Nice Day for a Ride

We took advantage of some unseasonably warm weather this weekend. Well, not to say that it was hot or anything, we still needed coats, it was just warmer than usual for the end of November. Saturday Ethan and I planed some tulip and crocus bulbs. After James got . home from the football game, we all went for a ride to Thomaston where they had a light up the town event with Santa in a parade. There's a cute cupcake bakery there so Ethan was thrilled to find some dessert. We made a strategic error and did not keep following Santa to the end of the parade- if we had, we might have been able to wait to sit on his lap. When we finally wandered down there the line was huge, so we'll see Santa another day.  This morning after breakfast at Ovens of France, we took Ethan for a bike ride. He was having a good time going down the hill, but got a little grumpy on the way back up it (the last picture is Grumpy Ethan.) James basically had to push him to the car. We also were busy working on our Christmas ornament gifts and a few other things. We're trying for some homemade gifts this year, we'll see how far we get.

My Little Oscar Wilde

Ethan and I did not manage our traditional first batch of Christmas cookies this year. Someone spent the morning monopolizing the kitchen, we even had to hunch over the table to make the pies. By the time they were done so was I, we went downstairs and made a puzzle instead. After that, it was about time to start dinner.

Good thing it was a nice day out. James and Jeff had to hang out with the turkey frier. There sure was a lot of smoke when they dropped it in. 
 
We went outside to watch for a few minutes. Ethan enjoyed some cheese while Gavin gave him a "pat pat" on the head.  
 
Here's Ethan's puppet show. He also put on a magic show for us while we were having dessert.  
 
When he finished, we all clapped for him (including Gavin.) Ethan ran away yelling "I am a genius!" Unfortunately, by that point James had turned off the camera.  I have no doubt he'll do it again though.

Underdog!

 
Grandma Jo Ann came to stay for a few days while Pa was hunting with Uncle Tom. Ethan was thrilled with the awesome Underdog costume she made for him, he had a great time dressing up and "flying" around the house. He also enjoyed showing her all of our favorite places like the library, Rich's Farm, and Dottie's Diner.

Playing with Pa

Sunday we went to Tom and Heather's to visit. We got to see their dogs, though Ethan would have liked to try to maul them they stayed outside for the most part. Ethan got to play with Pa, they did this puzzle together for a while until Ethan gave up and went on to other things. Pa being Pa, he persevered and finished it later. They also read a new Thanksgiving book. We had a yummy ham dinner and Uncle Tom gave Ethan the best part of the ham. Then we all ate turkey cupcakes.

Turkey Cupcakes

On Saturday, Ethan and I made turkey cupcakes to take to my brother's house on Sunday. Aren't they beautiful? I have a video to upload but I need to shrink it first.

Festival of Trees

Ethan, Daddy and Grandma Deb went to the Festival of Trees for Ann's Place on Saturday. Ann's Place is a support center for cancer patients and their families and the Festival of Trees is one of their major fund raisers. Along with the trees they also had a Lego buidling contest and Ethan enjoyed evaluating all of the entries. After looking at the Legos we had tea and cookies while a story teller told stories for the kids.


After the stories and another look at the Legos we went to see the trees. Ethan really liked the one with the moose but the Muppet tree below was his favorite.

Zoo Morning

We decided to spend the morning at the zoo. Ethan had a great time with all the interactives, and we were lucky enough to see the tiger up and pacing around the cages. He even roared for us. The river otter, however, was sleeping. We couldn't find the second one, it might have been inside. There were also some scarecrows left from the Halloween display, it was a contest for high school kids. There was an elephant, a pirate, and lots of other themed scarecrows. Yesterday Ethan and I had gone to a cookie decorating class, so after his nap he ate the ladybug cookie then we all played football outside, came in for a little indoor play, and had homemade turkey noodle soup that James cooked up for dinner.

Tornado

 
Yesterday we had our friends over for "fake Thanksgiving." We were lucky enough to have Jeannie, Kurt and Elise drive down to join us. Ethan was thrilled to have a playmate. So they look sweet, innocent and harmless, but just before the sit on the bed and color decision, they concluded that the best use of their energy was to pile every book Ethan owns in a heap on the floor. I haven't tackled this mess yet, I'm sure it's going to take a good hour to sort out, there are game pieces inside the books, along with crayons and all sorts of things. On the plus side, there were no messy art supplies involved, and hey, given that I can honestly say I think this is the biggest mess he ever made, we're doing pretty good. We had a great visit with friends, and way too much food. Then we went belated trick-or-treating. I think the squid was the most used costume so far.

Turkeys

 
We made this great paper bag turkey puppet this afternoon, I found it online somewhere. We've had a very full day. We went to a store in Woodbury, then stopped at Hollow Park since it was nice and warm. Ethan says, "I bounced on a frog and a seal, I swinged and went on the swirly slide- woooooo!" After that, we stopped at a particular French patisserie for a little treat, then one more errand before we came home to play and draw outside with sidewalk chalk. After lunch and nap we took a ride to the lady bug store to find a turkey cookie cutter. Then we went to find some supplies for our turkey place cards. That turned into a scavenger hunt, apparently it's impossible to find thanksgiving colored m&ms this time of year. I mean it is after the holiday and all. When we got home, it was downstairs to our craft table to make the turkey and listen to some music. Now it's time for dinner.

Halloween

Ethan has been asking for reminders of what other costumes he wore, I thought I'd make him a handy collage so he could see. Then I thought I'd share.

Catching Up

 
These are some shots from around our house on Sunday. Maybe we should have left the cars in the garage, but we didn't think about the heavy snow making limbs fall. Others fell on each side of the house. The poor little Japanese maple seems to be recovering, remarkably it didn't break any limbs off.  
 
Unfortunately, after all that work Halloween was pretty much cancelled. We went trick or treating at the Southbury Plaza with nearly every other kid in a 50 mile radius- all towns were saying not to go to houses and with so many people not having power it wouldn't have been possible to do what we ordinarily do. Of course it was the first year Ethan actually asked to go to houses. At least everyone he saw loved his squid costume and complimented him on being so original even if a few of them did mistake him for an octopus. 
 
With power out everywhere, we've been doing our best to keep entertained. Ethan had school Monday so I worked from home for a while then picked him up for the tricks or treats at the plaza. Tuesday we played downstairs for a while. The library was an emergency recharging station, and with school closed I imagine it was insanely busy so we didn't do our usual errands. Ethan decided to be a bucket head, and I couldn't get it off for anything. Finally when I resolved to have to cut it off, he said "I don't want this on my head anymore" and yanked it right off.  

The one good thing is that we were able to provide "emergency shelter" to Mandy, Jeff, and baby Gavin. Ethan enjoyed some quality time with his cousin. We were not happy that they were homeless for nearly a week, but glad they had a warm place to go. 

Today we were surprised by those pretty fall colors that are supposed to be outside. Instead it looks like March with dirty snow everywhere. Ethan especially liked the sunflowers.