The Mouse Family Blog

Away in a Manger

noreply@blogger.com (Liz Mouse) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:31:00 +0000

We had gotten an email in advance letting us know about the Christmas celebration that the kids staff of our church had organized. In addition to fun crafts and lessons about Jesus' birth during Sunday school, there was going to be a live nativity with Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and...

SHEEP!

Lauren loves sheep. She loves her "sheepy" stuffed animal, loves saying "baaa!" and loves pointing out sheep in books, etc. So the whole ride to church we talked about meeting the real sheep. Lauren was very excited about this and stated that she was going to, among other things, hold sheepy's hand. She obviously wasn't factoring in that real sheep are bigger than she is.

As you can guess, she was pretty shy of the sheep when we got close and needed to be clinging to mommy or daddy to get near them. She didn't even venture out a hand for a tentative pat. But the minute we said goodbye to the sheep and walked away she was asking for them again. Maybe there will be petting next year.

Run Run Rudolph...

noreply@blogger.com (Liz Mouse) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:23:00 +0000

Toddler Elvis Cleaning Service

noreply@blogger.com (Liz Mouse) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:12:00 +0000

Just call 1-800-elvis-it and crew of pint sized Kings will be dropped off at your house with vacuum cleaners and baby wipes. Some may or may not be wearing jump suits and sunglasses. Some may only be able to crawl (they do a good job dusting floors).

And as you can see in recent posts, Lauren has been getting a lot of wear out of her red suit in these days leading up to Christmas.

Busted

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:29:00 +0000

Lauren,
I don't think this qualifies as "I'm just looking."

Little Drummer Girls

noreply@blogger.com (Liz Mouse) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:05:00 +0000

Lauren and Trinity rocked out on the plastic bowls in our kid friendly section of the kitchen with chop stick drum sticks.

Snow!

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 02:34:00 +0000

The windy weather on Saturday gave-way to bitter cold on Monday, followed by a snow today with temperatures in the 30's. It was a perfect opportunity for a little time in the snow.

Lauren *loved* every minute of it. We played outside, tossing snow in the air and making snowballs. Whenever Lauren got snow on her face, she would say "I need a kiss," which was my cue to kiss the snow off her face.

Probably Lauren's favorite part was the opportunity to take bites out of her snowball. She ate about half a baseball-sized ball, and would have kept going if I'd have let her.

The Lord only knows how long she'd have stayed out there if I'd have let her. After twenty minutes of trying to ply her with reasons to go inside, I finally just had to make the call. She cried pitifully and pleaded for "More snow? I need more snow!" I'd say we have a very warm-natured little girl.

Lauren Hits the New Playground

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:28:00 +0000

The new playground across the street is pretty much completed, so Lauren and I used Saturday's rare 50-degree weather to try it out. I had a blast following Lauren as she toddled around and explored. Fortunately, I caught the whole thing on film for you -- all 20+ minutes!

Wait! Don't leave! Not being a total nitwit, I've sped the whole thing up and edited it down to four minutes of highlights.

The day was very windy, so you'll have to tolerate a bit of noise. You'll have to also endure a bit of vertigo-inducing camera shake. But who could resist loosing their hearing... and maybe their lunch...when there's more footage of precious Lauren to watch?!

.

Dancing Elves

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 20:32:00 +0000

They're back for another round this year.

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:48:00 +0000

Now that our travels are out of the way, it’s time to get into the Christmas spirit around the Mouse House.

We kind of put our plans into overdrive, because we wanted the opportunity to celebrate with Clark and Ann before they leave on Tuesday morning.

Liz and Clark picked out a nice tree for us during the day, and it was all set to be decorated by the time Jace got home. Lauren had a lot of fun playing with…Christmas Lights! She also enjoyed a couple rounds with the ribbons, bells and various ornaments. We put a set of non breakable ornaments near the bottom, and Lauren has been rather well-mannered with them so far. We’ll have to see how those hold-up.

One thing that is *never* going to work is having gifts under the tree. Lauren has already proven to be quite adept at unwrapping!

