BUUUUHHHHRRRROOOOOKLYYNNNNNNN!!!

this past weekend we loaded up the car and headed to brooklyn to visit aunt marge, uncle ben, and unborn baby cousin! we spent most of friday in the car just getting there, in spite of our best attempts to get there early in the day. the drive itself was pretty uneventful- a tiny bit of traffic, but otherwise pretty easy.

we had a busy three days planned, and in the end we did everything we wanted to do, saw everyone we wanted to see, and didn't feel rushed or exhausted at all! i've got a silly amount of pics to post, and i figured the easiest way to get them up would be a number of posts spread out over the next couple of days, with some supplemental posts at the photo blog.

you may also have noticed a new layout here- nothing special, just overdue for a change. and since i've fallen into posting mostly pics i thought i'd change the format to better suit the photos. i'll be doing some minor changes at the photoblog sometime soon as well.

anyway, the first post is, of course, all about getting there and getting settled- so here we go: 

this was a much better drive than we're used to. a little bit shorter, and a little bit prettier.

 that is, until you hit the city. usually the BQE kills us. this time it was the GW bridge.

 there were still some pretty moments though.

 but that was also dependent 

 upon who you asked.

 we all agreed things looked much better once we were out of the car.

 uncle ben came out to meet us and help us unload the car. after everything was inside, mommy left to go visit a friend

and me, lolo, bebe, aunt marge, and uncle ben all went to the playground right down the street from their house.

 eloise was rocking her "eclectic new yorker" ensemble. for real.

 she even felt confident enough to climb some stairs! go weezie!

 classic NYC parking job. ouch.

it got cold being out in the wind, so eventually we headed back home.

 elo read books with her aunt marge

 while i got "artsy" in the bathroom

and uncle ben introduced bebe to, appropriately enough, Muppets Take Manhattan.

we had a lot planned for the next two days, so once mommy was back we ate dinner and got ready for bed. saturday we had tickets for The Big Apple Circus!

don't forget to check out the photoblog for outtakes, do-overs, and alternate shots-  it's a sample of all my favorite subjects...