Y-M-C-A!

Dear local Y,
I know I recently quit my membership this fall, but I plead momentary insanity. It was a balmy 60 degrees, the kids could play outside without losing their fingers to frostbite, and I actually exercised. Now...not so much. I don't think my kids have seen the sunshine since Thanksgiving. The preschooler's school has a policy that they don't play outside when it's below 32 degrees, which means she won't see the playground until May. We have completed all the crafts in my meager craft repetoire, we have danced our hearts out to the Madagascar soundtrack, and watched way too many library DVDs. I'm this close to breaking out the Christmas presents just to have something to do.

I miss your mat room, the gym with the kiddie basketball hoops and let's not forget, the free babysitting. Will you please take me back? I promise to make full use of your treadmills, yoga classes and free weights...right after I finish this eggnog latte.

Girl's Weekend

I left my family on Thanksgiving. We basically had a Thanksgiving "brunch" because mom needed to get to Logan. I had a girls' weekend in Florida, and I am completely unapologetic.

Earlier in the week I was telling a nanny in the neighborhood about my Thanksgiving plans. She was appalled and asked in disbelief, "You're leaving your family?"

Yes, and it was fantastic and much needed.

A pre-Zoo Lights visit to the Zoo

The Christmas frenzy has started early in our house, partly due to our recent trip to the Stone Zoo. The animals were secondary on this visit. The kids were more interested in the holiday decorations the zoo has up for the upcoming ZooLights event, which starts tomorrow night (Thanksgiving).

While Nora said hello to Santa,

Cam, the felon, broke into the closed train attraction.

Bring on Christmas!

On an unrelated note, I found this article about Disney stopping production on princess movies a little sad. Last year when Nora was first getting into princesses I was initially against the whole princess craziness, but there really is no stopping it. Now I'd rather her twirl around in her Belle princess gown than be concerned about being "hot" or "cool" which marketers claim will happen in just one year (when she turns 5)! Sigh...

Out to eat with los ninos

I love going out to eat, but almost every time we decide to go out with the kids I'm suddenly hit with amnesia about the last time we ate out. I forget the screaming, the standing in the booths staring at the visibly annoyed child-free couple behind us, the spilt milk, the refusal to eat a $10 plate of mac and cheese, as Tim and I wolf down our meal and gulp down a glass of wine, trying to eat as quickly as possible so we could pay the $50+ bill (ugh) and get the hell out of there. Whose idea was that anyway?

Each weekend the cycle continues. I forget last weekend's dining nightmare and decide to go out again. It's quite similar to deciding to have another kid, or run another marathon.

The cycle was broken last weekend when we tried Margarita's in Everett. You usually can't go wrong with a chain, and I knew we were in luck as we sat down and Cam immediately spotted the large sculpture of the sun and moon hanging across from our table. He is completely obsessed over all things lunar, so that kept him occupied for a good 5 minutes. The ambiance is fun, loud and family friendly. They have other colorful sculptures like painted giraffes, purple ceramic pigs and Mexican Day of the Dead paper mache skeletons scattered throughout which makes for fun distractions for the toddler set.

Of course Tim and I had margaritas (that is the name of the restaurant, after all), and they did not disappoint. The kids' quesadillas  and our tasting platter with tacos, burritos and enchiladas were also very good. My one complaint was the food took a little longer to come out than I would like. The kids did get antsy, but with the free chips and salsa at the table and the dressed up skeletons we were able to hold off a mutiny. Now where should we go this weekend?

A Not-So-Haunted Hayride

After a few weeks of school everyday for Nora and daycare part-time for Cam, I was getting pretty used to having my Monday mornings free. So as Columbus Day approached I became nervous. What were we going to do?

I resorted to a tried-and-true favorite: Wilson Farm in Lexington. The farm never dissapoints. We visit the llama, the chickens and the pigs. After seeing the pigs snuggle up to each other and snort their little snouts, I make a serious vow to become vegetarian. Then, I walk up to the market and buy their delectable Bourbon marinated steak tips. Oh well. The kids love the animals and then walking around the market and sampling the fresh fruit, pesto, cheese and today's special sample, lobster macaroni. Yum.

But today besides all the usual fantastic goings-on at the farm, the kids were thrilled to enter into a Halloween wonderland. First we stood in line for the farm's (free!) haunted hayride. We arrived right when the rides started, and we still had to wait in a 30-minute Disney-style winding line. Luckily, unlike Disney, Wilson Farms provided complimentary apples and candy corn to help little ones get through the wait. The ride was fantastic, not too scary but with enough Halloween attractions (a monster tunnel, skeletons on bikes) to keep it interesting.

Afterward we braved the crowds to grab an apple cider donut and hot cider. The kids loved the Halloween merchandise and I amazingly made it out of there with only two little pumpkin decorations--and some steak tips.

Super ladybug doctor girl

Last night on the swing set Nora pulled out all the stops.  Throughout the day, with me at home, she can be sullen, disrespectful and just plain mean, but when dad comes home it's a different story. Not that I'm bitter...But I digress. On the swings, she decided she was Super Girl and that if you were in trouble she could save you. So we all had to pretend we were in trouble. Then she upped the ante and said she was Super Doctor Ladybug Girl! (Ladybug is her nickname at summer camp). Not only could she save you from any distress you were in, but she could also fix a broken leg, arm, back, you name it. The oppressive heat had broken, there was a delicious breeze blowing in our backyard, Tim was home and the kids were happy. It was enough to make me forget the craziness she puts me through the rest of the day.

A weekend away

This past weekend I went away with my sister and her three best friends to Newport, RI for her bachelorette weekend. Needless to say we had a blast and it was restorative to be away from the kiddies for a couple of nights. I had a fantastic time, but it was such a drastic change from my day to day. When I left Winchester the kids were at a birthday party:

And two hours later we dove straight into bachelorette debauchery:

Actually, the debauchery was tame, but still so much fun. Now, back to reality!