St. Nicholas Day

On December 6th we celebrated St. Nicholas Day. Sydney and Evelyn enjoyed seeing what St. Nicholas left them in their wooden shoes and they are loving the colorful bean bags they received on St. Nicholas Day from their Nana and Papa.

Trying on the shoes for size

Sinterklaas Festival

A few weekends ago, we went to the Sinterklaas festival in Rhinebeck, NY. During the day they had the kids decorate crowns and branches and put their wishes for the year in the Peace Dove (pictured below). At 6pm they had a parade starring St. Nicholas and a cast of puppets...and of course, the children in their crowns who are the kings and queens of the day.

Sydney showing off her crown and branches

Getting ready for the parade.

St. Nicholas

This one freaked Sydney out a little but she recovered quickly. The would sway back and forth and get close to the crowds.

Father Christmas

 The video is of a pair of snakes - pretty cool.

Play Room Part II

Play Room

Joshua has been hard at work renovating our basement and turning it into a play room. Here are some before and after shots from the windows to the dry locking to the electrical work to the framing to the flooring to the padded pole and the finishing. The room now has an extensive 4-part climbing wall, a chalkboard wall, a padded colorful floor, and white paneled walls which second as dry erase boards!

New Orleans

I had a conference in New Orleans so we decided to make a family trip out of it. We enjoyed the Children's Museum, Aquarium, the street car, some city parks...and the food! We also enjoyed catching up with grad school friends. The girls were great on the planes and Evelyn found some creative uses for the plastic airline cups.