Saturday, July 16
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Footprints to...wherever.
These footprints keep getting bigger. It wasn’t so long ago that I was so charmed at the little feet in the sand. They’re still little feet, just not as little as they once were. And, by now, the tide has swept these prints away
Bigger, Better Things
A headache grabbed Mommy again this morning. So, we couldn’t get to a big trip today. We had to settle for our local beach for some fun. Alex insists that he doesn’t like the beach. “The sand gets in my mouth!”, he complains. We’ve advised him to try not touching his mouth while his hands are sandy. He hasn’t tried out our theory yet.
There was little complaining once we got there though. Alex dashed off for the sprinkler pond and ran all over the place. He loves to run AROUND the sprinklers, just not through them. “It’s too cold!” he tells me. Yeah, well, that’s the point.
We did some surf exploring too. Alex wanted to find a sea star like we did last year. Unfortunately, we couldn’t, but we did find some crab legs and claws along with snails that Alex wanted to adopt. I had to explain the fact that they would die without being in salt water for too long. Thankfully, he listened as Grandma Orquidea talked him into returning them. Although he’d really gotten them to show her. When he’d picked up a snail at first, he squealed with delight to watch it come out of its shell to grasp around for sand. “He doesn’t know what’s going on!” Alex declared. Yes, the poor thing probably thought he’d been captured by a bird.
Alex was a Big Boy when it came time to leave. Of course, the promise of gelato at Sal’s helped. Alex had Oreo flavor.
There was little complaining once we got there though. Alex dashed off for the sprinkler pond and ran all over the place. He loves to run AROUND the sprinklers, just not through them. “It’s too cold!” he tells me. Yeah, well, that’s the point.
We did some surf exploring too. Alex wanted to find a sea star like we did last year. Unfortunately, we couldn’t, but we did find some crab legs and claws along with snails that Alex wanted to adopt. I had to explain the fact that they would die without being in salt water for too long. Thankfully, he listened as Grandma Orquidea talked him into returning them. Although he’d really gotten them to show her. When he’d picked up a snail at first, he squealed with delight to watch it come out of its shell to grasp around for sand. “He doesn’t know what’s going on!” Alex declared. Yes, the poor thing probably thought he’d been captured by a bird.
Alex was a Big Boy when it came time to leave. Of course, the promise of gelato at Sal’s helped. Alex had Oreo flavor.
Saturday, July 16
Monday, July 11, 2011
Snips and Snails on Deck
We are truly entering a new phase from toddler to boy. Alex has set me straight on the names of some of our favorite haunts. From now on:
- Powell's Cartering shall now always be called "Powell's" and no longer "Captain Salty Dog's"
- The Barnacle restaurant shall now always be called "The Barnacle" and no longer "Jolly Joe's"
- Dunkin' Donuts shall now always be called "Dunkin' Donuts" and not "The Munchkin House"
- And "Great Captain Island" shall no longer be called "Pirate Island" but shall now be known as "Misty Island", after the island of Thomas the Train fame.
Monday, July 11
Friday, July 1, 2011
July, the Unkindest Month Yet
I will be trying to keep the journal in a contemporary fashion from now on. But out of a year of hard months, July has been the hardest yet. On July 4th, in the ER of Sound Shore Medical Center, Mommy was diagnosed with a colloid cyst of the third ventricle - a benign cyst in the center of her brain. It will require surgery to remove. Shortly after the diagnosis, Daddy was fired from his job, owing in part to Mommy's diagnosis because Daddy's manager feared he would miss too much work in the future due to it.
We don't know what the rest of 2011 will hold for us now. We hope to keep an accounting of our happiest moments. At least that's what I'm trying to do.
We don't know what the rest of 2011 will hold for us now. We hope to keep an accounting of our happiest moments. At least that's what I'm trying to do.
Friday, July 1
Friday, June 10, 2011
Quittin' Time!
For the past week and a half, I have been struggling to sort and box up things for a yard sale. When that became too much work for what have been too little money, I decided to look up charities that would come and get the stuff. I settled on the Vietnam Veterans of America who will take all manner of stuff, sell it to approved second hand retailers and use the proceeds to aid vets of all generations and their families.
I've had Alex "helping" with this task - mostly in the form of his agreeing to play outside while I work.
This morning...this hot, hot morning, I collected all of the donated stuff on the lawn for their collection; scheduled to happen today sometime between 8 and 5. The photo of it all appears with this post. While I worked, Alex played with a potato bug he found on the lawn who he put in his bug keeper and to whom we fed small bits of apple.
When I was down to the last items to be moved from the garage, Alex announced that it was time to go inside for a cold drink and a snack.
"I'm hungry from all this work." he said.
That's my hard workin' guy.
I've had Alex "helping" with this task - mostly in the form of his agreeing to play outside while I work.
This morning...this hot, hot morning, I collected all of the donated stuff on the lawn for their collection; scheduled to happen today sometime between 8 and 5. The photo of it all appears with this post. While I worked, Alex played with a potato bug he found on the lawn who he put in his bug keeper and to whom we fed small bits of apple.
When I was down to the last items to be moved from the garage, Alex announced that it was time to go inside for a cold drink and a snack.
