Muppet Takes Manhattan (Part III)

After Thanksgiving, Alexis, Henry and I returned to the City for the rest of the weekend. We did lots of walking, eating and sightseeing and generally soaked up all the holiday sights and sounds.

But it wasn't all walking. To Henry's delight, there were a few cab rides too. He had said that he was most excited for the trip because he was going to ride in a "taxi cab!!!". Sure enough, he was so happy with his first cab ride that when we were getting out, he told the driver, "Thank you for driving us!" Here, you can see he even developed the proper technique for hailing a cab.

One night we met Alexis' childhood friend Beth and her son Drew at Big Daddy's Diner. This picture represents the one millisecond of that meal that they were both still.

Can't go to NYC without going to Times Square. Luckily it was only a few blocks from our hotel. (Thanks, Priceline!)

After a trip to the Central Park Zoo (where we were unsuccessful in finding Madagascar's Alex, Melman and Marty, but did find lots of penguins), we walked around some other parts of the Park and saw this cool scene.

Later that day, Henry really did us a solid by falling asleep in his stroller. That gave us a chance to do something not geared for a two-year old. So we high-tailed it up to the Museum of Modern Art where we were able to spend over two hours. Henry will never even know how close he was to this Van Gogh original.

"It's all ball bearings nowadays." This thing should really help fix that seventh Fetzer valve.

Fact: these paintings are arranged in the order in which each variety of soup was released by The Campbell Soup Company. Knowledge is power!

Muppet Takes Manhattan (Part II)

After the parade, it was off to New Jersey for Thanksgiving. But first, a ride on the subway!

Grandma did a good job of reining in the "crazy" but there was one hitch -- in the most uncomfortable holiday/tongue/pole incident this side of A Christmas Story -- when Henry actually licked a subway car pole. He did not seem to miss a beat, but we are still recovering from it.

Thanksgiving dinner with Grandma, Luigi and Uncle Ryan. Not pictured here in spite of their delicious cooking are Aunt Pat, Uncle Scott and Aliza

It was a constant battle for Uncle Scott's toys

Grandpa gets some help blowing out his birthday candles

Posing with the "greats": Grandpa Marty...

...and Grandma Sydelle (and three lollipops)

Muppet Takes Manhattan (Part I)

Alexis' Dad's wish for his 60th birthday was to take his two grandsons to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, an event he shared many times with his own children before their family moved away from New York. We were more than happy to help that wish come true.

The happy Grandpa

A view from above

Smurfy!

Don't worry, Snoopy's not missing, he's floating about 100 feet above

Don't even try to tell him that he's using his "noculars" backwards

The pride of Leland, Miss. approaches

To infinity...

Not everyone enjoyed a perfect view

This Is Why I'm Hot

Trying on his new mittens and hat for our big Thanksgiving trip to New York!

Yum, caramel apple

Hiding inside his own "clubhouse"

Hmmm, looks like large-cap stocks benefited from the dollar's continued weakness

Oh, and hey LSU....got a second?

Spy Cam

Thanks to weekly photo albums created by Henry's teachers, we get a peek into what goes on at school. The answer is: lots of cute two-year-old shenanigans.

Making a tree out of his arm and hand with Miss Daniela

This is either another art project or on-the-job training at Home Depot

Fun with handkerchiefs

Pajama day!

And what better pajama day activity than making French toast?

A spot of tea?

I guess the grind of a four-hour school day eventually gets to you. Good thing Gabby was there to tuck him in.

...Does Whatever A Spider Can...

Happy Halloween from Spiderman, a fireman and Princess Jasmine!

Henry said he wanted a jack-o-lantern with a happy face, so I modeled this one after his own toothy smile. Then he said he wanted a "sad nose," which he explained was round and red. I hope this accomplished that request.

A pose before the Great Candy Rampage of 2009

Sometimes they would knock on the door while saying "trick or treat." And sometimes they would knock while screaming "LA! LA! LA! LA! LA! LA!" (This happened only after they started sampling the candy.)

Showing off some of his new booty to Ryan's daddy. He's still at the age where bright colors > chocolate. He'll learn.

Tailgate

"Deep inside, we're still the boys of autumn, that magic time of the year that once swept us onto America's fields."**

We went to Oxford again last weekend, this time with Mindy to watch Ole Miss beat Arkansas. Turns out, swine are good for more than just spreading the flu--they're also good for getting your offense back in gear. Here, Henry makes a shifty move in the Grove to evade would-be tacklers Stephen and Sanders.

A brief moment of still for a pose with tailgate buddies Stephen, Lizzie and Sanders. I swear we do put him in other clothes, but on gamedays the jersey has to come out.

The helmet sometimes comes out too. Good thing we keep that thing at Gran Gran and Pop's house or he'd try to wear it to school. And yes, that is him lining up in punt formation.

The size of these smiles tells you this was taken post-game.



More punting.

There were calmer moments last weekend too. Like watching Madagascar with Pop...

...and relaxing with Duckie, even if through a facemask. I love this picture--it really does sum up Henry's personality.

** You might think this quote is from Pat Conroy or John Updike. But it's actually from Archie Manning.

Weirdo

Normal is boring...

(Then again, so is wearing the same jersey over and over again...but you have to choose your battles and this is one we're not fighting.)

I think the only thing that stopped him from driving away is that he doesn't know how to drive stick.

All the news that's fit to print.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Big changes around here lately. Henry finally said goodbye to the crib...

...and hello to the big-boy bed! And there were no regrets. He loves it and has been talking about it non-stop. The first two nights, he wouldn't even let us read him a story. ("No story, big-boy bed!")

Alexis gets assistance from her interior designer understudy.

The finished product.

Two duckies should keep the bad dreams away...