Post-Christmas update

We survived the Christmas rush and what a blast.  Isabelle was awesome this Christmas - totally getting into opening presents.  I think she liked opening the presents more than anything else.  Gotta love being three!!!  We spent Christmas in CT with our families.  Talk about Christmas festivities - three days long and still going......Hope everyone had a great Christmas too!

In January, I'm going to read 'Out of Africa" with a newly formed friend founded through another blog.  She loves 19th C literature too.  Of course, Out of Africa is not 19th C, but it is one of the very few 20th C and later books I read and liked.  So many people just like the new stuff.  Alas, I find it rather tedious with rare exceptions.  BTW, the book is a million times better than the movie!!!!!!  It's an easy read (for those 

not accustomed to reading "heavy" stuff) and truly grasps one attention throughout the book.  Highly recommend.

(Favorite Christmas Gift)

(Walking with Daddy Christmas Day)

Two days until Christmas

The mad rush is upon us in our household.  It is two days until Christmas and baking, last minute items and giving homemade gifts to friends is well underway.  I love this time of year, though I wish it were warmer!!

Enjoy a nice cup of hot cocoa, or this fantastic recipe for Chocolate-y Christmas Cafe au Lait (www.Foodnetwork.com).....ENJOY!

Chocolate-y Christmas Cafe au Lait

This is a take-off of sorts on Cafe Brulot, Hot Chocolate, and Cafe au Lait. Both the Cafe Brulot and Cafe au Lait are served in New Orleans, the Brulot after dinner, and au Lait with breakfast. Cafe Brulot consists of orange peel strips, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and sugar being ignited with liqueurs in a large bowl to which black coffee is added. Traditional cafe au lait is scalded milk and black coffee simultaneously poured into a cup or carafe. Both are served piping hot. And the chocolate added to this gives the coffee a definite hot chocolate twist, sure to please all age groups. For a stronger coffee flavor, add another 1/2 cup hot coffee to the mixture.

Prep Time:

10 min

Inactive Prep Time:

10 min

Cook Time:

6 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

8 to 10 servings

This is a take-off of sorts on Cafe Brulot, Hot Chocolate, and Cafe au Lait. Both the Cafe Brulot and Cafe au Lait are served in New Orleans, the Brulot after dinner, and au Lait with breakfast. Cafe Brulot consists of orange peel strips, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and sugar being ignited with liqueurs in a large bowl to which black coffee is added. Traditional cafe au lait is scalded milk and black coffee simultaneously poured into a cup or carafe. Both are served piping hot. And the chocolate added to this gives the coffee a definite hot chocolate twist, sure to please all age groups. For a stronger coffee flavor, add another 1/2 cup hot coffee to the mixture.

1 1/2 cups whole milk 
2/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar 
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder 
2 ( 2-inch) cinnamon sticks 
1 strip orange peel, about 1/2 inch by 3 inches 
10 whole cloves 
2 to 2 1/2 cups hot brewed strong coffee 
1/4 cup cold heavy cream 
Ground cinnamon, for garnish 
Cocoa, for garnish

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the milk, 2/3 cup of the sugar, and cocoa until smooth. Add the cinnamon sticks, orange peel and cloves and bring to a simmer, stirring, to dissolve the sugar and prevent the cocoa from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat, cover, and let steep for 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whip the cream with the remaining 1 teaspoon sugar until thick and frothy, and peaks form. Set aside.

Strain the milk mixture into a coffee pot or carafe and add 2 cups of the hot coffee (2 1/2 cups for stronger coffee flavor, to taste). Pour into cups or small mugs and top each with a dollop of the sweetened whipped cream.

Serve immediately.

Been awhile

Having fun by candlelight Friday night!

