The Yellow Spinny Things of Connecticut

We just returned from our spring break travels in Connecticut. It was Josephine's debut! First stop, Frank & Donna's house where Rudy delighted in the birds at the feeder outside the dining room window, and in remembering exactly where the toy box was immediately upon entering. Some memory! The highlight, I think, was a trip to the grocery to get provisions with Donna. Rudy decided he would ride in her cart and the two of them conquered the store together, eating chocolate bunny cookies and hunting for other treats while I scanned labels in the health food section. (now that I'm dairy-free, I'm a more high maintenance house guest.) They had a ball!

Got to see Catherine (who plied her nephew with more chocolate and gushed over her new niece) & Simon (nice guy!) on Saturday, and then on Monday morning, we headed to Hamden to spend time with Cindy & Sostena, Heidi and the rest of the CT brigade. For weeks Rudy had been talking about going to "the museum"--the Peabody Museum of Natural History, which has a terrific little collection of dinosaur fossils. I've taken all of the kids in my life there at some point or another, and it was especially wonderful to take my own children there this time. Rudy did an impressive job managing his patience when the curator told us, upon entering, that there would be a 45 minute wait to get into the Great Hall because a class was in session. Try explaining 45 minutes to a two year old. While we waited, we visited the Discovery Room--a place where kids can touch everything in sight.

I think there was a snake skin inside of this one.

Then, on to the Big Animals Who Were Not Dinosaurs exhibit (what do you call them?), where we got these pictures of an almost-melting-down toddler:




Alas, no pictures of the dinos themselves (the camera's batteries died), but never mind the dinosaurs when there is The Yellow Spinny Thing! On the second floor of the museum is one of those coin collectors that simulates wind storms and tornadoes. Rudy remembered it from our last visit and truly, this was the highlight of his day:

The Peabody is many coins richer for my son's enthusiasm!

Where was Josephine all this time? Hanging out in the Bjorn with Paul, mostly.


We were there a little more than an hour and no major melt downs. All in all, a successful trip.

The rest of the week was really lovely and it was great to catch up with our good friends. We were even able to host a little open house to meet Miss J. for the folks we rarely get to see on Saturday (thank you for loaning your house, C & S!).

Finally, on Sunday, we headed down to the Norwalk Maritime Center, where the seals were pretty neat and the jelly fish rather lovely, but even the sharks and frog exhibit paled in comparison to....yet another Yellow Spinny Thing!

Sometimes he's so easy to please.

No major meltdowns on this trip, either, though we were dangling on the precipice there at the end. Both kids were pretty fried, so we cut the visit short and will make a point to get back when Josephine is older and can appreciate it.

The Saddest Sea Star in the World

Now we're home and still unpacking the tons and tons of STUFF we now have to haul around when traveling.

I refuse to get a bigger car. Yet.