Giving Thanks

We have a lot to be thankful for this year. Mostly, we are thankful for this spitfire of a red head who is almost two and continually making us smile. But we are also thankful for all the wonderful visitors we had over the holiday break.

Tuesday night, John's fantastic friend from his days at Bates, Alex, and his family came over to visit from Maine. They were heading up to McGill University so that their older daughter, Zoe, could check it out. They found a great hostel right off of St. Denis Street in the Latin Quarter, so we booked a room and joined them.


It was chilly up there, but we all bundled up and took to the streets:


We had dinner at a favorite Ethiopian restaurant and breakfast at a creperie. Both places were delicious, but as is the case with any culture outside of the US, the service was slow. Even so, Cally held it together for a 2 1/2 hour dinner and hour and a half breakfast.


We made it back to Vermont by 1pm on Thursday. Cally took a power nap and then we headed over to the Ganzenmuller's for the feast with the Harris/Plimpton clan. Two years ago, when Cally's arrival was imminent, we stuck around Vermont for the holidays. This year, John needed to keep his nose to the grindstone and write (t-minus 14 days until his big defense), so again we celebrated our day of thanks with our community of friends.


Cally got to sit at the kids table and was well taken care of all afternoon by Timmy, Augie, Tanner, Claire, and Addy. There really isn't anything cuter than a six year old boy putting Cally's shoes on for her or checking to make sure her bib is on correctly or just making sure that she's not left out.


As is the case with almost every gathering with the kids of the Wombat gals, there is a performance. This year, Addy and Claire practiced and performed a fantastic "play". It involved at least seven acts, costume changes, and lots of singing. Cally was pretty excited to get to watch.



Friday afternoon, another one of John's friends from Bates came by for a visit with his kids (he lives in Blue Hill, ME, but grew up here in Jericho, VT). That night, we took Cally to a UVM hockey game. She LOVED it. Not only did she get to ride a bus for the first time (from the parking lot to the game), but she got to see Rally Cat (the UVM mascot).


She actually did watch a bit of the game and she got excited when the fans cheered, but Rally Cat became her obsession. When she finally got to meet him, she gave him a high five or two, but got a little bashful about giving him a hug...........

UVM was playing Northeastern and it ended in a 2-2 tie.

Saturday afternoon, Micheal, Elizabeth and Dean came over for a visit (friends we recently visited from Brooklyn) along with our friends Jen, Nils and their boys. Cally was pretty excited to try Elizabeth's fancy boots on and play with Dean.




That night, our friend's Tom and Kara had offered to babysit, so we decided to go on a date. Cally ended up having not just Tom and Kara watch her, but Scott and Cynthia, as well. I guess she got to watch football and drink beer.


And now it's Sunday. Cally's napping and when she wakes up, we'll head over to Stowe to go swimming with her cousin's, Kesley and Jameson, return home to see Uncle Mark who will be staying the night after dropping her cousin Chris off at Champlain College, and hopefully get to bed at a decent hour so that we can all reacclimate to waking up early.

We really are thankful to have so many special people in Cally's life-- who visit us and add so much to our lives. Each morning, when Cally and I go on a walk with Zephy, she sits in the backpack and recounts the people she's seen. We feel fortunate to have so many people out there who add to the little spirit she is becoming.