Spring in CT

We just got back from a nice vacation/visit in South Carolina with my Uncle John and Aunt Mia. They have been asking us to come for a couple of years and we were finally able to fit it in! Their house in Kiawah is beautiful with a wonderful view of the expansive salt marsh in back of their house. My favorite spot was the screen porch; great for drinking coffee and looking at the view (I sound like a Maxwell House commercial!) Of course, that tranquil time was quickly interrupted when Quinn and Gussie woke up and landed in my lap. The hot tub wasn't too hard to take, either.

We got to play golf at two great courses. Thursday was "grown-ups only" (our rule, not theirs) at a course named Osprey Point. This course had a lot of beautiful manmade lagoons and $3+ million (gasp!) homes. That's a lot of money to watch alligators climb up your bank. Very scenic, and maybe this is what kept all of us from making any putts! Quinn spent the day at Kiawah Kids Kamp, and seemed to like the very warm pool and the fact that they played "Big Time Rush" music when he first arrived. The second course we played at was Briar Creek, which was just off the island. This is a really nice, I would think really exclusive country club. Quinn will now think that any golf club offers free cookies, danish and a cooler full of juices to the players before they head out for their round! Quinn did really well for his 9 holes, especially considering we had left his driver at the range 2 days before.

The whole trip was great...and the frightening ride in the car during the severe thunderstorm added the little bit of excitement we may have been looking for! John, Mia, Bo Diddly and Gussie were wonderful hosts and they made our visit seem very special.

No Buster!

Actually, Buster has been a pretty good puppy. We've had a few accidents here and there but I think between crating him at night and taking him out literally every hour or two...he's getting the hang of it! Of course, he hated being out in the rain. And he's quite the little biter. Depending on his mood, it can be little nibbles if he's just being quietly playful, but if he's all revved up--especially with the kids--his little razor teeth can pack a good little whallop. So far, no crying children so that's a big plus.

Here are some differences between Kirby and Buster.

Kirby never really minded loud banging noises or thunder...I think Buster is going to be afraid of them.

Kirby was never a fan of climbing under furniture...he never had that cozy, enclosure feeling that dogs are supposed to have! Buster will go under our bed on one side and come out on the other. Maybe he's making new friends with the dust bunnies.

So far, Buster has no romantic interest in pillows...I have my fingers crossed he'll stay that way. I think Kirby was a freak of nature.

Buster likes to play "fetch" a little bit, but I think Kirby might have been the best canine shortstop or goalie that ever lived.

Meanwhile, on the two-legged front, Quinn is doing great and is gearing up for his 3-sport spring. Once the temperature gets out of the 30s, we'll be ready to go!

Sunday, March 13th

Well, I wasn't able to hold Matt and Quinn off any longer. Yesterday, Matt looked at the newspaper and decided we should all take a road trip and look at a toy poodle in Colchester. It was love at first sight. He looks exactly like Kirby except that his coloring is a little more brown. He's a very pretty sandy color. He might be a little bit more a city dog whereas Kirby was definitely a country dog. We decided to stick with the name "Buster" that we had come up a few days earlier. Buster seemed overwhelmed by the open spaces in our house. I think he was pretty confined at the breeder's cluttered home.

I predict that Buster will have a very different personality than Kirby. He seems kind of mellow. His favorite activity it to crawl around behind your neck and lick your face to death. I just hope he eventually will be a ball chaser like Kirby. This puppy also seems like he might be a little bit more of a chewer than Kirby (one of the few bad habits Kirby didn't pick up). We'll have to see how he turns out! This week we'll get him to the vet and make sure he's on the right track with the "potty" training. So far he is doing very well! Last night he cried when we went to bed and left him in his crate, but he stopped after a while and seemed fine today. I think he'll get used to the routine quickly. Quinn is adorable with him. He held him in the car and was very gentle with him. Definitely a good age for a boy to get a dog...even if he does get tired of playing with him quickly, I'm sure he'll be a good addition to the family.

One last note: Grammy is away getting ready to surprise Aunt Cake for her 80th birthday. Wait until she sees who is waiting for here at home! Hope she doesn't mind our new addition.

