ALBUM: 2008-12-27 Grandma's 80th Birthday

ALBUM: 2008-12-27 Chittenango Christmas

ALBUM: 2008-12-25 Queens Christmas

ALBUM: 2008-12-20 First Hair Cut

Somebody Got a Haircut

Austin had an appointment to get his hair(s) cut this morning at 9:00. Christine was very sad to see Austin go through yet another landmark that signified his quickly progressing age past that of the infant that he was only 6 months ago. to help her feel better, Austin and Daddy decided to allow her to have fun with his hair in the bathtub last night, seeing as she wouldn't have the same opportunity in the next 24 hours.

mmm

So...this morning, he was surprisingly good, especially considering he was in the presence of a stranger with 2 sharpened blades who had obvious intentions to harm his follicular vegetation, which had grown to epic proportions. The video is below. As is always the case, we hope you enjoy!

Some New Videos

On and Off Stool, Snaps Fingers


Still Learning to Walk







Kisses

Santa, meet Austin...for the first time!!

Christine's Birthday Gift:Trans-Siberian Orchestra

For her birthday, Keith took Christine to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the Times Union Center in Albany on Sunday, Dec. 7th.

She had wanted to go see them for the last couple of years, but the timing was bad 2 years ago and Austin was only 3 weeks old last year...so we had to wait until this year to go see the show.

The performances were very good (second set of songs better than the first) and the light show was spectacular. We had a great time. If you are unfamiliar with the group, we can provide you with a brief (unknown popularly) history:

• Savatage was a band that was in its prime in the mid 80s through the mid 90s
• In 1995, they released a concept album titled "Dead Winter Dead"...the storyline revolved around the Bosnian War and a Serb boy who falls for a Muslim girl. Toward the end of the album, to convey to the listener that the story had progressed to Christmas, Savatage included a heavy-metal version of a medley of the Christmas songs "Carol of the Bells" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". The song, titled "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24" went on to be the band's most popular track ever and attained cross-over success...even being featured on Budweiser commercials.
  
• These metal musicians realized that there was more money to be made playing hard-rock versions of Christmas songs, and created a new band/touring company: Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO)
  
• Now...the band has released 4 albums to date and gets together every year for 3 months to tour as TSO. They make a ton of cash...performing 2 shows, almost daily (for 3 months) with 2 separate tours (an east coast tour and a west coast tour). How much do they bring in? Well, figure 2 shows per day, averaging 12,000 people each, at an average of $50 per ticket, at 60 different locations in 3 months. Then double that number, because there are 2 tours simultaneously taking place on each coast.
  
• Meanwhile, the other 9 months out of the year, the players return to their own individual projects until the cash calls the next winter. Who said heavy metal musicians aren't smart?

A lot of people are surprised to know that the same people who perform Trans Siberian Orchestra are this guy (who ironically, softened the music on his sampler for the holiday season--but the album cover pictured is more indicative of his styling), this guy and this guy.

Regardless of their history, however, Christine had a wonderful time and enjoyed the show. Keith even got to enjoy a portion of the set where the played a couple of Savatage songs to honor the former guitarist and founding member, Criss Oliva who died tragically 15 years ago.

We were able to take a few shots with the camera, and figured we would share them with everyone here:

The Pursiut of the Perfect Christmas Card

It isn't that easy to find or create the perfect card for Christmas...especially with Austin. first Christine tried to get some shots of Austin in his snowsuit playing in his sled on the deck:

mmm

They were cute, but it was a bit to overcast that day and the pictures weren't quite bright enough.

Then we tried to dress him up with his Christmas outfit and take some pictures of his in front our fireplace.

mmm

Again, they were cute, but we didn't find anything that we were content with, so we decided to wait a few days and try again...

...So, we brought the camera with us to cut down our first Christmas tree in the new house. It was a cold day with Arctic winds...especially for Keith who waited up on the top of the hill waiting for the tractor to come and pick him up with the tree (another story for another day, perhaps). We took a lot of pictures as quickly as we could with the tree:

mmm

And then with some branches that Keith cut off the bottom of the tree:

mmm

Alas, when we came home, we loaded the pictures onto the computer and started reviewing the pictures and came to a consensus. Of course, we would hate to ruin the surprise, so we will wait for you to see the picture when you receive it in the mail!

ALBUM: 2008-12-07 TSO

A Chaotic, But Fantastic, Thanksgiving Weekend

Wow...last weekend (Thanksgiving through Saturday) was a whirlwind of visiting with friends and family from the tri-state area. By the time it was all done, we had visited 7 homes, a bank, 2 shopping centers, 1 office, 2 restaurants, 3 hotels...oh, and we avoided an apparent bomb threat as well. Sounds like a pretty full weekend, huh? The map shows all the places we visited, mostly in 2 days.



