Going home

On the way back from Pennsylvania, Ben visited a children's museum in Poughkeepsie. He played with pretty much everything in the place, but his absolute favorite was the fire truck. They had boots and coats and hats to wear, and buttons to push to make siren sounds and get calls to go rescue a cat from a tree. After playing hard, and some pizza, he had a long sleep during our long long drive home on an icy slushy heavy traffic day.

Playing outside

It isn't Thanksgiving without a little football. Ben got a new football and a new soccer ball in his Christmas presents, so he tried them out outside with his parents and his cousin Katie. He's got a pretty good arm. He also stopped, once or twice, to check out his grandpa's famous green truck.

Christmas presents

Ben got to start Christmas early by opening presents from Grandma and Grandpa. He was very happy with them all, including a Curious George book, a penguin, fun interlocking blocks with a platform to build them on, a lion towel that lets him be a lion at the end of every bath, and monkey pajamas that he absolutely loves. His love for them does not keep him from sometimes pouting in them, however.

Goldfish Barn

On the day after Thanksgiving, Ben went to the Goldfish Barn, where Aunt Dodo works, to visit with her. As we were hanging out there, Ben's Aunt Caroline came by too, which was very nice. Ben loves to look at all the fish at the Goldfish Barn, and play with the toys.

Hide and Seek

Ben had a wonderful time playing hide and seek with Katie. He almost always hid in the same place (behind grandma's chair) and he often ran out before he was found, but boy was it fun.

Thanksgiving

Ben enjoyed thanksgiving dinner. He loves turkey and potatoes, especially. He also was very happy to have his very own chair, which raised him up to just the right height, so he could eat with everyone at the big table. In the afternoon, after dinner, pretty much all the Johnstons came over, which was fun but sometimes a little overwhelming. He was still the youngest cousin there, but one of Andy's cousins has a little baby, and another is expecting one soon, so next year he may get to be a big kid. Ben enjoyed the chocolate fountain, which comes out for the event every year.

Grandma and Grandpa

It was great fun seeing Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy again. Ben had lots of fun playing with them, and sitting with them. He also was extremely happy to be with his cousins Katie Mae and Dean. He joined in the Johnston family tradition of leg wrestling, but once you get three involved, it gets complicated.

To Grandfather's House We Go

For Thanksgiving, Ben and his parents went to Pennsylvania to see all the Johnstons. It's a long enough drive that they split it into two days (maximizing nap time in the car) and stop in northern Pennsylvania each way. On our way out, it snowed overnight, so that there was snow on the ground at breakfast. Ben, who doesn't remember having seen snow before, was very excited. After breakfast and a snowball, we went to the Steamtown national historic park in Scranton, where Ben got to go for a ride on an old train, and was very excited to get to climb on lots of train cars, most notably a caboose. Andy was very taken by the well-named Big Boy engine.

Spaceman

As the weather gets colder, and on wet days, we have been doing more visits to the Museum of Science, aka the Dinosaur Museum. Ben loves to visit the dinosaurs (they have just added a very cool and rare triceratops) and he always needs to go on a little trip to outer space.

Sonia

Sonia's getting around pretty well in spite of her broken leg. Ben went over to visit her one day, and she also came around to play and to have some mac and cheese. It is always fun to have friends over, and they play together very well.

Congratulations Daddoo!

We got great news! Ben's Daddoo has been granted permanent appointment, which is the equivalent of tenure, at Wentworth! We all celebrated with champagne (we think still left over from Mama and Daddoo's wedding).

Mama's birthday

Ben's mama had a birthday in November. Ben thought it was fun, especially singing happy birthday and helping to blow out the candles.

Dancing

There were belly dancers there to celebrate with Tania, and Jessica joined in a little. Ben was upset when his mama danced, but then he wanted to dance with her, so we all joined in, including Adrienne with Sebastian and Tanya.

Party!

Saturday night was the party to celebrate Tanya and David's marriage. It was at Tanya's dad's house in the foothills, and all the kids had a great time running up and down the hill in the desert, climbing into pots, and otherwise being as crazy as possible. Both Ben and Sebastian were crazy tired, so they had a particularly good time chasing each other around on the carpet that was set out for dancing, falling down, rolling around, and laughing with great hilarity. Ben wore his new shirt from the Desert Museum, which has a Gila monster on it. It is now his favorite shirt (especially worn with an orange long-sleeve shirt and orange pants).