It’s kind of hilarious that this post is sponsored by Connecticut Tourism, since my entire blog could pretty much be seen as a commercial for Connecticut Tourism. Between trips to the aquarium, the seaport, parks, and various bodies of water all I do is post about the fun we have living here. I’m constantly amazed at how much there is to do in an hour radius of my house. I’ve lived here 7 years and I’m still discovering new places and activities all the time!

A few months ago, my friend Erin said “Hey, so I’m getting four days off over Memorial Day weekend, would it be cool if I came up to visit you?” and I say “It would be THE COOLEST.” I warned her two kids kind of put a damper on the crazy, carefree, childless life she was used to but she assured me she loved my ginger babies and would be happy to hang out doing ginger baby-friendly stuff. Luckily, we managed to do plenty of things that were fun for EVERYONE – although I needed 18 hours of sleep and a diet of nothing but carrot sticks to recover from SO MUCH FUN.

Here’s a quick (but extremely picture heavy) rundown of all the things we did over Memorial Day weekend. I PROMISE it’s worth at least scrolling through so you can check out the giveaway at the bottom: Saturday morning we drove down to Mystic where we walked around looking at shops, watched the drawbridge go up and down and ate delicious ice cream at Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream(I highly recommend the lemon custard with shaved chocolate).

On the way home we stopped at two local vineyards – Stonington Vineyards and Maugle Sierra Vineyards– for wine tastings. E kindly volunteered to make wise choices and be DD so Erin and I could try all the wines. I came home with three bottles, include the most delicious Riesling ever.

In the evening, we took the stroller and walked down to the Norwich waterfront where the Rotary Club was having a carnival. My daredevil son enjoyed half a dozen rides while Erin and Caroline and I enjoyed a delicious fried dough.

*That tall thing in the distance is Mohegan Sun Casino*

On Sunday, I took Erin to the Jewett City Flea Market, which is in a huge old mill building. We wandered around looking for treasures and wondering WHO exactly is going to buy something like this:

But we found plenty of cool stuff too:

On Sunday evening our awesome baby sitter came over to put the kids to bed so all the grown ups could get dinner and drinks at Mohegan Sun. We had dinner at Sol Toro Tequila Grill and spiked milk shakes at Bobby’s Burger Place. Then we played craps and tried a few slot machines until we decided we’d lost enough money. I always feel so glamorous at the casino, even if I’m playing penny slots.

black & blue mojito

After sleeping in for a little bit on Monday we went out for family brunch and then walked down to the green where the town was having Memorial Day festivities – and my kids got to see a zillion firetrucks.

Even reliving all that as I was writing it was exhausting. We did a lot! And we only did a TINY bit of the stuff we could have done – we didn’t go out on the boat, or to the beach, or to the Nautilus Museum, or Mystic Aquarium or Seaport, or any of the other vineyards, or go get fresh seafood, or down to Clinton for antiques and outlet shopping.

Which Connecticut destination would you like to visit? Leave a comment below and you will be entered into a sweepstakes from BlogHer to win $1,000 to help you plan your trip! (more…)

Hi, can’t talk, must get back to eating and drinking ALL THE THINGS.

Sunday:

Hockey day!

Subway = mom of the century

This is my "crazy person carrying home two giant bags of plants my neighbor gave me" face

Monday:

She couldn't make up her mind on this hat - but the giant Dora face on the other side ended up making it a NO.

Christmas socks in May. Don't judge me.

We were outside. It started pouring. I made her come inside. This happened.

Tuesday:

Evan said "Let's buy this flowers for Daddy!" It was adorable, but the flowers cost $9.99, so, no.

Posing

LOUD NOISES

Wednesday:

Gymnastics? Gymnastics!!

Anyone tells my kid not to wear the pink fairy wings and they get a face full of my FIST.

Evan built a fort, complete with "outer space rocket"

Thursday:

More push-ups Mommy! More push-ups!

Tiny daredevil demands to be pushed higher

Reading herself to sleep

Friday:

Waiting for the train

Horsey does not look amused

Smores Face

Saturday:

Ready for fun in her new car seat

Adorable red-heads sharing a soft serve

Driving a fire truck was ALMOST the highlight of his night...

...until this happened. (He's the tiny, blurry speck 15 feet in the air)

One of my BFF’s (Wedding Erin, if that means anything to some of you) is visiting for the long weekend and we’re attempting to fit as much fun as possible into 4 days. So far we’ve been extremely successful.

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!

I picked the funniest photos as an apology for not getting this up sooner. My only excuse is I was busy watching all 24 episodes in season 8 of Grey’s Anatomy this weekend. I somehow forgot to watch all year until Twitter BLEW UP during the finale. Now all I can say is WHAT THE HELL, GREY’S?

Sunday:

Family hockey practice - I'm sitting in a chair drinking coffee, obviously

SHUT UP AND GET IN MY FACE, CAKE.

Obviously really excited about the twinkle lights

Monday:

I cut Evan's beautiful hair without crying.

Apparently a haircut was all he needed to be a BIG KID

Raise your hand if you're the cutest person here!

