Copying What They See

One of the things that always catches me off guard with the kids is their ability to mimic the adult activity they are surrounded by to near perfection. Unfortunately, sometimes that comes back to huant when they release a choice phrase at and inopportune moment or come running after you with your own camera equipment. HRH is getting better since she has stopped including her finger in every shot and covering the flash.



Of course the other problem is that sometimes I can't duck out of line when someone is pointing a camera at me. I guess I don't have to put the pictures up, but hey, proof I'm alive.

The Best Day of the Year

While there are many holidays that could certainly vie for the title of best day of the year in my kids view, I would imagine that Halloween comes up on top.  It isn't quite as special as Christmas or your birthday, but you get to dress up in a costume and get candy from strangers.  Plus there is the build up to the day itself with decorations and gourds of various types.



HRH was a witch as you could probably guess.  This is a marked improvement over the pink princess from last year.  Ed was originally going to be a lion, but he was really scared of his costume.  We managed to squeeze him into it briefly, but it wasn't something that he was very comfortable with, so off it went.  Fortunately, we had a pumpkin costume that was approximately his size that he didn't mind going out in public wearing.  If that didn't work out he was going as a two year old.



We madie through a full hour of trick or treating until having had quite enough.  HRH still had enough energy leftover afterward to being on the candy dish.

A Respite in the Weather

While the midwest has been getting destroyed by a huge weather system, the northeast has been reaping the benefits of some unseasonably warm weather.  Do not get me wrong, I cannot wait until the snow starts flying around here, but I will take sunny skies and upper 60's pretty much whenever I can get it.  The kids were so excited about the weather they were literally dancing for joy.



One of the advantages of the playing outside this time of year is the garden is no longer off limits.  Plus, instead of all those bothersome plants the only thing in there now is dirt.  If my kids have found something better than dirt in their lives, I'm not certain what it could be.



As some noted I recently celebrated not dying for another year, which was nice.  The missus got me all kind of lovely things and the kids got balloons.

Hiking Mt. Watatic

As midterm exams have rolled around for the missus, I figured that this weekend would be devoted to me and kids entertaining each other.  What I forgot to factor in is that she cannot sit still for that long, so on Saturday we headed over to Mt. Watatic.  The trail guide we have for the area noted that this was one of the most frequented hiking trails in the state and it was not an exaggeration.  However, we weren't looking for a wilderness experience, we wanted to get the kids to nap.



As much as he would beg to differ Ed is not quite up to mountain climbing yet, so he was stuck on my back.  The problem is that I only go so fast, especially uphill, and often that speed is too slow to allow for much other than quiet contemplation.  Ed doesn't much go for the quiet, contemplative life, so I get to sing going uphill.  Ed likes Dropkick Murphys, NOFX, and Old MacDonald.



Upon hitting the top we consumed the massive amount of stores that we have to drag up for this very purpose.  I have to say that the view from the top of the mountain was actually really nice.  You can sneak peaks of some of the larger peaks to the north and west.  There is also a view of the surprisingly close Boston skyline.  I often forget that we are only about 40 straight line miles from the city.

You recall that again when you are hiking in the area though and get to see what some people think is good attire for going hiking in the woods.  I can understand going out in sneakers and jeans, I've done it a number of times myself.  I haven't ever actually going out hiking in evening clothes.  I wonder what the people from the city think when they find a tick later on.

Looking for Thumbbuddy to Love

HRH is a thumb sucker, has always been a thumb sucker, quite likely was in utero.  Now that we are getting older, the thumb needs to go.  Unfortunately, it is her primary means of comforting herself.  The missus has tried to teach her to console herself in a more mature fashion.  I would tell her my preferred method (Irish Whisky), but I don't think that would appropriate or legal.

One day whilst doing "homework" the missus found the Thumbbuddy to Love site which markets small thumb puppets that come accompanied with a storybook.  What the heck, it wasn't too expensive and it might be something that works, so we ordered it up.  Above you can see our new friend Ballerina Sue who was our new best friend for at least half an hour before HRH realized that she couldn't suck her thumb with the silly puppet on there.  So the battle ensues, we'll see if Sue can help out or not.



All Ed knows is that we were talking about ballerinas and dancing.   When the camera came out, he had to get his performance on the record too.

There were many other adventures today involving goats, apples, pigs, and bunnies.  Alas, they were undocumented, but I assure you, they were awesome.

Visitor From Beyond

Today we were joined by the specials guest stars Mark and Matthew.  The was particularly exciting as we were guaranteed to have someone to play with when we, inevitably, wound up at the playground.  In all fairness I had come up with a number of different things we could do to entertain our guests ranging from going to the apple orchard to cleaning the bathroom.  Surprisingly, they elected to go the playground which means that the bathroom still needs tending to, but that's for later.



The various forms of transportation were explored while we are there.   House guests are always appreciated, especially when they are still excited at the prospect of pushing Ed around in the car.   Even, though there was a grisly trike accident, there were no major injuries.



This is one of the only times when all three of them were still at the same time.  It was after two hours of flat out running and scrambling, but it didn't last for long.



It has been interesting how going to the playground with the kids has really allowed me to peg exactly how they will interact with other kids.  At one point a girl came in with her sister and mom with a black dress, with pink lace trimming.  The lace was embroidered with black spider webs and the whole outfit was completed with pink "Disney Princess" boots.  When I saw her come in, I told her mom that HRH was going to be very impressed with that get up.  Not a minute later, HRH runs up to the girl, "I love your dress, let's play!"

Knitting in the Woods

Today we are continuing with our guest photographers series.  Below you can see Ed as shot by HRH and HRH as shot by Ed.  They did have a little assistance on keeping fingers out of the shot, but that is just because I have to clean the lens otherwise.





The whole point of this trip was to wander out in the woods and try to find animals.  That, of course, is never, ever going to happen with these two as they possess the stealth of a herd of elephants moving throw the woods.  Not that it made all the much difference as we only made it about 300 yards into the woods before they plopped down and started knitting with forest products.  I haven't any idea where the idea of knitting entered into HRH head as no one in her life knits, but she does it all the time.  Maybe when she is old enough to have pointed metal in her life she can learn to do it for real.