Connecticut in the Fall

It seems like since we returned from the West our blog posts have dried up somewhat. Dan went back to work, I went back to work, and I have been rather sick on top of being near the end of my pregnancy. But we have still managed to get out and enjoy some of the things that we love about autumn in Connecticut.

This first picture is from Lighthouse Point. Alyssa seems to have gotten over her aversion to sand and being dirty. I think she played with her little bucket and shovel for over an hour and a half.

We love Bishop's Orchard. They have various pick your own seasons throughout the year, and a great little store. This is our first visit to their pumpkin patch. After reading a story about pumpkins and Halloween from the library, Alyssa has been enthralled with pumpkins.

She had a really hard time choosing just one pumpkin to take home. We asked her which one she liked. She ran to one close at hand, and then continued moving her way up the row, pointing out about every other one. She was a little sad to only be taking home one pumpkin.

Dan loves to take Alyssa raspberry picking. I unfortunately have not been able to actually go with them, but here are some great pictures of Alyssa enjoying the time with her dad.

The first time they went, she did a really good job of putting the berried into the bucket. Now she tends to just eat them as soon as she picks them. Maybe that's why she is sticking her tongue out, in anticipation of the delicious juicy taste!

Toddler / Doggie Wars

I have been working a ton and Marie isn't feeling great at 8 months of pregnant. That is part of the reason we have been behind on our blog (there may be several posts in close succession soon to catch up).

Then Marie got a cold. With me at work, and Marie sick on the couch, the occasional Doggie Toddler battles flared into a war on Friday. Marie lay helpless while the struggle wore on 3 hours. Here is a run down of the usually flash points. They have a good understanding of the division of toys with a few exceptions.

Tennis balls: We have seven of them, but at times Alyssa decides she needs all of them (to intentionally bother Sophia). She will pile them all on the bed, cover them with a blanket, and then throw herself over them. Sophia will fixate on getting the one tennis ball the was chewing on and none of the others will substitute.

Cloth ring: A toy Phil gave to Sophia as a puppy. Alyssa likes to pretend it is a steering wheel for an imaginary car.

Anything white and fluffy: A few people have given Alyssa white stuffed animals. This just doesn't work out. Sophia claims anything white and fluffy as hers. Maybe because she is white and fluffy? Who knows what that dog is thinking. Alyssa has pretty much given these up.

Anything Alyssa is eating. It doesn't matter where (Sophia's mouth can reach the table). It doesn't even matter if Sophia really wants it or not. If Alyssa has it, Sophia wants it. All it takes is a second of distraction on Alyssa's part and the food is gone.

The toy girrafe: This is the funniest. It's Alyssa's toy but one day she wanted to play with Sophia's duck. Marie had her offer the Girrafe in trade. It worked, but now (weeks later) Sophia refuses to acknowledge that the trade was temporary (although she still plays with the duck). Tonight I put Alyssa's toys away and moved them into her room. Sophia tipped over the toy basket and got out the Girrafe. She then took her duck and dropped it off in Alyssa's room.

Alyssa's offense generally consits of running away with Sophia's toys and hiding them. Also she slaps Sophia when she gets mad (this does not phase the dog). Sophia's offense involves quickly stealing Alyssa's stuff when she is distracted. As a last resort a mild scratch to the arm does the trick every time. We try to limit the conflict, but it often ends in barking and tears. Of course they completely love each other.

Albuquerque Part 2

The last day in Albuquerque Alyssa and I tried to see as much as we could before starting the long drive back to Phoenix.

Our first stop was the Natural History Museum. This is Alyssa in the lobby by the T-Rex. She looked at it for a while, then started walking hunched over. When I asked her what she was doing, she said in as deep a voice as she could manage, "Walk like a dinosaur." Every so often, she still walks like a dinosaur.

This was one of Alyssa's favorite rooms. Have I mentioned she is obsessed with water? There were sharks and sea stars in a tank, and fossils and replicas of aquatic creatures. I had a hard time getting her to leave so we could see the rest of the museum.

I had heard about a train that made an hour long loop between the zoo and the botanical gardens. Little did I know that in waiting for the train, we would also see the spot where the world's largest trout had been caught. Don't you just love random things like that? Alyssa really liked the fish. She kept running over to touch it.

And here we are on the train. Alyssa wanted to ride in the red car, so we did. There were two tunnels, which she absolutely loved. After the train we picked Dan up and headed back to Phoenix. The ride home wasn't quite as smooth as the ride out, but we made it! Then of course, in keeping with our crazy summer, less than 48 hours later we were in Las Vegas.

Sandia Peak Tramway

So, our first full day in Albuquerque was ended by visiting the Sandia Peak Tramway. Part of it was my attempt to make sure Dan got to experience something other than interviewing. Part of it was realizing I had never ridden a cable car before, and what a great chance to try it out! Truth be told, I bought this pack of travel books for Alyssa from Ikea, and one of them talked about cable cars. When I heard there was one in Albuquerque, I really wanted to ride on it.

There are a couple of things you should know about this tramway. It is 2.7 miles long, and has a vertical rise of 3,819 feet to acheive a total elevation of 10,378 feet.

What I discovered is that I am terrified of cable cars. Sure, I can stand at the edge of a cliff and not feel terribly nervous. But suspend me in a swinging car moving on a single cable over jagged rocks hundreds of feet below....not really my idea of a good time. And of course, my fearless daughter wanted ME to hold her up to look out the windows.

Still, the views from the top were gorgeous. At least I rode the world's longest aerial tramway, so any other one should seem like a piece of cake.

Albuquerque Part I

Dan recently mentioned our shuttle run to Albuquerque from Phoenix. Dan had some interviews in Albuquerque that he was supposed to fly out to. Unfortunately for us, all the rental cars in Albuquerque had been taken up by attendees of some kind of environmental conference. So, we had a last minute road trip. I don't know that I would recommend road trips with a toilet-training toddler. Alyssa did a pretty good job, though.

As usually happens, Alyssa and I were able to see more of the town than Dan. This is the entrance to the old town. Alyssa loved it, because there was a fountain. I thought it was a little strange, because the fountain water was actually dyed an unnatural shade of blue.


This is the front of the old Spanish style church in the main plaza of old town. Old town is a great place to find interesting jewelry and artwork. Unfortunately for me, that doesn't interest Alyssa as much, so we ended up going to the Children's Museum. Albuquerque museums were actually quite impressive in their quality.

Here are some highlights from our museum trip. Alyssa loved watching the colored balls move through this intricate maze.

Her fascination with water met this great fountain that had water shooting from the sides and the center. It made it look like the water was bouncing. We spent a long time by the fountain. And we kept revisiting it. Again. And again. And.....well, again.

I just love this picture. There was a long tube lined with mirrors that created a kaleidoscope effect. Alyssa could see me reflected at her end, and I could see her reflected at my end. I loved how this museum really let the children experience applications of scientific principles. We had a great time exploring.

Stay tuned for more Albuquerque adventures!