End of a Tradition

On this last day of NaBloPoMo 2011, Jasper and I just have one parting thought to share with you - all done this. We have come up with a new meaning for NaBloPoMo - Never Again Blog Posting Month!! Hope you all enjoyed that past month because their ain't going to be anymore.

Growing up

Does anyone remember this from two years ago? Well, it sure is easier with long legs...

Sidewalk Chalk

On Sunday, we returned home from New Jersey and it was beautiful weather outside. After we unpacked and had something to eat, I went out to the field and met up with my friend Abby from school. We had a lot of fun playing together but we ended up drawing with chalk on the patio of the Old Stone House for quite some time. What were we drawing? Ourselves of course! We traced each other's bodies and then added clothes and other features. There were Jaspers and Abbys all over the place! 

That's me!

The Choo-Choo Trifecta

We had so much fun during our post-Thanksgiving outing in Philadelphia on Friday, that we decided to go back one more time over the weekend, and this time, we hit a choo-choo trifecta!

What's a choo-choo trifecta, you ask? Well, we originally meant to just go to the Reading Terminal Market with Daddy, Dziadek and Babcia, but got there a little early, before all the shops opened for the day, so decided to take a walk to the old Wanamaker's building, which Daddy remembered fondly from when he was a kid growing up near Philadelphia. You see, Wanamaker's was a famous department store, and back when Daddy was a kid, every year it hosted a dazzling Christmas light show. Well, some things have changed since then - the Wanamaker's is now a Macy's; but some things have not - the light show goes on! We got there just in time for the first show of the day - it was dazzling, and it featured choo-choos! 

Everett and I were both mesmerized. 

After the show, we figured that the Reading Terminal Market would be open by then, so started walking back, but on the way, stumbled onto the SEPTA headquarters building. SEPTA, for those of you not in the know about these types of things, is the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority - one of my favorite public transportation systems. Not only that, but it turned out that the SEPTA headquarters hosts an annual train show, which, since we were there early on a Thanksgiving weekend morning, we had all to ourselves. 

Not only that, but there was also a gift shop, and inside the gift shop, a Chuggington choo-choo table! 

And not only that, but after the gift shop we wandered down to the building's lower level and discovered this:

A real Philadelphia trolley! Just standing there, open, and all to ourselves! As you can imagine, Everett and I took advantage of this opportunity - we climbed right in, and spent much of the rest of the morning playing trolley driver, taking turns in the driver's seat, collecting tickets, calling out all the stations, and in general doing everything that you would imagine two boys do when they find an open, unguarded, uncrowded trolley car just standing there...

Once we were all trollied-out, we finally made it back to the Reading Terminal Market, and to the original reason for coming to Philadelphia. Yep, you guessed it - a choo-choo display (our third stop of the morning featuring choo-choo's, in case you're counting...) 

This one was the grandest of them all, featuring all my favorites, even including New Jersey Transit!

The best part was that there were buttons all along the display that Everett and I could press to activate various elements in the display - like getting the trains to go, or getting the people in the dioramas to move or skate or dance, lights to go on and off... well, you get the idea...

Whew - that was a lot of choo-choos in just one morning! I think Everett may have even started getting tired of them all, because he wandered off and found a new friend...

Post-Thanksgiving Outings

Yesterday, after eating a big Thanksgiving dinner the night before, Jasper and I decided that we needed some exercise to work off some of that extra food. Instead of pounding the pavement in search of Black Friday deals like everyone else, we decided to take the train into Philadelphia and walk around Rittenhouse Square. It was a beautiful day. We played around the square and found some fun statues to pose with. 

In the afternoon, we had a visitor - Ciocia Olga! Jasper and I were so excited to see her since we haven't played together in so long!

We still had a bit of excess energy pent up so decided to visit the local park and play ball, run races and play hide-and-go-seek.

Do you think that Ciocia will find me here?

Thanksgiving Dinner

As Everett mentioned yesterday, we spent Thanksgiving in New Jersey with Babcia, Dziadek and Prababcia. We got into the car first thing in the morning to beat out any lingering holiday traffic. I was SO excited to go to New Jersey. It's been a while since we last saw Babcia and Dziadek. Plus, I wanted to show off my new haircut, which, by the way, I decided on all by myself. The barber asked me how I wanted my hair cut and i responded, "Short. I don't want long hair like a girl for Thanksgiving." So there you go.

Everett, on the other hand, decided to nap through a good portion of our drive down the New Jersey Turnpike.

When we got there, we played and played. But, there were still dinner preparations to help out with. Since I had experience setting the table for our Thanksgiving Sharing Lunch at school, I offered to help Babcia and Prababcia set the dinner table.

Look at all the beautiful food!

It was so yummy. Everyone dug right in. What a great feast!

Happy Thanksgiving (again)!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that everyone has a wonderful day with their family and friends. We are heading down to New Jersey to Babcia and Dziadek's house. But last night, Jasper and I had a pre-Thanksgiving dinner at home, complete with decorations that we each made at school. We've been watching Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving and learned all about setting a beautiful table.

I made the candle holders at school and here's my special placemat.

Jasper's placemat is a little bit more intricate. He is almost five after all.

I also decorated an ear of corn which lists all the things that I'm thankful for - Mommy, Daddy and Jasper. Jasper's is thankful for so many things that he made a whole book!

The last page is my favorite. What are you all thankful for this year? Happy Thanksgiving and don't eat too much!!

School Thanksgiving Sharing Lunch

We've been spending a lot of time at school the past week or so learning about and preparing for Thanksgiving, as well as talking about all the things we are thankful for in our lives. One of the things that my friends and I are all thankful for is all the yummy food we get to have that our parents and others make for us. So yesterday, before everyone went to visit their families for the holiday, we had a big sharing lunch at school. All the kids brought in a dish that they like to share with their friends. I decided I wanted to bring in Mommy's famous smashed sweet potatoes - and that I would help prepare them!

Mommy seemed more than happy to have the help, and so we got down to work. First, we baked a whole bunch of sweet potatoes, and then once they cooled down, it was time to peel off the skins.

Then, I added all the other ingredients and spices, like nutmeg and heavy cream (hey, what did you think made those sweet potatoes taste so good?!)

Then, it was time to SMASH the sweet potatoes - my favorite part.

Even Everett got in on the action - he was a very good helper, as you can see.

And finally, the moment of truth - the taste test to make sure everything was seasoned just right before the newly smashed mixture was ready to go back in the oven for one more bake.

Mmmm, mmmm, good! We had a great sharing lunch at school. There was so much food, all of it was delicious, and best of all, everyone loved my smashed sweet potatoes. Thanks for helping me make them, Mommy and Everett!

Nighttime Companions

From bottom left: Blue Dog, Dog, Big Elmo, Big Dog, Penguin, Polar Bear, Panda Bear, and New Dog. Bobo is tucked into the corner up top.

This is what my crib looks like in the morning (Yes, I'm still in a crib. No comments please.) Yes, I like to have some companionship at night when I am sleeping. While some children like to sleep with one lovey or even two, I like to sleep with 8 friends. That's right - 8. That's not even counting my bobo aka blankie. And that's the way I like it.

Old Hat, New Hat

It's starting to get a bit chilly out. It is November afterall. So it's time to break out the hat and gloves/mittens. When we went to storage the other day, I found a new set that I am in love with. Actually, you all might recognize the hat/mitten set from when Jasper was about my age. While it's an old hat to him, it's a new monkey hat to me. Bye Bye!