My brother Ken, his wife Kenna, baby Zoë and Kenna’s sister Dora are visiting us now, and already we’ve had quite a few adventures.  My mom is currently unavailable to spend time with us, and Dad is busy caring for her, so I was responsible (and willing!) for meeting everyone at the airport on Thursday.  Dora arrived first and we took her up to Revere Beach to have Kelly’s roast beef sandwiches for lunch.  While we were sitting on the beach watching Evan chase the seagulls, I decided to check Ken’s arrival time on my iphone, only to discover that they had already landed!  Somehow, we drove back to the airport and parked before they arrived at baggage claim; so the timing worked perfectly.  Unfortunately, I did not have enough room for 4 adults and three kids plus their luggage in the car, so I took all the luggage and made them take the T to Coolidge Corner.  We had dinner at Panera and soon Jon arrived and we drove the whole bunch back to my parent’s place.

Friday was the first “explore Boston” day.  My dad took our visitors downtown; where they visited Chinatown and Quincy Market and walked a little bit of the freedom trail.  Saturday was spent in Salem; my haunting grounds.  They toured the Witch History Museum while Jon and I took our kids to lunch.  I enjoyed walking through downtown Salem on a beautiful summer day. I saw many new shops and boutiques that would be fun to go back too the next time I need to buy a gift.

And now I come to today.  Jonathan joined his two brother-in-laws, Ken and Phil, on a hike up Mount Washington in New Hampshire.  That left us women to plan a fun day with the kids.  After visiting with my mom in the morning and afternoon, Kenna, Dora and I took Evan, Karen and Zoë on another downtown adventure.  We took the train to haymarket and took the North End by storm, first stopping at Mike’s Pastries for treats and cappacino.  We then walked along the freedom trail and saw a parade honoring Saint Domenico. Evan donate a dollar to the cause and received a pretty card with a prayer in Latin.  After the excitement of the brass band following the Saint, we stopped at the plaza in front of the Old North Church for a little food, sleeping and running around.  We walked through Chrisopher Columbus Park to the Aquarium, where we spent an hour or so before dinner at Panera at Rowe’s Wharf.  By this point, we were all pretty tired, so Evan, Karen and I headed home.

We had a lot of fun on this full day with the Moms and Aunt!  Pictures from the day are up on Flickr!

Evan & Karen
Originally uploaded by MurphMutt

Dear friends and family:
Please forgive us for not sending you a Christmas card… things just away from us this year. In it’s place, I’d like to share some of our most favorite memories of the year.

2008 Highlights
- The year of Karen: We knew in January that she was going to join us. Most of the year was spent in anticipation of…
- Meeting Karen for the first time. October 22nd was a very special day. Since that day, she has integrated herself into the fabric of our family. I can’t imagine a time without her!
- Watching Evan transition from a toddler to a preschooler. In January, Evan was not speaking in full sentences. Now, he speaks of abstracts and truths, his feelings and his desires. We have interesting conversations and I love hearing him narrate the adventures of his trains.
- I (Alisa) finished all my schoolwork and exams this year, so I am full into the research stage of my PhD. In some ways this is harder than the exams because I have to schedule my work on my own time. Of course, I haven’t been doing very much on my maternity leave, and I’m looking forward to getting back to work part-time in January.
- Jonathan received another promotion at work and continues to earn the respect of his colleagues. He attained his “bareboat” sailing license over the summer and now looks forward to sailing in exotic locations.

We have been blessed with the opportunity to see most of you this year. Hopefully we will be able to see you again soon!

Here’s wishing you a safe, joyous and prosperous 2009!
Love,
Alisa, Jonathan, Evan and Karen Manning

We were at the pediatricians this morning with Karen.  She’s grown a few inches, or straightened out, so she’s now at 21 inches, and she has surpassed her birth weight; she’s now 7 pounds 5 ounces.  According to the pediatrician, everything looks great!

In other news, Evan had his halloween party at preschool this morning, and within 5 minutes of arriving, he was out of his bear costume. “I’m not a bear, I’m Evan Manning!” he said tearily.  When the kids had a little parade through the halls of their school, he put on the head covering, so at least he had a fuzzy head and ears.

