The Showlights!

Simon shows off one of his favorite gifts. The effects of the light is even cooler in real life. Trust me, when you come to our house you will be able to see since he hasn't really stopped playing with it yet.

More From Rochester

More photos of our walk.

Notice the covered bridge behind Simon in the second shot

and the cool tree growing over the gate in the third shot.

This picture is from a lovely meal we had celebrating Grandma Sue and Grandpa Steve's 42nd anniversary.

(Simon was wonderful at the nice restaurant -he is really turning into a gentleman at times.)

Mostly Outside

On the 26th we took a very nice walk. Simon got to use a hiking stick just like Gandma and Grandpa.

Then on the 28th it snowed! Simon was so excited he ran out barefoot. He got in lots of playtime later with the neighbors. Will is a hero for with-standing the cold.

And then, magically there were more presents when we got home.

And just in case you thought Simon was a little strange- here's proof- the look of glee on a child's face is not unusual when they open presents but look carefully at what the present is.

Yes- 500 sheets of paper. He love blank paper but at our house we are always trying to conserve so we use the blank side of 'previously owned' paper. I guess Santa really knew what Simon wanted.

Christmas Proper

Simon dumped out his bulging stocking with glee.

And many happy presents were opened- I love this picture of Simon showing off a gift, Grandpa Steve opening one in the background, and Will playing with one.

Everyone got into the happy action.

And this shot is representative of the speed at which opening happened.

How Christmas Begins

Start with a healthy dose of fun with Snarrs!

We had great Christams eve visit with Sara, Jeff, and the girls (in order as pictured, left to right, Alison, Hannah, and Maegan.)

Simon loves to play the girls and we all laughed at how Simon is taller than Megan who is 8 or 9, and has feet just a tad smaller than Hannah who is 11. Let's just not talk about how he compares to Ali who is in 1st grade.

After playing and eating delicious homemade treats the girls made we went out to hear the Christmas story read at house in the back of the neighborhood. We sang a few Christmas songs and then…Santa came out of the woods!!! With a present for each child there! Simon was such a good boy- his present came out 3rd to last (out of near to 100!) and he waited so well.

And then it was Christmas morning.

OK- actually the morning came at 5:30 after Simon being up from 11:30 until about 1:30.

You don't think he was excited do you?

Holiday Song From Kids Orbit

Show!

Simon's after school had a little holiday show. (Video will follow.)

And yes- he is that much bigger than all of the other kids his age.

Giggle at the Grinch

We bought 'The Grinch Who Stole Christmas' for Simon.

(The original cartoon- not the live action movie.)

Will and Simon watched it first while I was working at the computer. I kept hearing these fabulous giggles so I'd glance over at the couch, but I couldn't see my boys, just the Christmas tree. It seemed as if I had a giggling Christmas tree. Later Simon and I watched together in our PJs. Simon has probably watched it about 8 times since.

No Training Wheels

Simon demonstrating his new skill- no training wheels!

In all honesty- he is still using a training shell of sorts- just a really great new-fangled one. It is called gyro wheel and it allows the child to have a ton of support while teaching all the correct biking habits. Old-fnagled training wheels don't do this at all- in fact they teach the opposite of what you need to do. Simon was really struggling to get off the training wheels so we thought we'd give it a try- SUCCESS!

More Fun in NYC

We had another full and fun weekend...

We saw some amazing Chinese acrobats at the New Victory theater, Simon was too shy to have his picture taken so he took Mama's picture with the performers.

We also went to Rockefeller Center as we do every year.

Not pictured are some athletic feats--

Simon can now ride his bike without training wheels!

And Simon is now in the swim class where they swim with out a floaty belt!

What Holiday Are We Celebrating Today?

It was one of those confusing weekends… First a big Chirstmas party, 22 days early.

Then Chanukah 13 days early.

But it was all fun and delicious! Thanks to the K's and Jesse and Sarah for being wondeful hosts.

Marathon #2- Here We Come

No pics- just a bit of news. Will finished a race today in Central Park that official guarantees his entry in the 2012 marathon.

Spectacular

We went to see the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular.

It was, as advertised, spectacular.

Mama tried to be a rockette.

So did Simon. But not as hard as Mama.

And honestly, the show is amazing- tickets are expensive but when you see the show you realize why. I was truly in awe of the dancing, costumes, design, everything. Thanks Grandma Jean and Papa Don for a memorable start to the holidays!

What Did Thanksgiving Mean To You?

To us Thanksgiving means…

Don't forget to bring the turkey! (The paper bag one.)

Didn't the pilgrims drink Martinis?

Apparently Thanksgiving means drinking BIG martinis to some of us.

But don't worry- we were traditional too- Will carved a really lovely turkey.

We all had a great time eating and laughing and playing.

There Are No Volcanos Along The Hudson

Simon has been very interested in volcanos recently. We aren't sure why. He was near to tears the other night when he realized he'd never seen a volcano. When Will and I reassured him saying that we'd never seen a volcano either he seemed to feel a bit better. His fascination was so deep that we decided to find a good video to watch. We didn't find any children's ones that were offered for streaming so we figured watching a PBS Nature show would be fine. Well it was. Sort of. Great film of lava flows and eruptions and all things cool about volcanos. And several very sad stories about people dying.

So he's been sleeping with Ellie recently.

We went on a hike today. Simon needed lots of reassurance that there are no volcanos. We promised that we would not see lava anywhere. We didn't. But we did have a nice hike up Anthony's nose. It was probably the most challenging hike Simon's ever done. It wasn't that long, maybe 2.5 miles but there was a ton of vertical and the dry leaves piled everywhere made walking tough. They hid roots and rocks and were super slippery where it was steep. Still he was a hiking trooper and up we went.

And made it to the top.

More Marathon

A few few cool pictures of the marathon that we thought might interest some of you.

First-

This shows the three sections where runners start from in each wave. Will would have started in the one to the far left in the second wave. Will said that while you are in the chute you have no awareness of the other sections.

Here's the same thing from the other side, showing the path ways to get to the chutes.

This is a cool shot of how the runners come off the bridge in three different paths. Will would have been on the far left. He told me that as he ran over he wanted to make a joke about avoiding getting on the belt parkway.

And finally a cool picture showing the runners on both levels. We hear that the lower level is awful because it feels very dark and sometimes people pee off the top level and it blows! Yuck!

Marathon UPDATED

Photos and video from the Marathon. Julia thought I should have said more about the pictures...

This is at the 10k mark (on 4th Ave at 18th street). There was a photographer on a boom lift over the course... I wanted to make sure they got my picture.

I'm not sure where they took this picture.

Crossing the finish line. While I was run/walking during the last few miles, I managed to run the last half-mile through the finish line. I am still running here... admittedly, with a very short stride.

Next year I will work on my after-race photo pose. (You have to hold your medal off your bib or else they'll never find your photo).

3:54:32 (Ignore the Wave 1 clock above the finish line).