Making Muffins in our PJs

(Notice the toes?)

A Week at Home

Carl has had this past week off, and seems to have accomplished every one of his vacation goals. At the top of his list was to clean out and stoke up this fireplace, and to take Alden to the Toldedo Zoo (see below). The boys have had a great week together, and the family is feeling rested and refreshed.

We're sad you're headed back to work this week dad, but the fireplace will be waiting for you in February!

the wild outdoors

Shortly before their move to San Francisco, Fredo (carl's brother) and girlfriend Miyuki, travelled with old med school friend Peter Martin to Ann Arbor for some (semi-enforced) inaugural camping and backyard fire-making on an unseasonably warm fall night. We unearthed an old brick stove in the corner of the yard in the week prior -- according to our neighbors, this would be the first fire in 14 years. We purchased a half-cord of wood from a guy off Craigslist, fashioned a grill out of two metal curtain rods (see below), and cooked chicken suasage and S'mores. Miyuki brought her dog Lee along - who mostly stayed in the leopard-skin pillow until the event was over.

Our new Ann Arbor friends Ingrid and Megan leant us their tent with the warning, "its pretty big." The two-car garage sized tent was assembled entirely in the dark (see headlamp on instructions above.) It took someone on each corner to hoist this mother up. Needless to say, Alden was entirely supportive of the entire event - he mostly marched in and out of the ROOMS of the tent and yelled to hurry the process along. In the end, the combination of sleeping outside and S'more in his bloodstream did not allow solo sleep, so Elizabeth shut in early for some co-sleeping and goodnight song(s).

A wonderful couple days with old homies -- good luck to Fredo and Miyuki (and Lee) who fly to san francisco today to start their new lives on the west coast. . .

Waterloo

Carl checked out the weather report for Seattle the other day, and discovered that they are currently experiencing about 10 days of forecasted rain and clouds. In honor of our friends out that way, we made the most of our own gorgeous weather by exploring the Waterloo Recreation Area about 20 minutes away. It was a fabulous day and we all enjoyed a beautiful hike to The Bog, which was surprisingly lovely. Seen above, are Alden and dad dancing for joy on one of the many boardwalks.

Halloween

Alden requested to be a black cat for halloween, which was easy to accommodate. Though we're posting these photos on November 6th, we are still talking quite often about the various ghosts, witches, and pumpkins we saw while trick or treating. Halloween 2012 can't come quite soon enough in this boy's mind.

Grandparents Feldman visit town

The Grandparents Feldman came to town and, once again, brought a whirlwind of help -- fixing up the house, entertaining Alden, making meals, taking care of us all, and posing for this lovely portrait. Thanks! More photos can be seen here: https://picasaweb.google.com/103908553338028151273/GrandparentsFeldmanVisitOctober?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCIn15K-XiIb--AE&feat=directlink

ann arbor (via iphone)

Elizabeth's camera had lots of photos we just dumped into the computer (more photos than we can post here). Random shots from around town and nearby travels.

enjoy:

https://picasaweb.google.com/103908553338028151273/201110Iphone?authkey=Gv1sRgCOa9g7T5w5r6Pg&feat=email