Christmas Vacation

We kept the ladies pretty entertained over the nearly two-week Christmas vacation.

It started on the 24th with the girls baking some awesome holiday cookies all by themselves at home. Usually Lisa guides them through the process, but this year they were able to do everything on their own. Pretty cool. Bravo to Stella.

On Christmas Day we drove up to Salem to spend the day at Karen and Glenn's house. Nana and Papa joined us. As usual, Glenn's meal was delicious. And the girls made out like bandits with presents.

The next 2 days were spent relaxing in Natick. Nana and Papa took the kids to see the Enchanted Village at Jordan's Furniture. And Stella and I worked on her "westward expansion" school project which was quite an undertaking.

Red Lion Inn

On Sunday we headed to visit Nana Audrey in Albany with a stop for a delicious lunch at the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge. Monday began the girls' triathlon of adventure with a few hours of rollerskating at the world's largest indoor roller skating rink.

Tuesday was part 2 of the triathlon with a trip to Maple Ski Ridge (notice that they don't mention "mountain" anywhere). Last year they took a 1-hour lesson at Maple Ridge but were not interested in skiing after the lesson. This year they stayed on the slope all afternoon after the lesson. By the end of the day they were both pretty awesome skiers.

Wednesday they got haircuts in anticipation of their big New Years night out at Lisa's friend Amy's house. We watched Dick Clark's Rockin New Years Eve (minus Dick), but little Marni started to fade. She took a short nap between 10:15 and 10:45 and was woken up in time for the ball to drop. Their first New Years Eve party!

On New Years Day we drove down to Bear Mountain Ice Rink to join the Asanovics and Stefanoff/Imhoff families for our annual get together. Both girls did their best to ice skate with help from Stefanoff and Hill. This was the final leg of their winter triathlon. After skating we ate and hung out at The Stadium Bar and Restaurant. Pretty cool place.

The remainder of vacation included a Midget Model reunion, a visit from the New Jersey Hoffmans, and a trip to the movie theater to see Night at the Museum 3. 

The beginning of Stella's project

The end of Stella's project. Look at that proud smile!

Chillin with the hound at Karen and Glenn's

Standing in front of Karen and Glenn's tree

Red Lion Inn

Roller babes

Ski bunnies

Marni doesn't like the roller rink rules

Marni's kooky ski pal, Lisa Asanovic

Are You Ready for Some Football?

On December 21st The Shepards and cousins Marcy and Mitch headed to MetLife Stadium to watch the Jets/Pats game.

This was Stella and Marni's first NFL experience.

The temperature at game time was about 40 degrees, but we were well prepared. We got our snacks and took our seats on the upper level.

I was expecting that the cold and boredom would have us heading home by halftime. But the girls were really enjoying themselves and weren't really bothered by the cold.

The game turned out to be a 17 to 16 squeaker that went right down to the last minute and luckily ended up with a Patriots win.

Marni (the Giants and Jets fan) wasn't happy. But she just needs to stop rooting for losers.

 

My Beauties - 2014

The 3rd grader and the 5th grader...

Thanksgiving 2014

For a third year in a row, The Cottage in Old Orchard was ground zero for Thanksgiving festivities. The gathering was a little smaller this year with the Brooklyn and Natick Shepards joining with Karen, Glenn and the dogs.

We made it up to Maine on Wednesday morning after an overnight stay in Natick. By the time we reached Hannaford in Saco, we were in a full-blown blizzard.

Later in the day we were joined by Nana and Papa, and Karen, Glenn and the dogs.

Marni and I went down to the beach later that afternoon to build a snowman during the blizzard. In the evening we slipped and slided our way to dinner at Run of the Mill.

The next morning everyone awoke to wonderful aromas as Glenn toiled away in the kitchen. By 5pm we were seated for another amazing holiday meal.

Friday was filled with chores and relaxing.

Stella, Marni and Lisa headed off to a party in Long Island on Saturday and I stayed behind with the Farkle Family (and Glenn).

On Sunday we cleaned up the cottage and prepared everything for the end-of-season shutdown. By noon we were all heading home (me with a large turkey drumstick in my backpack as I boarded a train at Route 128 Station heading for NYC).

The cyber cafe.

 

A very sad site.

Lights, Camera, Marni!

An example of the pictures they take

A couple of months ago I got the bright idea to give one of our old digital cameras to the girls to play with. The camera works fairly well and they were free to shoot whatever pictures and movies they wanted.

I hadn't paid much attention to what they were doing, but over the weekend I noticed Marni doing some cute stuff with some Lego figures.

So today I finally got around to downloading the pictures and videos to the computer. Below are 2 examples of the Lego movies that Marni did over the weekend.

Either she's an up-and-coming director, or she's in serious need of psychiatric help. Or both.

You be the judge.

Halloween 2014

There's no denying that Halloween is Marni's favorite holiday. She tells me this on a daily basis. More favorite than her birthday or Hanukkah or even Arbor Day.

Stella's also a big fan of Halloween and just loves to dress up.

This year both girls decided to be glamorous vampires. And Lisa and I did an Alice In Wonderland theme (she's sexy Alice and I'm the Mad Hatter).

Interesting fact for this year's trick or treating... Lisa and the kids bumped into actor Steve Buscemi and singer Elvis Costello as they too trick or treated in the hood.

With Steve Buscemi and Elvis Costello

Overheard #40

Last night Stella was upstairs watching something inappropriate on Netflix. Marni was downstairs doing homework with me and Lisa.

The first question that Stella yelled down to us was "What's an ovulation kit?", which I answered incorrectly.

A moment later, a second question... "What's a virgin?"

Without even looking up from her homework, Marni yelled back at her "Someone who doesn't eat meat".

I laughed out loud and waited for it to sink in with Lisa who was on the iPad at the time. After a few seconds she looked up and said "Wait. What was that?"

Eventually I answered Stella by telling her it was someone who hasn't kissed yet.

I'm not ready to have "the talk" with her.

Imaginary Apple Picking

There weren't many Honey Crisp apples, and only one peach on an entire orchard of trees... but everyone had plenty of fun at Wightman's Farm.

Waiting for their babies to hatch

Singing the Star Spangled Banner. Or something.

See how well they listen?

"Maine Gothic"

I missed including this photo in the "Maine Event" post. But it's too good to be left out. What is the secret behind Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile?

First Day of School - 2014

Here's our new 3rd and 5th graders.