Happy Birthday, Dan!

Yesterday, we celebrated Dan's birthday! Finley is now old enough to understand what birthdays mean: presents and cake--so we had to make sure we covered those bases.

I baked a cake on Friday and then Finley helped me decorate it during Dagny's morning nap yesterday. Sprinkles on the lower tier.

 More sprinkles on the top after we iced on a D. (Phonetically speaking it is convenient that Daddy and Dan both begin with D!)

Poor Dan had to work on his birthday, so after he got home and the kids got up from their naps, it was present time!  Dan got some great gifts and cards and then we headed out for a seafood dinner.  Our first restaurant choice failed since the wait was too long, but our second choice was just delicious.  

All of this pomp and circumstance was a means to an end for Finley, however.  As soon as he finished his dinner, he announced to the table next to us that since it was his daddy's birthday, there was a big cake at home.  They were kind and shared his enthusiasm for the impending dessert.  Dagny had since fallen asleep in her car seat so we rushed home to light candles, sing, and dive into the beautiful, homemade cake before bed.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Aunt Caitlin's Photos

Here are some photos from Aunt Caitlin's camera from her weekend here at the end of September.

Caitlin was kind enough (and tiny enough) to squeeze in between the two carseats in the jeep for a ride.

 And then pushed Dagny around the supermarket while we shopped.  Dagny was wide awake upon arrival...

And sound asleep by checkout!

 Finley loved playing with her in the basement and let his silly side shine through.

 

Ever since, Dan and I have been hearing about "Aunt Cait-win did this" or "Aunt Cait-win made it this way."  What a lasting impression she left on Finley!

Caitlin's friend, Maggie, came over and since she hadn't seen Dagny since the day she was born--she was impressed at how big our gal had gotten.

One morning, Dan took care of Dagny and Caitlin, Finley and I went to a story reading at our fave bookstore.

 As silly as I look, I had to post this one since it captured the moment perfectly! Gotta love storytime!

The Forseter Pizza Shop

Finley loves going out to eat pizza.  His favorite part is watching the "chefs" make the pizza and put it into the gigantic oven.  I figured he was probably ready to be a pizza chef himself.  Yesterday, I got some pizza dough and pre-baked it so it would be ready for Finley to top.  

Here he is putting on the sauce (that I spiked with some broccoli!).

And spreading it around.

Then, it was time for the cheese!

 

We popped it in the oven and about eight minutes later, ta-da!

I cut it up for the two of us to share.  Finley sat down and looked at this plate of pizza and said, "But I only like the pizza shop pizza" and then gave me a pathetic sad face. Uh-oh.  After some conversation about the ingredients all being the same and the fact that this was the only food available for dinner, Finley reluctantly took a piece and popped it into his mouth.  Before he'd even chewed it, he piped up to say "I like it!"  Ha! He ate his share and some of mine :) Bon appetit, Chef Finley!

Dagny and Mommy

A couple weekends ago, GG took this wonderful picture of me and my girl.  I just found it on the camera and had to post it :)

Octoberfest 2012

As new town residents, we are trying to get a feel for the place and hit up any and all town events.  West Acton hosted it's (almost) 20th Octoberfest on Saturday so we drove over and scored a great parking place despite the major road being closed for the event.

The scene was hopping! Kids, grown ups, booths, balloons flying, delicious smells all around, and to Finley's great joy--a band was playing up on the stage.  This band was supercool since it was three highschool kids playing and it turns out, they write all their own stuff! How awesome is that? Finley rocked out until they finished their set and then we walked around a bit more.  We came across a gem that will surely become a family favorite: The Acton Model Railroad Center.  Seriously, this shop has been here all along??? Finley ditched us when he spotted one of the trains running in the lawn outside the shop and as I hurried after our usually attached kid, I knew something good must be in his sights and I was right.  Going into the shop was like stepping back in time since my dad used to have a model train set up in our house growing up.  Finley LOVED seeing all the models running on the tracks.

We had to beg and beg for Finley to go back to the festival with us, but thankfully we had a temping offer to sway him.  We'd run into our neighbors in the train shop who asked us if we'd checked out the fire station and the bouncy house at the end of the block and around the corner and since we had missed them, we made our way there.  Truth be told, Finley was only minorly interested in leaving the train shop, truth be told, but since he is in general a rule abiding citizen, he agreed to leave.

Kids were swarming around the corner so we knew we were headed the right direction.  Before we could even make it to the bouncy house/fire station hoopla, we passed something spectacular.  For .50, Finley got to drive this motorized motorcycle for three laps around the track.  He was so excited that he nearly burst.  To our surprise, Finley was able to keep his foot pressed down on the "gas pedal" and steer at the same time but Dan stayed close just to make sure he was safe.

He was a total pro!

And my best picture of the day:

He willingly parked his motorcycle and we headed off to the bouncy house, which was pleasantly deserted.  A few kids came through and Finley had fun jumping around and fake falling.

Then, it was on to the fire house.  What a scene! There were all sorts of fire rescue vehicles there: old school fire engine, fire boat, etc. The fire house was open and they were giving out pizza, cider, chili, apples, juice, etc.  plus all sorts of fun stuff for kids to play with.

Pizza crust in hand :)

We finished our pizza out near the big hook and ladder truck.

I'm regretting that I didn't hop aboard and ask a passerby to snap a family photo...

On our way back, Finley tried out the motorized dump truck but this one had a little too much power and Finley went a bit off course and finished just two laps.