There is nothing to make the holidays more stressful than a good old fashion major power outage!  Yup, on Thursday December 11th, we lost power due to a nasty winter ice storm that hit NH the hardest (over 600K people w/o power in NH alone!).  Our power was not restored for eight days.  Luckily, Isabelle and I headed to CT on the 13th and stayed with my Mom until Saturday.  Just in time for a Nor'easter of a winter snow storm.  Two winter snow storms in three days with over 2 feet of snow all together.  Certainly will be a white Christmas here!!!

We did manage to have some fun and even hit the snow yesterday while it was blustery and snowing........I'm going to be busy 

with making cookies, finishing Christmas cards etc...so off I go....

Eating birthday cake with Cousin Erica

Grandpa's Birthday dinner - Happy 75th Birthday!

Design Mom contest - check it out!

Wow, Gabrielle of DesignMom.com is having a great 12 Days of Christmas giveaway.  It starts tomorrow (12-12) and ends on Monday (12-15).  To enter - merely check her site out tomorrow and make a post.  How simple is that one?!  

Plus, if you have not checked out Design Mom in the past, Gabrielle has some awesome (and I mean awesome) giveaways, advice, comments etc. 

Don't wait - go there now and tomorrow!

Click on the following link to take you directly to the fun: http://www.designmom.com/

Apple verses Microsoft

This is too good not to share!  As everyone is well aware, I am the proud and happy own of a new iMac from Apple.  Totally in love with it too!  So, I am learning all the applications, and one such app is Pages - Apple's version of Word.  Rather than reading the manual or downloading it from the internet, I decided to call Apple customer support.  Who will know better in less time it will take me to read the info than customer support...right.....

Wrong!  Apparently, customer support at Apple uses, are you ready, MS Word not Apple Pages!!!  The customer service guy had to contact the application specialist on how to do what I wanted (basically, how to save to my memory stick and be able to open and attach the document....nothing earth shattering).  

After laughing for quite some time, I hope that Steve Jobs is not too upset that his friend Bill has infiltrated is own customer support people.  Ahh, the power of Microsoft....

Wonderful Weekend

(Dinner with Isabelle and her cousins)

The weekend started with a bang!  Saturday we hosted our first-ever Holiday Open House.  We had over a dozen people come and say hi and enjoy some holiday cheer.  Then on Sunday, Al's family made the trip up to see us.  As you can tell, Isabelle loves playing with her cousins!

(Isabelle with her cousins - Michael and Erica)

Sister update

I am so proud of my sister.  She is a wonderful person, and apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks so.  She was recently interviewed and spotlighted in the November 2008 issue of Connecticut Libraries.  To read the article, visit http://www.ctlibraryassociation.org/Newsletters/2008/nov2008.pdf, and go to page 9.  Though, the picture is not one of her best....sort of looks like she is getting over a cold or just waking up ;-)  Though, I will not hold it against her - wasn't her fault that the professional photographer was not available....hahahaha.....

Way to go Ann!

A friend's blog

The great thing about blogging and social networking is you meet great people and sometimes discover people you already know are doing the same!  I recently joined another group (Amherst Moms), and the coordinator of the group has a blog as well.  She has a fun one describing life as a mom to her children, dogs and husband....very cute!  Check her blog out at www.holyboogers.today.com.  Plus, she's lucky enough that she gets paid for every click on her blog, so go check her out!!

Today will be spent getting ready for tomorrow's party.  Talk about last second, I finally decided this morning what I will be making...so off to cook and do all the final touches to make the house warm and inviting. 

Yesterday was a blast.  Isabelle and her friends destroyed my house and had a great time doing so!!!  They painted, glued, ran, screamed and giggled the afternoon away.  Isabelle crashed

 about 30 minutes after everyone left.  She was so tired and slept with a smile on her face :-)

(One quiet moment)

(Having fun playing and creating)

(Before everyone arrived - the art play area)

iMac is here and cooking with Isabelle

My budding chef and I decided it was time to use some bananas that were not going to be long for this world and make some yummy homemade muffins.  Isabelle *loved* being able to pour, mix and spoon throughout the experience - as clearly noted by her BIG smile

I am also thrilled to announce that this is my first posting using my new iMac.  Some things are intuitive while others, well, let's just say I called Apple support three times last night and have the toll-free number close at hand.  I usually don't get this excited about electronics, but WOW, I really like this thing.  Very easy to use and takes up so much less space....great for those of use who do not have a lot of space to spare.  

