nate is great

My good friend here, Katie, wrangled up some tickets to a taping of the new Nate Berkus show. I had only seen him a couple of times, on Oprah, but liked his decorating style. Plus his show is filmed in New York City, so I was extra excited to go! It was my first time venturing into the City, and was very surprised at how quick and easy it is to get there. Katie even found a great parking garage right next to the Manhattan Temple that is super cheap considering the options available. First we grabbed a quick (and delicious) bite before jumping into line outside the studio. We assumed that your spot in line would determine your seating inside the studio... WRONG! We were one of the first in line, but that is not why we were put in the front row. They forced us to sign our lives away, making us promise not to "blog" about selection details for the audience. Let's just say we got lucky and they must have really liked our outfits! The taping was really fun and we got really good at pretending to be overjoyed at the sight of Nate, and ignoring the huge cameras. I'm so grateful for the experience and can't wait to attend more tapings! So many great shows are filmed there. Hey, I hear they film Jerry Springer here in CT... perhaps next time the boys get a break from school.

camp out

During Sam's recent 2 week break we broke out the tent and went camping with our friends. I actually "roughed it", meaning I slept in a sleeping bag on the ground- no air mattress! Based on the half hour of sleep I got all night, next time there will indeed be an air mattress involved. We roasted weenies, s'mores and stayed up talking with good friends until all our fire wood burned out. There was only minor trauma when something fell out of a tree while we chatted around the fire. It was pitch black and it scared the crap out of me for the rest of the night. I swear it was a bear cub. Maybe camping just isn't for me, UNLESS it's at a beach or somewhere without wild carnivores. In the morning Katie made us a delicious breakfast, if you don't count the poisoned bacon. She is actually an excellent cook, and we're so glad they braved the wilderness with us.

super saturday

Back in July we went with a group of friends on quite the adventure! We headed to Massachusetts and started the day off at Cracker Barrel for breakfast.

Then we headed up the road to Magic Wings butterfly conservatory.

We made a quick stop for the best ice cream and chocolate in the world.

Before heading home we went to the Yankee Candle Co. Headquarters. This store was amazing! They had an entire Christmas village set up. Landon made us sit through the entire creepy animatronic show... twice. We even got to dip our own candles!

We have already done so many fun things in the short time we've been here. We are so lucky to have great new friends and can't wait to do more exploring with them!

it's great to be 3... or is it?

Landon turned 3! I say this every time he has a birthday, but I can't believe how big my baby is getting. Landon keeps us on our toes, and is sure to make us laugh throughout the day. He is truly a light in our lives. On Sunday we had a small party with some of our new friends. Then on his real birthday we headed to Six Flags for some rides, and fried Oreos.
Landon eventually got over this traumatic experience and enjoyed the rest of his birthday!

input

I am well aware that this post is premature, but with Sam's next semester looming (and looking busier than ever) it looks like I will have some extra free time on my hands. In short- it's time to craft.

I've made our Halloween costumes the last 2 years and plan to continue as long as Landon will cooperate. I am drawing a blank this year and need some inspiration. Here is what I have so far:

David the Gnome- I found a great pattern for this. Syndrome from Incredibles- This is Landon's exact body, and with his hair grown out I think we can achieve this look.
The Mad Hatter- not sure which version (I would be Alice... yes, I still dress up)Which idea do you like best?? OR do you have a better one?!

just coloring

After yelling upstairs to Landon, "What are you doing?", I should have jumped at his answer, "just coloring". He's always been really good about following the rules, so I didn't think twice about giving my 3yr old a pack of markers for his dry erase board.

Fast-forward 10min, I hear Landon asking me for some clothes. I figured he just wanted some shorts on. He must have been tired of waiting and decided it would be better to just color some on instead. Lately he's been all about drawing cars, after cleaning off his body I found this little treat in his bed.

company

We had our first visitors! Richard's family stayed with us for a couple nights on their journey down to North Carolina. Ruby and Ella crack me up, it's always good to see them. Landon loves his cousins and although Sam was M I A the entire week (due to 5 tests in 5 days) we had a great time.

Richard braved this bad boy on one of our many food outings.

Six Flags was fun, we got soaked and didn't even have to touch the water. Ok, the girls did play in the water, but the humidity almost killed us! Sweaty boy