Holiday on 44th and Crunch Cruch

Friday night we did our 2nd annual trip to my neighborhood's "Holiday on 44th" event with Lucy & her cousins (ages 2 1/2 & 4). It's a really cool coming-together with all the local merchants & neighborhood groups working to create this festival with puppet shows, storytellers, roasted chestnuts, Father Christmas, ethnic dancers, hayrides, etc. etc. etc. A lot of fun--too much to fit into one evening with the kids this age.

We waited quite a while in line for pony rides for the boys, but when we got to the head of the line, they asked if we wanted to put Lucy up there, which was something we hadn't even considered, due to her age. She was a natural--sooo funny, watching her little round body move in perfect motion along with the little horse as it trotted. The line for the rides was within sight of our favorite coffee shop. While waiting in line, Lucy saw where we were and immediately started asking about "Sue...Sue...Sue..." (the name of the proprietor). We stopped in there afterwards for hot chocolate and--also very funny--our "coffee" was not in the ceramic mugs to which Lucy is accustomed. She was very concerned. Her world was not right until we sat down at a table and let her take a look into the mugs to verify the brown liquid inside. That's my girl.

In a related note, though, Sharon & I have so thoroughly enjoyed our tradition of morning coffee & conversation that we have gotten to the point that we are doing that every morning we're together & not on vacation. Actually, come to think of it, we usually find coolest coffee shop in the vicinity of where we stay on vacation, as well...Anyway, as much as we enjoy the tradition, we've started to wonder if maybe we're missing out on some morning opportunities for adventure, as we often end up hanging out there for quite some time, and not getting back home till near noon. We decided to cut back to only Saturday mornings, leaving Sunday mornings open for getting out and doing something fun as a family--probably usually a hike, but possibly something else if the mood strikes us or the weather is too crappy. We ended up going out Sunday morning to this really out-of-the-way Wildlife unit in Crystal that is owned by the MAC (Metro Airport Commission), but that no one seems to know about. Had a lot of fun with Lucy, who was trying out some new snow pants. She was tired for the 2nd half of the walk and I carried her. One of my favorite things-she put her head on my shoulder and Sharon & I narrated a recap of all the cool things she did while she drifted off to sleep (Dan: "Did we see cattails?" Lucy: "Heah..." Sharon: "Did we see ice and did the snow crunch?" Lucy: "Heah..." etc. etc.). Actually inspired a new children's picture book idea in me. Wouldn't it be cool to have a momma, daddy, & toddler walking through a nature area and have each page be a new sound that they are making. "Swish" through the long grass. "Crunch" on the snow. "Thump" on the wood-chips. "Crack" on the ice. "Crackle" on the leaves, etc. etc. with the little girl falling slowly asleep the whole time, finally ending with "kiss kiss on the cheek." Sharon & I discussed the idea of partnering (Sharon doing the illustrations--she's got a knack for that) on some sort of cafe-press book...