Illumination

In Williamsburg the holiday season is kicked off every year the first weekend in December with an event called The Grand Illumination. What this basically entails is the colonial area being decked out in lavish decorations and a variety of feasts and entertainments all capped off with a huge fireworks show. Mimi and BaBob came to visit for the celebrations. We started off with baking and decorating gingerbread cookies. Jack got pretty into the decorating for about 10 minutes at a time then he would wander off the play and come back to decorate a few more cookies and eat the decorations. Dan and I got to enjoy some adut time and got a babysitter so we could join Mimi and Babob for a lovely dinner at the Williamsburg Inn followed by a concert at the Governor's Palace. The meal was delicious, but the real highlight was the concert. The Palace was entirely lit by candles and the performers were in colonial garb. The group was a quartet featuring a harpsichord (one actually from the 17th century), violin, bass, and flute as well as a singer who came in and out. The music was lovely and the setting only made it better. We also took part in a breakfast with Santa. We munched chocolate chip pancakes and homemade doughnuts while Jack got his face painted, decorated even more cookies, and sat nearish to Santa. He was pretty much in heaven the entire time and we had a hard time getting him to cycle down for a few hours afterwards! For the Illumination itself we joined the hordes in the colonial area and ataked out a space for ourselves by the magazine. There was a stage where various choral and musical groups performed, we even got to hear the Fife and Drums in the 50th anniversary Illumination performance. After dark the fireworks commenced. They were set off at three different areas around town so no matter where you looked there was something to see. We were right next to the show at the Magazine so we had an exceptionally good spot. Jack did great with the "works". He was a little hesitant and did cover his ears but he lasted through the entire show - about 30-45 minutes. Finally at the end he told us "No works" but by then the show was over so we were more than happy to oblige. It was a rather grand way to ring in the holiday season!

Fall in Williamsburg

It's hard to tell when Fall has arrived in Williamsburg. The last of the leaves are still on the trees here in the first week of November and despite the fact that we had frost last night it is supposed to be 75 and rainy on Monday. But even with the confusing weather we have managed to embrace the season. A few weeks ago the three of us visited what was quite possibly the best pumpkin patch ever. It was a chilly day so we bundled up and headed over to Surrey. Unbeknownst to us this involved a trip on a small ferry boast across the James River. Jack loved being on the boat, so much so that he was rather reluctant to get back in the car for the rest of the trip. When we got to College Run Farms we were given a map and a pair of cutters and headed out into the fields. There were so many different types of pumpkins it was hard to choose. Finally we settled on 2 huge Mammoth Golds, some Cinderellas, a Lumina, regular Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins and a few Long Island Cheese (great for cooking), as well as a few assorted gourds. Jack loved running around the fields. He picked out his little pumpkin almost immediately and carefully carried it with him wherever he scrambled. For the trip home we shared a cup of delicious pumpkin ice cream, made at the farm - it lasted as far as the ferry. Mimi and BaBob came for Halloween. We spent one afternoon carving the pumpkins - Jack got to help and was especially good at the disemboweling. BaBob bravely donned his Man in The Yellow Hat costume to accompany Jack, aka Curious George, around the neighbor hood. It was a warm evening with lots of clouds skittering across the sky and flocks of geese flying low over our heads - very atmospheric. Jack loved trick-or-treating, or "tee-teat" as he called it. He actually walked the entire way and gamely strode up to the doors where he would wait for BaBob to knock then very quietly say "tee-teat." To his credit he did say thank you to almost everyone! He got a pretty decent haul and was thrilled to tuck into his first candy bar. The snickers were a huge hit. Since then we've been enjoying the lovely fall weather (finally!) and trying to get used to the time change although Jack is determined to have nothing to do with it. Hopefully Fall will last for awhile longer, or perhaps this is winter - who can tell.

