Hair Today . . .

The three year's worth of hair went to a worthy cause.  Thanks, Rie!

Campaign Clean-up

Marin's mom spent the last year working on her campaign for Utah state legislature.  Unfortunately for Utah, her campaign was unsuccessful.  Marin spent part of her time in Utah helping her rake a season's worth of leaves.  

Charlie helped.
The yard signs are being stored, not thrown away.  Maybe for another election?

Best Friends

Playing with Utah Friends

One of the best things about our visit was the chance to visit with Utah friends. Marin wasn't fast enough on the draw with the camera for most of our visits, but we were able to get some photos with one of Charlie's girlfriends.

Graham cracker break on the stairs.

Checking out Kara's camera.

Being photogenic with Grandma B's silk flowers.

And playing in the leaves (a fall activity we are missing in New York City).

Go, Rangers

Every once in a while Gil snags Rangers tickets from his work.  The seats are great: on the level of the ice, right behind the penalty box, and Madison Square Garden is a cool place to be for anything.  None of us know much about hockey, but, hey, what a great way to learn!

Even thought we have great seats, Charlie is mesmerized by the huge television screen hanging from the ceiling.

More Playground Photos

Charlie's longtime friend Makinlee joined us for playing in Central Park and lunch at the apartment when the weather got too cold.  Marin's pictures turned out pretty bad, but Makinlee's mom, Ashley took some great ones.

Charlie spends the majority of his time in any playground running laps around the play equipment.  If he has a friend to run with him, so much the better.

Two-year old play goes like this:  look for the other two-year-old; assess whether the other two-year-old's activity looks cooler than whatever you are doing; if it is cooler, copy that activity; reassess.

Charlie doesn't actually spend much time in the swings.  His favorite swing-related activity is running right next to them.  He hasn't been knocked out by swing children yet, thanks to Marin's vigilance, but he could get his teeth bashed in any day now.  Charlie lives for danger.

Charlie's thrill-seeking personality doesn't extend to hanging bridges.  I love his body language in this photo.  Normally, he wouldn't venture onto this bridge at all, but he acts brave to impress Makinlee.  She has a thing for jumping up and down on playground bridges.

New "Monkey Jammies"

Marin and Charlie are spending a wonderful weekend in Provo.  Marin has been neglecting the photo opps with cousins et al, but she's repented and promises to be better over the next few days.

To prove that she's truly turned over a new leaf, here is a photo of Charlie asleep in Grandma B's basement in his new monkey jammies.  Marin loves them and Charlie, well, Charlie will learn to love them.

Don't you just want to grab him and kiss him up like crazy?

30 Rock!

A Ratatouille Halloween

This year, Gil and Charlie dressed as Chef Gusteau and Remi from "Ratatouille."  They were a hit everywhere they went.

On Halloween day, we started the festivities in the morning with playgroup at Little Engine Playground in Riverside Park.  We had a costume parade, stroller trick-or-treating, and a potluck lunch.  The kids were a little confused to see everyone dressed up and they didn't understand why moms were taking more pictures than usual.  Candy, they understood.

The weather was beautiful.  In fact, during the warmer part of the afternoon, costumes had to come off for some active climbing in the playground.

Gil surprised Marin and Charlie by taking a vacation day to celebrate Halloween with us.  Charlie loved riding on Gil's shoulders during the children's parade in Greenwich Village.  

Greenwich Village throws a huge Halloween parade and party in the evening, but in the afternoon, they have tons of free, family-friendly activities, including a carnival with free food, entertainment, and rides.

Charlie skipped his nap so when we got home at 5:30 pm, he was already too pooped for trick-or-treating.  This was okay with Gil and Marin.  There will always be next year.