Still getting ready for Saturday's Holiday Open House.  Starting to get some of the finishing touches accomplished.  I wanted (and have done) to fill a vase or glass with lemons and cranberries as a center piece for the dining room table.  I was just about to go out and buy what I wanted to use when I discovered I already had something....a vase from a long time ago.  Sometimes being a bit of a pack-rat can be to one's advantage!  I'll take pictures and share.  It looks stunning!  Get creative this holiday season and see what you have laying about to use as decorations.  You may surprise yourself as I did to myself!

Awaiting my iMac

Today is the day my new iMac arrives and I am waiting with bated breath. Everyone I know who has one raves about it. Being this will be my first iMac or computer from Apple of any kind, I hope it is as good as noted. To complete my Apple set, I will need to get the iPhone....not sure about that one yet....iMac and iPod are pretty fine right now.

The Holidays are Here

(Possibly the picture for our Holiday cards)

Thanksgiving was really great. Spent time with both my Mom and Al's family, and it was really very nice. Isabelle had a blast playing with her cousins...as any kid should! Now, I am prepping for both Isabelle's "kid" birthday party (Thursday) and our Holiday Open House (Saturday). This month is a busy one. Every weekend something is going happening, and the weekdays are no less busy. Dinner parties here and the like. Wow, when January comes around, I'll be bored!

Joined FaceBook, and was amazed at how many of my friends are already a part of it. Also joined Twitter....though no one I know is on it as of yet...working on that one!

(Isabelle and I)

Over the weekend, we went to purchase our Christmas Tree, and had a lot of fun doing so...as the pictures below indicate. The house is almost all decorated. I have decorated an artificial tree in our screened-in porch, and it looks awesome. Used red and gold decorations only, and it looks grand!

(Isabelle in action!)

(Helping Daddy find the right tree)

Photo Session Preview

A preview of the great pictures taken at Isabelle's most recent photo session.....just too cute!! (Taken earlier this month.)

A Murphy's Law sort of day

By Murphy's Law, I am not referring to the TV show (never watched it, so truly do not know if it relates or not), but more to the old saying. Well, today was one of those days. It started yesterday with Isabelle getting a little cold. So, instead of working, I spent the day with her. We cuddled on the couch, watched movies and just plain had as much fun while being quiet as possible. This morning, my computer has decided to meet its maker. Normally, annoying as it would be, I would not be too stressed. Alas, tomorrow is a big event I am planning and was hoping to spend today getting the last minute items completed. Instead, I spent the day trouble-shooting my PC with Dell and then configuring Al's laptop so I could get some work done. It is 9:30pm, and I am so tired!!!

So, no pictures yet and I need to get to sleep. I may watch a Sherlock Holmes movie before falling asleep...I need something to relax and unwind my frazzled mind ;-)

An afternoon with horses

It is a beautiful fall day and Isabelle and I headed to the barn this afternoon. I am happy to report that my love of horses seems to be passed on genetically!! Isabelle did not want to leave and we spent over two-hours watching, petting and hanging out with the horses at the barn. She has not been to Denise's since she was about one, so it was totally new and exciting. Not to mention she has not been so intimate with and seen so many (over 20 horses were visited today!!) horses in one spot. She was in heaven. She cried that she did not want to leave...her exact words "No Mommy, no go home, stay here with hee hees (horses)". We were not even half-way home and she fell asleep. And with good reason - we spent most of the time outside doing all sorts of horsey activities. Now, this is my kind of play date ;-)

BTW, Denise has been my trainer for over 10 years. She has a fabulous stable - Southwind Farm, and you can check it out at her website (www.southwind-farm.com). She is planning on updating it soon with more great pictures and additional info!!