We celebrated Evan’s birthday this weekend… thanks to Grandma Ann Marie for hosting the festivities.  I didn’t have to lift a finger, except to help around her house, and it was great.  The baby is due to come in a week, and I wanted Evan to have a fun birthday party.

The three of us, and the dog, packed into the car on Friday night and drive up to Grandma and Grandpa’s house up in New Hampshire.  After a great sleep, we got up pretty early and got ready for the party.  The best part was not having to rush around– it was very relaxing!  This is a picture of Evan lounging around, waiting for his friends to come.  I think I bought this sweater for Evan for either his two-year-old birthday or last Christmas.  It’s sized 2T; this boy is due for a growth spurt!

Pretty soon, Evan’s friends had arrived and family was trickling in the door.  We played inside with all of Grandma’s great old toys and had lunch.  Then we ran around outside, kicking footballs and playing with the Fisher-price baseball throwing toy that Great-Grandma and Grandpa Pep got for Evan.  Then it was time for cake!!  Grandma Ann Marie got Evan a train cake, which was very exciting for our little engineer.

Here is a picture of him telling me how much he liked his cake.  After loading up on the cake and ice cream, the kids all played for a little while before the little ones packed into their cars and left.  Some family and friends stayed around for a good part of the afternoon, and Evan had a blast playing with his new toys: remote control cars from Grandpa Steve, an inflatable car from Julian, Spencer the engine from Mommy and Daddy, Diego from Travis, and an AquaDoodle drawing pad from Carla…. and let’s not forget the video games: Super Mario Baseball for the Wii from Cousin Matt and a LeapFrog video game system from Aunt Maura.  Evan was really psyched about getting all the great presents.  Thank you everyone!!!

After chilling out at Grandma’s house all day on Saturday, I decided that I didn’t want to rush around and pack everything up, so we stayed another night!  We took our time on Sunday morning and made it back to our house around 1pm… giving us enough time to get our chores done before settling down to watch the New England Patriots and the Red Sox.

I’m really happy that this weekend worked out the way it did.  I’m relaxed and rested… Evan had his birthday party, and for all intents and purposes (on my part anyway) he is now three years old, even though his birthday is really on the 14th of October.  I’m not going to mention his birthday again, except perhaps to ask him if he wants to bring cupcakes into his preschool to celebrate one of these days.  Now that Evan has had his birthday, the baby can come anytime…. there’s nothing left to take care of.. so come on baby! We’re waiting!

I’ve posted a few other pictures up on our Flickr account.

Don’t you love the moustache?

Look at this smile!  Evan has been happy and cheerful to attend his new preschool these last few days.  This picture was taken on Tuesday morning before heading out.  His teachers say that he is attentive and obliging; he’s in the program 5 days a week, so they are getting the opportunity to get to know him quite well.

You can see me packing his bag in the background.  Something I have to get used to is providing lunch and snacks every day.  A positive side effect is that I pack a lunch for myself and Jon, so we’re saving money and eating healthy food.

We’re looking forward to a pretty nice school program.  In a couple of weeks, we’ll start music classes, gymnastics and swimming.

Evan is also talking in full sentences now.  My little boy is growing up; and he insists that “I am a big boy…. I can do it!”  I believe him.

Evan figured out how to climb up to this hanging bar. This picture was taken at Ross Memorial playground in Peabody– in my opinion, one of the best playgrounds in the area.

Today is Evan’s last day at his daycare.  It’s bittersweet, because Evan has such fondness for his teachers and some of the kids in his class, but I know he’s going to have a great time at his new preschool, which starts next week.   Both Evan and I are taking the rest of the week off to relax and hang out with some great friends.  It’s our version of a staycation.

Some of the fun things we have planned for the rest of the week and Labor day weekend are: playdates with friends, a trip to Boston to visit the Aquarium and Children’s Museum, a birthday party for Daddy, canoeing and a BBQ!