A few more from the end of January…

We got some snow, and Sarah wanted to build a “snow panda” instead of a snowman, so here is our attempt.

Sadly, someone walked off with our panda’s scarf, which has been part of my life since college (friends referred to it as my “grandpa scarf”).  I only hope it’s keeping someone else’s neck warm, snow panda or otherwise.

The Larchmont firefighters hosted the second annual bonfire on the beach on 1/28.  This year we went with some friends, and though it was cold, the fire (fueled by Christmas trees) kept us warm, and the live band kept us entertained by playing every song they knew with any reference to fire.

Gram and Grand-dad came to visit for the weekend, and we had a wonderful time.  The weather on Saturday was beautiful so we all went out to Flint Park for some playground time, followed by the boardwalk trail along the water for some bird-watching.  Gram spotted a woodpecker!  Then we went out for brunch.

After Sarah’s nap we celebrated Christmas again and opened all the presents that were sent to the house.  The kids loved having another round of present opening!

Sarah got a “Sarah-tops” shirt from Gram and Grand-dad which she insisted on putting on right away.

And the kids both wanted to read the Spot book immediately with Grand-dad.

The Brio train bridge and bell set, with crane train, were a huge hit!  Thanks, Aunt Suzanne, Uncle Michael, and Gabriel!

The kids also loved their new magnet tiles set from Gram and Grand-dad.

On Sunday we had waffles for breakfast and then went out for a walk.

Thanks for visiting, Gram and Grand-dad!  Can’t wait to see you again soon!

We went into the city again on 1/16 to the Museum of Natural History to see the dinosaurs.  Specifically, the kids’ faves, the T-Rex and the “Sarah-tops”.

Here are my random shots from January.  Sarah was getting into hedgehogs, thanks to this adorable puppet from Uncle Peter, and a cute dress from Aunt Jody.  She even happened to wear it to school on the day the class got a visit from a real hedgehog!

But… her favorite still remains pandas.  Can you count all the pandas in this picture?

The answer is 6!  Too bad she wasn’t also wearing her panda socks, panda bib, and panda backpack.

Sarah started drinking from a “big girl cup” this month, and was pretty proud of herself.  I suspect she’d already been doing it at school, but we’ve been pretty careful/lazy at home.

We had a few birthday parties this month, all at My Gym!

Blaine combed his own hair after this bath.

We also focused on some home repairs this month.  We had a dryer vent company clean out the vent which has made our dryer so much more efficient!  The kids love this pic of the giant vacuum.  We had some other appliance work done, and we had an electrician install some new outlets.  Hooray!

We got a little bit of snow in January and broke out the snowpants.  The snow was too fluffy for making a snowman, I recall, but Blaine successfully made some snow angels.  Then we had some yummy hot cocoa sticks made by Blaine and Sarah’s friends, Michaella and Austin.

On 1/2, the whole family made it out to the Bronx Botanical Gardens for the holiday train show, plus Thomas & Friends.  The kids were so excited to have Daddy along this year.  We got there early and got some prime seats.

Blaine was thrilled when Thomas arrived!

Then it was on to the train show!

This fanciful display at the end was new this year and included rides from Coney Island and Lucy the Margate Elephant.

We had a great time, and Sarah has been asking to see Thomas again ever since.

We celebrated the new year with the traditional black eyed peas and collard greens.  Well, black eyed peas and kale (all the stores in our area were sold out of collard greens!).  And “whole chicken”, which is one of Sarah’s favorite meals.