Today is Wednesday March 2nd. On Saturday, Walker got married to Abbey in Cape May, NJ. We had a great time. The reception was at Congress Hall, which is where we stayed. I think we had the most slanted room in the hotel. Quinn and I were taking balls and rolling them down the floor without pushing them. But the hotel had a lot of interesting history and charm and the banquet hall for the reception was beautiful. The "Tiffany blue" color was really gorgeous. The cocktail hour was in the "Boiler Room" and it was definitely the basement! Quinn and Grammy both didn't care for that room too much. I thought it was cozy....it was probably even better suited for the after-party because there was a band playing and the acoustics were really good.

The weather for the day was really nice...about 45 degrees and very little wind. I still don't know how all of those women manage without coats. I went into the church with no coat and I was freezing outside! Quinn did a fantastic job as ring bearer....I was so proud of him I could hardly stand it. He ended up standing up for the entire ceremony next to Uncle Rob. I think Walker and Abbey appreciated the levity he brought...especially when he covered his ears when the minister began to speak about love! Barb and Grammy both laughed out loud.

At the reception, Quinn had to turn down many offers to dance. Some of the women really refused to take no for an answer and one of them actually picked him up, carried him to the dance floor and started swinging him around. He was a trooper about it...I think he might have secretly enjoyed the attention, otherwise we might have seen his "angry face." Two other highlights of the reception were Uncle Rob's best man speech...it was really emotional; and the entrance of the bridal party...each couple did a unique entry, such as a chest bump, etc. it was really clever. And of course, Walker and Abbey entered to the tune of "Brass Bonanza."

I thought Cape May was really pretty...too bad it's so hard to get to. And it probably gets warmer ocean water much quicker than Cape Cod. The first (or last) hour of the drive to get to Cape May is very open with a lot of water and marsh land. It was really pretty.

One other note to remember, Cape May had really good prices on lobster! We had a lobster lunch at the Ugly Mug that was really good. I think if I really wanted to, I could convince Matt to go back to Atlantic City and Cape May for a few days...we would just have to be strategic with going off-season to avoid traffic and high costs.

Friday, February 11 4:45 pm

We are supposed to have a big thaw next week with the temp getting up to 50 degrees! I really need to take a picture of our deck while the snow is at its highest (I hope!) Quinn lost his 2nd tooth today. As he described it, he yanked it and yanked it and YANKED it until it came out. Then he got to go to the school nurse and she gave him a special tooth box. Hope we all remember tonight at bedtime and later to get ready for the tooth fairy. Quinn thinks that he gets more money for yanking it out himself....not sure how he came up with that one!

I subbed 2 days at Tariffville this week and loved it. It's getting to be that time when everybody is speculating about next year and what will happen with the librarian situation. I hope they're considering me in that mix!

Quinn has a hockey jamboree tomorrow with Avon and he is so excited! He and Drew really want to win their games. I found out that Drew, Nathan and James are all signed up for lacrosse. Drew is actually signed up for lacrosse and T-ball, so we'll probably do the same thing. Lacrosse is either going to be extremely muddy, or it won't start until Memorial Day with all this snow. I can't wait to see when we actually get in the pool. Last year, Matt and Quinn were in by May 15th. My bunco friends want me to host a pool bunco party with floating dice for the water. That could be fun!

Monday is Valentine's Day, so Quinn has started writing out his valentines. It is like pulling teeth, although from what I wrote before, that's not a good analogy because he enjoys pulling teeth! So writing out valentines is much worse. I think our jigsaw puzzle phase might be over...it was fun while it lasted. We have been back working on mazes a little bit. Right now for books, we are reading Arnold Lobel books in addition to rereading a "Diary of a Wimpy Kid". Quinn loved "Big Nate," so we need to look for another of those. We also read an entire "Wallace and Gromit" graphic novel which was pretty involved. I would like to try Tin-tin sometime. Mixed in with those books we are rereading the Mercy Watson series, and reading whatever Quinn brings home from the school library. I am trying to get through the 2012 Nutmeg nominees. So far, my favorite book is "Masterpiece".

I am looking at several feet of snow piled up outside my home office window and wishing I was looking out at the Caribbean Sea as I was last week on our Norwegian cruise. I guess this year (2011) is a record in many ways for snowfall and cold.

