Over the River

and through the woods, you know the rest...

This Thanksgiving dad learned a few new things. First is that you can over cook potatoes for mashed potatoes. I never really thought you could over boil a potato but you can. Then to make matters worse you can over "whip" the over cooked potatoes, making a shiny thick potato paste that no amount of milk or cream or even putting in the oven to cook in hopes it will turn magically into normal mashed potatoes will fix. I can say if my potatoes were hair they would win the hearts of everyone because of the beautiful sheen.

The second thing dad learned is that sometimes the thermostat on the oven doesn't work properly...and that the meat thermometer needs to be properly inserted into the turkey. Go too deep and you go through the turkey and touch the pan giving you a false reading that the turkey is done. Not a great thing. Also all mathematic equations of cooking time per pound of turkey goes out the window when you are trying to get the turkey done for a 2pm meal. Nothing more scrumptious then cutting into a turkey that appears to be done and finding pink juices and meat. Thank GOD for microwaves. Luckily Charlotte was fast asleep taking a nap and was able to miss dads wonderful cooking.

The frozen peas came out perfect. And of course so did moms stuffing. Good thing we didn't put it in the raw turkey.

Nanny and Beepa came to visit for Thanksgiving. They of course were happy just to see Charlotte so they didn't really care about the turkey and potatoes (at least thats what they said). We all dozed on and off while sitting around after stuffing ourselves with turkey dinner. Dad's bright idea of waking up at 4am to hit the 5am Christmas Sale at Best Buy was quickly dimming with every full belly breath he took. By 7pm the bright idea was a dark figment of his dumb imagination. Instead we would all wake up and head to Portsmouth by 9am to stroll around town shopping. Much better idea than waiting in line outside of a Best Buy in the freezing cold at 4am.

Portsmouth was great. For black Friday it was extremely quiet. We walked. We shopped. We had lunch, then headed home in time for Charlotte's nap. We also took advantage of having Beepa around by making him take us to get our Christmas tree. Since dad is still not supposed to lift anything greater than 10 pounds and is still recovering from surgery, Beepa had the fun job of laying on the cold ground to saw down the tree. Luckily the saw was sharp and the tree trunk was small. Oh then he had to lift it up onto the car. And off of the car. And set it up in our house. And put the lights on it. Well most of the lights until we ran out of lights half way through. Nanny and mom were sent out to the store to get some more lights. Charlotte LOVES her Christmas tree. She still hasn't mastered saying Christmas Tree. It sounds a lot like Trick or Treat. When she woke up from her nap she walked into the living room and said, "Wooooww!!! Trissmiss treeet!!" Yes Charlotte, it is a Christmas tree.

Keeping with the Christmas Tree festivities, Mom, Dad, and Charlotte decided to enjoy the town tree lighting at the town square on Sunday night. Carolers sung in the gazebo. Free hot chocolate to warm us up. Charlotte got to see her friends. And of course we were able to count down from 10 to the actual lighting of the tree. So nice to live in a quaint new england town.



Charlotte refused to wear her mittens. Her hands were ice cold. Her fingers bright red. However she did love her first Hot Chocolate and she loved being held in moms arms. And yes she looked adorable wearing that hat.

What a great Thanksgiving weekend.

Quick Update

Dad is doing much better. Still not 100% but able to walk and function like a normal human being. Mom has been a trooper, taking care of Charlotte and the house this whole time. Don't worry honey, I will make it up to you.

We have some great pictures of Charlotte seeing the first snow of the season today and of course some action shots from Mom and Charlotte's Baby Loves Disco event on Sunday. However dad is too lazy to upload them tonight so you will have to wait until tomorrow night.

Stay tuned. You never know what else will happen with this crazy family!

Also we wanted to congratulate Kurt and Pam on the successful birth of their first son Samuel (known and loved by all as Sam-Hell). Sorry Kurt you chose the nickname and we are sticking to it. Surely Sam will show Marin and Charlotte how to shoot a gun, how to use Duct Tape to fix virtually anything, and how super glue can be used on open wounds instead of stitches (with of course the reasons why super glue is also sterile and has antibiotic properties). We are very excited that a shot of testosterone will be thrown into the kid mix and look forward to meeting Samuel very soon. Welcome to the kids club Kurt and Pam!

A good wife

Is hard to find. I am very lucky that I have a great wife. Dad is in a lot of pain. A lot of bruising, a lot of swelling, and well just very very uncomfortable. All the doctors made it seem like, yeah, you need surgery. No big deal. Its outpatient. In dads head outpatient meant painless quick recovery. He expected to be up and about the day after. Not the case. He has been stuck in bed most of the time living on percocets every 4 hours. You would think someone could create some pain medicine that didn't just make you dizzy and sleepy.

