Blizzard of 2013

Every year brings a few minor and a few major snowstorms to Connecticut.  The minor ones leave a few inches of snow, usually overnight, while the ones to look out for are the nor'easters.  These counter-clockwise rotating storms are always the cause of 10"+ snowstorms, but usually less than 15".  There is at least one a season.  Shortly after the Superbowl this year, a unique storm hit the east coast.  It was a nor'easter, but one comprised of two low-pressure systems which had merged.  It dropped twice as much snow as the typical storms have.

The clean-up that followed was one I'll never forget.  I took measurements in several areas of my driveway, and settled on 30.5 inches.  The highest snowfall recording on the east coast from this storm (Winter Storm Nemo) was 40" in Hamden, CT (~15 mi southeast from me).  I'm still questioning whether I exerted more effort trying to maneuver my snowblower on top of the snow (because the snow was higher than it, I tried taking it off in layers) than if I had toughed it out with a shovel.  There was plenty of shoveling, mind you.  When I was finished with my house, I helped some of the neighbors...as much as I could.  I was out there for over 8 hours, and when I was finally done, I felt as if I'd been hit by a truck.  Total exhaustion.

Christmas 2012

As usual, December is a very busy month.  Besides Evan's birthday, we have other parties and holiday activities to keep us super busy.  I took Evan down the street to our town Christmas tree lighting, complete with Santa arriving in a fire engine.  This year, we opted to decorate a gingerbread train instead of decorating cookies.  Oh, there were cookies, though.  Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip cookies for his class birthday treat; Bourbon Bacon Chocolate Chip cookies for a cookie swap.  Mommy was also asked to make cookies for Santa...mmm, chocolate chip!  Much as she tried to convince him, Evan insisted that Santa did NOT want carrots for a snack.



Evan opens some presents:

Evan displays his juggling skills:

Evan's 3rd Birthday

For Evan's third birthday, we (apparently) set the tone for the next year with a bounce house kids party.  I say, "set the tone," because Evan attended no fewer than 8 birthday parties at local bounce houses for kids in his class after this one.  He had attended this same bounce house a year earlier when he was two, and he while we got him in one bounce chamber, he was too young and intimidated by the larger apparatus.  Much changes in a year's time.

Halloween 2012

Under the threat of days without power and a delayed Halloween for the second consecutive year, we survived Hurricane Sandy with no interruptions, thankfully (much of the state did not). Halloween happened as planned on 10/31, and I was busy carving my final pumpkin well into the trick-or-treating period. Fortunately, I had several days at home babysitting my son which afforded the numerous hours (20+) needed to create this year's pumpkins.  This year, I invested in more advanced carving tools, which helped, but I will need years of additional practice to be able to use them efficiently.  This was Evan's third Halloween, and his first where he began to recognize the attraction of Halloween to children: free candy for wearing a costume and saying "trick-or-treat, " and "thank you."  He's still not a fan of dressing up, but he gets over it after a few pieces of candy :-)  

The Big E

September means fall harvest fairs in Connecticut.  Every weekend, there is two or three that we could attend.  This year, the Hebron Harvest Fair was a bust, when a looming storm forced organizers to shut down early.  Some people were sent home after only an hour, with no refund.  The storm was big and the closure wise, but people will consider boycotting next year after getting cheated out of their money.

Our town holds a more modest event, the Cornfest, which we attended.  Normally uneventful, this year we won a raffle for airline tickets.

This year, we planned a trip to The Big E in Springfield, MA.  The Big E is an all-New England fair...think the MD State Fair in Timonium, but ~4x larger.  We met friends there, and even crossed paths with Evan's first daycare teacher, who had made her own maternity leave permanent.  Tripping over fried dough and sausage booths, we had searched 90% of the vendors before we finally found a soft pretzel (and naturally, came across another booth shortly thereafter).  And this year was the year of kettle corn for us.

Evan over came his fear of amusement rides, but my aversion to micro-fiber mops still holds.  Weather was fantastic, and it was insanely crowded by mid-afternoon.  We escaped before getting rained on that evening, having had our fill of fair food for another year.

Maine Vacation 2012

Everyone deserts the Maine beach towns on Labor Day, so what better time to visit than the days immediately thereafter?  Before making the trek to Wells, we spent a few days in NH and Boston.  Evan spent some time with his 5-yr old Uncle Danny and 2-yr Aunt Julia.  Saw plenty of Boston as we walked more than half the city after dim-sum one day.  Then laughed at the miles of backed-up traffic heading south and we entered Maine.  Our one good day of weather was when we arrived in ME, and we made a breakthrough with Evan walking on the sand.  Too bad a tropical storm limited our days at the beach (thank you, Roku).  Had my fill of lobster and ice cream...maybe again next year?

Memorial Week 2012

As has become custom, the CT Quinns traveled south for Memorial Day; first the beach, and then to see how Baltimore is holding up.  Unlike last year, Evan had developed an aversion to walking or sitting in the sand, which kept him well clear of any riptides, but also relegated him to a shaded blanket for several days.  He was content to play with the sand, so long as he didn't have to be on it.  He also visited with his cousins while up in town.

Weather was more cooperative this year than others, and we had great weather to visit the Baltimo...ahem, the Maryland Zoo.  While the National Zoo was free, has a panda and more golden lion tamarins than China has people, the Maryland Zoo was much closer and had plenty of animals to keep Evan happy, including several (zebras...plenty of them, a polar bear, prairie dogs, to name a few).  Evan and cousin Jonathan had some quality time to discuss the how the zoo has evolved over the last 30+ years (or maybe that was their dads).