"I'm hungry from all this work." he said.
That's my hard workin' guy.
Friday, June 10
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Harbor Fest '11
Today was Harbor Fest in the village. Alex had loved seeing a tall ship in the marina last year. We were hoping he'd get to see some interesting things again this year. I was glad we went. This year's fest had so much more than last year's!
The tall ship "Soundwaters" was moored at the public dock this year. Soundwaters is part of a traveling marine ecology educational center based out of Stamford. They do public sails of the ship. It is staffed by people educated in environmental sciences and marine biology who show visitors all sorts of wildlife and talk about the habitats in and around Long Island Sound. Alex wasn't too crazy about seeing the rock crab and the spider crab, especially when the guy showing the tank placed a spider crab directly on deck. Alex wasn't too crazy about the horseshoe crab either, no matter how much we assured him it was harmless. Those back spines don't look too harmless I suppose.
We also stopped by a booth staffed by personnel from Mystic Seaport, where I learned how we can plan a short family trip there. We stopped by the US Coast Guard's booth, where they had a rolling robot ship called "Coastie" for children's entertainment.
There was ice cream to be had. There were begging swans in the marina waters. (Alex wouldn't share more of his goldfish with them. The male swan hissed at me for that.) There were some prizes to be won at the Petco booth. There were foods to be sampled (I had Indian. Daddy had shish kabob.). And there was music to be heard. (All from the 50s. Huh??)
Alex's favorite part was getting a new bubble gun. 10 dollars at the vendor's stand. Inside CVS, we saw a couple with two children buying two bubble guns for six dollars each. Wish we'd thought of that.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable day and Alex was so tired that he went to bed asleep by 7:30. Now that made for a nice, quiet night for Mommy and Daddy.
Bring on more festivals Mamaroneck!!!
The tall ship "Soundwaters" was moored at the public dock this year. Soundwaters is part of a traveling marine ecology educational center based out of Stamford. They do public sails of the ship. It is staffed by people educated in environmental sciences and marine biology who show visitors all sorts of wildlife and talk about the habitats in and around Long Island Sound. Alex wasn't too crazy about seeing the rock crab and the spider crab, especially when the guy showing the tank placed a spider crab directly on deck. Alex wasn't too crazy about the horseshoe crab either, no matter how much we assured him it was harmless. Those back spines don't look too harmless I suppose.
We also stopped by a booth staffed by personnel from Mystic Seaport, where I learned how we can plan a short family trip there. We stopped by the US Coast Guard's booth, where they had a rolling robot ship called "Coastie" for children's entertainment.
There was ice cream to be had. There were begging swans in the marina waters. (Alex wouldn't share more of his goldfish with them. The male swan hissed at me for that.) There were some prizes to be won at the Petco booth. There were foods to be sampled (I had Indian. Daddy had shish kabob.). And there was music to be heard. (All from the 50s. Huh??)
Alex's favorite part was getting a new bubble gun. 10 dollars at the vendor's stand. Inside CVS, we saw a couple with two children buying two bubble guns for six dollars each. Wish we'd thought of that.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable day and Alex was so tired that he went to bed asleep by 7:30. Now that made for a nice, quiet night for Mommy and Daddy.
Bring on more festivals Mamaroneck!!!
Sunday, June 5
Friday, June 3, 2011
The End of an Era
On Halloween 2009, while Alex was really into "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything", we all dressed up like pirates to go Trick-or-Treating. We told Alex that we were going to have lunch at a real pirate pub like he saw in the movie. We went to The Barnacle on Boston Post Road, but called it "Jolly Joe's" like the fictional pirate pub. We've also long called Alex "Captain Salty Dog" after a onesie he received as a birth gift from our neighbor Leticia. There's a clam bar not far from here called "Powell's", but due to its nautical decor, Alex kept getting it confused with The Barnacle. So, we called Powell's, "Captain Salty Dog's".
Last week while we were out on Boston Post Road, I asked Alex if he wanted to get a snack in Jolly Joe's. He looked at the sign above the door and said "That's a B. B-uh, Buh," he was sounding the letter B. "What does that say?" he asked me of the sign, so I told him what the restaurant's real name was. We could still call it "Jolly Joe's", though, right? No. "It's the Barnacle, actually", Alex informed me.
Today, I asked him if he'd like to have dinner at Captain Salty Dog's. He said "It's called 'Powell's', actually." I had told him that sometime last week too.
Seems our toddler-to-preschooler make believe world is coming to an end. Oh well. It was a lot of fun while it lasted.
Last week while we were out on Boston Post Road, I asked Alex if he wanted to get a snack in Jolly Joe's. He looked at the sign above the door and said "That's a B. B-uh, Buh," he was sounding the letter B. "What does that say?" he asked me of the sign, so I told him what the restaurant's real name was. We could still call it "Jolly Joe's", though, right? No. "It's the Barnacle, actually", Alex informed me.
Today, I asked him if he'd like to have dinner at Captain Salty Dog's. He said "It's called 'Powell's', actually." I had told him that sometime last week too.
Seems our toddler-to-preschooler make believe world is coming to an end. Oh well. It was a lot of fun while it lasted.
Friday, June 3
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