That was then, this is now... (Ho! Ho! Ho!)

This month has had a higher than normal number of trips down memory lane, and what fun it has been!  The most recent variation was today's journey to Wickham Park, the beautiful site of our wedding.  We were married in early October on an unseasonably warm day, (just ask all the newly pregnant women who almost fainted in the heat and the pals who wore tights), in the "cabin garden" overlooking the Hartford valley.  One of the quaint aspects of the cabin garden is the inclusion of an actual log cabin, huge stone fireplace and friendly (?) moose head that hangs on the mantel. 

Here's a picture of us dancing with our nephews, Jakob and Caillou, as our pal the moose looks on:  

Today was also an unseasonably warm day, (albeit in the 50's, not 80's,) and we joined a good part of the under 10 population of Connecticut (and their parents) visiting the same log cabin to meet Santa.   

Checking out a real sleigh while waiting in line

A family sleigh ride

Checking in with the Head Elf before meeting Santa

The stockings were hung by the mantle with care

Amazed by the Christmas tree

Our pal, the moose!!!

The approach to Santa was slow, despite yelling "Hi Santa!!!" when 10 feet away

But then they warmed up to each other

Just a boy, his skinny jeans, his thumb and Santa

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

Haircut

Approximately five years ago Geno and I took our nephew, Caillou, to get one of his first haircuts.  At the time his hair was almost down to his shoulders, but when the friendly stylist at Scissor Kids was done, here was the great result:

The Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz

Fast forward those five years, and suddenly we were back at the same salon and the exact same race car chair getting Mateo's first official haircut.  (I'm not sure my snipping at wily ends really counts.)  

The "Before" Shot

Taking a little off the top....

Um, I'm not so sure about this...

Okay, now a little off the sides...

This isn't so bad!

And now the back...

Voila!  The Official Haircut Record.

And here, well, here is the official haircut / Christmas gift (the penguin, not the chocolate stout).   

Flat Stanley: The Connecticut Chronicles

One of our nephews, Jakob, is in second grade and his class has been reading the story, Flat Stanley, by Jeff Brown.  In the story, Stanley Lambchop's parents mailed him in an envelope to visit a friend in California.  Jakob's class thought it would be great to send Flat Stanley on more adventures, and wouldn't you know it, he made is all the way to the great, fantastic, superduperfragilisticexpealidocious CONNECTICUT!  

Jakob asked us to tell him and his class all about where we live and what we did with Flat Stanley on his visit, so without further ado, I give you:

Flat Stanley: The Connecticut Chronicles

Since Flat Stanley came to visit us in Connecticut, (also known as the Nutmeg State), he has gone on some fun adventures with our family and even met some Connecticut celebrities.  

On the first day, Flat Stanley went to work with me at the University of Connecticut School of Law in Hartford, which is the state capital and fondly known as the Hartbeat.  

UConn Law is the premiere public law school in New England and its beautiful campus used to be a seminary.  My job at the law school is to help students develop the skills they need to find jobs helping people as lawyers.  In this picture you can see the law library in the background, which houses thousands of books about laws from all around the world.

In the picture below, Flat Stanley is hanging out in front of Starr Hall, the building where I work.  If you look up on the right hand corner of the picture, you can see the Starr Hall tower.  I'm not positive that Harry Potter lives there, but I think there's a distinct possibility.  

On the second day he was with us, Flat Stanley went to another school, but this time to a high school, where Jakob's Uncle Geno is a school counselor.  (Here's a fun fact:  Not only did Geno graduate from New Britain High School, but so did Jakob's dad, Ricardo!)  New Britain High School is the largest high school in all of Connecticut and is known for its awesome marching band and most recently, for having the National Principal of Year, Mike Foran.  Here's a picture of Flat Stanley hanging out with Geno and Principal Foran:

On the third day, Flat Stanley asked to spend some time with our family, so he hung out with Jakob's youngest cousin, Mateo.  When he gets bigger, Mateo wants to be like Jakob and have his own Flat Stanley! 