View Larger Map
On Wednesday (November 25th), Keith finished work at 6:45, ordered some pizza and brought it home for dinner so that there would be very little clean-up prior to hitting the road. With all our plans in place, we thought we were prepared and packed to hit the road by 8:00. Of course, that would be in a perfect world, but inevitably (as many of you may know), when you are dealing with Christine, things rarely run perfectly on time...so, we left around 8:45.

The ride was a piece-of-cake. We jumped on the thruway instead of Route 81, because Keith wasn't sure how frequently he would need caffiene (or rest stops to make room for more caffiene), so toward Albany we drove. Austin fell asleep about 15 minutes before his mother, while Keith made good time to Bayside, Queens. Keith can't take too much credit for such good time, though. The weather was nice, there was no traffic at either bridge (GWB or Throgsneck) and the Cross Bronx could have been 2 luxury double wide lanes and the traffic wouldn't have suffered.

So...we were checked in and unpacking at the Adria Hotel by 12:30 am. The place looked better on the internet than it did in person, so we don't necessarily recommend going there. The room was small, and despite their efforts to renovate and update the place...it was just lacking. However, it was clean and they had a decent breakfast for no additional cost (not that it made up for the $150+ per day room fee...but we digress).

Thanksgiving morning, we woke to go down for breakfast...and the television news was covering the Mumbai terror attacks. We felt a little awkward when we were in the room for the meal with a small group of Indian or Pakistani people. We were not sure where they were from (it is hard to tell in that area unless they are wearing a Dunkin Donuts visor and are standing behind a counter), but they were speaking unhappily to each other in a language we did not understand. Coupled with the realization that we seemed to be the only other people staying at the hotel besides some airline staff (from Kuwait Airlines), it seemed as though we were representing America alone and felt the need to go to our rooms and watch the Macy's day parade...with the dead-bolt locked.



The parade wasn't on for too long before Austin took his nap...thus, forcing us to turn off the TV. So, very pathetically, Keith fired up the laptop so that we could watch "My Name is Earl" on Hulu.com. It must have been funny to watch two grown adults, lying on their stomachs, chins propped on pillows, sharing the seperate ear buds of headphones watching re-runs of a TV show on a small laptop in an effort to keep the baby asleep...but that is what we did, and successfully.


Once Austin awoke, it was time to go enjoy some home-cooking and good company...going to the McKenna home for Thanksgiving. Coincidentally, it was also Uncle Ed's 60th birthday. So, the whole family got together and celebrated Thanksgiving, Ed's birthday, and Christine's birthday (to be celebrated 2 days later) all at once. The food was awesome and plentiful. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves including Austin. He wore a variety of Thanksgiving themed hats Aunt Angela acquired for him. He also enjoyed playing with Gladware and clementines with his soon-to-be-eligible-for-social-security Uncle Ed on the kitchen floor. And while Austin was playing, others were playing a game fo their own (the board game, "Are you smarter than a 5th gtader?"). This proved to be a challenging foray into intellectual and cognitive battles full-grown adults grappled with such baffling and befuddling questions as, "Who won the civil war?"...careful, that one is trickier than you may think. But...after 8:30, our boy began to fade, requiring us to take our leave and return to the Kashmir Hotel.

mmm
When we awoke the next morning, we went to visit Chris, Lisa, and Megan (the newest addition to their family). It was the first time that we had seen Megan in person...she was beautiful, and peaceful too. We watched as she just quietly sat in Christine's lap...relaxed. Then we remembered back to when Austin was the same age, and we became jealous. Austin would never just lie down or sit with us and remain content...no way, no how. But...it was wonderful to spend time with the Chelius family and Christine was especially appreciative of the NYC bagels that they provided for breakfast (thus allowing us to avoid breakfast with Apu and Babu at the hotel). As is usually the case, Austin became tired and necessitated our departure, so that he could sleep on our way back across the Hudson to the Garden State.


mm

Once in NJ, we picked up our good friend, Chelsea (aka Chuck), and went to Achieve, where Keith and Chuck were going to hang out for the afternoon. While they were at Achieve, Christine and Austin drove into Paramus to visit with Marie, Stacey & Rachel, Liz & Emily, and Christine M. with Erin and Tommy . Your author wasn't there, so details will be thin...however...Christine did return with one anecdote that I remember: Austin was bitten for the first time, and it was a lesson worth being learned. You see, Austin has a fascination with mouths. He will stick his fingers in anyone's mouth, exploring every nook and cranny. Well, long story short, Austin came to discover that if you put your finger into the open mouth of a young girl, she may try to prevent you from getting it back.

