Winter entertainment

So far this winter the snow has been a no show. It's been great to be able to walk on the bike path and visit playgrounds. Still, the days are too short. Here are some ways that the girls entertain themselves on the weekends.

Princess dresses are still in vogue; sometimes a headdress is added

Caroline will spend half an hour by herself working on a sticker mosaic. After Erin stuck a few dozen tiles directly onto the table we learned not to leave her unmonitored.

While Disney movies are a mainstay in the afternoons, we got a kiddie yoga video (Storyland Yoga) that has been a huge hit and at least gets the girls off the couch...

... although nothing gets the kitties off the couch

Erin didn't really help make the brownies but she showed up for the best part

We went to Florida for our usual winter escape

That's better, Erin!

The fresh-squeezed juice from the fresh-picked oranges tasted like liquid sunshine

It's becoming a recurrent joke that we bring cold weather with us to Florida and it happened again. We had to put away the short-sleeved shirts and bust out the warm jackets. The fish were still biting and the girls weren't scared of this mini tarpon.

Yes, that's Erin in hat and mittens combing the beach in Sarasota bay...

...and the Gulf beach was no warmer despite the clear skies

Nana and Grampa Mike's new dog Riley was great with the girls and took a shine to Caroline

Erin discovered this cozy nest first

It was still a great Florida vacation!


We've mostly showed videos of sweet Caroline, but every so often she loses control. After she deliberately hit Erin we gave her a timeout and asked her to apologize. Here's her response:


Here's her sweeter side:

Christmas 2011

We took this right before bed and it reveals a dirty little secret about our bedtime routine. The girls now wear their next day's clothes to bed. It started with PJ days at school and evolved into an everyday thing. We think it's win-win b/c it eliminates morning dressing battles and cuts down on laundry. Try it sometime!

Our first holiday pageant, with Caroline's pre-K class

That's Dad down for the count from what turned out to be a case of pneumonia. It took two weeks and two antibiotics to recover. Antibiotics - such wonder drugs. What would we do without them?

What happened here? All we know is that right after the crash two cats were heard fleeing the scene. The tree stand was full of water and we don't know how they got the leverage to tip it. Next time we'll leave the cat attractive ornaments in the box instead of placing them "safely" at the top.

Even though there is a cozy corner behind the X-mas tree Erin found an even cozier pillow in Max

Ready to open presents from family on Dec. 24th

New headbands from cousin Jenna are super cute. We'll hide those pom-poms from Max.

We made it to Atlanta on the 25th and found gifts from Grandma Lu

Dad toured Grandma Lu's old house, which suffered a fire over Thanksgiving. Thankfully the tenant got out OK.

The damage inside was horrific. They think it started at a plugged-in computer and they're trying to figure out if it was at the socket or the Macbook. When we got back to Boston we checked every smoke detector in the house. Make sure you check yours!

Jenna entertained the girls while Mom & Dad caught up with Joe & Tracy

The Yarlotts hosted us for some post X-mas treats

Merry Christmas!

One night in Atlanta Erin woke up crying "I need a treat!" Maybe it was visions of sugarplums, but sometimes we think the fridge does talk to our little sweet tooth.

We didn't know it at the time, but Caroline certainly picked up on our conversations about the house fire. I wonder if her animal friends can help with our insurance claim.

Playground anxieties of a four year-old