School Dance

Simon (and we) went to his very first school dance last night.  Sadly, we did not bring the camera.  But trust us that it was a treat to watch all the kids jumping and dancing.  Simon absolutely loved it, though he did kick Mama off the dance floor eventually and wouldn't let her wear her clown nose.  Mama did win best adult dancer though.  hee hee.  Simon was happy about the win because it included prizes- so now Simon has a new PS 230 lanyard, Daddy has a new PS 230 travel coffee mug, and Mama has a new PS 230 t-shirt.

After a full day of active school, a swim lesson and dancing for over an hour and a half, we got home at 8:15.  Simon chilled out for a while and we were worried he'd be to wired to fall asleep easily.  At 9:00 Mama started singing and by 9:01 Simon was fast asleep.

Other Fun In Rochester

There was other fun in Rochester…

Lots of coins were looked at...
 

The museum of play was visited...

Nice portraits were taken...

And fabulous portraits were taken!!!

 

Snow Torpedo (Or is it sledding?)

It Isn't Winter Without SNOW!

We went to visint Grandma Sue and Grandpa Steve in Rochester for a few days.  When we got there, luckily there was still enough snow to play in.  


We weren't going to mess around- so even though the snow was nearly gone- we went sledding.
Or icing.  

Simon braved this hill from the very top after a few runds from half way up.  After his first full run he screamed from the bottom, "I am gonna do that again!!!"

The next day we went tubing- still trying to take full advantage of the snow that wasn't really there.  At the tubing place they make there own.

Grandpa got into the action too.

We felt fully winter sated- though it may have been a little forced.
So then… it snowed!  About 5 inches of pure powder!

Simon earned his keep by shoveling the front walk.

And of course- we went sledding again!!!!
Amazing video coming soon.

And finally to top it all off- the traditional snow activity- grilling.

 

The Sled's Final Run

We loved this sled for many years.  Thank you Uncle Robert and Aunt Lisi.  Sadly, the sled has moved on to the big snow hill in the sky.  There is no dramatic pop- but you can imagine the rip happening right after Mama shouts, "Watch out for that tree!"

Snow!

Last winter there was no snow in NYC.  Thank goodness for Nemo.  Hmmmm.  I think I won't ever again refer to a snowstorm by name.

By 10:30 we were heading out to sled.  Our wonderful two-person inflatable sled was ready to go.


The hill was pretty crowded.

I'll post a video of the third run down the hill- it was pretty great.

Here are Simon and Daddy walking back up the hill after the third run.  They look happy, but look carefully at the sled.

Yup.  It was ripped.  And totally deflated.
But it still took us down the hill!

Later we ran into Phoebe and parents so Simon and Phoebe shared her sled.  And got a ride part way home.

And as I'm sure you could guess, we had hot chocolate at home.

Birthday Proper

What to do for your birthday when you are turning 7…

Get a fairy painted on your face.


Get surprised by a cupcake birthday cake.

Blow out the candles.

Drink delicious milkshakes.

And… get the funniest monkey ballon animal ever.

Not pictured- stop by Barnes and Noble to buy several books (most about faries) thanks to your generous Grandparents.

Simon says that it was a pretty great birthday.
We think so too.

Birthday At School

Simon's birthday was celebrated at school today.   Along with his friends Phoebe and Luke.  This is Simon in his birthday glory.


Here he is with his teacher and the other birthday celebrants.

Simon finds his birthday absolutely thrilling.  Is it wrong to hope it's over soon?

Big Birthday Celebration

To celebrate Simon's 7th Birthday, we took him for a trip to...



A waterpark is not a good place to take pictures and I had the camera set wrong- oh well.

He made a new friend named Paw.

We cleaned up on Skee-ball at the arcade.  Seriously- we earned 1,957 tickets.  That was somewhat due to luck and some due to skill, but it was a lot!

So there were serious considerations in picking out prizes- Simon walked away with all kinds of fun goodies.

Simon took this picture of the view out our window- Camelback Ski Hill.

There's a lot we don't have pictures of but it was a great mini-vacation and we think Simon felt very special which was the whole plan.  Yay for our growing little guy.

School Pride

Friday began with a publishing celebration at Simon's school.  Daddy went to see Simon show off his non-fiction book about Butterflies.  According to Daddy, it is an amazingly good book, we will have it home in a while and will share some of it on here then.

 

Simon read his book to many people, including his future in-laws.