On the fourth day, our family took a hike on Case Mountain, a small mountain in Manchester, CT that is 744 feet in elevation.  We hike to the summit of Case Mountain in the spring, summer, fall and even winter.  Sometimes we drive, but sometimes we even walk to the mountain, by connecting through a trail called the East Coast Greenway, an urban trail system over 3,000 miles long that links Key West, Florida to Calais, Maine.  (Ask your parents to take you to the Hudson River Greenway in NYC, which is part of the trail system!)

The picture below is of Flat Stanley with us on our hike up to the summit of Case Mountain.  (Unfortunately Flat Stanley was playing hide-and-go-seek with us that afternoon, so he had to come along virtually.)

On the fifth day, Flat Stanley had one of his most exciting adventures in Connecticut.  Geno took him to see the amazing, stupendous, strong, fast, talented, hardworking champions, the University of Connecticut Women's Basketball Team, the Huskies.  You may have heard of this record-breaking team, because they won 90 (!!!!) basketball games IN A ROW!  

Here's a picture of Flat Stanley with Geno at the XL Center in Hartford where the Huskies play most of their games.  (Sometimes they play at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, CT, where the University of Connecticut is located.)  (Here's another fun fact:  Geno and Jakob's dad both graduated from UConn as well!)

And speaking of guys named Geno, Jakob's uncle isn't the only guy in Connecticut with this name.  It's also the name of the Huskies Hall of Fame coach, Geno Auriemma.  In Connecticut, Coach Geno is as well known and respected as just about anyone you can imagine.  There's even a sign in the town of East Hartford that says, "Geno is God!"  (I told you, people really like this guy!)

Well, as luck would have it, Coach Geno invited Flat Stanley to visit him at his house!  Here's a picture of Flat Stanley with Coach Geno, who even signed the back of Flat Stanley's head.  (Thanks again to Coach Stigliano, Uncle Geno's friend and Coach Geno's son-in-law!)

As you can tell, Flat Stanley had a really busy trip to Connecticut, and we loved hosting him.  Thanks to Jakob, Class 2-C and Mrs. Cleaver for sending Flat Stanley to us!

Go Huskies!

-Nicole, Geno & Mateo

Baby Taxes + Two Moms = Good Food for Thought

Did you hear about the tax a restaurant in London has been charging parents of infants?  Apparently they decided that toddlers free-load off their parents' meals (true), and so in order to stop losing money on these hangers-on-ers, their policy called for adding on the equivalent of $5 to the bill.  (Note, the restaurant's definition of toddler starts at as young as 6 weeks.)  As a former waitress (a lifetime ago), and someone who likes to eat out frequently and has brought my child along to most places we go, I feel somewhat qualified to weigh in on this topic.

First, there are clearly some types of restaurants that young children should not go to, and I would say 99% of parents employ common sense and don't bridge the fine dining divide.  At the other end of the spectrum are all the kid-catering places, from the sensory over-loading Rainforest Cafe (ahhh!) to our personal favorite, the balloon dispensing Moe's Southwest Grill.  The real issue, of course, is that middle ground, where young children may or may not be welcome.  Our family approach to these types of places is to avoid busy hours, make sure Mateo is not starving and to order as soon to sitting down as possible.

Which leads to the whole ordering issue raised by the London baby-tax.  To order separately for the child, or not?  Typically I'm guilty of ordering something that I know that Mateo will like and then putting together a little plate for him.  Am I cheating the restaurant out of money?  I guess, but you know what, for every buffet that has made a 200% return on me, I'm not gonna sweat it.  And moreover, if you're going to tax the kiddos indiscriminately, I'd prefer to see a minimum charge on each person present in a party.  Ridiculous, but if it's all about the business model, than wouldn't that be a more comprehensive approach?  Sheesh.

Okay, and now in more uplifting news, I can't help but re-post the video of Zach Wahls, the young man from Iowa who recently testified in front of the Iowa Legislature against amending the Iowa Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage.  As the world has shown by all attention he has received, you don't have to be a University of Iowa alum in order to connect with his impassioned speech, but just for the record, I would like to add: I-O-WUH!