Thanksgiving 2.0, Volume 1

Thanksgiving 2010

Auntie "Shani" Siobhan!

I begin writing about our adventurous cross-country trek while enjoying a bit of our holiday leftovers and contemplating venturing into a mini pumpkin pie cooking frenzy.  Mmmm!

We had a week long adventure to visit Siobhan and Pete out in Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving - to celebrate the holiday's with family in their new house!  It was great fun seeing a little piece of their life in Pittsburgh and spending late nights chit chatting over sweet lassi's as we prepped the holiday side dishes of our childhood memories.

Here are a few snap shots of our trip from Minnesota to Pittsburgh.  Lucky us, the weather cooperated with our travel itineraries the entire route!

Monday, November 22, 2010

First stop: Chicago, Illinois (Michael and Alyssa's house)

Due to our late departure (I have learned to add two hours to any estimation of departure when we are taking a long roadtrip) we got on the road as the sun was setting and traveled until 1am when we reached our first destination - Chicago and the house of a college friend.  It was wonderful to break the trip in half and wake up bright and early to realize that we only had eight hours left of driving (10 hours travel time plus a time zone change).  Evey was thrilled to meet a new little baby - Tilly!  She made sure to take care of the baby, handed her toys to play with and picked out little socks to go with her outfit.

Evelyn plays with "Baby" Tilly

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

First stop: University of Notre Dame (South Bend, Indiana)

Evey slept in the car from the time we left Chicago until we pulled off the exit in South Bend, Indiana to visit Notre Dame campus, Mommy's Alma mater.  This was a great place to stop and stretch.  The weather was beautiful (50s) and felt like the fall weather I remembered!  

Future Domer?

 The car ride was fun - I rode in back most of the time with Evelyn and had a bag full of toys and activities to keep her entertained.  We sang songs, counted and said our A, B, Cs, read books, colored, played with "babies" and even had a fashion show - complete with mommy's sunglasses!

Arrival: Pittsburgh, PA (Siobhan and Pete's house) 

We made it to Pittsburgh area by eight-ish... and then missed the exit off the turnpike (I take full responsibility for that mistake... I was expecting a different exit to Monroeville because "the directions don't say anything about getting on ANOTHER highway).  That's okay, we took the next exit and were ready to turn around and head 15 miles back to continue following Pete's directions.  The toll booth guy reassured us and said we were really close.

"All we had to do was head straight for 6 stop lights, turn right at the Dunkin Donuts, left at the T-intersection, right at the Sunoco and look for signs to the 993" (all with a "Pittsburgh Pete" accent).

 Seemed easy enough until we ventured down one wrong path after another and missed the quick left turn onto 993.  Tensions rose until we finally had Pete on the phone to direct us the last five miles to their house.  In the end, Pete jumped in his car to meet us at the Middle school parking lot and guide us the last mile to their house!  

By daylight, I now understand why Pittsburghers give their directions based on Gas stations and convenience stores.  The roads twist and turn until you don't know east from west, the street sign names are virtually non-existent and if there are signs then the road changes names two or three times along the route.

We made it after a day and a half of driving and 873 miles (plus the 10 miles we overshot) to Siobhan's new house - with Auntie Shani, two happy puppies and Pete to greet us!

Siobhan and Pete's House

Children's Museum

The little lady sure has learned how to multi-task... I wonder who she got that from?  

We were at the Children's Museum last Friday and met up with one of Evelyn's ECFE classmates.  They had a fantastic time playing together and in parallel play.  The bubbles and water tables were an immediate hit for both girls - which is where we started.  We then made our way up to the fourth floor "Our World" exhibit.  This was always my favorite and it is such a joy to watch Evelyn explore/make believe and interact with others as I remember doing so many years ago.  

"Our World" is set up like a miniature town with a co-op grocery store and asian restaurant to make believe and role play within.  Evelyn was immediately drawn to the co-op.  In fact, her words were "Shopping!!"  She found a shopping cart and two shopping baskets that she filled with vegetables and fruit - all while pushing "Babies" around in the cart.  Once we showed Evelyn how to work the cash register, she enjoyed that role as well!  Evey is at the perfect age to really enjoy the museum - I think we'll have to invest in a membership this year!

Fall Photo!

November 2010
Evelyn, 22 Months

I LOVE this photo!  I love the setting, the beautiful day of play and exploration, a day full of wonder!  Evey is on the verge of running off down the  path - Grandma's hidden garden!

Fall Frolic!

 Running here and there and everywhere!  A beautiful, crisp November afternoon was spent playing outside in the leaves.  Raking up leaves and jump, jump, jumping into our piles.  Babies was along for the fun and exploration!  Running around the tree and up and down the block - pausing momentarily to "peek-a-boo" around the maple tree!

Peek!  Peek-a-boo!

