Fall Festival Wordless Wednesday

Smiling

Now this kid knows how to smile for the camera. This is Andrew's friend Christian. (Look at his hair!! He's famous for it.)

So he knows how to smile...



...and he knows when to be silly...



My child, however? *This* is how he smiles for the camera. He scrunches up his face. It's cute.

But it's also kinda annoying.



Especially when he really gets into it.



Speaking of annoying, Frank is about to drive me nuts. When he wants food, he gets on the counter and starts knocking stuff off.

Ugh.



But this one?

Never annoying.

Nothing but love.

NYC

Matthew was out of town quite a bit the past couple of weeks, training for his new position at CIGNA. He was in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Which is right outside of Hartford. Which is about a two-hour drive to Manhattan.

One of our favorite places.

My best friend, Joyce, and her husband Shibu, and their precious nine-month-old son Zachary live right in the heart of the city.

We've visited them twice, and even went to NYC once before they lived there.

So we've been three times. Each time was absolutely fabulous.

The first time we went, it was about two-and-a-half months after 9-11. Matthew had secretly been planning a big NYC trip (I had never been) for our one-year anniversary in November 2001. On September 11, after tragedy struck, he told me about the trip. We were both somber as we realized we weren't sure at that point if we'd even be able to go.

But we did, and we had a great time. We went to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and had a BALL.

The second time we went was early December 2002. I'm not quite sure why we went except that we just wanted to. You know, before kids, you can do stuff like that. By now, Joyce and Shibu were married and lived in the city, so we stayed with them. It snowed like CRAZY while we were there, and it was AMAZING. It was the most snow they'd gotten in like two years. Beautiful, beautiful. December 4, 2002 will always be referred to as the "Best Day Ever" (or "B.D.E.") by Matthew and me. We woke up to snow covering the city. Manhattan was already decked out for Christmas. We window shopped and walked around the city all day. It. Was. Magical.

The third time was April 2005. It was my spring break (I was a teacher), and we drove this time. We spent four days in NYC and three in D.C. This is referred to as the "B.T.E." (Or "Best Trip Ever) It was so much fun. To quote Rachel Zoe, it was bananas.

But we haven't been back. Not since April 2005. Not since kids.

I'm just not ready.

Not ready for it to change.

Not ready for it to be a lot of work.

You know, kind of like how it is at the beach with kids.

It's just different now.

And I'm still holding onto the NYC that I know and love.

Anyway, Matthew had an extra day, so he and his rental car made the drive into the city. I was uber-jealous. But I let him take the camera. (Even though I felt naked all week without it!!)

Here are some of the pictures he took:

NYC from the plane





A great street shot



A landmark: The Naked Cowboy. I can't believe he's still there. If you have never seen him, get thee to Times Square. Yes, he's wearing undies. Tighty-whities. Two pairs, actually. (I saw a special on him once.) Matthew got a better picture, but it's quite...umm...form-fitting...so I decided not to post it. LOL



Matthew met Shibu for lunch, and he snapped some pictures of Matthew. Here is one of them.



See the Statue of Liberty? Yeah, that's a person dressed up. Weird. Matthew said he would move and stuff. Yikes.



Oh, Central Park, how I love thee.





Matthew said he had fun. But then he said, "You know, it just wasn't the same without you." Awww...thanks, Babe.

Now this is more like it:

Matthew's Birthday

As you read in my last post, Matthew had a birthday last week. He turned 32. What a baby. LOL (I am six months and four days older, but we were both born the same year. Shout out to 1977!)

Here are a few pics from his birthday.

We started out with a little silliness with Daddy and the boys. I played several versions of "Happy Birthday" from the computer, and we all sang along. Except Benjamin. He just looked scared for a second and then smiled and clapped. We sang along with the Sesame Street characters and then Mister Rogers. Ahhh....it doesn't get better than Mister Rogers.





Then that night we went to my parents' house where we had a family celebration. I bought all the ingredients earlier in the day for my SIL Edie to make her yummmmy chicken enchiladas (Matthew's choice). I made refried beans w/carmelized onions and cheese, Spanish rice, and I picked up chips and salsa from Salsarita's. We all stuffed ourselves.

Then we got the boys ready for bed so that the adults could stay up and play games. Here is a picture I know you ladies will appreciate...

Even the most helpful husband doesn't always pay attention to the details.

You know, like throwing the diaper away after you change it.

I laughed when I saw it, and I took this picture right in front of him, stating, "This is so going on my blog." ;)



Andrew and Daddy worked on a puzzle before bed.



Random picture of the birthday boy. LOL



Andrew chased him down the hall. I took this picture over my head, upside down, not even looking. Not bad, eh?



Once the boys were in bed, the games began. We had three teams competing at Scene It: Seinfeld. I got this for Christmas, and we've only played it once before. That was on my 32nd birthday. My team won.

So I was okay with the fact that Matthew's team (which was also comprised of both my parents and my Aunt Eunice) won.

Except that my team (me, my cousin Philip, and his wife (cousin-in-law?) Crystal) really won.

Because another team (cousin Casandra, my brothers Justin and Michael, and my SIL Edie) contested that Casandra said her answer at the same time that I said my answer (earlier in the game).

When we all knew that I really said the answer first. That would have won the game for us.

But I'm not bitter.



Here are a couple of action shots from the night. I have many more, but they shall remain private. Ha ha ha :)