Tuesday:

Stroller Strides stretching!

Mini Gene Kelly

We had a really rough afternoon, so as long as they weren't crying I let them do whatever they wanted.

Wednesday:

See? I left the giant pile of clean laundry there ON PURPOSE so my kid could use the iPad in comfort. WISE CHOICES.

That blur is one really happy gymnast

I don't even have a caption for this face

Tiny baby reading a tiny book = GIANT SWOON

Thursday:

The narrator on this dinosaur app reads like he's doing the trailer for a Michael Bay movie.

WHEEEEEE!

I look way less cute when I nap on my face

Judge all you want, this pizza is DELICIOUS. I'm going to judge you for NOT eating it.

Friday:

And now he's 80 years old.

Mommy, the porch is my favorite.

Finally the kids are up someone else's butt.

Saturday:

Barking at the sea-lion

Back off you crazy lady, leave us the duck alone!

Being three is awesome.

Yeah, yeah, I know, Mother’s Day was like a zillion years ago and all the moms who REALLY appreciated their families already posted their recaps. What can I say, except maybe mine will remember to get me something next year.

The blankie she's wrapped in was my baby blankie, knit by my grandmother

Pallet petunia garden - we'll see if it holds up when I stand it against the fence

Srsly, the greatest swag anyone has ever given me - Corona garden tools are the BEST

GROSS

Super Hero Evan!

Monkey-see, monkey-do

Super Hero Caroline!

Grill tray for nachos on the grill = genius

NO SAD FACES ON MOTHER'S DAY

TWINS

Giant marshmallows might have been the highlight of his year

Dear Evan and Caroline and Future Hypothetical Offspring,

Congratulations! You have learned to read and also know about the internet! Those are two of the most important things in life, so excuse me while I pat myself on the back for a minute. I am not a complete failure as a mother! Speaking of which, I’d like to explain to you why you are here, on the website, looking at words and pictures about yourself that you did not give me permission to post, which some might say DOES make me a failure as a mother so I feel like maybe I should elaborate.

This is my blog, a web log if you will, an internet journal of your lives from the moment I knew you were coming until (enter current date and time here). I have shared many things about our lives here for anyone with an internet connection to read. I’ve told the stories of your births, my fears about motherhood, your milestones and birthdays, your favorite things, special days, normal days, good days, bad days and everything in between. Through those stories, I’ve met and connected with a community of women who have become dear friends. You have met some of them already, and probably many more by the time you read this, and even more who love you even though you have never met. I am so happy to share our lives in a way that has made them more joyful.

Some people think this is a very poor choice on my part, that I show a lack of discretion, intelligence and general self-awareness by making our lives public. I absolutely understand their point of view. There are definitely periods of my life – most of 1996 for example – I wouldn’t be thrilled to see on the internet.  When my dad threatened to show my prom date my baby bath time photos I died dead of embarrassment right there in the living room and never even got to GO to prom. Ok, that’s a lie, but I sure wished the earth would swallow me up before Dad got out the pictures. I imagine you feel like this now, seeing dozens of photos of yourself, many of which you probably think are embarrassing.

But now, as a grown up – and I assure you I will do everything in my power to make sure you are a grown-up some day – I cherish every photo, video, scrapbook, postcard, and slide of my own childhood. I check the back of faded prints to see if they are labeled with names and dates and places so I can fit them into my consciousness. I have a terrible memory, so tangible evidence of things I vaguely recall are precious puzzle pieces. I hope this blog can provide you with all that a more. You’ll have access to hundreds of different days in an instant, with places and exact dates and the names of your friends all recorded. You will have details about your childhood I have long forgotten. Someday, if you have kids of your own, you will have a totally comprehensive guidebook explaining everything you need to know about raising them to be perfect, brilliant, successful humans! Because that’s what I did! Or, depending on how you think you turned out, a very serious warning. Either way, I’m being servicey!

More selfishly, I’ve written things about myself. You’ll probably find posts detailing what we ate for dinner and my knitting projects boring now, but someday I hope you’ll read them, eager to know more about the person your mom was when she wasn’t just your mom. It’s a remarkable thing, realizing your parents and grandparents and great-grandparents had lives before you came into the world. Maybe you’ll learn where you got a love for the ocean or why yellow always makes you feel so happy or that your parents were once cool enough to drive a Mustang convertible instead of a minivan.

All that being said, if you decide you are uncomfortable with this – any of this – I will take it down. I’m sure there are posts where I shared more than I should have, told stories that belonged in a baby book instead of a website and forgot you deserve my respect as well as my love. It is just so tempting to shout from the modern-day rooftops that my kids are the cutest and the best and the smartest and the loudest and the most frustrating and the most adored ever. Even though it might be hard for you to believe, sometimes parents make mistakes too, and I apologize if you think this blog is one of mine. Although I’m assuming by now kids get Facebook pages the day they are born and people all wear cameras that record and broadcast their entire life online, Truman Show-style, so my little baby blog is barely a drop in the bucket of your Googleable life. Just please remember the internet is a public place – and I will try to do the same.

I love you,

Mommy