"More Party Please!"

This weekend was our 32nd annual block party, and the first one we have attended in 4 years that has not been rained out and moved inside the church.  And what a great surprise:  when it's not rained out, it is literally right in front of our house.  We had front row seats from our porch.  A little confusing for Elliot that on this special day she gets to freely walk in & out of the house, our into the street and take food from strangers while discovering the joys of a wonderful new phenomenon called "pot luck".  One of the hallmarks of our block party in years past is a counting of how many different kinds of lentil salad appear.  To buck our crunchy granola stereotype, the Heywood clan brought enchiladas ... with full fat and outlawed tomatoes (well, from FDA approved areas) and avoided many of the lentils.    Out of the blue a fiddle band appeared and people started dancing.  Did I mention the heaven Elliot was in?  We took her in to get ready for bed and pajama'd.  That's when she requested, "More Party Please", so we took her back out for more.  And the only reason I am posting the video is because it is annoyingly sideways so you can't see clearly how horrible we are, but also to try out the upload from my camera and because you wouldn't believe I did not add an audio track - what you hear is actually what was playing (for FIVE hours) outside our front window.  Who's coming to visit us in Mayberry for the 33rd?

These are a Few of Our Many Milks

Commentary is failing on these photos now that maternity leave is over for me. I seem to only have time for pictures or the words to accompany them. So, by all means let your comments do the talking. In the last couple of weeks, I have gone back to work, Samantha has started day care, Samantha ended her refuse-to-take-a-bottle strike, Samantha came down with a 24 hour stomach bug, the next day Elliot got it, 2 days later, Samantha got it again, 2 days later, Ben got it, then me! Then I hit Ben in the head with the car door and almost needed stitches, and now, now it is sunny outside and we are healthy, so nothing to complain about - just going to write off the last week or so! Here are some pics from the happier times. OH! And the milk.

Keeping milk stocked at our house is a full time job! There are 4 of us and 5 different kinds required:




Samantha and some imaginary friends before day care:


Samantha making goo goo eyes at Daddy.

Elliot in Boston's Public Garden playing in a dry fountain.

Little Daddy

Samantha looks like a little Ben in girls' (sometimes) clothes.  So we have nicknamed her Little Daddy.  Mommy was bored last week and made her a little matching goatee... 

Playing in the park.

Trying out the Bumbo seat.

Ben bringing the girls home from an adventure.

Samantha doing a little light reading...and already busting into her sister's journal.

Happier Days!

Thanks everyone for your concern, Elliot is back in true toddler form.  No more fevers and we all seem to be better!    Here are some random shots from around this week and last.