Happy 60th Birthday Grandpa!

Practice makes perfect...maybe next year I'll be able to play "Happy Birthday" for you.

19 Months!

This month...Ellie wanted Baby to ride on the dolphin and join in the photo shoot!

Apple Picking!

This past weekend, with the very slightest hint of a chill in the air, we all headed out to the orchard (about 20 miles out of the city) for an afternoon fun of apple picking. Due to the weird weather of the New England this summer (drought followed by very heavy rains) the apple season was moved up a few weeks. So, without sweaters on, we headed out to pick our peck of apples!

The orchard was a lot of fun. Besides the Gala, Cortland, and Mcintosh apples ripe for picking, the farm also offered cider donuts, cider, hayrides, hay maze, and a petting zoo. Ellie adored the goats, sheep, and llama and couldn't get enough of them. However, she was a little too little and young for the hayride and maze.

We also discovered that Ellie can and loves to eat her own apples. She actually ate two (!) by herself while we were at the orchard.

Since we got to go apple picking so early this year and Aunt Susie missed the visit, we are hoping to get out there again for some Red Delicious, or Yellow Delicious, or to pick our pumpkin!

Last Days of Summer

Over Labor Day weekend, we opted to explore a wading pool/playground on the Esplanade along the Charles River. Its a shame that we didn't learn of or head to this park earlier in the summer. It took Ellie a little while to warm up to the wading pool...but she had a blast once she ventured in.

Yep, that's the Zakim Bridge right behind us!   And that's the Charles River!

Be There or Be Square!

EAT at ELLIE'S!

If you don't like our food.. Daddy will eat it for you.

Our basement renovation is done and Ellie's Diner is open for business. Thank you very much to Grandma & Grandpa Harrer for offering to get Ellie this '50s diner playset. She has a lot of fun dancing to the juke box's music, making and pouring imaginary coffee, and frying up everything from hamburgers to slices of pie to scoops of ice cream. She likes sitting on the bench and "eating" a bit more. I must say, though, the cheese is a bit too realistic in its look and feel. She tries biting a piece off of it pretty much every time we're down there.

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Here's a look at our new-look basement. Those orange walls are all new, as are the closet doors. All the boxes that used to be strewn about are now neatly packed in the four feet of space between the walls and the basement's *actual* wall. We have less space, but a lot more useable space.. and it looks a lot bigger even though it isn't. Eventually there will be Ellie toys on those bookshelves, as there are in the little, tiered white bin-holding shelves.

You'll also notice Annie's birthday present -- a full-sized (88 keys) digital piano. The keys have the feel and weight of an actual piano, but this thing can do all the fancy stuff keyboards can.. with over 600 different sound settings, stored beats, the option to record your playing, etc.

Needless to say we're no longer reluctant to spend time downstairs. It's cooler than the rest of the house (speaking of temperature) and now that the boxes are properly stored it's a fun place to be.

Perhaps I'll even have some of the guys over for a proper poker game one of these days...