A Passage to India

Mike, our fearless traveler, has returned from his trip! He left on a 7:30 AM flight on Monday morning, flying first to London and then to Mumbai. I got the email from him that he had arrived at about 2:30 AM Tuesday morning. Ouch. Mike braved 95+ degree days, a 9.5 hour time change, endless meetings, and the perils of malaria for 5 days, first in Mumbai and then Delhi. After another 18 hours of travel time today, he has returned safely to Boston.

Henry was VERY excited to see his dad upon waking from his nap. Although the two of us had a good week together, we are both very, very happy he is back.

I sent the camera with Mike (hence the lack of posts this past week). After all, it was his first - maybe last - time in India. The country is so amazingly different and interesting, it can be hard to express just with words. So, for your viewing pleasure, here are Mike's photos from his week in India:




What is that you say? There is only ONE picture here? How can this be? Did Mike really only take ONE picture during his trip?* With all the new sights, two cities, impressive hotels, and his first trip on a "double decker" airplane????

Yes, it is true. Now you know who takes all the Henry pictures.

* Fine - to be 100% honest he actually took TWO pictures, but Henry accidentally erased one. It still doesn't make his extreme lack of picture taking any better.

Happy Easter!

It has been a big day in the Powell house.

First, Henry got in his Easter outfit and made me some breakfast:




Then, he discovered what the Easter Bunny brought:






He really liked his new sunglasses:




And the eggs of treats Nana sent:




He really, really, really liked his first taste of Peeps:






This is what happened during the post-Peeps sugar craze:






After we calmed him down we colored some eggs:









And we are now taking a much needed nap.

Happy Easter everyone!

Eggs

Henry had his first experience with coloring Easter eggs yesterday at an "egg dyeing" party. He was very excited about the prospect (chanting "color eggs! Color eggs!" the entire walk there), but once faced with the actuality of dyeing eggs he was very confused. I suppose it IS odd when you think of it.

He only smashed a few eggs (the older girls were very gracious about his destructive behaviors) and ended up enjoying using crayons on the eggs. He was very serious about the whole thing, as you can see:

The things we get excited by these days..

Today was one of those days that I suddenly stopped, looked at myself, and thought "WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME???" This sudden realization that I may have gone insane came as I was leaping with joy around the bathroom, clapping my hands, and singing a song I created called "Henry peed in the potty - YIPEE!", while Henry clapped along and kept demanding "more song!!!"

So yes, I am insane, but the bigger news is obviously...HENRY PEED IN HIS POTTY!!!!!!!

I don't think he quite realized what he did, and in no way shape or form am I thinking full potty training is imminent (I just need it to happen by September 2010 for preschool - I've got time, folks), but it at least gave me opportunity to heap on the praise and maybe get him thinking the potty is a "cool" thing.

Yeah, this is what I get excited by these days.

In 39 Days...

***

In 39 Days I will walk 39 miles during my participation with the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer -Boston. My friend Tiffany and I make up "Team Henry", and we will be up and ready to go at U Mass Boston at 5:30 AM on Saturday, walk 26.2 miles that day, camp out in a tent that night, and walk 13.1 miles back on Sunday. We will be walking with over 3,000 other men and women who share the same commitment to help in the fight against breast cancer.

I am thrilled that Team Henry is walking for the 2nd year in a row. Last year's Walk was an amazing event, and we can't wait to do it again (pouring rain, blisters, and all)! Tiffany and I each have a son named Henry and we want to make sure our Henrys don't ever need to go through the trauma of having one of us, or any other friend or family member, be diagnosed with this disease.

I STILL NEED HELP THOUGH! All walkers are required to raise a minimum of $1800 in order to participate. Thanks to so many generous friends and family I am now at $1,398!!!! Thank you SO much to everyone who has donated and supported me thus far.

I have $400 left to raise in the next 39 days! If you have not yet donated, please take a look at my Avon Walk page: http://tinyurl.com/6gdedg

Donating is easy, and you will be making a giant impact in the fight against breast cancer.

Thank you so much to everyone for all of your support!!!


***(In case you can't tell, his shirt says "Cool kids wear pink - The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer". So much for their so called "toddler size"...)

Another congrats!!!

Congrats to Henry's good friend Kate, who has become a BIG SISTER to new baby brother Ben!!

You can check out his supreme cuteness in Kate's blog.

Happy Birthday!

Devon and Henry would like to send out a big Happy Birthday greeting to Mike, who is 33 today! Happy Birthday!

In honor of Mike's birthday, a beehive cake was (of course) baked. Sadly, after a string of stellar cakes over the years, today met with our first beehive cake disaster. It may have been due to some slight overcooking, or maybe the pan simply was not greased and floured enough...for whatever reason Mike's sad beehive cake was stuck in the pan and had to be basically dug out. Not pretty. Then, I cut too much out of the middle trying to even out the halves to stick together, causing a gaping hole between the two halves. Much buttercream icing was made in an attempt to fill the hole and to somehow fix the maimed exterior. It is...not pretty. In fact, I am too embarrassed to even post a picture of our sad beehive cake. Instead, I will show a picture of what could have been:



Sorry Mike - at least it will still taste good!

Happy Birthday to our favorite husband and dad!