 

We wandered back through the thick of things and ran into some Tufts friends and neighbors and we scheduled a get together for next weekend.  One of our friend's daughters who is about six or seven asked us if Finley had ridden the motorized cars because she "used to love them when she was little."  I guess that activity has been around a while!  Dan grabbed some fried dough and then we walked back to the car.  

A new autumn tradition for us in born and we can't wait to go back next year!

Finley Here and There...and Dagny, too!

I just uploaded a handful of photos from the past couple weeks and they show Finley here and there and just about everywhere.

Finley loves trying out the monkey bars and can't wait till he can reach them himself (either can we).  

At the library playground aboard the wooden train yelling, "All aboard!" He's wearing his new hat we got at the local kids' consignment shop, gotta love a $3 BabyGap hat :)

Happy guy taking a snack break at another local playground.  But after taking this photo, it was apparent that his cold weather winter/spring wardrobe wasn't going to cut it for another season...shirts tight and short and pants way too short!

 Reading with Dan before bed in his new fire truck PJs.  He seriously grew over night and we had to bust out some new clothes that were stockpiled in his closet.

Here he is in some better fitting clothes, post-haircut.  His bangs got slightly butchered; no matter what I say to whoever is cutting his hair...it always happens.  A couple weeks later, things are evening out so that's good.  He's eating his reward cookie since despite losing his %$&@ at first while getting his hair trimmed, he did pull it together nicely :)

 

Finley's helping Dan support his frisbee team this past weekend.

And not to be left out, here's Dagny all swaddled up before a nap showing off her adorableness!

And with her GG at the fields.

 And finally, one of the two kids together.  This morning Finley talked to Dagny while I dug through a new box of handmedowns for something warm for her to wear.

The cute one-sided conversation went something like this: "Good morning, Dagny.  Did you have a good sleep? Do you want to see my Owly?" Such a sweet older brother :)

Loveys

Since Finley loves, and I do mean LOVES, his Owly lovey--it has come time for Dagny to bond with hers that were gifts from her big bro in the hospital.  Both kids were given two potential loveys and Finley's loyalties went to Owly over Fanta years back without any push from us.  Will Dagny choose Rocky the Raccoon or Hops the Bunny?  Well, the first round went to Rocky!

 It's not just how a lovey feels, but how it tastes!

Aunt Caitlin Comes to Acton

Last weekend, my sister came up from NYC to visit us in our new house.  She'd been to see it as we were finalizing our offer on the house but not since we had moved it so I was thrilled to show it off.  Caitlin has been SO amazingly helpful since Dagny's arrival--visiting us often, helping out at Aunt Ellie's wedding, etc.  With Dan off at frisbee practice, having an extra set of hands (literally) is awesome.  On Saturday morning, Dan took Dagny to run some errands and Finley, Caitlin and I went to a storytelling session at a local bookstore that sells only its own books.  Barefoot Books in Concord is a fun store that we have been to a few times and this visit did not disappoint.  We enjoyed some lovely books read aloud, Finley made a turtle out of two paper plates during the craft time, and then we bought some books to bring home.  Heaven. We stopped by Trader Joe's to pick up a couple items and Caitlin captured a rare Allison and Finley photo that I actually loved, voila! Photo credit: Aunt Caitlin.

After everyone napped that afternoon, Caitlin pulled double duty entertaining both kids at once.  Impressive!

It was a treat to have her here and I was reluctant to take her back to the bus station on Sunday afternoon...but alas, she does have her own life and we will patiently wait to see her again (she's coming back in a couple weeks for the Head of the Charles and then in November when Dan goes to AZ for a family wedding).  We love you, Aunt Caitlin!

Happy Sukkot, Finley and Dagny!

With the support of GG and Grandpa, Finley, Dagny and I celebrated our first Sukkot this year.  GG sent Finley three children's books about Sukkot last week in preparation for the holiday.  The books were a HUGE hit (especially Engineer Ari and the Sukkot Express) and we have been reading them over and over since UPS delivered them.  GG and Grandpa arrived early this afternoon with plans to make a sukkah of our own.  Finley had the lingo for this holiday down and so after his nap today, we got to work "building" our sukkah.  Now, we are a bit out of compliance for this holiday since the sukkah is supposed to be built (our porch has been around some 30+ years probably) and you are supposed to be able to see the stars through the thatched roof (we can't see them through the roof, but we can through the screens).  However, it's the thought that counts, right?  Gilda and Murray put up some strings and then we started hanging decorations--Finley was an eager participant passing grapes and leaves to his GG.

 And Grandpa gave him a lift to hang some items himself.

He was jealous that GG got to use the stepladder, so Finley tried it out though the extra elevation did not really help our decorating scheme.

 

Dagny watched in awe and enjoyed all the buzz.

Then, it was time to say some prayers.  GG and Grandpa brought some Sukkot accessories that we had read about in the books we had been reading, including an etrog and a lulav (see children's jewish learning webpage here for more info: http://www.bje.org.au/learning/judaism/kids/holydays/sukkot.html).  They brought real ones and plush ones.  GG shook the real ones and Finley the plush, he was stoked to have his own!  

 Here's our sukkah!

We ordered some Indian food and enjoyed eating it out in our Sukkah this evening.  Something tells me Finley will want to eat breakfast out there tomorrow morning, too :)

 I can't wait to do this again next year (time to head to the craft store to stock up on fake fall leaves, grapes, apples, etc.)!