Cold, but Merry

It's been incredibly cold in the city (we know, not as cold as Chicago, but it's still cold), so Marin and Charlie have had a lot of "inside days." Charlie would be content to watch a continuous spool of "Go Diego Go." When Marin starts to feel like a bad Mom, they change over to his other favorite indoor activity: picking Charlie up by his ankles and tossing him onto the bed. This was a particularly satisfying toss.

This is a blurry picture, but it's the best we have of a particularly memorable winter night: We braved a snow storm to check out the Christmas market in Columbus Circle (worth a look if you're in the area). Then we ate dinner at the Brooklyn Diner where Marin had one of the best hamburgers in recent memory. There is something really, really cool about sitting in a warm diner and watching the snow fall in New York City.

On the last Saturday before Christmas, we decided to stay well away from the shopping areas. Instead we visited the American Museum of Natural History where Charlie could burn off some energy running around in the Ocean Room.

Gil showed his Cougar pride for bowl game day, even though it meant leaving his coat home on the coldest day of the season.

We don't have a ton of space so we're getting creative on finding places to put up decorations.

Gil's mother sent us a fun "12 days of Christmas" package. Marin set the gifts up across the top of the entertainment center (again, not much space), and every night she has to get out the step stool to pull down the next surprise. Marin really needed an outlet for her tendency open her presents early.

As much as Gil complains about the tourists at 30 Rock, he didn't exactly put up a fight when Marin wanted to get a picture taken with the Tree.