Vacation Part One: Connecticut

Beautiful humidity-free weather welcomed us to Connecticut for the first part of our vacation. We had some fabulous dinners down at Rocky, where you actually needed a long sleeve shirt, and had a ball watching the cousins play together. They got a real kick out of the Barbie dream house; Patrick and Sophie had a “jumping” contest; and Grandaddy entertained with stories of Bandit the raccoon. The stories were so vivid in fact, that I found Patrick in his sleeping bag with flashlight on long after bedtime on Saturday night, making sure the raccoons did not come into the house.

On Sunday (15th) , Eric, Rimma, and Katya Fehling met us for a wonderful day at the Bronx Zoo and brought fantastic news—a baby on the way in October! We saw peacocks (which wander the grounds free) otters, a whole savannah of giraffes, gorillas in a jungle habitat complete with waterfalls and mist, and best of all—a kids' zoo with prairie dog tunnels for exploring, a tree to climb to get a better look at lemurs, a twisty slide inside a tree, and a petting zoo area with remarkably well-behaved goats. Everyone loved the bug carousel, and Madeline got to take her first-ever spin. And we only saw about ¼ of the place! Patrick was out cold the minute we pulled out of the parking lot.

The rest of our time in Connecticut was equally fun. Patrick and I had a nice time meeting penguins and seals in Norwalk at the Maritime Center; we took the kids to meet Great-Grammy Krause and got a special visit from Aunt Karen; Erica Rose made the trip to Greenwich for a fab lunch and birthday/engagement celebration; Donald and I had a wonderful dinner out in Rowayton, and we were able to get lots of swims in at Rocky Point. We even took Patrick to see his first movie: Toy Story 3. The story, which involves Andy growing up and going to college, had me in tears as the toys realized they needed to find new kids to play with them, especially as several mothers had noticed Patrick playing with Buzz Lightyear at the pool and told me how their boys—now 14 and 15—had so enjoyed the first movie, and how the time goes so fast. Patrick was completely unaffected by the poignancy of it all, and seemed to really enjoy his popcorn.