After the girls were finished hanging out, Christine and Austin (fighting an afternoon nap) returned to Achieve, picked up Keith and Chuck, and went to the Sica house to visit with the boys. Keith had seen Joey, Richie and Tommy at the office, but they wanted to see Austin. Unfortunately for them, he was with Christine, but Keith had said he would try his best to have Austin come over and play for a while. So Austin got to hang out at the Sica's house for a little bit, playing mostly with Tommy who had remained inside while his older brothers went out to play with a neighbor. Tommy even shared his snack (cheese balls) with Austin...Austin's first cheese ball experience (and watching him "wolf" them down, it probably won't be his last either).

As the evening approached, and Austin was still fighting his nap, we visited the Hammerle's. It was so nice to see the whole family. To go from seeing them 1-2 times per week to seeing them once every 3 months has been a huge adjustment (as has been watching football alone on Sundays...although, it is quieter now...) We had an awesome time playing with the kids and "catching up" with all that has been going on with them. Keith was a little jealous that Dave had been out fishing and had pictures of some quality bucket-mouths to show for it...but there is always next year.



So...we left the Hammerle home at 8:30, leaving Keith 30 minutes to drive 10 minutes down the road, check in the hotel, set-up Austin's portable bed, get him down, get back in the car and travel 15 minutes down the road to Hackensack and have dinner with his close friend Mark. Obviously, time was not on our side, so Keith dropped a message to Mark letting him know he was running behind schedule and we proceded to the Marriot in Park Ridge.

As we approached the Marriot, there were flashing police lights in the parking lot. The area around the hotel has an inordinately slow speed zone, so we figured that someone had gotten pulled over in close proximity to the hotel (likely for speeding). As we get closer, though, we see that the strobe lights are flashing on all floors (you know, the flashing lights that accompany a fire-alarm for the hearing impaired). We pull into the parking lot, grab Austin, and walk toward a group of people outside of the building to discover what has happened....

It was a bomb threat!! Can you believe it?!?! In Bergen County, NJ!! We had just spent the last 2 evenings in Queens with the likes of Apu, Babu and Ahmed without incident...and there was a bomb threat keeping a bunch of suburban, metropolitan wannabes from finishing their wedding reception in Park Ridge of all places. Unfortunately, this minor inconvenience was also keeping Austin from going to bed on time, so we travelled one town over into Montvale, found an available room at the Courtyard by Marriot (at only two-thirds the price), and got Austin squared away in time for Keith to meet a very patient Mark at Houston's in the Riverside Square Shopping Center....



...After what seemed like a very short bout of rest, we were awake the next morning, ready once again for a busy day...Christine's 30th birthday!!! The day began with a trip to see Joelle and her boys (big Dave, David, and Danny). As is always the case, Austin was showered with adoration from the boys...and especially Joelle. She was also kind enough to have an extensive spread arranged for us for breakfast including hash browns, eggs, fresh fruit, muffins, bagels, and sausages. The company was better than the food...and that is saying something, because we all ate a lot. While at Joelle's, one of the funnier moments was Austin rubbing his hair with the juice from the fresh fruit...



After breakfast, the Holzli's were kind enough to let us take over their home for the mornng. Austin took a much needed bath after breakfast, followed by a 2 hour nap. Christine also took a shower and then ran some errands to the bank and Bed Bath and Beyond to complete our stone-ware set.

As lunch time neared, it was time to head out and visit the Rickard family. Hanging out with Bret and Nicole was very nice...especially since we hadn't all hung out and talked together since Austin went swimming for the first time in July. The beautiful German Shepard that was previously pictured on this blog had since found a new owner, so Austin wasn't able to keep his attention on the dog (as he is accustomed to do in the presence of such creatures). This provided Austin the opportunity to hang out with Mikey more. Of course, playing with another boy of the same age (between 1-2 years) requires certain skills including sharing...a skill not yet learned, understood or appreciated by our respective sons. However, it was cool to watch 1 year old boys act like 1 year old boys. There was taking the toy the other is playing with, the reactive push and take back, followed by the "he took back the toy that I stole from him before he was finished with it"-crying fit. But don't be mistaken, the boys had their good moments too, and we really emjoyed our time together.



Lastly, to finish off the weekend, Christine's family took us all out to Biagio's Restaurant in Paramus to celebrate Christine's birthday. Austin was good, but was definitely tired by the end of the night...drawing the ire of many in the dining room. But we couldn't have asked for him to be any better. After 3 nights in a portable crib, varied nap-times and even more varied sleeping environments while being handled by so many people...he was still remarkably well behaved. He never ceases to amaze us: every time we challenge him and mess with his schedule, he simply rises to the occasion and consistently impresses.

After dinner, the weekend was to draw to a close...3 nights in hotels were enough...but we were still sad to leave so many people behind once again. The road was long, and we didn't arrive back to the house until after 12:30 in the morning, but we all fell asleep quickly, heavily and thankful...thankful for everyone opening up their homes to us, for their company, and most importantly their enduring love and friendship, regardless of the miles between us.

ALBUM: 2008-12