Go Terps!

It says, "Maryland. M-A-R-Y-L-A-N-D." Yay, Terps! Thanks, Auntie Betsy!

Still Tired

After a week of illness, Sam finally made it back to school for a short day on Friday. He seemed to do well, so we were hopeful for a family trip to the zoo on Saturday. Though Sam's symptoms have mostly disappeared, he's apparently still a bit on the lethargic side.

We managed to see the jaguar and the sun bears enjoying their pumpkin treats, but it may have been our quickest trip to the zoo ever. Sam was certainly interested in the new research tent on display in the jaguar area. He liked learning about the conservation work they're doing, but he seemed even more interested in trying out the camping chair and the sleeping cot with mosquito netting.

Even a ride from Daddy couldn't perk up our boy, so the rest of the weekend was spent with everyone laid out in front of the fireplace at home. No complaints here.

Recovery time

For the past few days, Sam has been pretty sick. Between Sunday night and Tuesday night, we did not have our happy, non-stop action boy. Instead we had a sickly, but snuggly miserable boy. It was heartbreaking to behold. Of course, even at his sickest, he was happy to ham it up in his new monster shirt from Auntie Betsy. "It has eight eyeballs. Isn't that silly?"
Today, he's finally seemed to turn the corner. Fever's down and pain seems to come less often. So, we have a recovery day at home. But as opposed to Monday and Tuesday, we do need a little entertainment. Sam has preferred to draw in his workbooks all day. As he puts it, "I love to color so much." His favorite type of workbooks are the math ones, but he's not kidding about the coloring. Here are some of the pages he colored on the flight back from Philadelphia last Tuesday.

Today, it's mostly numbers, and in spite of a minor injury* we've made it through half of the workbook in one continuous sitting. It's a bit much (for me), but I'm happy to have my sweet, (mostly cheery) beautiful boy back.*And that minor injury I mentioned? "Mommy, a crayon poked me in the eye. For real, Mommy."

Golden Afternoon

Today we took a drive over to Golden Garden Park in Ballard. It may have been the last of the main urban hiking parks we had left to visit in Seattle. It's a beautiful beach on the Sound and had some hiking trails through the woods that run parallel to the beach. We packed a picnic lunch and spread out a blanket to enjoy some much-appreciated afternoon autumn sun. There were a couple of beach volleyball games ongoing which captivated Sam's attention. On our walk, we found a few huge leaves. Sam collected a lovely bouquet of yellow ones as he walked quietly in order to "not disturb the dinosaurs."
Sam preferred the spectacle of a few home-made rocket launches, but we all enjoyed a lovely view from the dunes.

Happy New Year

The past couple of days we have been celebrating Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. This was the first in a string of Jewish holidays that Sam gets off of school: 7 days in four weeks. This is a bit of a stress to manage with 2 full-time-job parents, but a good time of year to remember family traditions, start new ones, and reflect on the past and coming year. Ari began work about a year ago at the new paper and I have since started my work for the hospital. Sam stayed at the same school this year, but they moved to a new location last year and he's now moved up into the pre-K classroom. In June, we bought and moved into a new house in a new neighborhood. To celebrate the new year that has been one of transitions, we spent some time preparing some family favorite traditional recipes: tzimmes, coleslaw, and kasha varnishkes. Ari followed Harriet's instructions to make "Grandma's Meat" and Sam and I made a newer family favorite from 1,000 Jewish Recipes: Rugelach. Rugelach is a delicious stuffed cookie dough cookie and we prepared 2 versions, one with chocolate and pecans and the other with cinnamon, sugar, and walnuts--which Sam referred to as "the plain kind."

Everything was delicious. The first night we were on our own, and the second night we were joined by our cousins and switched things up just a bit for a vegan version. Thankfully Sam and Ari managed to scarf down all the meat within a day! That first night, Sam professed, "my meat is the yummiest thing on my dinner plate" even though he was a bit confused by our departure from vegetarianism and kept calling it tofu. He did seem to equally enjoy the veggie nut loaf on Tuesday night. And challah and apples tied in the "yummiest thing to dip in honey taste test contest vote." (By the by, that is only grape juice in Sam's wine glass above.)

All-in-all we had a nice holiday and Sam really enjoyed helping make all the special dishes and cookies. Here he is in his "helper costume" complete with footed Spider Man pajamas and fire chief boots.
...and his "helper apron."

Happy New Year!