A Wet Morning in Darien, CT

We had a easy drive yesterday, from Trout's house on Lake Thompson,Maine, to the Albarran's in Darien, CT. Fortunately, the day cleared up by the time we hit Portland, and until we got to Hartford, it was a beautiful fall day, of golds and reds, surprising us because we had thought the peak foliage season was over. It's not certainly, in Darien and surrounding areas. We did stop at Cabela's, just outside of Portland, but ended up not buying anything, despite all the good stuff. We then hit Trout's NH liquor store, just before you enter Mass, and bought a case of wine, La Vielle Ferme, which Trout recommended, for 6.99 a bottle. We got to Beth's around 3:00, just in time to pick Mitch up on the street, as he was walking home from school and we were able to then walk to pick up Marisa, at her school, as she did cart wheels almost the entire way home. What a happy girl! Beth was recovering from gum surgery, so we tried to help out, picking up Tyler, taking him to physical therapy. We ended up with a couple of rotisserie chickens, garlic/oil pasta, and garlic bread. Rami got home about 8:00, after taking the train to Boston early in the morning, and returning late, a long day for him. We ended up watching the Celts bare defeat the Miami Heat, in Lebron's first game in a Heat uniform. Before bed, we had to arrange Marisa's animals on her bed, part of the routine when we arrive. As I sit here this morning, writing this and watching MSNBC, it's strange, since we have not watched any news in a week. All the kids are off to school, and it's quiet, a strange feeling, as it's usually quite busy with all the kids here. It's more fun when they are here, no doubt, though we may hit Stu Leonard's later today, which is the one place we 'have' to visit while we are here.

Stew Leonard's, as usual, was delight, crowded, filled with all kinds of interesting foods, lots of free appetizers, it makes shopping fun for us, at least we try to go their once a visit at minimum. It seemed more crowded than usual, though it was lunch hour. I am not sure you save money there, because like Trader's Joe's, you end up buying extra goodies because everything looks so good, the advantage of an attractive looking store, lots of fresh looking meats, cheese, vegetables, and fish. And if you buy enough, you get a free ice cream cone, in fact, we were able to get two because of the size of the bill. Later, we took Marisa to dance class, spent most of the time talking to Beth's good friend Nancy. Unfortunately, we were unable to watch her dance, as, according to the enforcer, it takes a way from the girl's concentration. It's a busy day around here, as after we brought Marisa home, Beth went off to art class with Mitch for a couple of hours and we were to pick up Tyler at 6:50, but his train was cancelled so another parent brought him home around 7:20, to meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and cupcakes. Tyler watched a bit of TV, then went off to study, if like last night for three or four hours. I feel sorry for him, for the time he has to put in, with little leisure, other than an hour to so of telly. I guess I shouldn't complain about his working so hard, as he is just being a good boy, responsible and hard working, the way you expect all your children to be. Mitch,too, puts in at least an hour a night, and really seems to enjoy reading on his own as well. He really seems to be in to art, and brought home a couple of his abstract pieces, geometric in nature, like a Paul Klee.