Joy the Baker Blog

I discovered this blog while reading another. I love to cook and bake especially. This blog is really very good.....stay a while and enjoy it!

http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/

Photo Session

This morning Isabelle had her three-year photo session at Pixel Perfect (www.pxpkid.com). (BTW, she is on the website - go to Portrait Gallery and click on Cute Kids. She is the one with a close up and wearing a green apple outfit. This was taken last year!) Each time we go, the pictures are better and better. I do not mean by the photographer as she is *awesome*, but Isabelle gets more animated and has a lot of fun. One of the outfits Isabelle wore today was a Hanna Andersson Swedish winter dress (for a peak at the dress, click http://www.hannaandersson.com/style.asp?from=SC%7C4%7C2%7C24%7C25%7C1%7C%7C. Isabelle's dress is Ivory with black details.) Her hair was in braids and with her round face, she looked like she belonged on the cover of the catalogue. Once I have the pictures, I will be posting some here. This may be a few weeks, but so well worth it!

It is unusually warm today and yesterday was a perfect day - in the 60's and sunny. Hard to really think that in about a month the cold will be upon us! Needless to say, we are spending tons of time outside. Also, I will be posting some truly fun pictures of Isabelle with her newly loved fuzzy lamb slippers.

Enjoy the new order of the world! Here's hoping it will be as good as so many people believe and history does not repeat itself.

Dinner at Unum's

Last night Al and I had a delightful "adult" dinner at a great restaurant in Nashua - Unums (www.unums.com). As the last time I was there, the food was excellent. I had a grilled swordfish with garlic mashed potatoes, shrimp and a delightful sauce. Al has a sirloin steak satay with a shrimp and crab meat sauce over great steak fries. We started dinner with baked brie....I so love baked brie. it came with a brown sugar glazed baked banana (Al ate it), strawberries, blueberries and a pear with a raspberry sauce. Dessert was even better as I had a warm pumpkin bread pudding with fresh whipped cream. Al did the boring route with cheesecake with mixed berries. Over all, dinner was great. The only downside was we were so tired from the long night on Halloween (Isabelle did not go to bed until 11pm!) and the craziness of Saturday that by the evening we were beat. How pathetic is that?!

The coming week is going to action packed from Monday through Friday. Friday being the big day for Isabelle as her "big girl" bed will be arriving. Now, if I can only keep her in bed for the night, life will be wonderful. Have a feeling the next couple of weeks may be tough.

A great new blog

I located a fun blog - A Little Bit Funky - My Life as a Beautiful Mess (http://littlebitfunky.blogspot.com/). Very cute and fun. Plus there is a give-away for Lassie Girl on the blog...how wonderful is that?! (Lassie Girl has a shop on Etsy.com and sells great children's clothes. Isabelle has quite a few pinnies from Ashley!)

Happy Post Halloween

(One of the many carved pumpkins at Lull farm)

This Halloween has been the best one in a very long time. Now, it's not that past Halloween's have not been fun - just sort of boring. This year, Isabelle is almost three and she loved Halloween. We had a Halloween Boo-Bash on Thursday with her little friends. After the party, Isabelle crashed in a big way. A true sign of a great party ;-)

(My little Flower Fairy)

(Girls Just Wanna Have Fun)

(Driving Miss Isabelle....Rachel drove while Isabelle called Daddy on the "phone"....hmmmm, maybe I call Al too much from the car?!)

Halloween day itself was full of surprises. We started the day by running some boring errands, and were surprised at the vet's office. We arrived at the vet's just in time for the local preschool to arrive for some goodies (no candy goodies). Isabelle watched all the "older children" parade by her. The office was decorated for the festive holiday and Isabelle even received her very first Goody Bag. She was thrilled and played with everything all day. Apparently it was such a good deal that she needed to bring the goodies to all of the stores we visited.

