Same camera, when I was allowed to use it…
Times Square
Boys and Pikachu at Nintendo World Store
Dancing Jim, at top of Rockefeller Center
Colin and the trains
Silhouette of the Boys, top of Rockefeller Center
For Jim and the family, we picked up a new point and shoot camera, since mine has been missing for months. I think it really gives him an easier way to be artistic. These are some he took Friday. I got some Photoshop actions (post-processing tools) that I tried out on them. The indoor pictures are from Top of The Rock (Rockefeller Center).
Self-portrait with brother
Fire hydrant
Air freshener
Menu
Menu man (where I got a little crazy with the actions)
Yesterday we got to go to Longwood Gardens. The holiday decorations are still up, but it was much less crowded than when we went two weeks ago. And the sunny day afforded some good picture taking.
The boys THOROUGHLY enjoyed the children’s garden. I forgot the advice to bring a change of clothes, and they ended up wearing the liners of their coats for the rest of the day, because they were drenched.
Jim had the day off after the race, and had earlier decided he wanted to “go to the city”. We played tourist on Wednesday…
We had an ambitious plan. Patco train into the city (adding at least a half hour to the trip, but money-saving, and a bonus for Colin). Liberty Bell and then Independence Hall. In between these we had to stop and get tickets for the Independence Hall tour. The boys got Junior Park Ranger badges, and we got souveniors for the family. And before the tour we got pretzels. I wanted to get a bunch from a real pretzel store, but there weren’t any to be found in the area, so we got them from a cart. Still goooood, though.
The boys were decent for the tour, which lasted about 45 minutes. After, we had pizza at the Bourse and then started our walking tour. Chinatown, the Domino (and other toy) sculptures, and Love Park. We missed the Phillies rally, but saw everyone leaving it. Walked by my old office (a Jim request), stopped at Walgreens to see if we could print some of our pictures (we couldn’t) and ended up getting Wall-E toothbrushes to keep the boys entertained for the rest of the day. Until Jim tried to clean some brick (UGG!) with his.
Then Mommy’s part of the trip — yarn store! On the way, we walked through Rittenhouse Square. Colin had fallen asleep in the stroller. There was a bunch of guys, street musicians, with bongos, and trumpet, etc., and a young kid was dancing. Well, Jim went up and joined him (fear of strangers, not!). It was the best part of the day. Jim had such a great time, and the other guy got a kick out of him. Very, very cute.
Colin stayed asleep through the yarn store. Got stuff that I’d been wanting for a while but needed to see/touch, and got supplies for school presents.
Lastly was the train ride home again, back in time for dinner.!
First stop, the Liberty Bell
Next, Independence Hall
Colin enjoys his pretzel
William Penn (City Hall)
Jim at Love Park (fountain water dyed red for the Phillies)
Jim in Rittenhouse Square
Jim and Mom:
Lone Pumpkin:
Our haul:
Prickly:
Jim:
Well, it seemed like it up to today. I started making warm hats for the boys. This pumpkin hat pattern has been in my files since Jim was Colin’s age, and the leaf part always seemed daunting. Then I thought Jim would be too old for it. I even had the yarn for it. But Colin is the perfect age, and in the end, it took me less than a week to finish. I need easy knits for sitting at karate. So next up is a striped hat for Jim. I picked up coats for him and Colin over the summer, and Jim’s is orange with blue and white trim, so a blue hat with white stripes it is. And Colin will probably get green with blue stripes.
I actually have a lot of knitting projects “open” right now, including a shawl I’m hoping to finish by the end of the month for our church auction, and Nana’s Christmas present.
Otherwise, dad is sick, I’m finally not sick, and Colin seems to be getting sick again. Jim is currently medication-free, and doing excellently.
I’m trying to figure out when I’m going to get to work on their halloween costumes.
Soccer boys:
Colin demonstrates his slide technique:
Jim on the bouncy bridge:
Jim climbs the big slide:
Danger mom:
Colin on the swing:
Colin on the jungle gym:
Seesaw:
My boys:
The beginning of this week was BUSY, culminating yesterday in Jim’s preschool graduation in the morning and a group outing to the Phillies game in the evening.
I don’t have any good photos of Jim’s graduation itself. I was running the video camera, and I should have brought the telephoto for my digital camera, but I can’t manage both, especially since I lost one of my lens covers.
Colin’s First Phillies Game:
This was taken in the 8th inning — he slept the 2nd to the 4th innings, woke up and was happy until he got in the car to go home. And then WAILED the entire car ride home (while Jim slept).
And then, something else:
The drawstring handbags I made for Jim’s teachers.
I LOVE the color combination of the one on the left — the brown is leftover linen from the skirt I made (and actually wore to graduation), but I should have interfaced it. I lined it with fleece instead. But the stripes were awesome. The bright one is better constructed, because of it’s all home decor weight fabric. I just prefer (for myself) the look of the plain fabric with the one pattern, rather than the mix of patterns.
I picked up the old camera on Sunday, because the boys were being cute, and I left the card for the new camera upstairs.
Colin before the his first at-home haircut (February 16, 2008)
Jim coloring Easter Eggs (March 23, 2008)
The boys being cute together (May 18, 2008)
Then:
Now:
For his first birthday, Colin and his mommy got colds. So, the celebration was low-key to non-existent, keeping in mind that a family dinner is planned for tonight. He got some cookies as a treat after dinner.
However, Colin did give mommy the gift of five hours of uninterrupted sleep — he slept from 12.30a to 6.00a this morning. A new record! The extended naps seem to be helping.
There’s a bunch more photos up of Colin’s big brother in the January album, from Thursday’s visit to our new playground. Walking distance! Without the traffic!
Colin eats spaghetti
Colin is smitten with Elmo
jim in hoodie
my sunshine
nana’s flower basket shawl
There are more in the 2007 October gallery.
