Christmas 2012 picture

Today it started snowing. Hopefully it will snow more and more. It was great snow for a snowman. Since we hadn't taken a Christmas photo yet, we thought this would make a pretty good one.

Longwood Gardens Christmas Lights

This evening half the Dolan clan went to see the Christmas lights at Longwood Gardens. Longwood is a thousand acre botanical garden. It is quite impressive. The gardens looked really nice. It is a place we will have to go see in the spring, summer and fall.

My family is always beautiful. The tree behind them looked great, but not so much on film.

The Canopy Cathedral Treehouse.

The Christmas Dinner table in one of the conservatory rooms. That isn't green carpet beneath the table, like that of the man-made variety. That is good ol' grass.

Waiting to see Santa

Payton and Parker. Hilton Head Island's Coligny Plaza. Waiting for to Santa can be a long wait. But when the time came, Parker made Payton go it alone.

Payton's 2nd grade school picture

Payton... Payton is a second grader. We can hardly believe it. Our oldest boy is growing up to quickly for us.

Jaws! Payton first viewing.

Tonight Payton and I watched Jaws together - his first time. He handled it really well and watched the whole thing. Later that night he went to sleep and had no nightmares. Note towards the end his dry mouth and the licking of his lips.

Happy 8th birthday Payton

Payton's had a great time at his 8th birthday party. He had both friends and family attend; what could be better? As usual his Mom made him a great Ninjago cake.

Payton's party was the weekend after his birthday. We weren't going to make him wait until then to have cake and ice cream. I picked up a cake at the store and we had a little celebration at home on his birthday.

Payton's tree

I planted a tree for Payton and Parker last summer. Payton's survived, but sadly Parker's didn't. See that stick on the right in the background? Yeah, that's Parker's tree. This year I replacing 4 out of 5 trees I planted last year. I really wanted these Sugar Maples to grow for their orange fall leaves. I'm switching to Red Maples because they tolerate varying conditions better than the Sugars do.

Liberty Bell

We're out and about today. We're in Philadelphia to see a show. We came early to check another site. We decided on the Liberty Bell. We've been there done that now. We're having lunch now and afterwards we'll head for the afternoon showing of How To Train Your Dragon at the Wells Fargo Center.

New jersey and first win!

Payton's football team received their long awaited new jerseys. Payton is no. 85. The team did the town proud by wearing them in their home opener victory. The team clicked really well and won 27-12. It was pretty sweet.

Don't little kids look good in football uniforms? It is quite a transformation.

Second grade, here comes Payton

Payton's first day of second grade. He was pretty excited and I think really glad to be going back to school. 

Parker too started at a new school the next day. I no longer drive Parker into Doylestown. His new school is just ten minutes away with a Wawa on the route. Sweet.

Parker turned 4

Our little Parker turned 4 years old. Poor Parker. Bad Mom and Dad. No party for Parker, just our family at Giggleberry Fair. Parker didn't feel short changed and he had fun playing with his big brother. Thank God for siblings. Next year Parker will have a proper birthday party.

Playing in a dumpster

This past week I dethatched the yard. It turned out to be a bigger job than I anticipated. Payton and I bagged eight bags of grass and I realized clean up would take forever. I called for and filled up a 15-yard dumpster. Payton isn't, but Parker is standing up. It's a lot of grass. Payton was also a big help. We would rake a big pile onto a tarp, drag it and hoist it over and into the dumpster. The original deal for Payton was $1 per bag. I ended up paying him $75 for his hard work.

First football game today

Payton's football team, the New Hope-Solebury Lions Jr. Mitey Mites played their first game today. They didn't win, but they played hard and had a good time.

Here's Payton trying to get around the blocker to get the ball carrier.

Disney Magic Canada Cruise

Setting sail leaving New York with One World Trade Center in the background.

We spent this past week cruising the New England area from New York up to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. We traveled on Disney's first cruise ship; the Disney Magic. It was a fairly short cruise of 5 nights with two stops.

Disney's first cruise ship - the Disney Magic.

Our stateroom was aft on the starboard side. We had a nice large private balcony with a great view of the sea. Note the large movie sceen just behind the forward stacks. The boys loved watching movies poolside.

All smiles and full of anticipation.

We set sail Sunday afternoon, sailing all day Monday, and docking at Halifax Tuesday morning. In Halifax we took a ride on a three-mast sailing ship around the harbor. Unfortunately it wasn't very windy so the boat had to rely on its engines. The crew set the sails anyway. All the kids on board helped hoist them. The crew taught the kids how to tie some nautical knots. In the wheel house the kids got to take turns piloting the boat. Funny, we sailed to Halifax to take a boat ride.