Merry Christmas!

Home!

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 04:00:00 +0000

We made it home this evening, following an uneventful flight through Istanbul.

It was great to see Lauren (as well as Ann and Clark) again. We arrived home just as Lauren was getting up from her nap. She didn't say much at first, since she was still sleepy. She just moved between Mommy and Daddy's arms with a giant smile on her face.

As she woke up, she was back to her usual self -- running around the house giving hugs and kisses and saying "Chase me, Daddy!" and "Toss me, Daddy!" and "Look at me (being tossed), Mommy!"

We were expecting a little bit of separation anxiety while we were away, and hoping it wouldn't be *a lot*. However, we were blessed to find that Lauren didn't mind our absence much, even after our webcam chats -- though Clark did capture a picture of her looking inside the computer/tv cabinet wondering "Are Mommy and Daddy in there?"

I did notice that Lauren has been especially affectionate, with lots of hugs and kisses -- both spontaneous and on request -- which is a bit unusual for Lauren. We hope that practice is here to stay! :)

It was such a huge blessing for Clark and Ann to be willing to come up to windy and cold Chicago to stay with Lauren so we could take this trip! Lauren loved, loved, loved spending all the time playing with Grandma and Papa. (Don't worry Grandma Saundra and Grandpa Leslie, Lauren will be seen you soon, too!)

Tonight will be a fun night in, as we decorate a Christmas tree together with Clark and Ann before they leave on Tuesday.

Greetings from Ephesus, Turkey -- See you in Chicago Tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 20:13:00 +0000

Another awesome day touring around. Today, we visited Ephesus, to whom the biblical book of Ephesians was written, and the most lavish and important Roman city in all of Asia.

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It was a great day full of tons of interesting sights, but that will have to wait for another day. We can't wait to see Lauren and start boring all our friends with pictures and stories from the trip.

Here's a photo from Ephesus, the library in the background.

Changing Travel Plans in Turkey

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 05:15:00 +0000

Over tea the other day, our guide commented about how inefficient our remaining travel plans were. He got to talking with Jackson and Donna and they figured out a way to cover more ground in our remaining days. So we set-out at 6am this morning for 14 hours of driving and traveling. This adjustment allowed us to stop by all seven churches that are mentioned in the book of revelation, which is kind of interesting.

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This allowed us to start with the city of Philadelphia. The city has continued to prosper, meaning it has been built on top of most of the original buildings. However, the early Christian church is one of the only sites that was protected, so we stopped for a quick visit.

From there, we traveled on to Sardis. This city has undergone a massive excavation and restoration, due to a lifelong quest of one Harvard professor. The resulted in the discovery of a very large Jewish synagogue, including the “micvah” used to cleans oneself before worship, a number of elaborate mosaic floors, and a magnificent Roman gymnasium, where Roman citizens – with many hours of leisure due to the large slave populations – came to maintain their physical fitness. Like other Roman cities, the gymnasium is adjacent to a large collection of Roman baths. Sardis is an extremely large city – I’d guess it covers three square miles.

Another part of Sardis contains the world renowned “Temple of Artimus.” The columns are massive – as big as any Redwood tree, taking five people to reach around them. Tons of photographic opportunities here, but none do a good job of conveying the shear scale.

From there, we passed through another of the seven cities, Thyatira. This city has continued to grow as well, leaving nothing but the ancient church grounds. We stopped only briefly.

We used the rest of the sunlight today to explore ancient Pergamum, another of the seven cities in Revelation. This is a large city built on the top of a mountain, and spilling down into the valley below where the modern day city still prospers. We started at the top the check-out the temple to Athena, their theater, and the Alter of Zeus. There’s isn’t much left of the alter – when Germany conducted the excavation earlier this century, they (to hear our guide tell the story) got permission from the Sultan to take “some bits of marble” back with them to Berlin. The very large temple is now on display in a museum there. Since we were doing well on time, our guide suggested that we take the rare opportunity to hike down to the valley, through the rest of the city ruins. That was an incredible hike, and revealed just how much potential for excavation there is in this country.