Went to AC Moore (local craft store) and purchased a ton of fun craft stuff for Isabelle. Then the afternoon was spent on our dining room table gluing everything to colorful construction paper. She totally loves glue! Hey, who doesn't? It has so many functions and I expect I will be discovering them all over the coming winter ;-)

To end the day, we went to Lull Farm (the local farm stand down the road from us) and checked out all of the pumpkins. Lull hand carves all of the pumpkins they do not sell for Halloween night and light them. It is awesome and many people come to see them. As we live on a street that does not receive trick-or-treaters, this is our tradition with Isabelle. She was thrilled to stay up late and see all of the pumpkins. She did not want to leave....no one likes to have the good times end.


(Ready to go see pumpkins with my little pumpkin)





(At Lull Farm)

This morning we are heading off to ballet class. Isabelle *loves* her ballet class. This evening, Al & I will be going out to dinner. Our first dinner in NH w/o Isabelle. Amy will be babysitting Isabelle. Isabelle loves Amy too. I've been telling her all week that Amy will be coming, and her eyes light up and she starts telling me that Amy and Reilly live next door.....Reilly is Amy's family dog.

Happy November! Enjoy the extra hour of sleep tonight....I know I will.....

Been a while

Wow, where has the month gone?! In a couple more days it will be Halloween and then the big rush of holidays through the end of the year. I love this time of year, though I could do with less cold ;-)

Isabelle has been very busy this month, and she adores her ballet class! They had a "visiting day" last Saturday where parents and guests could watch the last fifteen minutes of the class in the classroom. Isabelle at first thought we were taking her out and cried and told us to go. Once she realized that we were just there to watch, she was okay. We took some great pictures and really wonderful videos...okay, so I am such a geeky Mom.....and I love digital cameras. I have really great Cannon camera - the real kind with various lens and speeds - that I never use since getting my digital camera. I loved my Cannon and it does take excellent pictures....some of my pictures include the parade in Boston when the Patriots first won the Super Bowl and Tall Ships in Boston - both having been taken from the 35th floor of Exchange Place. It is an awesome camera! But alas, waiting for the prints to develop is just too much for me now-a-days. Maybe one day I'll buy one of those really nice professional digital cameras that is similar to my Cannon but produces the digital pic instead of using film. Ahhhh...technology.....

(Isabelle at the dance studio before her class)

(In class)

Anyway, tomorrow is Isabelle's second ever Halloween Boo-Bash. Her baby friends will be coming and I hope the weather is okay. Snow is predicted. How scary is that one as it is not even November yet?! My good friend from college visited yesterday, and her parents live in Canada - just outside Montreal, and they have snow already. I'm not ready for snow!


Enjoy the cool brisk autumn day....and until next time.....ta ta

Monday joke of the day: Living in New England

The following is a simple sort of funny. Sorry for not posting in a while. It has been a whirlwind of excitment, and I promise to update everyone before the end of the week. Enjoy!

Forget Red necks ......here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about New Englanders...
*If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you live in New England.
*If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in New England.
*If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in New England.
*If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in New England.
*If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of New York City for the weekend, you live in New England.
*If you measure distance in hours, you live in New England.
*If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in New England.
*If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' in the same day and back again, you live in New England.
*If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in New England.
*If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you live in New England.
*If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you live in New England.
*If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80 and everybody is passing you, you live in New England.
*If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in New England.
*If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction, you live in New England.
*If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in New England.
*If you find 10 degrees 'a little chilly', you live in New England.
*If there's a Dunkin Donuts on every corner, you live in New England.

A twist on the normal

I have been a longtime fan of a website/company called Despair Inc (http://www.despair.com/). It is a truly twisted and funny look on life. Most recently, they have developed a new t-shirt that is the "One Glass. Ten Points of View." It is truly amazing! (see above) I highly encourage everyone to go visit Despair, Inc. Though, I do warn you that if you take way too seriously, you may not find the irony in what is said and sold by the company.