We still had time to walk a little around the city. Our first stop was for some ice cream. Next we found a Starbucks and collected another city mug. We were hoping for a Halifax mug, but it is to small of a market to have its own so we settled for a Canada mug. The boys were really dragging their feet on the way back to the ship; until we found a park. Their adrenaline kicked in and off they went to play. The thing they liked best was this huge blue wave they could climb on. Climb to the top and slide back down. You weren't supposed to climb on it, but everybody was.

Hoist the sails mateys!

Back on ship the boys really had a great time in the kids club. Disney did do a good job keeping the kids entertained. At the kids pool there was a giant outdoor video screen playing Disney movies and cartoons all day long. Kids and parents alike sat around and in the pool watching shows. Parker took a liking to just sitting in the hot tub with his chin in his hand watching the shows. Now I preferred the full size movie theater. They didn't play also ran movies either. Brave was playing, but we had seen it already. Payton and I watched the Avengers. Kathleen and I watched some of People Like Us, but we couldn't finish the show. The kids were putting on a show and we wanted to see that. We'll catch the movie again when it comes out on DVD.

Pirate night. All dressed up having fun.

Our second stop was in Saint John, New Brunswick. It was very foggy the morning we landed and stayed so much of the day. Our excursion took us out of the city and up into the hills. There it was a clear and sunny day. We went to a working Sugar Bush where they made real maple syrup. It was interesting. Forty gallons of tree sap to make one gallon of syrup. They served us a pancake brunch with real Canadian maple syrup of course.

That was all there was to our cruise. We spent all day Thursday at sea arriving back in New York  early Friday morning. We were home by 10:30 am. We liked that. Sailing out of New York is a pretty good deal for us.

Our tour guide in Saint John asked why Donald Duck puts on a towel after a shower. Good question.

You won't see me drinking much very often. Kathleen has never seen me have too much.

Straw mustaches

The boys are too young to shave, but they can still have mustaches.

New York: the Intrepid and the Top Of The Rock

Cousin Meghan has been staying with us for three weeks this summer. Before she heads home Monday we took her and ourselves to New York. This time around we went first to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum and then to Rockefeller Center and the Top of the Rock.

The USS Intrepid is a retired aircraft carrier. It served in WWII, the space program and in Vietnam. Today it is a museum. As big as it is, fully staffed and equipped it would be a pretty cramped place to be. We saw the space shuttle Enterprise, a SR-71 Blackbird and the transatlantic Concorde commercial airliner. The Concorde wasn't very large. It criss-crossed the Atlantic faster than the speed of sound and it had to. Who would want to sit in that small plane for very long? They had many planes and helicopters on display.

It was cool walking around in the ship. Quarters were tight; from the bridge to the sleeping berths. The biggest space we saw other than the hanger deck was the anchor chain room.

The stairs between decks were very steep. They were more like ladders. Parker looks like he is climbing the stairs. He is actually going down the stairs backwards. That was the easiest way to do so.

The boys make a pretty good gun crew!

Doesn't Meghan look nice with her new handbag? It is quite striking.

After the museum we started walking to the Rockefeller Center. On the way there we passed through Times Square. We joined a crowd starring up at ourselves on a giant billboard. Can you see us?

The Top of the Rock(effeller Center) was an iffy deal for us. It was overcast all day and by now it had started to rain. Fortunate for us it had stopped and the skies cleared just for us. Our trip to the top was okay. The conditions weren't perfect, but the were good enough.

WOW! Look who I caught on film. Sasquatch has got nothing on the big guy!

All in all it was a good trip to New York. We have yet to see many things; such as Central Park. Will be making future trips to explore the city some more.

Payton and friend, and his little brother

Payton and Parker having been spending a lot of time at the pool lately. Here Payton is with one of his school friends.

Back flippin' Parker

Parker is amazingly becoming quite a swimmer and all on his own. I can't take any credit for his swimming since I haven't worked with him at all; much less even gotten in a pool. Kathleen hasn't worked a great deal with him either. I credit Payton. Parker just watches and copies Payton's every move. Here is Parker doing back flips in the pool. Not into the pool, just in the pool. 

Payton's first lawnmower drive

Payton took his first spin on our Honda H3011H lawnmower. He was emboldened by driving his grandma's golf cart over the 4th. The golf cart is easier to drive in some ways, but in others it is not. The steering is much heavier on the mower, but controlling your speed and stopping (for a little guy) is easier on the mower. He's gotta get a little bigger before he can help mow the yard. I'm planning on him doing so at 10.

I need one of these

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