After The Tenth..... When The Fun Really Begins

Holy Cow...I can't believe that I just noticed that my Thanksgiving post was never actually published..it has just been sitting here in it's "draft" status since we got back. That's what I might say if I was going to try and lie to you, but I'm not. (Girls..here's a lesson from your daddy about telling the truth.)

I know that Thanksgiving was ages ago. I mean not only is it no longer November; Christmas has also passed, taking December with it. Regardless, I'm man enough to admit that I just procrastinated on this and there is no good reason for this post being so late.

Now that I got that out of the way, let me tell you about part our Thanksgiving trip to New York. If someone had bet me on whether we would be going to a park in New York during Thanksgiving week, I would have lost a lot of money. I never could have guessed that the weather would be so nice that we would go not once, but twice.

I've culled through the virtual stacks and stacks of photos that Grandma and I took and tried to narrow down the list to a manageable amount. This was quite the daunting task since our trip was longer than the usual extended weekend. I had some extra time off this year so we decided to try and avoid the typical travel days, which just added to the collection of photos.

One afternoon we headed over to the playground at the Holbrook Commons where we had the place to ourselves right up until the last few moments and the second day we hit the playground at the Brookhaven Wildlife & Ecology Center. (which we didn't get to do this summer) As you might have guessed, Macy enjoys the park more than Laney and therefore dominates the park pictures. But have no fear, Laney fans, the next post includes photos from around the house and Laney dominated those photo shoots.

You'll see that both girls really enjoyed their time at the parks. Macy especially likes slides, going down both feet first and head first and Laney even enjoyed a few moments on the swing. As we headed back to the car, Macy got to enjoy the fun of playing with the piles and piles of leaves, something we don't really get in Florida.

As of tomorrow, I can't use my favorite phrase any longer, so I'm going to use it now, while I still can. I constantly find myself amazed by what Macy does...whether it be an unusual but impressively long tantrum or doing something like reciting the ABC's, counting to fourteen (we haven't quite made it to fifteen yet), or using her potty. It is during these moments that I find my self saying, "wow...and she's not even two yet."

I have to admit that I often times forget that she's really still a toddler and have to stop my long drawn out lecture, where I'm trying to explain the reason why she can't have what she's asking for or demanding. But it is hard to remember this small fact, when she's constantly doing these advanced feats. (Well I think they are advanced..but I'm not really up on my early childhood development studies)

Here she is showing off her language skills. (We have to hide the fact that we are filming her because if she realizes it, she just wants to hold the camera and stops performing.)

Tomorrow morning when I wake up, I will officially be the father of a two year old.

Happy Birthday Macy!  

Please note that your mommy and your sister and your doggy and I love you very much and even though this year's birthday present won't be nearly as cool as last year's, we still love you just as much. (If you don't remember last year's present, here is the video to help refresh your memory.)

The good news is that thanks to Laney, I don't have to stop using my second favorite saying yet: "She's not even ONE yet"

Free candy!!! How can you beat it?

On Monday, Macy took along her little sister and met up with her BBFF (Baby Best Friend Forever) and a few other tykes and they went around the neighborhood begging for candy. Times are certainly tougher these days, but have no fear, we aren't cash strapped..it was Halloween.

A few weeks back we asked Macy and Laney what they wanted to be for the Halloween and their responses weren't really appropriate...I think I heard a "Sexy Soldier" and a "Naughty Nurse" thrown out, and I quashed those ideas immediately and decided that their parents would pick out their costumes for them: Matching Lady Bugs!!!!

 Here are the girls as they pre-party and then make the rounds. There was some on again off again rain that night, so Macy got to break out her bad-ass rain boots. You might also notice that Macy and her BBFF are, well to rip-off C+C Music Factory, they are "really really tight. So damned close they had the same blood type."

At the first few houses (when the sun was still up), Macy was quite shy about what to do. But if you watch closely in the video below, you'll notice that she got the hang of it, instantly grabbing some loot as soon as the bowl was in reach.