On another note, Isabelle and her friend Hannah went apple picking today. They had a blast playing with the farm animals, drumming on old cans, picking apples and posing (as well as two toddlers can) for pictures. Isabelle picked about 12 pounds of apples, and she did not want to leave! I think both of the girls would've stayed until all the apples at the orchard were picked.

Tomorrow, we head off to Baby Ballet at a dance studio in Amherst. That should prove to be interesting. It will be Isabelle's first exposure to anything resembling structure. Being home all day with me, she does not get it in any way!!

Au revoir!

The Isabelle Line

Being an avid shopper and always looking for quality items, I was told about a website about two years ago called Etsy.com. Since then, I have purchased many wonderful and beautiful items. One such "shop" is one of my favorites, Lassie Girl. Ashley (owner and designer) makes a beautiful line of children's clothing - mainly for girls up to age 6. Isabelle owns many a Lassie Girl pinnie!

Lassie Girl is proud and excited to launch the *NEW* Isabelle line! How exciting is that one?! She developed the line for Isabelle, and it carries her name. Click on the link below to check it out as well as all of Lassie Girl's beautiful line. You know what I will be getting Isabelle soon ;-) Thank you Ashley. It is beautiful!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15259288

(The Isabelle Pinnie and coordinating Isabelle cord skirt)

Another action packed weekend

(Corn Toss - Playing with another toddler.

The boy is four years old...Isabelle is tall for her age!)

Yesterday was a blast! There was the threat of rain, and yet it never did. This was great on so many levels, but the highest being able to attend Hollis Old Home Day. OHD is the town's carnival/fair. It was fun and perfect for a toddler. There were booths from various local merchants and non-profits, clowns walking around providing free balloon art (Isabelle has a pink kitty cat), face painting, food galore and a traditional carnival - rides and games. Though 90% of the rides were way too much for Isabelle, at the end of the day, she tried the train and Loved it. Of course, by the time she had the courage to try it, it was late and she could only go around twice. Oh, she was bummed as a result. She played a lot of games, we ran into friends and had a really good BBQ chicken dinner. It was rumored to be a lot of food, and it was! I wanted to enter the apple pie contest, but never had the time to cook one. There is always next year.

(Isabelle won a Dalmatian dog toy!)

(Having oodles of fun on the train....it was hard to say no after she decided it was really fun!)

We could even see some of the fireworks from our house. It was truly a wonderful day. Friends, family and fun are a perfect mixture! (Yes, we did run into some of my friends....and one that I have not seen in a while too!)

If the rain stops early enough today, I plan on going apple picking. The hope was the rain would hold off long enough so that the apples would be dry. Alas, this may not be the case. But, I need by 30lbs of apples to start cooking, and as the season is getting late, I want to be able to get some good ones!!

Ta ta for now.

Life Update

(Playing one of many "old" games at OSV)

Hi everyone - As is usual, the past couple of weeks have flown by and been very busy. Where to begin?! After my Mom and Walter left, we had a couple of days of hanging out at home and my trying to catch up on work. Labor day weekend was a busy one. On Sunday, we went to Old Struburdge Village (MA). WGBH was having a member day - members plus up to five people could gain free-entrance to OSV. It was awesome. Isabelle *loved* and ran the whole village. We spent from 11am to 4pm there. She never faltered, and feel fast asleep before we even left the parking lot. (Mental picture: snack bag in one hand, water in another and fast asleep....just too darn cute!)

(Pumping water...we'd be a thirsty group if left to Isabelle!)

Then, Monday, we attended our neighbors' Labor Day Party. Another long day filled with fun and being outside. We arrived about 1pm and left around 5pm. Meet some of our other neighbors too - one on Cameron Road and another on Baxter Road. Roberta and Stacey are wonderful. Isabelle tried the pool, though she decided she did not want to go in after getting ready.

(Some random shots at Pete and Mary Ann's pool.)

