Christmas Eva, Part 4!

This is the first year that Eva has been fully aware of the hoopla, majesty and magic that is Christmas. She's made a list, baked cookies, and wrapped presents, but when the big morning came, she still ran right past her shiny new "kitchen"...twice! (it was a few feet away from the tree). When she did finally notice it, she focused only on the Rapunzel cup she'd been wanting.

Which made us think...maybe we could have bought a whole SET of Rapunzel cups and saved a few bucks on the kitchen!

All day Eva has been thanking the family and friends who've sent so much love and wonderful gifts. But since you all can't hear her yelling in our living room, we thought we'd say it again. Your generosity is truly appreciated! Have a wonderful Christmas, and may 2011 be spectacular!

Sliding for fun on Christmas Eve (only 10 more turns to go!)

ANTICIPATION...the night before Santa...

Congratulations, you've won...A BRAND NEW KITCHEN!!!

Enjoying her new ornament...which can be filled with shredding wrapping paper!

Taking a break to visit SnowGirl!

Who can resist admiring their new hair ties and magnificent yellow tutu?

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Preparing for the holidays

The tree is trimmed, Grandma-ma's sugar cookies have been baked, and we're ready for the holidays! With some play-time with good friends thrown in, of course.

Admiring the tree.

Three Sleeping Beauties...though none seem to be sleeping.

Cookie time! Eva was nothing but helpful, of course.

Rainy December

First off, I know what followers of AAE may be wondering - where are the birthday pics?!? Well, it's a long, boring story, but suffice to say that documentation of Eva's completely fabulous B-day party is...on another computer. But not lost!

And, since there's no sense in continuing to hold up the fun while we wait for said computer access to happen, onward and upward! Especially since as of this weekend we have camera, charger AND card reader at last, in one place! Lesser mortals would have given up and just bought a new camera already, but not we. (Check again in a week to see if we still have all functioning pieces.)

Recent weeks have been predictably New England-frigid, but this weekend brought some unseasonable warmth (highs in the 40s! gasp!) and plenty of rain. We made the most of it, though; nothing like a rainy day to inspire bringing out the tutu for an indoor dance party.

Dancing shoes!

Lucky spectators definitely felt the same.

Eva called this a passe (as in, "pah-say"). Not sure if that's the real ballet term for flamingo stance, but she's got it down, whatever it is.

On our way to pick up our (very wet, but well-loved) Christmas tree!

Autumn in New England

Well, technology struggles have again afflicted our tiny family. We now have a working camera but are unable to charge the battery or upload its pictures to the computer. Le sigh. In the meantime, here are a few more stunning cell-phone-mediated shots from our adventures out and about as fall has fallen up here in the Northeast!

Enthusiastic Pumpkinfest-er.

Pumpkin queen on her pumpkin throne. (Can you tell what the thematic focus of Pumpkinfest might be?)

Holding court with Nathan and Paige.

"I want TWO ponytails, Mommy!"

I know the feeling, kid.

I see you!

Checking out a piece of history - statue of Cy Young at the site of the first-ever World Series. (Which happens to be right behind Mommy's office. Easiest sightseeing trip ever.)

Who doesn't love a carousel ride??

Indoor bouncy house in a princess dress: Eva's best day ever. (With fabulous pumpkin Burke in the foreground.)

Ballerinas on the bench.

More from Storyland

Hooray for responsible adult friends with functioning cameras! This just in: a few sweet pics of Eva and Paige at Storyland (which may not be the Happiest Place on Earth (TM), but is at least amongst the happiest places in New England for a small child).

Looking cool, feeling cooler.

Hanging with Humpty Dumpty. (And no, you're not the only one who thinks he looks creepy.)

Visiting the home of the Three Bears. Both ladies were contenders for the role of Goldilocks.

Most of the day was spent hand-in-hand.

By the end of the day, Eva was an amusement park ride pro and has now requested a return visit to Storyland (with Paige, of course) just about every day since we left.

Summertime and Storyland

While we work on solving our current defunct camera problem, we've resorted to two solutions for documenting our little bean's every momentous move: a) relying on the kindness of friends (only works when friends are present with their own camera - less effective when surrounded by strangers, who take less kindly to your request to document your own family's fun), and b) phone camera!

Today's pics come from the latter, as evidenced by the mediocre film quality. We hear there are some cute real pics from our recent vacay somewhere in greater New England, currently stored on real cameras in the possession of certain real friends (not strangers!) and once they make their way into our grubby hands we'll upload the best of those as well.

Enjoying the sand, sun and colorful local wildlife at Revere Beach.

Snacktime after a morning of high culture at the MFA.

Sincopers! (Also known as sprinklers for those of you not named Eva.)

Steering the swan boat at Storyland (boating companion Paige also present but obscured here by large swan neck).

Since Cinderella was on a break from the throne room during our castle visit at Storyland, these two little ladies took the opportunity to get a little princess practice.

July in Connecticut

This year's 4th of July weekend brought us to Westbrook, CT, for the beautiful wedding of Jeff's college BFF Scott (who might just die a little inside if he finds out he was referred to as a BFF). As Eva has now been obsessed with princesses for somewhere over a year now, and since she seems to believe that brides are actually a special category of princess, she was quite excited.

Picking out her own special outfit was fun; sadly, the special shoes were a letdown (as they often are).

Within minutes of our arrival, Eva became fast friends with the flower girl.



Relaxing after the rehearsal dinner with a few new friends and stray flower petals. (Those flowers certainly won't miss their petals, will they?)



Um, excuse me?! I stole these petals fair and square!



On the move.



Trading Mommy quiet time for yogurt-covered raisins. The deal lasted only as long as the raisins did, for about half the ceremony. Sigh.



Eva learned this day that beautiful shoes are rarely comfortable. Soon thereafter the shoes were abandoned. (We've all been there.)

Making up for lost time

Wow. Mommy just realized it's been about 4 months since she uploaded pictures from the camera to her computer. Shameful. In the name of attempting to catch up a bit, I'm going way back, to the olden days of Spring 2010, to post some pics from Eva's adventures and a few good times with good friends.

Bronze frog on the Common is definitely looking a little suspicious.



Hello, Boston!


Our reluctant model. "I told you, no pictures!!!"



Cuddles from Auntie Lauren.



Exploring the properties of light at the Children's Museum.



Hard at work with Trudie.



Princess treats at Paige's princess party.



Hanging with Daddy.


Trying on Daddy's new swim mask. Sassy!

Out and about

Since Mommy has a few free minutes, she's uploading some on-the-go shots from her camera phone.

Finger painting on a beautiful Sunday morning.

Delicious sand pie.

Eva visiting her fishy friends at the New England Aquarium.



Tea party with Eva's inanimate BFFs.

Another new friend at the Stone Zoo.

Trying on Grandma's new hat.