He's Listening

You try to teach him. There are all those little lessons that are repeated every day but that at two you are pretty sure he's not getting. Saying please and thank you - he does say please but it is usually shouted repeatedly until he gets what he wants. We are working on thank you but it comes out as "Jew" so we will continue to work on it. So, you can imagine our shock and pride when we heard Jack in the bedroom shouting in frustration as he tried unsuccessfully to take his shoes off before climbing onto our bed. We always tell him, "no shoes on the bed" we just didn't really think he was listening. So I guess we'll keep working at it, all those little lessons, and hope that like the no shoes on the bed rule they are sinking in.

Canada Part II: Jasper

So after all the traveling, we arrived in Jasper to celebrate Mimi's birthday and Mimi and BaBob's 40th anniversary. We had a fantastic cabin at the Jasper Lake Lodge with a spectacular view of said lake as well as Mount Edith Clavell behind it. The weather was on the cool side for most of the trip with occasional rain, and snow in the surrounding mountains - quite a relief for us Southerners. Luckily we brought enough gear that we could layer and the cabin had a fireplace that was put to good use. Highlights of the trip include a tram ride to the top of a mountain to see the spectacular views of the valley below, a cruise to Spirit Island during which Jack got to steer the boat much to the chagrin of the other passengers, walks around the numerous lakes, paddling the kayak around the lake, seeing elk around the lodge, the "hot pool" (aka jacuzzi), fishing with Uncle WoWoof, and Jack's new favorite - throwing rocks into the lake. Needless to say Jack was in heaven with all the fun activities and plenty of people to dote on him. With all the extra hands, Dan and I actually felt like we had a vacation - we even got a chance to go into town for a dinner date one night! It really was a great trip, we were all sorry to see it end, especially Jack.

Two, that's the magic number

While Jack has been two in spirit for quite awhile now he actually celebrated his second birthday last Friday. We kept it pretty simple, just the three of us in attendance - 4 if you count Otis and of course we always do. Jack received many fun presents, all of which were enthusiastically played with. Dan and I feel a little sheepish, we didn't get him a thing. I'm pretty sure that he didn't notice, what with the flood of gifts coming in from grandparents, aunts & uncles, great-grandparents, etc. We fixed Jack a special dinner - hot dogs, Tater Tots, fruit salad (with lots of blueberries), and the most delicious chocolate cupcakes. As a special gift to us, he was especially well behaved all day - few no's, only a couple mine's, and nary a tantrum in sight. He has even learned to say "Jack's two." It's kind of hard to believe that I actually have a 2 year old.

Canada Part I: Travelin'

"I will never be one of those parents who has a tv in the car - I can't think of anything more ridiculous!" I said years ago. So, we got the portable DVD player for the car recently. Actually, we got it especially for our trip to Canada. We figured that 7 hours in the plane followed by 7 hours in a car the next day may be a tad more bearable for everyone involved if there was a screen of some sort for Jack to get lost in. Sad to say, it worked like a charm. On our way there we didn't have to deploy our screen until the car ride. The AirCanada plane that we were on had tvs in the back of all the headrests so the Monkey had his very own, touch-screen, monitor with tons of kids shows and movies to keep him entertained. This made our cheap little DVD player a bit less exciting and also prone to destruction as he kept punching at the screen to change the video which of course didn't work and made him frustrated which lead to kicking at the screen which lead to us having to remove it altogether. Overall though, Jack proved once again to be a pretty good little traveler. He liked watching the planes come and go out the airport window and wasn't bothered a bit by the turbulence unlike his white-knuckled mom next to him. He got a little bored and acted out on a few occasions but luckily these were short-lived and pretty understandable given how short on sleep he was.

You Talk Too Much

Well the silence is broken. We officially have a chatterbox on our hands. He is still working on putting phrases and sentences together but it seems like he picks up at least 2 new words a day. We were running errands today and picked up lunch while we were out. On the drive home Dan opened the bag of chips we were going to have with our sandwiches and Jack piped up from the backseat, "Please!" Needless to say we were some proud parents! Of course we think that he thinks that chips are called please but we'll take what we get. He has invented some fun words. He calls pillows "bow" and the phone "Mamie". He also makes almost every word plural so we are asked to "moves". Of course his favorite word is "No" which he uses with startling frequency. And to think we thought it was so cute at first!