Thanksgiving 2011

This year our Thanksgiving was a bit different from the norm. Instead of joining my mother and her friends (who were going to have goose this year), we decided we wanted a "just-family" Thanksgiving, and we wanted turkey, and so we did just that. It was lots of work cooking everything, but the house smelled great and we had a lovely dinner. Friday we went to the Florence Griswold museum with our friends the Dattilos. It was a spectacular day! And then on Saturday, a long walk in the woods with the Dattilos and dogs, including a picnic. Another glorious day. Ahhhhhh.

Lagoona Blue

Sue and her friends are all going as Monster High characters this Halloween. They didn't coordinate, and still managed to all select different costumes. Amazing.

Girl Scouts Brownie to Junior

Sue's Girl Scout troop had its last meeting of the year, in which the girls all advanced from Brownie to Junior.

Girl Scouts Curious Creatures

Sue's Girl Scouts troop invited local animal educator Curious Creatures to show the girls close up some animals they probably hadn't ever seen live before. The kids were fascinated: ferret, chinchilla, and boa constrictor were among the favorites. The emperor scorpion was probably the least favorite.

Sue's 9th Birthday

Sue was nine on Memorial Day. Nine! All those trite comments about how fast kids grow up are entirely too true. She seems unimaginably big and mature to me.

Sue only had one real birthday wish this year: pierced ears. Seeing as she's getting so grown up, I figured she could handle it now, and at her annual physical we had the doctor pierce her ears. Sue was really really good about the whole thing, and so far has been really good about taking care of her ears too.

See how proud she is?

A Relaxed Sunday

The French Open has started. Yesterday Brendan and Kipper spent a little time chilling in the family room watching some early round tennis. Kipper has finally learned to relax and enjoy a little cuddling.

Sturbridge Village

We took the last day of Spring vacation and went to Sturbridge Village with the Dattilos. The girls are old enough now that they really got into it. The adults had a great time too :-).