Happy Valentine's Day

We thought we'd share Aidan's latest interpretation of the Bard. This poem has special meaning for us as it played a role in our engagement story. Little did we know the little guy liked it too. The text is from the 116th sonnet. (He doesn't seem to like the second half as much.) Enjoy.

Castaways

Here are Jen and Aidan bidding farewell to Castaway Cay after a day of shell collecting and kite flying on the beach. In the background, you can see the other ship visiting the island, the Flying Dutchman from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

A very happy birthday to you

Our latest trip to the Happiest Place on Earth overlapped with Aidan's 3rd birthday. Here he is sporting a "happy unbirthday" hat. Notice the attire for Florida in January. We were at least somewhat prepared. There are lots of people who looked very cold coming off the Splash Mountain ride.

When you wish upon a star

Our first trip in 2008 took us to the Magic Kingdom in Florida (thanks Helen and Indra). Florida was experiencing an unusual cold snap, so it was actually colder there than Pennsylvania. It was so cold that the fireworks show was significantly delayed (we didn't stay to see if was actually canceled). Still, we managed to enjoy almost everything else on list. We even had turkey legs! Thanks Brad.

How do you say bookworm in Chinese?

Like many raised in bilingual families, we know it is important to impart a second language, but feel frustrated by exactly how to do this. We had a recent breakthrough with Aidan because seems so much more taken with the written Chinese than the spoken form. (OK, he rarely gets to hear the spoken form.) Jen's parents gave him some children's books aimed at families in our situation, and he's taken to them. Here's an example of him "reading" through one of these books. Sorry for the poor image quality. This is our first video blog. You may need to turn up the volume. Please excuse the gingerbread cookie.

Iron Chef Not Rusty After All

On Christmas Eve, we treated ourselves to the new lower price lunch omakase at Morimoto! It was Jen and Aidan's first time and Rob's second. Rob's first experience he found rather disappointing but this time was terrific. We started with a tuna and hamachi tartare which was so good, we forgot to take a picture. Next followed 6 more yummy courses. Truly we were in tastebud nirvana! The above is salmon salad with onion dressing. We loved the seafood and sushi. Aidan enjoyed the ever changing mood lighting (think LAX light pillars but on chairs!) and the chicken katsudon.

Happy New Year!

This was supposed to be our Christmas post, but alas we enjoyed a quiet day at the park and at home. We miss all the family and friends we usually see at this time of year. Thank you for your kind notes and gifts. May 2008 be even more full of excitement and wonder.

Back On the Farm

Here's Aidan casting his vote for which Christmas tree he'd like for us to take home. He has been reading Mr. Willoughby's Christmas Tree and was very excited about picking out a tree. He also enjoyed the hayride, the roasted marshmellows and adding to his considerable stick collection. Thanks Uncle Greg your good advice; otherwise we would have had to chop off the top too.

Aidan Appleseed

This photo dates back a few months when we set out to Linvilla Orchards to pick apples. Here's Rob and Aidan carting back the day's harvest. We strongly recommend the honey crisp variety. Philadelphia is blessed with being close to some of the best farmland in the country. This farm is only 25 minutes away. We took advantage of its proximity again during Christmas season too (see next entry).

1st Day at School

Aidan recently started a new school with a new (and huge) backpack in tow. He has 11 other kids in his class which run by Mrs. Wells and her aide Amanda. He absolutely loves it. No separation anxiety here.

Hunt for October

It's hard to believe that the Phillies are still in the playoff hunt. Here's Aidan cheering on the local boys of summer against their rivals, the New York Mets. Jen and I don't know he managed to develop such an enthusiasm for baseball with such sports illiterate parents. He's still not willing to quite trade in his Bert and Ernie cap though.

Mr. Incredible

Today was the "last day of school" for Aidan's nursery school, even though he'll be back next week for summer session. They celebrated by having a moonbounce and face painting. We weren't sure what he was but the teachers assured us that he's wearing a mask like The Incredibles. It did take an incredible amount of time to wipe it all off.