Snow day chilling

(And yes that is Bruno's bed!)

I found heaven at Whole Foods

I resisted for over three months, but I finally stepped foot in a Whole Foods store. Everyone raves about them over here, although the sentence usually starts with 'it's expensive but...'

Anyway, I was continuing my search for Quorn Mince so made a special trip (I was very pleased to locate it and now I can stop eating the Soy stuff I've had to eat so far). I think the moment I walked in the store my mouth dropped in awe. It was awash with fresh foods, nice produce and good salad bar type options. Although I only brought the Mince (an impending holiday meant it was not worth food shopping) I think I fell in love! It was so amazing I feel like I'd be doing it a disservice doing a shop there with a toddler in tow, I want a chance to stroll, relax and browse while I shop. So I have now told Matt he needs to look after Ethan one night so I can go shopping on my own!

Fight or Embrace... The gun culture

For anyone who follows Piers Morgan on twitter (I appreciate this may not be many of you!) you will know he is always tweeting about the gun licence laws in the US and is very critical of them. Last week he tweeted this advert from a 'Moms' group in the US. I was so taken aback by the message of this advert I decided to do some more research on what the laws are actually like out here.

I'll start by saying I'm not wholly comfortable with guns, I have shot them in the past but it wasn't an experience I got a lot of enjoyment from. Matt has a gun in the UK, a concept again that I wasn't wholly comfortable with until I took a lot of reassurance from the process required to buy and own a gun. Forms were required, referencing completed, visits from the firearms officer including an interview. When we moved house, another inspection was completed. Matt was encouraged if he ever felt depressed, to sign his gun over to the police or a friend. I am not allowed to know where the key to the gun safe is kept. And the ammunition must be stored separately. All this made me feel very reassured about the fact a gun was going to be kept in the house.

America gets a lot of bad press about guns and seemingly quite rightly so. There's lots of shootings, some which don't even make the worldwide press anymore like they used to. The referenced tweet by Piers Morgan was the same day a four year old killed another four year old with an armed rifle found under a grandparents bed.

I decided to do some research into gun licences over here. I started with New York state, to see what the process was. I was quite surprised, on face value a long process is required to get a handgun. It takes several months and even more reassuringly you can't legally own an assault weapon in NY. It turns out that NY has some of the most restrictive gun licencing laws in the US, clearly we chose a good place to move to.

I wondered therefore what the fuss was about. So I decided to look into Texas, an area I knew which takes gun owning quite seriously. Texas has NO laws regarding the ownership of handguns, rifles or shotguns by over 18 without felony convictions! The licencing is around people's ability to conceal carry rather than own them. 

Many American's claim a right to own guns is covered under the second amendment and the National Rifle Association (NRA) are very defensive around gun licencing laws (or lack of them in some cases) and claim that they don't impact the mass shootings/crimes committed. I saw a great comedian over Christmas on TV though who I thought summed it up nicely 'If I give you my phone, are you more or less likely to make a call?'.

So, in conclusion, I could never embrace these gun laws. In fact these, along with another subject I will cover later in my blog, are one of my two big pet hates about the USA. How is it possible that a Kinder egg can be banned but a gun not?

Some recent photos

A Sunday afternoon beach walk where Bruno has his first swim

Ethan treated himself to a kitchen with his Christmas money

A cold (and damp) play date in the park

Ethan has his friend Lucy (and her Mummy and Daddy round) on Saturday

Holiday train show

Today my friend Kristin and I (with her son Nolan and Ethan) finally made it to 'The Holiday Train Show' at the New York Botanical Gardens. This was our fourth attempt being prevented by snow and packing before Christmas and this week not realising it was closed on Monday.

I wasn't sure what to expect but it seems to be something that most people do around here in the run up to Christmas so I thought it would be a fun afternoon out.

Here is the website for anyone interested:

http://www.nybg.org/exhibitions/2013/holiday-train-show/about.php

It is a very random exhibition. It's trains running through some New York landmarks (which I believe are made out of all natural products like wood) within the setting of one of the gardens domes. However, Ethan and Nolan loved it and were upset to leave the trains at the end. Ethan despite not walking on his own yet, insisted on walking the entire exhibition holding onto my hand (I have a sore back now!) and then shared my Jalapeno crisps in the cafe, clearly a child for whom spicy food won't be an issue! And the day finished with me having to navigate my way home, from (and through) the Bronx in the dark in Friday rush hour traffic. But we did it!

Some photos from our afternoon are below.

Fight or Embrace... Sub zero temperatures

When we landed at JFK last Saturday after a lovely two weeks in the UK, the area was covered in snow. In fact the snow storm and impact on the US had made global news.

We arrived home to this: 

Poor Matt had to get the shovel out to clear some snow before we could get the car up the drive, not the preferred thing to do after a flight.

Then on Monday we had torrential rain and all the snow disappeared. I resembled a drowned rat post run, I won't share that photo with you!

And on Tuesday I woke up to this:

Just a little bit chilly then!!

So the question is when the weather is as it has been this week, what do we do.

Well on Tuesday I admit to being a cold weather wimp. Ethan and I went out to our morning appointment and came home and stayed inside. Poor Bruno went without a run. I even resorted to this (which I never do!)

(Ethan watching Sesamee St for the first time)

But come Wednesday morning it was clear Bruno was not going to skip another run (and rightly so). So we wrapped up warm and out we went. Admittedly it had warmed up slightly to about -11c but still blooming cold!

So we've had to embrace the cold weather, here's a picture of Ethan in his running gear. He even gets to sit snuggled under a blanket too!