Our cruise from Jan. 22-29 was wonderful and the combination of the Brookes, Grammy, the Huckers and ourselves worked out great. Quinn and Madeline got along perfectly for the whole vacation. They were always in sync with wanting to do the same thing. The DS systems really came in handy at times...it was great to have them at dinner, so the grown-ups could relax with their wine and desserts. The water slides were fantastic (although I confess I don't have first hand experience). Chris went down the Epic Plunge three times with the help of some great crew members.

Other highlights of the cruise included:

--Mouthwash happy hour

--The shows: Legends, Blue Man Group and the comedian/magician. Also, the Howl at the Moon pianists were really talented, and played all of our requests right away!

--Going bowling

--Getting the daily crossword puzzle....it was just the right level for me...I could almost finish it every day; it wasn't my fault that a few of the clues were lame.

--Eating, eating, eating!! I'm not sure what my favorite was in this category. It could be the eggs benedict, or the great french fries, or the feeding of the animals (I mean passengers) the chocolate chip cookies at 2:00. I loved how our cabin was so close to the buffet...we could grab morning coffee and happy hour cheese and crackers with no problem. The dinners were great and we loved every restaurant we tried. I think the most pleasant surprise was Cugino's. It was a great meal for a $10 surcharge...well worth it! And Matt got us off to a great start on the cruise by sending us to the sit down restaurant for lunch instead of fighting the crowds on deck.

--Playing roulette at the casino. Although Matt and I lost, we kept it going for a while and our numbers came in occasionally. I always look forward to playing for at least a little bit. Unfortunately, we couldn't find any of the roulette machines that we've had great luck with in the past.

--Roatan, Honduras. What a pleasant surprise we had from this island stop! The beach was incredible and we had a great tour guide for the day-- "Ronnie" who was with us for the entire excursion. Lee set up our ride and I am sure that this is the way to go...to find our own excursion as opposed to setting up the same thing through the cruise ship for twice the $$. Ironically, Matt was close to not even joining us for the day, and he agreed it was one of the best parts of the trip! I have never seen a more perfect beach. White sand, perfect water temperature...blue blue blue water and sky, and just enough teeny tiny seashells to beach comb through. The banana boat ride was a blast and I enjoyed getting a peek at the end of the island where it looks like they're building a beautiful resort. I wonder how prices compare to stay there as opposed to something like the Ritz Carlton on St. Thomas?

--I wasn't that impressed with Costa Maya, but I'm so glad Jackie signed us up for the dolphin encounter. Quinn didn't last too long in the cold water, but I made it through and so did Jackie and Madeline. There wasn't too much else to see here, so I'm glad we did it!

--My last favorite was the spa! I loved spending a little bit of time in the "stations" hot tub, although I fell in at first and almost lost my swim suit in the waterfall. I think it's impossible to go to a spa for the first time and not make at least a little bit of a fool out of yourself. Oh well, by the fourth visit I had it down pat. I really loved the scented steam room; it helped sooth my nasty dry cough.

Those are the highlights: If the weather had been a little better, and we didn't have a cold and cough bug running through us, I would rank this vacation a 10. But in spite of those two minor complaints, I give this vacation a solid 9.

January 15, 2006

Quinn is now nearly 14 months old! Here's a few of the neat things he's doing:

This morning at breakfast, he sat in his high chair with his hands clasped...he looked like an altar boy! I was able to feed him his oatmeal without too much of a mess. Yesterday I was showing hin that one of his trucks was an ice cream truck. He immediately went into the kitchen and stood by the freezer. In other "food news," dark meat chicken is back in favor...baby food is out! And tell Luna pizza to keep sending those deliveries.

Last night, the Leylands came over for dinner. We made veal from D&D market. Max and Charlotte spent time with Quinn and rode around the upstairs in his two toy cars. Max wants the BMW!

Quinn now gives big mushy kisses to Kirby, Mommy, Daddy and the Christmas bear. He loves having his favorite books read to him over and over. His top bestseller list right now includes "Cliffords Hiccups," "Bob the Builder" and "Miffy". He also likes "Corduroy at the Zoo."

But his favorite toy is still BALLS which he will throw all day long. Too bad he can't seem to figure out how to catch them!

We had breakfast at Grammy's today early to see Kathleen before she went back to school. Weather was cold with enough snow to snowblow. We finally are back to two cars in the garage. The Maxima is gone. I had hockey practice tonight and Matt watched Quinn...he hobbled around after him on his recuperating ankle.