Mom has been great. Dad knows she really hates playing nurse but she has done a great job checking on dad, bringing him whatever he needs. Not so easy to do with a 2 year old hanging on your leg. Thank u dear for being so good to me. I will take my sponge bath now please.

Update

We got home last night just before 7pm. Dad is in a lot of pain but otherwise doing well.

Did You Know III

Let me preface this post by saying these numbers are staggering and accurate. Dealing with educators and schools here in the Northeast I am able to see not only what technology is being deployed, but also how it is used, and where it is being used. Seeing how my own school district uses computers scares me to death. There is a big shift in teaching and learning in the 21st Century and BIG changes are needed in our educational system to compete. Just the facts. Get involved with your schools and demand the use of technology in the classroom. PS. thank you Shelby for the lovely post. :)

Surgery again....

 












No, not mom this time it's dad's turn. Tomorrow dad goes in for surgery on not one but two Inguinal Hernia's. Wish him luck and send some good thoughts his way. As well send them to Mom, she will need them to deal with a very active toddler and a very "sensitive" dad. Charlotte will by his side while he is recovering since she loves laying with her "dadda" on the couch or anywhere for that matter.
We love you "dadda" and will try our best to take good care of you.

Pray to the Paint Goddess!!

Charlotte's cold is in full force. Nose constantly running. Hacking away like an old man, coughing up phlem, then choking on it. Yes its gross. So we taught her to spit. Such a great sight and oh so much more dignified. Charlotte hacking and caughing up some gross green slime from deep in her chest then spitting it out, hopefully into a tissue, however most of the time we are not so lucky. Yes we have started our child down the path of "poor white trashness". We are only a step away from buying her Bratz dolls. Such great roll models for little girls.



Charlotte had some serious regrets about Disney last week. Her biggest regret was not allowing her face to get fully painted. After she saw the pictures of her with only one blue eye painted she got a little sad. So mother not wanting her daughter to have any regrets in life, pulled out the paint and a mirror and had Charlotte finish what she started. Not to mention it is a wonderful distraction to a child with a horrible cold.




At the end of the painting session Charlotte prayed to the Paint Goddess. Please give me the strength and power to endure my face getting painted by a stranger at an amusement park!

Back from Disney World

Yes we were able to enjoy a few days at the land of Mickey this week. Dad had a work event in Orlando and decided to bring Charlotte and Mom along. Plus with baby number 2 joining us soon, we figured it would be our last shot at a Disney vacation for a while. So we burned up dads frequent flier miles and Marriott points and had a grand 'ol time.

Charlotte did great flying again. Although it was a very early flight (6am), which meant we were out of the house by 4:10am. Waking Charlotte up was not fun but she seemed to do pretty good on the flights down to Orlando. This would be her last flight as a lap child. From now on she gets her own big girl seat!

This would be where I tell you all about the work aspect of the trip but I will skip it to prevent boring you non-technology sales people.

Day number one we hit the Magic Kingdom. I will preface this picture by saying we got to the park early. We were there at 9am when it opens. However those of you who have been to Disney know when you get there you are not really there. It simply means you got to the parking lots, then you have to take either the boat or tram over to the park. We chose the tram. Bad move. It broke down about 10 feet from the station. 45 minutes later we were on the boat, now completely packed since the tram was broken. Charlotte pooped her pants and was squirming around miserable after be stuck on the tram. $85 for tickets and they can't keep a tram running? (they will be getting a letter from dad). We finally made it into the park only an hour late (not too bad considering).

Here is Charlotte at the castle. We expected a shot of her just being amazed, screaming her head off when she saw the castle, but it didn't really happen. We did get some "ohhh WOW's" out of her but no flailing of the arms.

She did however just stare at the castle for a while. We have a feeling it took a little while to sink in to really understand that this is a "real" castle. Ohhh the Castle!!!
The first ride we decided to try was the Winnie the Pooh ride. We were not sure how she would do. Once on the ride she didnt say a peep. Just stared at everything wide eyed. Shelby and I looked at each other like "humm did she like it?". Then it was time to exit. "MORE, MORE, MORE" is all we heard.
Next on the list was the now infamous "its a small world" ride.
Again with the staring at all the stuff. Believe me there were also plenty of smiles. Towards the end of the ride she was laughing hysterically.
This was by far her favorite ride in the park.
Something must happen to your inner ear when you get older. Dad used to love rides that spin and twirl and swoosh. Now even the merry-go-round makes him feel a little queasy. Charlotte though had no problem riding the horsies.