After Pergamum, we drove through Smyrna, another of the seven, without stopping since nothing remains from the early period. After another hour on the road, we pulled into a large resort overlooking the Mediterranean. Tomorrow, we awake at six a.m. to get an early start on our last full day in Turkey.

Greetings from the Colossae, Turkey

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:05:00 +0000

This was another busy day in our tour of Turkey.

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We started today by driving inward from the coast. Our first trip was to the location of Colossae, to whom the book of Colossians was written, where Paul helps them sort-out the character of Jesus – whether he was an ordinary man who attained spiritual enlightenment or whether Jesus was actually God, as Jesus claimed. Not much remains of the city today, just another raised “tell” where the city was built and re-built over successive generations. Still Jackson did a good job of explaining things and making it relevant. It’s also interesting to catch little hints as to what might lay under the surface, waiting to be excavated. Drop a rock to the ground, and you hear a distinctly hollow “thud.” Walk past a rocky outcropping, and you realize those rocks are actually part of a building’s wall – it’s all kind of surreal.

From there, we traveled to the town of Laodacia, a massive Roman city built along a major trade crossroads known for banking, clothes of glossy black wool, and a special eye cream for ophthalmological use. The city is laid out with a very long street, flanked by covered sidewalks on other side, and lined with marble columns that would have been adorned with statues. History tells us that the city was so wealthy that when a major earthquake struck in 60 A.D., the citizens informed Rome that that city would fund the full rebuilding themselves. Despite their wealth, the city lacked one key thing – a nearby source of water. Instead, they had to rely on aqueducts to send water from hot springs in an adjacent valley. For this reason, the water was only lukewarm by the time it reached the city and prone in cause vomiting due to its mineral properties. This lead to the city’s eventual decline once the trade routes closed down.

Laodacia is also mentioned in the Bible and I’m starting to see things in a whole new light. It starts to make a ton of sense when Jesus says “You are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” and (loosely translated) goes on to say “For you say, ‘I am rich and have need of nothing.’ Instead, you should buy from Jesus….white garments so you don’t have to be ashamed…and salve that you may see.” Before visiting this place, I thought all that language was just artful prose – I never knew it would have such a literal meaning to the people living here.

One of the interesting things we saw here was a column that had Jewish carvings, with Christian cross extending from it. The guide said this was indicative of people identifying their Christian views with their Jewish heritage. It’s interesting to see things like this, dating back to a time when the two faiths didn’t feel so different.

After Laodacia, we headed to the next valley. What I thought was a large modern-day quarry turned out to be something quite different…hot mineral springs, covered in chalky white calcium deposits! This site, called Hierapolis, was a popular destination for injured Roman soldiers, where they could rest and heal. As the water cools, the calcium deposits solidify and coat the rock in a white chalk. When the rock is left exposed to the air, it takes on yellow and red hues.

This is also the site of an elaborate church, where an early Christian was martyred for failing to pay honor to the Roman emperor as deity (in the years prior to the Roman emperor becoming Christian). At that time, there was a large statue of the emperor at the city gate, and everyone who passed was to stop and pay their respects. While returning from a wedding in Laodicea, this martyr tried to avoid the situation by walking around the gate. The soldiers took notice. Years later, following the Christian conversion of the Roman emperor, a large church was built in this martyr’s honor. I managed to capture a few photos of this gate.

As you might expect, not all of these soldiers who came here got better and there is a massive graveyard of elaborate burial chambers here as well. Unfortunately, the light was fading and I wasn’t able to get any photos of this area.

Greetings from Antalya, Turkey

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Greetings form the southern coast. We had a great day today, just relaxing before starting the hectic final leg of our trip.

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We spent the day in Antalia, having arrived overnight to our hotel. We started the morning with a trip to see an ancient Roman road near the city. The road was in various stages of disrepair, so we got to appreciate the different levels of preparation that went into it -- starting with a sandy base, moving up to gravel, and larger rocks, and then broad pavers. The area also had an interesting bathtub, where Liz stopped to pose. We later learned that this was actually an ancient burial sarcophagus.