So, did the fun end there....no.....today we went to our other neighbor's home for their son's first birthday. It was awesome! And, not in a little kid sort of way. This was like no child's birthday I have ever experienced. Jayne and John hired a band to play music (latin-music (mexican) band), the food was catered by Dutch Epicure (awesome food!!!), there was a multitude of drinks (alcoholic and non), games for both children and adults, access to the indoor pool (very nice indoor pool) and so much more. We stayed only a couple of hours as Isabelle was getting a little too wired and tired. But, it was a great two hours! Unfortunately, no pictures....didn't bring my camera :-(

So, where do we go from here? I am in the final stages of stressing about the golf tournament. It is this Wednesday. Then Saturday, we are off to Hollis Old Home Day for some local flair and fun...living in a small New England town, Old Home Day is a fair with a BBQ, music, games, contests (apple pie contest, pet contest, etc) with fireworks in the evening. Should be fun.

Hope everyone else is having as much fun!

Whirlwind Day

The past few days have been so much fun. My mom and a good friend of the family's, Walter, visited Isabelle, Al and I in New Hampshire. They arrived yesterday and left late this afternoon. We had a blast! Some of the highlights included a mini-walk at Beaver Brook, tour of the stables and brewery at Budweiser, visiting the animals at the local farm and a great dinner at my house to just name some of the items. Conversation was great as was the whole experience. It was Isabelle's first encounter with a Clydesdale, and she was not afraid....most likely due to the fact that she has been up-close and in person with other horses, though not as big! (Having been to the barn a few times since her birth certainly helped!!) I need to download the pictures and get them here. Also, I'm totally exhausted - in a good way. So, off to relax and watch either a few episodes of Futurama or Red Dwarf.

Summer is almost over

This week has brought to my attention how summer is very close to being over. Okay, so technically, summer is not over until the fall solstice - Sept. 22nd, but for most everyone, we believe summer ends after Labor Day. Everyone is back in school or more focused at work. The good thing is that after a long summer of skipping out of work early, taking vacations etc, we are given a bunch of holidays to take us through the new year before needing to settle down and truly concentrate. So enjoy the summer while it lasts!

With that said, Isabelle and I are heading off to CT this weekend, and returning with my mom and Walter on Monday. They are staying through Tuesday. Then a SEC meeting for the car club (Social Events Committee) on Wednesday evening. Being the chair of the SEC has its challenges as well as being a ton of fun too! Right now we are in the organizing stage of the our biggest annual event - The 2009 Winter Reunion Party (f/k/a/ Holiday Party). We're holding it this year at The Highlander Inn in Manchester. If all goes well, we will be having a ten-piece jazz band as the entertainment. Should be a ton of fun!

Speaking of busy, Al will be both flying and participating in the club's second ADSS this weekend. As a private pilot, he needs to go up every two years with someone who tests his knowledge and skills. This keeps him certified. Then on Sunday, off with the car club to race around and have fun in his car. He is taking his Honda S-2000. My car, the actual BMW, has yet to see the track or a skid pad. The chair of DEC (Driving Events Committee) has an S-200o as well and loves it when Al shows up with his. They have a blast!

Aside from Isabelle dealing with a nasty head cold this week and stressing over the golf tournament I am organizing for CAI-NH, my life has been pretty tame.....if it can be called as much!!

Enjoy the weekend, and hopefully much more to post next week.

Isabelle and the Beach

Yesterday was Isabelle's first encounter with the beach. We drove along the NH coastline and viewed the vastness of the ocean from inside the car. A very good way for a toddler to see the ocean for the first time! A friend recommended a quiet little beach on New Castle Island, so we headed off to find it. It was as she noted, not the best beach for sand, but perfect for toddlers. No one was there - it is located at the end of a residential road, and it is in an alcove. So, thought the ocean was there, it was not as intimidating. Isabelle was a little unsure, but soon discovered the fun of throwing rocks into the ocean, and there were plenty to throw!

Here are some other scenes from the beach.