After a few rides we had no plans. We just wandered around the park enjoying ourselves. Over near the castle we found Cinderella's fairy Godmother. She signed Charlottes autograph book and took a lovely picture.

Dads favorite was Chicken Little. The guy taking the picture (a disney employee) was super nice. The pen dad had purchased earlier in the day (for the characters to sign Charlottes autograph book) stopped working. He walked over to the store and just exchanged it for him. No questions asked.
We bought some ears for Charlotte. Although mom couldn't help but wear them. (dont worry I didnt let her walk around like this all day).
Snow White and Bashful. We didnt get our picture with them or their autograph because the closed the line (which was too long of a wait anyways).

So day number one at the Magic Kingdom was great. The weather was perfect (low 70's, dry, and sunny). By about 2pm we were done. Hindsight we should have just tried to get Charlotte to sleep in her stroller but we were not sure if she would nap or not. We figured it was best to go nap, then come back later.

Later never came. By the time we got back to the hotel and napped it was too late. We still had plenty of time for more parks.

The next park on the list was our favorite of course. Animal Kingdom. We knew Charlotte would love it. We decided to really get there early this time. 8am when the park opens at 9am. And no they do not open a minute early despite the lines forming at the gates.

Here is a great shot of Mom, Dad, and Charlotte. Ooops. Thats goofy not dad (Im so funny).

And who else? Minnie! These were both taken before the park even opened. So if you do go to Animal Kingdom, get there early to see the characters wandering outside of the park. Or if you just want pictures and autographs, skip the ticket and just hang out front.
Opening ceremony of the park:
Around every corner was a new character. Tigger was there to greet Charlotte next.
As you can see she wasnt too sure about this Tigger guy. She kept a very close eye on him and his bouncing.
Dad and Charlotte on the Dino ride. She wasn't a fan of this one. It went up in the air. Soon after this picture she said "All Done".
So we decided to get Charlottes face painted. We figured it would look so cute having a butterfly or a princess painted on. However the guy who was trying to paint it was a little scary.

So we ended up with one blue eye. And it would stay like this the rest of the day. Mom and Charlotte cruising through Dinoland.
Ok the highlight of Animal Kingdom is the new Nemo musical performance. Imagine Cirque de Soleil meets Nemo. Simply amazing and worth the whole trip for miss Charlotte.
An example of the performers and puppets. Singing dancing fish. What could be better?
Yes, that is Charlotte crying when it was over. Luckily the tears didnt ruin that wonderful face painting.
Charlotte at the aquarium. She could spend all day watching fish. She just sat there on the ground and watched them.
As we walked through the park we kept asking Charlotte if she was going to see the gorillas. She would pound on her chest and scream like a gorilla. Of course this is actually a sign of aggression to the gorillas so they tell you not to do it near them. A 2 year old does not understand that. However the gorilla didnt seem to be too intimidated by Charlotte.

The safari ride is one of the best rides for kids. They get to see so many different animals. Yes these are all real animals roaming next to the safari truck.


This rhino was literally a foot from us.
We wrapped up our day at Animal Kingdom. Being in a disney park with a 2 year old is exhausting. Charlotte wanted to walk most of the time. However she doesnt do a great job watching were she is going. She would head right towards a giant group of people coming towards us and walk right through them. Great if everyone else is taking a leisurely stroll like us. Unfortunately most people are on a mission at the parks.

Charlotte also started feeling a little "warm" at the park. She was obviously catching a cold. Coughing a lot and sounding hoarse. A little tip for anyone with kids. There is a "baby center" at each park. Clean changing tables, nursing rooms, rocking chairs, a small play area, and baby stuff like Tylenol etc. And its quiet. Great place to just escape the hustle of the parks for a little while.

We found the worlds largest Disney store at the Marketplace at Downtown Disney. Talk about hours of fun for Charlotte. Her cold was now in full force. I wonder how many other kids she infected.

Wow, a giant princess. Charlotte had to give her a kiss.



A sleepy kid in our arms at Disney? She must have a cold.
The family at the Rainforest Cafe. She loved it.

Back at the hotel pool. Charlotte loved swimming through the water spouts. She laughed and rolled as the water hit her belly.

The return flight home. Luckily we had some extra room on the plane and Charlotte got to sit in her own seat. She did GREAT!!