La Reconquista

We're finally settled in, and it's great.  It's the first time since last fall that I'm not wondering where we're going to live and how we're going to get there.  Now begins the task of making this place feel like home, of taking it back and making it ours.  Now begins La Reconquista.  Like the Europeans who pushed the Moors off of the Iberian peninsula (Spain) during the middle ages, we are taking this house back. I am El Cid of Quaker Ridge Road. 

Nilda has done or procured a ton of work around the house.  My father says that she'd better slow down or else she'll run out of things to do.  I told Nilda that he was right, to which she responded by laughing that "you're so stupid!" laugh, since we all know she'll never be done.  

Charlie absolutely loves the space.  He can finally run around without running out of room or upsetting the downstairs neighbors.  I, similarly, can walk as loud as I want and the only one who gets upset is Nilda.

This video of me chasing after Charlie ends the only way it possibly can.

 Charlie now goes down the big slide.

I bought a ladder to get the satellite dish off the room and I didn't fall off.  Who says I'm not athletic?  This let me take a ton of unused cables off the house, which is nice because this house has wires running everywhere, but none of them are compatible with Fios.  It's wired for the peak of technology in 1999. 

There was a Columbus Day carnival and Charlie was mesmerized by everything.  This is apparently where all the junior high kids hang out. Putting aside all of the horrible atrocities committed by Columbus, it was a great time.  The Indians who didn't bring the Spanish enough gold may have had their hands cut off, but Charlie loved zeppoles, so it all works out.  

We love going to the gym, where he gets to hone those athletic genes he inherited from his parents.  Here he is playing basketball.  Look at the care he takes in making sure the ball goes into the basket. Yeah, that kind of attention to detail clearly comes from me. 

Nilda took Charlie to story time at the library.  Nilda said it was a great program, but we all agree that Charlie is probably not ready to sit still for that long.  Also, this is what happens when Nilda thinks she can cut Charlie's bangs. 

Check out this sky from our driveway.

We went apple-picking again. It's technically "free" to take the flatbed the 50 feet to the apple trees and pumpkin field, but you can't leave without spending $60 on more apples and pumpkins than you ever planned on getting.  He said "ah-pul" for the first time and I kept wanting him to repeat it.

Look how different Charlie looks from a year ago.  

A girl a few months older than Charlie wanted to go on the seesaw with him, so naturally Charlie went and hid in the jungle gym.  The family tradition of being sleek with the ladies continues.  Don't worry, Charlie, it gets easier once you're married.  

These are the leaves on the trees by the playground.

We even got to spend time with our cousins.  

Finally, check out this hair.  The longer it gets, the more  Nilda says she'll never get it cut.  Every woman who sees his hair agrees, so Nilda's probably right.