Llamatorium

The weather has been really nice. It has been a long cold winter and finally FINALLY we were able to spend time outdoors. We even bought a new grill and I dont think we have cooked anything but steamed veggies, some potatoes and breakfasts inside at all. It has been nice to not wear a jacket or a coat.. but as it is here in the NorthEast, it was a tease. An evil, cruel joke... and Mother Nature laughs at us. This coming week will not break 60 degrees and at least tomorrow will be very wet.

I will continue to patiently wait for it to actually be spring.. but I KNOW we will soon have a steady stream of warm days.. I see flowers and leaves on trees.. I know it is here.

With the warm weather comes.. THE PLAYGROUND. Thank goodness! I love being able to get out of the house with Alex and just run around! We have been able to do alot of that.. and were especially happy to have a day to run around with Tex and Beth and their adorable son Spencer when they were here visiting from Chicago. We miss them a whole lot and were thrilled to spend some time with them. I dont know what happened with us.. but we didnt seem to take pictures that day.. I'm going to wait for Beth to post the ones she took!

Prior to their visit, we had a very warm and wonderful Saturday. This first day out and about was certainly an adventure.. Alex ran wild for over 2 hours straight.

He was climbing everything! His friend Zane (and Zane's daddy and brother) met us at Forest River Park and they just all went nuts.

of course.. we all got in on the action. I think Dave and I each climbed the tower for the big loopy slide about 15-20 times... it was a beautiful day and it was a blast.

So after a few hours we walked home and figured we should give Alex some lunch and hopefully get him down for a nap. Napping has been a struggle lately because he just wants to hang out.

So we made him some lunch and Dave was doing some dishes.. I ran in the our office to.. umm.. twitter... and I heard "Honey? Can you come here?" I rounded the corner to find...

Yup. Fast asleep on the table with his lunch.

I scooped him up carefully and tucked him in to bed where he took a crazy 2.5 hour nap. That boy was TIRED.

Boy am I glad the weather is warming up.

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We went to an amazing wedding this weekend in NYC. It is always great to go back there.. the city I still call my home.

We spent the weekend with people we love dearly, and Alex was a ring bearer in a beautiful ceremony as we watched our dear friends Kathleen and Atom get married. Special thanks to my friend Amy who watched Alex while we enjoyed the reception past his bedtime! It was one of the most beautiful, fun (and tasty! The food was AMAZING! Hello.. cookies and cream creme brule! Come to mama!) wedding I've ever had the pleasure of attending.

Alex was wonderful through the whole thing, we are so proud of him. You may remember that my friend Keith Alexander unexpectedly passed away in July of 2005. We all still miss him very much. His girlfriend, Melissa, was one of Kathleen's bridesmaids (and looked beautiful as ever). On Sunday, at the post-wedding brunch at the Waldorf Astoria (The wedding was at The W in Union Square, where we were staying), she brought Alex a very special gift. She gifted him (us) one of Keith's drums. This was a very touching gesture and we are so thrilled to have it. Keith was such an amazing person, and I'll always tell Alex the story of Keith and this drum and how it was given to him with such love and significance. There were many tears shed this weekend amongst the joy, Keith was missed, but his presence was certainly there with us in our hearts. Thank you, Melissa, for the many amazing gifts you give us, including your wonderful friendship.

Here are some preliminary wedding photos. Cant wait to see the professional ones in a few weeks!

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I know.. this blog has sadly been neglected. I'll try to keep up a little better.

Alex is going to be TWO in one week. I cannot believe it T-W-O!

He has clearly been causing trouble.. and by that I mean he is the absolute sweetest, most wonderful, amazing child in the entire world.

Everyone around me is pregnant and I vacillate between great joy for them and a longing for me.. and then glad I'm not going through that again.. and then hmmm... could I do that again?

oh and I turned 40 while I was taking my blogging hiatus.. GO ME!

Should I be surprised that we have a little drummer in the family? ...

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My sister Rachel is visiting... we are having a blast.

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Halloween in spookytown.

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Spent the day with our friends Dan and Kathy and their two beautiful children doing halloweenie things in halloween town. It was actually alot of fun.. but I think that had a lot to do with the fact that I really really like Dan and Kathy and their kids a whole lot. I'm really glad they moved back to Massachusetts and hope to see alot more of them.

Now if we can only get Tex and Beth back here...

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We found a new playground today that we LOVE. Alex can do all the slides by himself. We had a blast. Best thing is.. its about a 3 minute walk from our house. Its on the college campus and we never knew it was there.

I also think Alex sees ghosts. Whenever we drive past a graveyard he starts waving and saying hi and bye. Today a kinda spooky thing happened at the playground where he stopped mid play and said "uh oh" and pointed to.. nothing. He did it over and over.. and then there was an overabundance of static electricity around us. It was spooky.. or maybe living in Salem is getting to me. Here are some playground photos...

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Thursday was the Salem Grand Parade to kick off Halloween. It was fun! Alex likes to dance to the marching bands. We didnt get alot of pictures.. we spent most of the time either dancing with Alex or chasing him (our little ball of energy!) but here are a couple photos of Alex at daycare and at the parade in this years Halloween costume, a pirate!

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When we lived in Jamaica Plain, we lived on the top floor of a triple decker. We had this great roofdeck.. and we had great neighbors that we shared it with for several years. One year, Ciara and Jenny grew a forest of tomatoes up there. We laughed alot because there was barely room for anything but tomatoes. There was alot of tomato sauce that year. We shared many a beer and cigarettes on that roof deck with Ciara.

We just found out that Ciara Durkin was killed in Afghanistan. It is possible (from what I am reading in the news reports and comments from her family) that she was killed because she was a lesbian. One bullet through the head, in a non-combat situation, wearing civilian clothing, near the church she worshipped at. There has been a call from Senator Kennedy and Senator Kerry for a full investigation. There is no way she committed suicide.

Dave and I are very sad to hear this news. Ciara was.. awesome. She was sweet and kind and helpful. She gave so much of herself to everyone around her. Including all the animals she used to feed from our front porch (this only became a problem when the skunks wanted to be fed, haha). She especially loved the bunny family she shared with her parner Jenny, the bunnies even had their own room.

Although we havent spoken to Ciara in a couple of years.. we definitely thought about her and treasure the time we were able to know her.

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Welcoming the harvest in the Sukkah

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it really is kinda crazy how much Alex and I look alike...

Alex:

Me:

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More beach fun today. I think we have ourselves a little beach bum! Two days in a row from me! Whoopie!

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So today was a beach day. We were planning on seeing the sand sculptures (there is a big contest going on) but we ended up in the water. We were a little unprepared, but Alex LOVED running around in the ocean. He has dipped his feet before, but he was charging into the waves today, it was great! We'll do lots more beaching! Here are some of the amazing sand sculptures.. and of course, Alex.

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Daves parents were in town this weekend for a short but very nice visit. Makes us wish we lived closer to all the grammas and grampas. Here are some recent photos for you all to enjoy...

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