After our trek, we wandered around the town of Antalia. The weather was fantastic; very much like San Diego. We strolled along the harbor and shops, took the rail car back to the beachfront where we sat and enjoyed the sunset over Turkish tea before returning to our hotel.

For dinner, we've been sampling some of the local wine, which is actually quite good! This is the view of sunrise from our hotel room, looking eastward along the train line that leads to the harbor and downtown. This city is very, very nice. We wish we would have made more time here and would definitely return here for another visit.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells....

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:29:00 +0000

We had a nice treat tonight. Our hotel here in Turkey offered enough bandwidth to be able to video chat with Lauren! It was great to see her and talk with her -- especially when we got to hear her sing Jingle Bells.

She seems to be having an absolute blast with Grandma and Papa Gieseke, and we're happy to see that she has no separation anxiety -- even when we talk to her over the phone (via Skype, for free, which is cool).

Here's a pic of her getting into the Christmas spirit with the Gieseke's. You can see the video over here.

Greetings from Perge and Aspendos in Turkey

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:36:00 +0000

We had another full day, making our way toward the southern coast of Turkey.…the warmer and more luxurious coast of Turkey, much to Liz’s delight. That’s a welcome relief after our stay in “the best hotel in Egirdir,” which turned to be the only hotel in Egirdir and not a very clean one, at that. On the bright side, we awoke to (a Muslim call to prayer at 5am and) gorgeous lakeside views along a beautiful lake nestled in the Taurus mountains. From there, we began to wind our way over the mountains and down to the warmer coastal side -- looked just like Colorado; beautiful.

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Our first stop was at the ruins of a city called Perge. Perge was founded around 1000 BC, located about 20 kilometers inland to avoid the reach of roaming pirates in the region. The apostle Paul and Barnabas wrote in the book of Acts about their visit to Perge. Perge has a interesting collection of Roman baths, but an even more interesting part of the city is the market square that contains a large platform where slaves would have been displayed for auction. In the book of Romans, Paul writes to believers about being “slaves to sin” or “slaves to righteousness,” and it’s interesting to think he might have stood on this same platform and shared that perspective. Imagine being there to hear that – how firmly would that concept have resonated?!

While at Perge, Jackson shared some insights from the book of Acts. This is the city where Acts tells of Paul and John Mark – apparently having a major theological disagreement of some sort – parting ways. But later, toward the end of Paul’s life, Paul writes in a letter asking that John Mark come to visit him, “as he is useful to me in my ministry.” That tells us something about the redemptive nature of early Christianity – that John Mark could, even many years later, come to see the error of his views and reconcile with Paul, much like we reconcile with Christ.

After Perga, we traveled on to Aspendos. We had a great lunch along the river – fresh fish from a balcony that hangs-out over the river. Afterward, we stopped at a nearby aqueduct – again, no fences, not rules; just try not to bump into the foundation while you’re driving up to it.

That aqueduct fed the large city of Pega, where we saw one of the best preserved Roman theaters anywhere in the world. Not only does it have most of the seats and upper walls intact, but also the large back wall. The scale is mind boggling. Here’s an interesting tip. It’s easy to tell the population of any Roman city you visit. Just count the seats in the theater. The Romans always designed their theaters to hold 1/10th of the local population. Legend has it that Perga owes its amazing aqueduct and theater to the presiding official in the city, who offered his daughter’s hand to whoever completed the most amazing public work. The theater builder won. That makes sense to me…if you’re the king, having 15,000 people applaud you is a whole lot more thrilling than having 15,000 drinking water.

Afterward, we visited the coastal city of Side', before driving to Antalya for a night at a nice beach-side five-star hotel.

Side' and the rest of the Turkish coast is much more crowded than the interior of the country. However, they see virtually no Americans. They kept mistaking us for Polish or German. By “much more crowded,” I mean the sites we’re visiting are no longer completely deserted. We occasionally have to contend with – gasp – another visitor or two on-site. I love traveling in the off-season!

