Newport Mansions

Good Morning Everyone! Sorry I didn't get a chance to post anything yesterday.  We had a really busy day and after Ethan went to sleep I started a post but had such horrible sinus pain that I had to just put it away. I'm feeling much better today though!

What a wonderful day we had!  Ethan woke up very early yesterday (around 6). He always seems to get up earlier when we are on vacation for some reason. This morning he slept until his normal 7:15 though which was nice.  Once we were up and ready yesterday we decided to brave the cold morning and walk to town rather than drive.  When I say we bundled Ethan up its an understatement. He looked like Ralphie's brother in the Christmas Story.  He had on a long sleeved shirt, a Patagonia fleeece, LL Bean winter coat, mittens, hat, and for most of the trip a blanket!  That's him in the stroller if you can't tell! hehehe We kept checking him to see if he minded the cold ocean air and for the first five minutes he was just smiling and enjoying it all.  After the first five minutes....he was sound asleep!  Who's child is this?  We are SUMMER people!  He actually enjoyed the cold air! We walked to a place called the Aloha Cafe where he proceeded to sleep through breakfast.  

Ethan's nap gave us the courage to try the mansions one more time.  This try was a lot more successful than the day before when we had to leave.  Our first visit was to the Elms.  The pictures at the top of the post show how beautiful it was.  It was a self guided tour which was perfect and afterwards Ethan was able to run on the huge lawn out back.  Once we finished up at the Elms we took a drive to the Green Animals which is a sculpted garden outside of Newport.  Unfortunately no one told us that it closed for the season! The good news however is that we found a great Brewery for lunch!  

After lunch we tried one more Mansion...The Marble House.  It was literally full of solid marble walls.  Crazy! It was so interesting to be inside these homes and think about the lives that were led inside of them.  I have to say that I can't imagine living in a home with 70 rooms, I don't think I would like it!  

Ethan, John, and I were able to get some swimming in at the pool once we returned to the hotel. Although we were planning on going out for a big Italian dinner, we settled on room service since we were all so sleepy!  

We are sad to see our vacation come to an end but we have a great morning planned.  First we will complete the Cliff Walk (no worries we won't go over any!) and then tour one last mansion before heading home.  I'll post some more pics tonight!

Mystical Mystic

Today is day 1 of our mini vacation to Newport RI.  When John and I decided to "get away" we were at first thinking up crazy far away destinations ( hard to believe huh? hehehe) but after giving it some thought we realized that there are many places close to home that we have yet to see.  Let me tell ya....so far we are so glad we made that decision. Today was a great day! We left NY around 9:30 this morning and after stopping for lunch on the way arrived in Mystic CT around 1:00. We thought Mystic would be a great place to visit on our way to RI.  Our first stop was the Mystic Aquarium.  The pic above is of Ethan looking at the Sea Lions. The one above is John and E in front of the Beluga Exhibit! The first pic is Ethan watching the sting rays! Although smaller than the New England Aquarium it was the perfect size for someone Ethan's age.  He loved seeing the colorful fish in the large tanks! His favorite exhibit by far however was the outdoor Beluga Whale area. They were incredible! He was able to walk right up to the glass and see them swim quickly by.  So much fun!  He also like sitting near the Sting Ray tank and watching they "fly" through the water.  

After we left the aquarium we walked over to the Old Mistic Village. To walk around and do some shopping. We found a really cool Himalayan shop that was really interesting, and bought some cheese and crackers at a gourmet store.

Once we were shopped out we headed straight to the Hyatt on Goat Island in Newport RI. It is soooo beautiful! We LOVE it so far and are so excited to explore the town tomorrow.  Looks like we might tour the old mansions tomorrow afternoon so I'll be sure to post some pics before heading to bed tomorrow night.  Ethan is a pro traveler.  He and John are both snoring right now!  Love to all!

Over the river and through the woods.....

Having Ethan has led to a lot of changes in our lives, one of which is more frequent trips to Warren, ME to visit John's Grandparents.  This is one of my favorite trips to take as there is something comforting about walking into their home.  You are of course greeted with a huge hug (after Ethan gets his!) and the smell of fresh homemade rolls along with whatever is cooking in the oven for supper.  Before we had Ethan we only made this trip about once a year. Now however, we find that making the trip more often is important not only to them but to us and Ethan.  

Our last visit was at the end of July so we were not expecting Ethan to remember much about being there.  This age brings about it many stages including an uneasiness around strangers.  Although Grammy and Grampy are by no means strangers we weren't sure if he would completely remember them.  We were ecstatic when at first glance of Grammy Ethan reached his arms out to go to her.  He even remembered the "chasing" game that he played in the living room with Grampy and where the bathtub was for bath time. This visit was very special as Grammy had gone all out decorating the house for Halloween.  Strings of Jack O Lantern lights graced the bushes outside, glowing pumpkins were put in the windows, and non breakable fall decorations were put out for him to explore.  She even removed her breakable collectibles from the shelves in the living room and replaced them with trucks that Ethan could use.  He loves it there!

Our trip usually lasts at least three nights since its such a long drive, but unfortunately we were only able to make it two nights this time.  Grammy and Grampy will visit for Thanksgiving and we are counting the days.  This time with them is so important.  Seeing how much they love Ethan and how he responds to that love is very touching.  I was never able to know my great grandparents and I am so happy that my son has his in his life.   Next stop Hawaii.....soon I hope! 

Big weekend coming up! Wedding tonight, and dinner with my brother Stephen and his family tomorrow night.  On Tuesday Ethan, John, and I set off for a mini-vacation. We seem to be on the go an awful lot lately! 

Those apples look like balls!

