t h e . r i d i c u l o u s . p a n d a

once summertime hits, i get an urge to pack up and travel east. sam obliged by having a conveniently scheduled and placed business trip in northern connecticut. so we snuggled the baby into our luggage and off we went.

after logging thirty five hours in flight time with silas in china, we barely packed anything for him for the measly two hours to nyc. thankfully a broken pair of complementary airline headphones proved fully engaging.

breakfast at the foxwoods casino. they don't see many vegetarians out in gambling country.

nor do they see many rustling toddlers.

sam had a bit of trouble reading the interactive five casino directory so silas points out the proper conference room.

he saw geese, elephants, birds, water and leaves in the carpet outside of where we dropped papa off for work. i was just happy i hadn't been up all night drinking gin rickeys while pulling slots.

we missed sam while he was hard at work. we really did.

after swimming and naps, silas went for a lovely stroll through the attractions of the resort. what do they showcase at a hard rock in the middle of connecticut? a lita ford outfit straight out of my fashion fantasies of the eighth grade.

searching for vegetables and tofu? salvation is found at the chinese restaurant. silas was so thrilled with this meal that i was able to enjoy a cold tsing tao and enjoy the indoor window view.

sam has a short break so we track him down and share some gelato and fresh air.

us on vacation.

reading himself "the carrot seed" before bed.

the next morning we drove to mystic for breakfast on the water.

our tables mates, georgia and joe, were discussing what to do with their impending retirement and happily invited us to visit with them on their boat the next time we passed through town.

walking off an amazing meal at the historic seaport.

one cannot pass through connecticut without having a session with david.

the connor family invited us for coffee and sweets. silas warmed to nai and reem's mom immediately, in spite of the arabic language barrier.

nancy and i. she is moments away from being one of the best grandmas ever.

sam, silas and dylan.

silas wrecking house on the brand new baby toys.

reem (+ baby), nai, me and silas.

and we pull into nyc just in time for cousins, auntie, pizza and frozen yogurt.

holy crap, does this kid love riding a bus.

priya and quinn rock the the accordion all the way to the natural history museum.

checking out the hall of biodiversity.

triceratops impersonators.

he tends to do alot of dancing in museums.

lovely priya considers the role dinosaurs played in evolution.

papa and silas through the bones.

ancient alligator calls for a family portrait.

sweet quinn reads the stories.

but spares me a few seconds of quality time.

tree frog and baby doll on nap time loan from his cousins.

the professor and jerilyn came up from philly to track us down on our visit. we found each other under the monument to the homeland.

silas was thrilled to see jerilyn and challenge her to sprints through central park.

my son seizes the opportunity to lick the subway wall after his mama has had a guinness on an empty stomach. seriously, he really loves public transportation.

my sister and my baby.

quinn xi woke up at the crack of dawn to see us off to la guardia.

and we're off.

thanks to all who made our time there so fun and fantastic: idanna, david, nancy, dylan, reem + family, auntie kim, uncle bart, quinnie, pri, markus mollikus, kate, scott and jerilyn. we miss you already.