering to Dad "When is the part where we can be really loud?) and it was lovely...a very nice ceremony in a very nice little olde tymey former town hall. Sometimes I sat with Mom...sometimes I hung out with Dad...but the one constant was my Kitty. She was with me the whole time.


The wedding finished, and the first thing I said, obviously, was "Now we can go to the party, and be really loud!!!"


We got there, and the first thing I did, was sign the guest book....it was the classy thing to do.


Then I went right into the cocktail hour (although MY cocktails included cranberry juice, and other snacks)


I got to have a really good time playing with people I had met before, and also meeting some new people.


Dad and I checked out the garden outside, which was really pretty (and held my attention during such non-kid friendly events like family speeches)

This is me looking in the bushes, pretending that I'm playing "Journey to Ernie" and looking for Ernie in the bushes, just like Big Bird does on the show!!

As promised, Mom and Dad snagged me a cupcake from the tray since we were leaving early, and I tore into it with the gusto of a two and a half year old that had been waiting patiently for a few hours to get a cupcake.


The cupcake was DELICIOUS indeed....very nice choice...there were also whoopie pies and cake, but I had eyes only for the cupcake...so good.


Congratulations, Leah and Teague!!! You guys are great! Thanks for making us part of your special day!

And yes, as predicted, I didn't even make it the ten minute drive to the highway before passing out. I would have fallen asleep sooner, but Mom and Dad were talking about the darn wedding...I quietly said "Mommy, Daddy...stop talking please." and once they did, literally thirty seconds later, I was asleep...I had so much fun, and was so worn out, that I slept all the way home, and practically slept through my diaper change, and change into pajamas...Solid party, everyone...

Beardsley Zoo Family Trip!

A few weeks ago, Dad went back to Connecticut for a few days, and he received separate phone calls from both my Uncle Steve and Auntie Steph (They had not planned this, mind you) asking if Dad wanted to go with them to Beardsely Zoo for the day....so it became that Aunt Amy, Uncle Steve, Nicholas, Braelynn, Auntie Steph, Uncle Brian, and DaGramma all got together and went to the Zoo! Mom was stuck back home at work, and while we were bummed that she wasn't there (and she was bummed too...) we all still had a great time!

The Zoo has a really fun exhibit with Prairie Dogs that lets you go right up inside these little tubes to see them up close. There were so many Prairie Dogs, it was LOUSY with Prairie Dogs!


We also got to see Aunt Amy's favorite...the llamas. Why are they her favorite? Who knows...she's silly sometimes. :-)


Later, we saw a spot where a trainer was getting a few Otters to do some tricks for food. They were really cute, and Dad picked me up so I could get a good look at them.


Further down the road, we saw one of those dealies set up where you can stick your head through and get your picture taken....as you can see, there was much fun being had. :-)


I got to spend a lot of time with Da Gramma...she helped me get on top of an elephant statue, and watched me while I rode it...and she also pushed me around in my stroller a lot when I was feeling tired.

Also, she helped me feed some of the animals at the petting zoo. Oh...my...Gosh! Have you done this!? You should totally do this. It is so much fun to do! They let you buy these little pellets, and then you can hand them over to the animals, and they just lick your hand, and eat the pellets right out of your hand. It's a riot!

Have I mentioned how much fun it is to have animals eat out of your hands? Because it is...sooooo much. We also got to see other animals like bunnies, cows, and owls at the little kids zoo. Very cool.

I enjoyed having time to walk around with everyone, including my Auntie Steph, Uncle Steve, Aunt Amy, and Uncle Brian.

Later on, we found the carousel which is in a gorgeous old building...

Da Gramma bought us all tickets, and we rode like crazy! (I made it around about twice before getting upset, and making Dad hold me the rest of the way...) As you can see, Aunt Amy is having a great time....what a goof.


On the way out, we found one of those coin things that you could donate money to the zoo through. Donating felt nice enough, but couple that with the fact that you got to insert the money in and watch it spin around faster and faster until it finally dropped into the bin in the bottom, and it's pretty awesome to see it happen.


After we finished up at the zoo, we went to Thomlinson's....an old Hot Dog/Burger Joint near the zoo that Dad's family has been going to for decades....it was all very tasty, and rounded out a simply fabulous day! :-)

A Visit To Wesleyan

A few weeks back, Mom, Dad and I went to Mom's college for her reunion. She tries to get back there as often as she can, but it has been some time since she's been over there. Obviously, that meant that we were pretty excited about getting up there again, no one more than me, since I don't recall ever having gotten up there before.

When we first arrived, I was asleep in the car, so Dad hung out with me while I got my nap in...however, that just meant that I was a ball of energy when I got up...

And I used every bit of the extra energy to enjoy running around the campus. It was a beautiful day outside (though it was a little too warm out) and so we spent a lot of time enjoying the nice weather.

We spent a lot of the day at Mom's fraternity house, where she had spent a lot of time at college, and has lots of friends. Many of them were very happy to see me, and I got to play with them a lot!

Our friend Rachel chased me around (even though I played a little hard to get) and her I had a wonderful time. She actually lives near us back home, but it had been some time since we had seen her.

I also got to see our friend Laura, who used to live in DC, but has since moved back to the Northeast. Her and Rachel got together and were tossing me back and forth in the main room of the house. I couldn't stop laughing, and every now and again I would escape and hide under Mom's legs. It was a riot.

Since Laura was dressed more conveniently for outdoor play (She was wearing pants instead of a dress) I convinced her to go with me outside and play for awhile...good times were had by all. I spent the next couple days wandering calling out, "Laura!? Laura!"

At one point as we were walking around campus to take care of a few things, we heard the beautiful sounds of bells from up above in a tower. As we heard it, we saw a man putting up a sign at the bottom of the steps leading to the building.

The sign was inviting people to walk up the steps of the small bell tower to visit the bell room where they play them. I actually walked by myself all the way up, until the last set of stairs, which was designed as a metal spiral staircase. That kind of sketched me out, so I had Dad pick me up for the last ten steps up. We entered a small room, and met the girl who was playing the bells using a device that looked a lot like a piano. She answered our questions, and played some more music for us while we watched. It was a unique experience, and I'm happy that we made the climb!
Since Dad had to make his way back home, Gramma Mindy helped Mom out with bringing me back and forth, so that Mom could balance out time that she spent with friends, with time that she spent with both her friends and me at the same time.

I met many interesting people, and got to see a lot of a very nice campus. Everyone was nice to me, and I appreciate their kindness. I hope we have a chance to get back there again soon!