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Sunday, February 26, 2006

WinterFest at Olde Mystic Village ---

The family braved the elements on Saturday to take in the WinterFest at Olde Mystic Village as a light snow began to fall that accumulated to nothing. There was a clam chowder taste test being put on by some of the local restaurants, so we enjoyed a couple of paper cups worth of various competing recipes.

Eliza continues to enjoy shopping, as she walked around many of the stores picking up as many things as she could hold in her arms while she meandered the store. She was finally convinced to stick with just a stuffed little plush dog that she seemed particularly attached to, while Ella Grace picked up a big fat cat. They also enjoyed the Irish store, and Eliza liked the painting on one store wall of a Scandinavian viking, as she likes it when they play vikings on the Backyardigans.

The girls also got to see a live owl and what we think was a hawk, but they were actually more interested in the water pump nearby that Mommy and Daddy had never noticed before. A full set of pictures of the day can be found here.

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Backyardigans ---

Lately the kids show Backyardigans have taken over our TV, helped by the advent of the DVR. We record them every day for Eliza, and it's about the only show she ever wants to watch. Once in awhile she'll take in a Dora episode, but most of the time it's Backyardigans, which she says as "Backagains". Morning, noon, and night, you can usually find it playing on our TV.

Fortunately for everybody else it's an enjoyable show that parents can appreciate and not be annoyed with. The five kid animals share a backyard and play together. The show manages to portray them as being children without being condescending to either the characters or the audience. They're well spoken tykes who generally get along. The show also manages to give each episode it's moral lesson for the day without coming across like a public service announcement. There's also a lot of singing and dancing in each show which is more sophisticated than most kids shows. This is great for Eliza who likes to dance along, and dance in general. The show also centers around the childrens extensive use of their imagination and reminds me very much of playing in the backyard when I was a kid, something today's kids might miss out on.

This is the first show in which Eliza has remembered all the characters names, Pablo, Tyrone, Tasha, Uniqua, and Austin, and we think she might have a crush on Tyrone. :)

Friday, January 20, 2006

Disney On Ice ---

Forgot to post this earlier, but recently the family enjoyed a trip down to Providence to see Disney On Ice, which the kids enjoyed very much. Cousins Emily and Dillan were brought along as well. A funny thing we parents noticed is that we got Ella and Eliza into the car, drove all the way to Providence, got them in the arena, all without either one of them even once asking us where we were going or what we were doing. This was great because when the characters started skating out on the ice it was a complete surprise to both of them. Guess we just have trusting kids! :) The show was two hours long with an intermission, and none of the kids ever appeared to get bored.