Sunday was spent apple picking with our great friends Shelly and Keith.  I should say our incredibly patient friends Shelly and Keith! This was Ethan's first time at the apple orchard.  And his reaction was priceless.  The second he got out of the car  he pointed to the trees proclaiming, "ball! ball! ball!".  Those of you who have spent time with Ethan know that we could have no toys other than "balls" in our home and E would be happy.  The thought that "balls" grow on trees was the best thing in the world to him!  Figuring out that these "balls" were not the type you throw was not as much fun.  We compromised by giving Ethan the very important job of putting the apples into the bag to carry home.  Needless to say we have a lot of bruised apples!  

Ethan's love for throwing continued on into Tuesday when we visited the portrait studio for the first time.  Up until now all "planned" portraits/pics of Ethan have either been taken at our home or at Kristen's house.  I wanted to surprise John though and have a pic of Ethan taken in his Halloween costume. I first have to say that the pics are insanely cute.  I couldn't believe some of the shots this poor woman was able to get.  At one point they had Ethan sit in the studio next to a bale of hay and some decorative pumpkins. Small, medium, and large ROUND pumpkins!! Ethan being the "boy" that he is turned these pumpkins into balls before I could reach him.  The sad thing is that Ethan was not throwing these pumpkins to be mean or bold in any way, he honestly thought they were cool balls that were meant to be played with.   This is a concept we will have to keep working on!  In the meantime...watch your mailboxes as most of you will be getting a special halloween greeting from our photo session!  

We are heading to Maine this weekend to visit John's grandparents.  I'll be sure to post pics and details on Monday night!

Ethan's First Trip to the Farm!

This past weekend we ventured to Watkins Glen NY for Ethan's first trip to the Farm Sanctuary.  Gigi came with us since she had never been either, it was so much fun!  This is a picture of Ethan petting a cow named Snickers.  Snickers was being raised as a veal calf before being brought to the farm.  Although we were worried about the rain as we drove out to the farm as we got closer the clouds parted and let a little bit of sun out.  We ended up having great weather for our tour.   

                                                                                                                                                                                 Here is a pic of us meeting Phoebe, the pig that we sponsored this year.   Although Phoebe was very sleepy,

she wasn't shy about showing her love for belly rubs.  Ethan loved seeing how large the pigs were!  Gigi and I were surprised by how rough

 and course their hair was.  Weird!

After we met Phoebe we went on a full guided tour of the farm.  Ethan got to meet cows, sheep, ducks, chickens, turkeys, pigs, bunnies, and go

ats. The goats were his absolute favorite! They were hilarious and seemed to put on a show for everyone who entered the barn.  I particularly fell in love with a goat named Goodwin.  Goodwin has a form of dwarfism that can affect goats and other animals. Although he is much smaller than the other adult goats on the farm he does not let that stop him!  I think that I have a soft spot for Goodwin because he reminded me a bit of our greyhound Blade.  Goodwin has just started coming out of his "shell" at the farm.  He has spent the past two years feeling very anxious and not so sure of people.  He has finally started letting people approach him and even approaches strangers for attention now.  Just a few weeks ago he started making happy noises that are typical in healthy goats.  He is just a reminder to me that like Blade all types of rescued animals (even goats) need patience and love in order to feel safe again.  When we were leaving the farm we decided to sponsor Goodwin in Ethan's name.  Ethan has helped pay for Goodwin's food and care for the upcoming year!

Visiting the farm is always a special trip for me because it reminds me of why I chose to be a vegetarian. I am always amazed by how social these animals are.  This trip was even more meaningful because my mom was with us and because it was Ethan's first of many trips.  When we decided to raise Ethan as a vegetarian we knew that it would be important to introduce him to farm animals and let him see why we live the way we do.  We are looking forward to returning next year! 

Rainy Days and Runny noses

This has been a busy week despite Ethan's cold!  It has been one of those weeks that reminds you that as a parent you have to be flexible.  You can make plans up the "wazoo" but you still have to be free of expectations and willing to change what your doing at any time!  Ethan and I started a music class as well as a mommy and me "gym" class last week.  Wouldn't you know that after our first week of classes Ethan already caught a cold.  Although doctors say that its good for young children to build up immunities I felt so sorry for his poor runny nose.  To make matters worse he has at least three teeth cutting through.  Poor little guy!  Ethan is such a trooper though he still managed to sleep 10 -11 hours each night.  We were planning to take E to the Bronx Zoo on Wednesday but decided to hold off until next week when he is feeling a little better.

We woke up this morning to a rainy fall day.  Although I love the nice weather I have to admit there is something about fall that makes me smile. I've already started in on the Halloween decorations.  This weekend we are heading to Ithaca and to Watkins Glen where we will take Ethan to the Farm Sanctuary for the first time.  It is an amazing place that my brother actually introduced me and John to a few years ago.  Since we are trying to raise Ethan to lead a vegetarian life style we are excited to introduce him to the farm animals.  We will also meet Phoebe for the first time. Phoebe is the pig that I adopted for John this year for his birthday.  She lives at the farm and I'm sure is excited to see us! I will post pics from our trip when we get home Sunday night.  Cross your fingers that the rain will stop for a few hours tomorrow!

Its been awhile!

Originally I set this blog up to stay in touch with everyone while we were on our long cruise last year, but lately it seems silly that we stopped using it. It's such a wonderful way to keep everyone updated on what's new with us, especially those of you who are far way. So bookmark this page and keep checking back. I'll try to post something at least once a week!  

It is hard to believe that summer has already come and gone.  As you all know Ethan turned one and is now on the move.  He is so fast!  Its crazy to think about how tiny he was when he was born...he is such a big boy now with a huge personality!  We've been having so much fun!  We have a busy couple of weeks coming up so I will be posting about it all and will be sure to include some fun pics!