Aha! A blog!

Hi everyone! Happy New Year. I've neglected Henry's blog for w a y too long, so I'm going to try to catch up with everything that has been going on in the Harmon/Street household since autumn last year. Are you ready? Sitting comfortably? Well....let's begin... Just click through the entries below and I'll take you to North Carolina, Rome, Tuscany, Brooklyn and back.

Granny Googie

"Granny Googie" came to visit us in early January. Her visits are always special and Henry had a lot of fun. While I was at work, they were out in Brooklyn at the museum, local cafes and library. We hope to see her again very soon!

Museum Madness

One of our New Year's resolutions was to do more in the city with Henry - basically, take more advantage of everything that New York City has to offer tots. In January, we went to Moma, the Natural History Museum and a local puppet show. Luckily, we can get in free to most places if Bryan comes with us so we plan to do a lot more throughout the year!

Henry posing at Moma.

At the Natural History Museum, excavating dinosaur bones.

Merry Christmas!

Park Slope, Brooklyn close to our apartment. Covered in snow.

Henry opening his stocking on Christmas morning. Delighted by the cow.

Henry dressed in 70s gear can't wait to open more presents.

Larry and Jane outside Macys department store, midtown Manhattan. They enjoyed a day with Henry and Bryan in the city looking at the tree in Rockefeller Center and the Christmas Eve mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral where Henry walked with a group of children to put baby Jesus in the manger.

Snow in Brooklyn

We got about 12 inches of snow the weekend before Christmas. We went along to Prospect Park to join the rest of the sledders. Henry had a lot of fun - for a while - before he got really cold and wanted to go home for hot chocolate!

Happy 60th Birthday!

This is the house my parents rented for my dad's 60th birthday. We all flew over to Italy and stayed here for a week in the Chianti region about 45 minutes south of Florence. We loved, loved, loved the house with its beautiful terraces and gardens in the heart of the tiny village of Lamole. The boys got along really well and we enjoyed all the babysitters too!

A local vineyard.

On the terrace.

Most evenings, we cooked big family dinners and finished with a big bonfire in the garden where we roasted chestnuts that had been foraged by Bryan and his helpers during the day.

Florence

Daytrip to San Gimigniano

Walking up into the town square in San Gimigniano - no cars are allowed, so you have to park outside the city walls. They call it a "medieval Manhattan" with lots of towers everywhere. A beautiful spot on a sunny October afternoon!

Boys tucking into their favourite food

World's best gelato!

Tuscany - October 2009

By the Leaning Tower in Pisa...

A reunion with Uncle Ben and Finlay

First lunch at the Villa

The countryside was amazing and the weather warm and sunny

Cinque Terre - Italy, October 2009

After Rome, we went hiking in the Cinque Terre National Park area just north of Pisa. It was incredible! A little rainy to begin with, but then it cleared up so we could hike on the trails between the five villages perched on the clifftops and sample some more gelato. It is a very special part of the world and we hope to return again one day. Henry loved the hikes, gelato, local pasta and pesto and all the foccacia he could get his hands on.

Roma -October 2009

We flew overnight to Rome from New York. We arrived, totally exhausted (no sleep with an active toddler) but decided to hit the ground running and start sightseeing at the Coliseum. An awesome and weird place. Henry woke up just in time for this picture. Both Bryan and I are delirious with lack of sleep!

We found an amazing gelateria in the Trasetever area of Rome where we were staying. They made delicious, organic gelato from locally sourced ingredients. Everyone in Rome ADORED Henry- especially with his big blue eyes and mop of blond hair. The gelato owners had a professional photographer who happened to be there taking pictures of the store and couldn't stop snapping Henry. He was definitely the star of the whole place!

In the Palatine, overlooking the Forum.

Fire Island

Our dear friends Natalia, Nick and Theo have a place in Fire Island off the coast of Long Island- about an hour from NYC. It's an amazing place in a community with no cars and the only access is by ferry boat from the mainland. We were very excited to be invited. Another family joined us- Bea, Jeff and Leo and we all took turns cooking great meals and building sandcastles on the beach. Since we missed the last ferry home on the last night, we had to stay an extra day which added to the adventure of the whole weekend! We have many happy memories of our Fire Island trip and hope to be invited back next summer!