Anouk's First Birthday Party

Our niece and Sue's first cousin Anouk, adopted from China this past summer, was feted at her parents' house this weekend. Anouk has learned to walk since we last saw her. She is the most unflappable baby I've ever met, and cute as a button. The birthday party theme was "fairies", a huge hit with the girls, although the few boys present were no so thrilled.

Sue Tries Out The Camera

Sue has started using the digital camera in the last few months, and while the first several (many) pictures were frequently of the floor, or completely out of focus, or half of someone's head, they have been improving markedly of late. Witness:

Halloween 2008

This year Grandpa Jim and Grandma Gail came to visit the weekend before Halloween. The Peabody Museum was having their Halloween special, and since the weather was not great, we decided to have pizza in New Haven (always the best), followed by a visit to the Peabody.

There were bean-bag tosses, make-a-black-cat-witches-hat, win-a-spider game, and the spooky witches corner at the Peabody. But our favorite part was the "bird lady", who comes every year and brings her rescued owls and hawks.



We spent Halloween evening with the Dattilos, trick-or-treating around their neighorhood after a delightful spaghetti-and-meatballs dinner. It was a late night, but totally worth staying up for!

Natalie was Hanna Montana, and Sue was a black cat.



A sparkly black cat.



The candy haul around Natalie's was much bigger than Sue usually gets around Johnson's Point.

First Day of School

Sue started first grade last week. This year she'll be taking the bus to school, and then to an after-school arts program, where we'll pick her up. I asked her how she felt, and she said "I don't have any butterflies in my tummy Mama. I'm butterfly-free." Wonderful!

Sue with her backpack, all ready for school:



At the bus stop:



Then on Saturday, we went to the Haddam Neck Fair. Sue got her face painted, as a butterfly!

Look Ma!

Sue has lost both of her two front teeth, as well as another on the bottom. Her mouth is distinctly scraggly right now. But she doesn't seem to mind.

Anouk's Christening

Sean and Collette had a beautiful day for Anouk's christening. The kids played, the adult's talked, and Anouk was, of course, the star of the show.

Eli Whitney Summer Camp

Sue had a great time at the Eli Whitney Museum's summer camp sessions. We signed her up for three one-week sessions; each session was a different project. The first was water and boats -- they made a different model boat each day. Then it was a week all about the legend of Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest. They made a diarama with the forest and the castle and figures from the story. The last week was all about bugs. They made a bug-research tool chest in the shape of a bug and went on field trips looking for new bugs every day. Way cool!

Sue was also signed up for some after-hours care, when the kids played in the water "laboratory" outside.

There was an elephant fountain:






A sand and water exploration table:



A giant chair that was one of Sue's favorite places to play:


The museum is next to a reservoir and waterfall, so it's always a little cooler than in the city:



Overall, she was a very happy camper.