While Mommy and Daddy are away....

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:52:00 +0000

I've been put to work!

Washing windows, sweeping, and shoveling snow! I seem to really enjoy being able to do grown-up things.

Greetings from Galatia in Central Turkey

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:21:00 +0000

We started the morning by driving through the region of Galatia, which is the region that the apostle Paul wrote the book of Galatians to. We passed another caravan stronghold and stopped to have a look. This one consisted of two buildings -- and original small building that would hold about 15 modern cars, and a later larger structure that would hold about 40. The newer structure was being "restored" to the point that it really doesn't look very original -- but the original stronghold was still unaltered and made for some interesting photos.

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It's all very mind blowing to encounter these things. Here's this historical site, one that predates the creation of our country by about 2000 years, and you just stop on the side of the road and walk up. No fences, no signs, no gates, no rules.. You just drop in, have a look, and hope that the ceiling doesn't cave in while you're there.

After driving during the morning, we spent the afternoon touring Anticoh of Pisidia.

Antioch means "City of the King" and so there tended to be one in each of the provinces. This is one of the cities that the Apostle Paul visited in his journeys. There's not much left of the original city, but the University of Michigan has been doing major archeological research in the region. The main roads have been uncovered, which consist of large 2'x3' marble "bricks." It's interesting to realize that Paul must have stepped on some of the same blocks I'm stepping on.

Greetings from Konya, Turkey

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 18:59:00 +0000

We had another interesting day today. We stayed at a five-star hotel last night -- which is probably four-star by U.S. standards -- and got a very good night's sleep. We hit the road today, in an effort to migrate from our current location, in the central part of the country, to the coasts along the south and west.

Our first stop today was an ancient caravan site. During the height of the silk road, caravans would make their way along a route that was protected by walled outposts every 25 miles. These locations would provide protection and an opportunity to trade with the local people. The walled compound included a open area for summer use and an enclosed area for winter use. Both spaces were massive -- each had enough run to hold about 75 cars. The compound also included store rooms and baths. This stop provided some great photo opportunities.

Afterward, we moved on to a key biblical location called Lystra. This is where the apostle Paul first got his start in (present day) Turkey, after traveling over from Cyprus. Lystra is a city built on a "tell" -- a plateau-like hill that builds up over time as versions of the city get destroyed by natural disasters or battles, and the new city is built upon the ruins. Present-day, it's about 150 feet tall. After Paul developed a following here in Lystra, a group of zealous Jews came to the city and spoke-out against Paul and the excitement he was stirring-up. Paul was eventually stoned and left for dead outside the city. When he awoke, he crawled back into the city. Shortly thereafter, Paul and Barnabus moved-on to the city of Derbe. It's really awesome to think you could be stepping on the exact same place as a guy like that.

Nothing remains of the city today, except for the large outcropping where the city last stood. There are plans to excavate the area, which should prove very productive. Just walking around the site showed hundreds of pottery and carved marble fragments.

Greetings from Goreme,Turkey

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:25:00 +0000

Today was very interesting. We had the opportunity for further exploration of the cave homes in Cappadocia and a number of the churches they constructed there.

A number of the churches have been defaced over the years, which is to be expected since the area was unsecured for many years and (now that I think about it) many Muslims would be offended by the idea of displaying a likeness of God -- especially within a church -- where they might fear it would lead to idol worship. However, there are still some locations that remain very much intact, which was interesting to see. It was interesting to see how the artistry improved over time in the various churches.

In a time when most people were illiterate, the murals within the church would have been an integral part of relating the biblical stories. Many of the churches have a series of many murals, each depicting a different portion of Jesus' life. Can you determine what story this mural is relating?

Greetings from Cappadocia, Turkey

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:55:00 +0000

We're in the third day of our trip.

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We started our day by flying from Istanbul to Cappadocia. It was a nice flight -- about an hour long and about 25% full. The clouds and dampness followed us from Istanbul, but there was no rain. After landing, we met our guide for the rest of the week, who picked us up to take us to the sites.