Blog Updates - Seeking Advice!

Hello my faithful followers - I appreciate your readership and involvement in the life of the Taylor House Trio!  I've now been blogging for over two years and have entirely enjoyed the process.

In an effort to continue the momentum into the next few years, I am ready for a make over.  Or, more specifically, the McKiel Family blog is ready for a make over.  I am thinking of ways to increase the interaction between our blog and you, the readers.  Would you take the time and share some of the things you enjoy about the blog?

1.  What stories or post topics are of interest to you?  
2. Do you like the pictures more than the stories or vice versa?
3. Should I "change it up" and post stories about other parts of our lives? Crafty Corner posts?  What's Cooking food posts?  Oh the Places we go post?
4. How frequently should I post?  More often?
5. Do you want to contribute?

Halloween 2.0, Volume 2

Harvest Party on the Farm: a gathering of all our high school friends and our respective children out at the farm we used to hang out at for fall bonfires.  Brad did a fantastic job organizing a kid-friendly fest!!  There were hayrides, donkey rides, horses to look at and of course, a bonfire with bales of hay to sit upon.  Inside the pole shed, there was a festive feast of chili, sloppy joes, hotdogs, baked goods, hot cocoa and candy.  Also, beanbag games for the kids to play.  

Before dusk, all the kids (ages 1 to 9) were shepherded to the side yard for a piñata and were lined up by age and height. The children circled around five or six times, each taking a fair swing or two at the dangling jeep piñata.  Someone finally caught a good swing that disabled the piñata and dropped it to the ground.  Like a scene from the movie Office Space, Emily intervened and took a few harried whacks at the piñata until it split open - candy spilling forth and toys for the little girls and boys.  

One of the best moments for me was watching  the older boys take Evelyn under their wing and keep track of her - playing, entertaining and protecting her!

Great friends!  Great children!  Sharing our seasonal traditions with a new generation!

Halloween 2.0, Volume 1

Before I forget all the cute little stories, I better write them down.  This is the first year we took Evelyn trick-or-treating.  While we did a dry run the weekend before at Como Zoo Boo, she wasn't actually interested in carrying her trick-or-treat bag around herself.  At least we found out how comfortable she was with wearing her lady bug costume!  




Halloween 2.0:
Halloween weekend started off with a costume parade and party at my work on Friday.  In retrospect, I realize that this was a little overwhelming for Evelyn - to be whisked away from daycare after barely waking from a nap and brought to mommy's work to be faced with 20 kids of various ages - dressed as princesses, monkeys, dragons, cowboys and pirates.  


It started innocently enough when she ran to the front of the line and started off the parade around the office - keeping pace with a little boy dressed as a Lion (ROWR).  We managed to get halfway around the office in good spirits!  However, at the moment we reached the halfway point,  when we rounded the corner and saw thirty people (including all of the Principals/Partners) lined up...watching the parade... cameras ready... that she lost it.  She wanted to be picked up in an immense hurry and apparently we weren't quick enough.  She resorted to flopping down on the ground, crying big alligator tears while I pretty much wanted to crawl under a desk and hide at that point.  


We eventually made it beyond the line-up of people/cameras/paparazzi and managed to open up a packet of m&m's as a last ditch effort to restore the balance.  These proved to be an invaluable resource for us... she perked right up and started running around and chit chattering away... she was talking a mile a minute and suddenly wanted more... more... more.  Oh no, a little candy fiend?  We switched to animal crackers and grapes after that.  


She warmed up to the other kids and the rest of the party went swell.  She played really well with Grant, dressed as Puff the Magic Dragon, a little boy who is 3 weeks older.  


On second though, there was one last "incident" before the party ended. A little girl was sucking on a piece of candy (airheads, I think) and Evey decided this looked pretty tasty and enticing.  Evey proceeded to take said candy right out of the girl's mouth and hands and tried to eat it herself.  This wasn't cool and the little girl stared in shock that this just happened.  I tried to intervene and go through the "we ask, we trade, we share... etc" lesson.  No fussing from Evelyn, she was okay giving the airhead back and then picked up a handful of animal crackers to "share" with this same little girl.  However, by this point, the little girl was wary of Evelyn's intentions and kept backing up saying "no, thank you".  What does Evelyn do in response?  THROWS the animal crackers at the little girl.  Oh me, oh my... we have to teach her something about her red-headed temper.

Bed time stories

I have to include this little story for you!  We read to Evelyn all the time - she will even sit and listen to the full version of Cat in The Hat now.  Lately, one of her favorite places to read is on our bed, snuggled in with daddy.

The other day, she climbed up on the couch and arranged the pillows just so.  Then she went and found "babies" (what she calls her dolly) and tucked her in.  Finally, she snuggled up next to babies with her blank-sie and a favorite book.

What a sweetie!