Fairy Village

The Griswold Museum asked their artists to create tiny fairy houses all over the museum grounds. They ended up with 35 fairy houses, which were truly amazing. They were incredibly imaginative, detailed, and diverse. Here are some pictures of our favorites.

Halloween

Sue was a witch this halloween. She loved the face painting, but was only OK about her costume (the hat was too small and kept on falling off).

This year we joined Kim Dattilo's girl scouts halloween party Saturday afternoon, had dinner with them, and then went trick-or-treating in their neighborhood. In spite of the gloriously mild weather, and the fact that it was a Saturday night, there were noticeably fewer trick-or-treaters this year. Swine flu effect, perhaps?

I painted Sue's face green, and added a spider web on one cheek and a spider on the other. Sue's favorite part: putting on the black lipstick.



Sue also loved the fake witch nails, for about 2 minutes, until she realized that fake nails are a pain in the arse, and she was having trouble picking up candy from the bowls offered.



Here's a slide show of Kim's Halloween party.

First Day of School, 2nd Grade

Little Sue was so ready for school to start this year! The day before, she had planned exactly what she wanted to wear, she had organized her backpack with all her new school supplies, and she was clearly impatient for school to start.

On the morning of, she got up about 1/2 hour early, and she was a model child: she got herself dressed (she usually wants Mommy around for companionship), she helped with breakfast and preparing lunch, she was cheerful and happy. She was ready to go 1/2 hour before we had to leave for the bus.

After school, she was supposed to take the bus to her after school arts program, but she took the bus home. When noone was there to pick her up, she was not fazed. She took the bus back to school, where they called Tabor, and the director (!) drove over to pick her up. She didn't freak out or get upset. Amazing.

Here is Sue with Tori, who lives in the house right at the bus stop, and is also in Sue's class this year.



Sue is carrying a stuffed whale that her friend Maia left at our house the day before.


The usual crew at the bus stop:


Sue loves to make funny faces for the camera.

A New Coat

Grandma Gail and Grandpa Jim sent Sue a beautiful new winter coat. Sue was so excited to open the box -- she had to put it on right away.

NYC and MoMA

Last weekend we went into New York to visit the MoMA and see Grandpa Jim and Grandma Gail. Sue was doing a MoMA workshop at Eli Whitney Museum summer camp the following (last) week, and we thought it would be more interesting for her if she'd actually been to the museum first.

We had a great time! Although the weather was rainy, everything went incredibly smoothly. We took the Shoreline East train from Branford into New Haven and switched to the Metro North, an easy walk across the platform. Sue really enjoyed the ride, as you can tell in the pictures below.

This was our first trip to MoMA since the renovation. It's so much bigger! But it was fun to see old favorites, like the helicopter, the bicycle stool, French impressionists, Andy Warhol, and Jackson Pollock.

On the way back to Grand Central, we stopped by the American Girl doll store, and the grandparents bought Sue her first American Girl doll (#14, which has hair and eyes similar to Sue's). At the store, a personal shopper was incredibly helpful, because frankly, it was a little overwhelming. Sue was in seventh heaven on the way home, full of modern art and ecstatic about her new doll.

The Elusive Child and Random

The other day I thought that Sue was looking particularly cute, so I asked if I could take her picture. "Sure!", she said. Right. She's at that age where as soon as she knows she's being photographed, she starts making funny faces.







I had spun some rainbow yarn and make a little shawl for Sue, more for the fun of it than thinking she would actually wear it, but surprise surprise the other day she wanted to wear it. So of course I had to take a picture. The shawl didn't make it all the way to school, but still, I'm very happy she thought of it.



Sue and I both love rainbows. We haven't had one around here in a while, but as I was leaving for tennis last week I noticed the remains of one out by the water. I called back to the house so that Brendan could take Sue to see it. Later I found out that Sue had taken a picture of it!



This is Kipper's favorite place in the house during the day. Looks pretty comfy.

Firsts

Little Sue had her first piano recital last Sunday, after only four lessons. Being the proud parents that we are, we took some video footage. You can see Sue in her YouTube debut here.

Also, my mother gave me a rigid heddle loom for my birthday, and I just finished my first project, a wool scarf. Woot!

Bozeman Ski Trip

Tired but happy, we're back from our annual visit to Grandma Val. Unfortunately, little Sue was sick for part of the visit, but she still managed to fit in three ski classes.

Valerie gave me ski lessons and lift tickets for this year's birthday present, which was a fabulous gift. The lesson was just the thing, and the day afterwards Valerie and I got in a good 6 runs on a spectacular sunny mild day.

Sue And Maia

Sue and Maia are best friends. They are in the same first grade class, and in the same after school program. Today, Mommy took them both to the Peabody Museum (of natural history), out to lunch, and then shopping. Grrrrls ruled today!







After the Peabody it was time for lunch. Given the choice of Friendly's or Wendy's, Wendy's won the day -- because of the toy. Despereaux!