Hyatt Family Blog

A great Hyatt marathon Thanksgiving holiday!

This Thanksgiving holiday was made even more special because Andy came in for the first time in over 7 years. Unfortunately, his children were not with him but we managed to jam as much quality time together with Marianne, Steve and her children, and we all had a great time! We went to Marianne's on Thanksgiving morning. Jordan was very excited to show Uncle Andy his juggling ability, magic tricks, singing, drawing, and everything else he thought Uncle Andy should see.

We had to rush home so that Andy could start preparing the turkey and other dishes, which turned out to be exceptional, even if the entire kitchen was a mess, which I'm not used to when company arrives. How could I complain when he worked so hard and presented the company with the best meal I'm sure they've ever had at my house! He even insisted on grilling some of the turkey in the freezing weather to give us variety.

Finally, the turkey was ready and Steve started some serious carving, while I made sure the table looked just right, (something I am better at than cooking)

After dinner, it was the usual...women in the kitchen trying to clean up, men sleeping or not able to move in the living room, and Jordan and Allison on my bed watching The Wizard of Oz for the millionth time! Andy, just standing around thankful that his job was done and definitely appreciated.

With all the commotion, we even had time for some family pictures, for Jordan to draw and make his lists for a change, and for Andy and Allison to have a quiet moment together. (She was very busy telling him about her wedding shoes she got to wear!)

Friday morning, bright and early, we went to The Butterfly House, where Jordan had fun climbing on the giant caterpillar, trying to get a butterfly to land on his finger, looking at all the butterflies with Uncle Andy, and drawing. Allison had fun seeing all the butterflies, but soon decided she was afraid of them, and had more fun doing puzzles, and kicking Jordan during the movie.

Saturday, it was off the The City Museum where we enjoyed seeing an amazing doublejointed juggler at their circus. The kids had fun doing the many activities, like hand painting, going down the many different slides, going on the train, Jordan going with Uncle Andy through the various tunnels. It was an exhausting day but definitely fun!

After a trip to get some food and check out the books at Borders (where Jordan had us paged because he lost us), we went home for about an hour before ending the marathon weekend at Atlas Restaurant for another wonderful meal and time. We all hope that Andy comes in again for Thanksgiving (or sooner)...this time with his family and I promise (maybe) we'll let him relax a little more!

Weekend in Chicago

Last weekend we drove up to Chicago to spend some time with Aline and Don. We had a great time eating, shopping, and talking! Aline and I have been friends for 44 years!! (Could we really be that old?)

CMOM, window, and playdates

A few weeks ago, we took the kids to the Children's Museum of Manhattan, which has several floors of activity. The one we spent the most time on was an exhibit devoted to Dr. Seuss. Here you can see the kids in the train from "Green Eggs and Ham".

The museum also had an area where kids can draw with a kind of chalk you dip into water.

It was a lot of fun! We got a membership, and we'll probably be going lots in the cold winter months.

In other news, Greta had the great idea of putting the kids on the window ledge, so they can see everything going on below. Most of the time, not much goes on below, but Marin still gets excited, saying "Look, car!".

Greta has made a new friend in the neighborhood who also has twin girls. Today they went over and played with the other twins, and of course with all the great toys over there.

Birthday

Yesterday was Marin and Annelie's second birthday. To celebrate, we went to the Times Square Toys R Us and got a few presents and saw the sights there. That store is an experience in itself, with a ferris wheel, a huge mechanical dinosaur, and more. After we got home, they played with their new presents, and that night we sang Happy Birthday and fed them a birthday cookie.

Halloween 2004

Well, another Halloween has come and gone and I have to say, I'm kind of glad. Each year the activities seem to last longer and longer. While all were fun, we are all really exhausted after many days of tricks and treats. Here are the highlights...

Last Thursday, our playgroup got together for a Halloween party. All the kids looked so cute in their costumes. (Allison was a pink Care Bear and Jordan was - you guessed it - Murray Wiggle.) We even had a fun activity and sing-a-long!

On Friday, I led an all-school sing-a-long while the parents prepared for the class's Halloween parties. Here is Allison at her party.

Friday night, we met 4 other families for a hayride and cookout in the park. It was 85 degrees, so I didn't want Allison to wear her Care Bear costume. So this night, she was a ballerina.

Saturday night, Steve and I went to an adult Halloween party where everyone had the most amazing costumes. I broke a new Marianne record by managing to stay at the party (and not puking) until 2:30am! Steve was some sort of demented jester/clown and I went as "Heidi Ho".

Finally the "real" Halloween night was here. It started raining right as it was time to go out trick-or-treating, but we still managed to have fun.

Two Queens

Greta and I are slackers, so we didn't start looking for a Halloween costume until the weekend before. We didn't see anything we liked, so we decided to use a tiara and scepter we got for free in Central Park when my parents were here. Greta found some dresses, and voila! we had two Queens!

We trick or treated in the apartment building with several other people. It was a building-wide event. Everyone was happy to see the two royal highnesses, and we got lots of nice candy.