Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone!  As usual, we had a low-key day and didn't do anything extravagant (unlike that Valentine's Day 8 years ago when we closed on our house!  We just know we will never top that day!).

Alice and Mommy worked hard to make Daddy a nice Valentine's Day dinner when he got home.  Upon saying grace tonight, we learned who Alice believes we are praying to when she said "Come "Lord Pizza" (apparently, aka Jesus), be our Guest and let these gifts to us be Blessed.  Amen."  We had to laugh at that one! 

Here are some shots from the evening:

Burgundy Pork Loin:

Sesame Broccoli and Bell Peppers:

Cake!:

Yum!

Alice has been potty training recently.  She has had some success with both the poo-poos and the pee-pees, but is still just beginning to get the hang of it.

Here are the rest of our Valentine's Day photos.  Enjoy!

Alice's First Hair Cut

Today, we took Alice to have her very first professional hair cut.  We visited a made-for-kids salon called "Snip-Its" and she was such a big, good girl for the hair stylist!

Snip-Its was so much fun.  When Alice sat down in her very own chair (smaller, and fitted with a seatbelt, unlike adult hair salons), the stylist began by blowing bubbles to catch Alice's interest.

Then she gave her some animal crackers and a lollipop and got started on the haircut.  Alice sat nice and still and seemed to enjoy the haircut:

She had her bangs cut and the back of her hair trimmed.  No more mullet for this girl!

The stylist finished up the haircut with a ponytail and a ribbon.  She looked so cute!

Alice was excited to see her haircut in the mirror:

At the end of the experience, Alice received a prize for being a good girl - a little rubber ducky!

Here she was, checking out her new 'do in a kid-sized mirror:

Here is a link to some additional photos from our visit to Snip-Its.

Adventure Day!

Today, the three of us took the opportunity to have an adventure day!  We had a Zipcar, so we started the day by going out of town and trying a great breakfast place.  Then we drove around until we could find a plastic sled for sale (this was not an easy task after all the snow we have had this year!).  We then drove out to Fruitlands in Harvard, Massachusetts.  They were hosting an event called Winterfest.  We sled down the hill several times then warmed up by the bonfire and enjoyed some hot chocolate.  Then, we got back in the car, and took Alice to get her first haircut!  We then capped off the day of Adventure with a nice dinner at the Outback Steakhouse.  We will all sleep well tonight!

Here are some photos from our sledding adventures:

Here is a link to the rest of the photos from our visit to Fruitlands for Winterfest.  Enjoy!

Cooking Class!

The last night of our trip, Auntie Bethany's friend came over and watched Alice and the rest of us went to a really fun cooking class in Hollywood.  We had a great time and it seemed that we all learned something.

Uncle CJ and Auntie Bethany:

Grammie and Grampie:

Mommy, mixing an ingredient for the chocolate mousse dessert:

Auntie Bethany shows off her beautiful salad prior to the main entree:

The class was called "Your Home Steakhouse" and the final meal was amazing!  We all loved it!  Even Auntie Bethany polished off her whole steak!

Grammie, showing off her final product:

Grampie, with his meal, ready to eat:

It was a fun and yummy night!  Daddy is hoping that Mommy will be able to make him a steak at some point.  Here are the photos from the night.

A High-Flying Birthday!

The last full day of our trip was Grammie Baptiste's birthday and we celebrated in style!  In the morning, we all went out to breakfast.  Then, we all traveled down to the Santa Monica Airport where Uncle CJ keeps his aerobatic plane.  All of us over the age of 16 (to Alice's dismay!) took turns flying with Uncle CJ.  After a few barrel rolls and 360s, Auntie Bethany and Mommy took Grammie to have her nails done while Alice napped back at the house.  Here are some highlights from the flying portion of the day:

Waiting for Uncle CJ to get the plane fueled up and ready to go:

Grampie was first to go up:

There they go!

Waiting to see Uncle CJ and Grampie return and land:

Then it was the birthday girl's turn:

Paying close attention, Alice cheered for a safe landing:

Then, Auntie, Grammie and Grampie took Alice to the Airport playground and Mommy took a ride in the plane:

The aerobatics were fun and the view of the whole area was amazing!  It was such a beautiful day, it was hard to imagine we would be back in the snow in just over 24 hours!:

Once everyone got their turn, we returned the airplane to the hanger and Alice had fun checking it out:

Here are a link to the rest of the photos from our morning adventures.  Happy Birthday again, Grammie!  We were happy we could celebrate with you!

Fishies!

We took a ride down to Long Beach with Auntie Bethany to visit the Aquarium of the Pacific for the morning during our vacation.  Alice loved checking out the fishies and the birdies.  Here are a few highlights of the day:

Starfish!:

Petting the baby sharks!:

Mommy, Alice and Grammie:

Checking out the touch tank:

It was Alice's first trip to an aquarium and she loved it!  Great idea, Auntie!

Here is a link to the rest of the photos from the trip to the aquarium.  Enjoy!

Alice dances with Grampie

On our recent trip to California to visit Auntie Bethany, Alice and Grampie had fun dancing one night.  This video is a 4 minute clip, but this went on for more than 20 minutes.  She could not get enough... our little dancer!

A Day in the Park

One day on vacation, Auntie Bethany and Uncle CJ took Alice and Mommy to Griffith Park near Pasadena.  This is the park where you can see the Hollywood sign.  We spent the beautiful day soaking in the sunshine and taking part in all of the fun park activities.


First, Alice took her first pony ride:

She really enjoyed it!:

Then, we took a train ride together.  While we were waiting for the train, Alice had fun hanging out with Uncle CJ:

Then, we headed up the hill to the Observatory where we checked out the planet exhibits and had lunch:

Alice and Albert Einstein shared a moment:

Here are the rest of the photos from our nice sunny day.  It's fun to remember the sunshine now that we are back in Boston with all of the snow!

A Day at School

In mid-January, Alice and Mommy and Grammie and Grampie Baptiste took a trip to visit Auntie Bethany in California.  The first full day of the trip we spent the day at Auntie's school visiting with her 3rd grade classroom and taking a walking trip to the local town library.

We did a presentation for the kids about life in Massachusetts:

We brought cranberries for them to try - so tart!

Grammie showed them how far away we lived from them:

Alice and Mommy took a break to have a snack:

Auntie led an activity about the planets:

Alice fell asleep on the walk to the library field trip:

Heading into the library:

The kids all learned about the Dewey Decimal system:

Here is a link to the rest of the photos from our day at school.