Recent adventures

We had a wonderful lunch at the German restaurant in Yorktown yesterday. Mom had rouladen and spaetzle and I had sauerbraten and knoedel (dumplings) while we eavesdropped on German conversations going on around us. We ordered a kiddie wiener and spaetzle for Nora, but she preferred my sauerbraten, which she pronounced "zerobraten" at first. So cute. Mom's going to make sauerbraten for Nora's real birthday dinner on the 22nd. What a kid...salmon and broccoli for her 2nd birthday, and sauerbraten for her 3rd. What will we eat for her 4th birthday? Sushi? Caroline also enjoyed eating off my plate and doing some people watching. After lunch, we drove over to Williamsburg with the intention of just walking around a little bit and then leaving so the girls could nap. But as soon as we walked onto DoG street, we stumbled across a group of girls from the W&M women's chorus carolling. So we stopped to watch them (actually, Caroline walked right up to then), did a bit more walking, and then returned to the Merchant's Square area for a 25 min. one-man-performance of A Christmas Carol. It was very funny, and Nora sat right up front with a bunch of other kids (jealously eyeing one girl's ice cream cone) while Caroline and I walked around behind the crowd meeting various puppy dogs (and Mom rested on a bench -- we're wearing her out!) We didn't get in the car to come home until 4:30 (on the way, Nora saluted a flag for Daddy...she obviously takes after her mother in that department!). It's been so wonderful having mom here...I really enjoy her company, and she's been a huge help. She's really helped me enjoy the holiday a lot more than if I was here by myself.

We had a video conference with Mike this morning...it almost didn't happen (the system was down for 2 hours), so we're grateful for the 10 minutes we had. He got to see how big Caroline has grown (she did a little up-and-down routine for him) and Nora got to show him her new Cinderella pop- up book. He and I look the same, except his hair is a little shorter and mine's a little longer. :-) I took a photo of the girls playing outside of the building where the videoconference took place while we waited to be summoned in to talk to Mike.

Birthday girl (well, almost)

Nora celebrated her birthday today with her friends Taylor, Reagan, Izzy, Pippa, Claire and Relena. All the kids (and grownups) had a great time. It was an old school birthday party -- we played Hot Potato (passing an ornament in lieu of a potato), Pin the Tail on the Donkey (who we dressed as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer), decorated sugar cookie-men with frosting, M&Ms, gum drops and candy canes, ate pizza and sang Happy Birthday as Nora blew out the candles on her Disney princess cake. Nora had a wonderful time...she especially loved all the decorations hung in the dining room. She received some wonderful gifts, including a Snow White dress up set and a pop-up Cinderella book, which we've already read 5 times today (I kid you not!). She was a gracious hostess, and thanked all of her guests for coming and helping make her birthday so special. Caroline also had a great time socializing with all the guests and trying to eat all of Nora's gifts...she particularly enjoyed snacking on her Hello Kitty bath set.

Happy Days Are Here Again

As we emerged out of the weird slump that hit us (mostly me) last weekend, it's beginning to feel a little more festive and happy around here, especially since Omi arrived yesterday morning. Nora's first question after I picked her up from school to bring her home to Omi and Caroline was "Are we going to eat Omi pancakes and applesauce?" Nora ate 3 "Omi pancakes" (i.e. crepes) for lunch yesterday and 3 more for breakfast this morning, so she is thrilled. Caroline is also loving all of the extra attention, and I am grateful to have good company. I'm hoping to do a little Christmas shopping this afternoon while Omi watches the girls, and also prepare for Nora's birthday party (her first "friends" party), which is tomorrow afternoon. Sunday we head to a German restaurant in York County to eat homecooked rouladen and to speak broken German at the "Kaffe Klatsch." Maybe we can visit Williamsburg on Monday to see all of the beautiful holiday decorations...then Omi flies home on Tuesday, and we start our trek up north Thursday or Friday. Here are some fun pics...Caroline playing in her favorite new space - the shower; Nora and Caroline listening to Daddy read stories on the new DVD he sent; and Nora modeling vintage hand-me-downs that Omi brought down from Brooklyn.

Challenging weekend

It was a rough weekend, and I will add the full account here later, but there were some redeeming moments, and I'm posting some of those pics here so you can enjoy them! Here are

Nora and Caroline walking hand in hand at the Iwo Jima Kids' Xmas party, and Caroline attempting the slide, and Nora bringing home our new fake Xmas tree from Walgreens (a real one didn't make sense since we'll be gone so long) and adding the decorations. She loves our tree, even though it's small and plastic, and always wants me to put the lights on.

Lonely last day

Well, it's back to just us. Uncle Matty went back home last night, and Grandma, Grandpa and Great Grandma left for their cruise this morning. And, as usually occurs after a long trip or visit, I'm having a bit of a rough transition with Nora. For the past 2 days, she's been asking about when we're going home, and today she has been extremely defiant and emotional. She screamed at the zoo when I refused to follow her to see the train, and screamed at me again just now for refusing to give her crackers while she watches tv. I told her that if she wanted to scream, she could scream in the garage and I started to lead her there by the arm. That seemed to quiet her down pretty quickly. I hope she can keep it together at the airport tomorrow...I don't know what I'd with a screaming toddler and a squirming one-year-old! On a positive note, we had a really nice time exploring the Brevard Zoo this morning on our own, despite some grumpy faces at the outset. It's a lovely zoo - the girls really enjoyed taking a train ride through the African section and I particularly enjoyed the section dedicated to Florida wildlife. Also, Nora enjoyed seeing her first musical yesterday, "Peter Pan," at the Cocoa Playhouse with me and Grandpa. Grandma and Grandpa gave her a special Tinkerbell pin to wear to the show, and Grandpa's friend Carol gave Nora a Tinkerbell notebook for autographs. Although we got Peter Pan's autograph, the autograph that Nora wanted the most was of the boy who portrayed Michael, and then she refused to get any more autographs after that. So, we have the autographs of Liza the maid, Peter Pan, and Michael...oh, Nora...you chucklehead! It'll be good to go home tomorrow morning and get back into our routine...and we're excited that we'll be getting to meet Bernadette and Josh's new son, Peter, when we get there!!!