Wow has it been a long time...

"Let's go Brady!"
Uncle David and cousin Jakob gave Althea her first football shirt. She'll be sporting it on Friday, like she has every week the Pats have won - is there a connection there? Who knows, but why chance it. Oh yeah and those crazy things all over her are the wacky velcro creatures Auntie Lisa and Uncle George gave her for Christmas - you can put them together in a variety of ways to create your very own Frankensteinian monster, or simply stick them to your shirt.


What can I say?


So we are planning a big February trip to Seattle - whoohoo! And we bought this baby backpack thing, after researching the heck out it on-line - it is awesome! Althea sits way up high, there are loops for her toys to hang from and she has her own backpack that zips on the back of it...BUT the best thing is it fits the both of us and she feels so light in there, it is so much easier on my back than anything else we have used to tote her around.
The Seattle thing... we are heading out to the San Juan's and hope to do some hiking around and some crabbing while we are there. We also plan to see Jeff, Mary and the pack o' doggies - as much as Althea loves dogs this will be a nice perch to visit with them. And of course we will visit Pike's Place, she has to have her photo taken on the pig, sample the fresh doughnuts and witness the tossing of fish. We will post photos when we return from the trip...


Matt loves to make her laugh - he was swinging her back and forth on his knees and she was laughing hysterically the entire time!

There is a little Uncle Ray in all of us

Every family has an Uncle Ray - the practical joker, always doing or saying something hilarious and with perfect timing - this is also the uncle that liked to take pictures of you doing a variety of dumb things to be hauled out later in life for a good laugh. My Uncle Ray stacked those Fisher Price stacking rings on the heads of almost every niece and nephew he has and then photographed them. Here is one of many mildly embarassing photographs sure to be taken of Althea during her early years. Yes that is a funny little bear blanket on her head, nicely balanced I might add - she like to play peek-a-boo from underneath it and then rip it off her head and throw it to the ground.

Ahya, must be wintah in Maine

Does this not remind you of "Christmas Story"? Or perhaps Maggie Simpson?


The Sled...
Yes, this is the double runner sled that was modified by Matt's dad and used when Matt was a whee little lad. It works really well on ice and hard packed snow - I used it on Monday to walk with her to Pat's Market, there was plenty of pointing and staring from folks out driving around.


The modified version of the sled...
Yup, Matt modified the modified sled - thanks to Jim and Ellen and an old pair of Rossies Miss Althea can now glide along on the fresh powpow. We also modified the seat - well a little anyways - for now she is getting propped up with a thick blanket (not pictured above) but the long term fix is one of our camp chairs/thermarest.


Ellen, Digger and Jim were happy to see Althea using the old Rossie boards on her new rig.