We saw some amazing sites today. The first was a visit to the hills of Cappadocia. The people here discovered that beneath the first feet of hard rock, the underlying rock was easily excavated. The local people literally carved-out homes and lives for themselves in the sides of the hills. The people continued to live here until massive earth quakes in 1957, which rendered the caves unsafe for dwelling. We visited a part of the settlement called Zelve, where the "Fish Church" still "stands." As early as the ninth century, people were living and worshiping here. It's incredible to be able to stand in that same place and touch the same walls as those people did over a millennia ago.

After Zelve, we visited a local pottery shop that utilizes clay and rocks from the region. It turns out that the owner has traveled to Chicago twice for the Turkish festival, and has another trip planned soon. They let Liz have a go at the pottery wheel, which was a lot of fun! We were also treated to tea before being given the "unique opportunity" to purchase some of their work at "special prices." The prices were to be especially generous since we were from Chicago, home of Barrak Obama. They actually had some very nice artisan work that was done on-site, but we opted for a more modest sized bobble we can hang on our Christmas tree.

Afterward, we visited the local market -- just for the heck of it, because it happened to be going-on -- then headed to our hotel for the night.

Happy Thanksgiving from....Turkey?

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 18:37:00 +0000

Hello from Istanbul. As most of you know, we're spending the holiday in Turkey. Lauren is home in Chicago with Clark and Ann, who graciously agreed to fly-up to stay with the little princess.

We spent today in Istanbul. We had a nice time touring around, though we were a little hurried since our plans take us into the middle of the country. The weather was a little rainy, but that wasn't a big deal since we spent most of our time in-doors.

Haggia Sophia is an amazing site. It was built in 532 A.D. as a church at the height of the Byzantian Empire. It was constructed in just under six years, using 10,000 workers. The Christian church was later converted to a mosque following the conquest by Ottoman Turks in 1453, and has since been converted into a museum with many of the Christian elements uncovered.

Lauren's Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:51:00 +0000

While mommy and daddy were jet-setting, Lauren enjoyed Thanksgiving with Grandma and Papa Gieseke back at our place in Chicago.Lauren feasted on ham, greenbeans, strawberries and apple crisp.As an added bonus, Chicago was also treated to some very mild weather.

Here's a photo in her Thanksgiving dress that Liz made.

There was no report of what Indy the Greyhound had for Thanksgiving, but he probably had a feast of what fell from Lauren's tray, as usual.....followed by a nap on his bed, as usual.

Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:57:00 +0000

Here are some random shots of Lauren and Grandpa, watching Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

I have to tell you, it's disconcerting to see just how transfixed Lauren can get on the television. I returned from dropping off Liz and Ann at an event downtown to find Lauren in a trance-like state, utterly unphased by my arrival home. It's like she'd grown-up to a full-blown teenager in the 10 minutes I was gone. This girl definitely loves her television. I even caught her doing the classic "thirsty...but-can't-look-down...must-find-my-cup-by-touch move" that so many arm-chair quarterbacks have perfected.

Since we were watching to show live, it was also Lauren's first experience with commercials. She is not a fan. Even the crazy toy-laden commercials weren't enough for her. It wasn't long before each commercial elicited a plea for "Charlie Brown? More Charlie Brown? More, more, more?"

In other news, Lauren *loves* playing with Grandma and Grandpa! She enjoys having two more people to play her favorite game, "Run Around the House!" She's been getting extra doses of grandparent love this week, as Liz has been besieged with a series of orders from MommySaidSew that need to go out before we leave for Turkey.

"It's Wintertime Snowing. I like it."

noreply@blogger.com (Jace Mouse) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:47:00 +0000

Lauren got to go on a stroller ride during the first snowfall of the season. She got to experience snow last year, but she's much more aware of the whole situation this year. We're not crazy about the impending cold that's to come, but it should be fun to let Lauren play in the snow.

As luck would have it, the city park across the street -- the one that was supposed to be finished eight months ago, for the start of Spring -- seems to be close to re-opening, so at least we'll have a nice place to play in the snow!