We took Sadie and Lucy to New York last weekend for a little vacation and a chance to catch up with some of our old friends. It was a great weekend, and I’ll probably write up some notes a little later this week. For now, I figured I’d just start with a couple of pictures.

We left the hotel and wandered through Central Park until we hit the Heckscher Playground. They renovated this playground since the last time we visited, and it was a big hit with the kids.

Sadie found a tire swing. That was enough for thirty minutes of sheer bliss.

Lucy was too little for the tire swing, so she was sitting in her stroller watching Sadie swing. She was a little bored, though.

So, we let her out to be free-range baby for a little while. She toddled around for a little while, but then found a mud puddle at the edge of the swings area. She circled it for a minute, then decided to investigate further.

As it turns out, you can do a lot of splashing in the mud puddle. It’s great fun.

Nothing makes Lucy happier than a little mud.

Sadie then wandered around the “castle” a little bit. Whoever designed the park did a nice job pulling this section together. There’s lots for a three-year-old to explore.

At the end of the day, Sadie was very happy.

The girls even got to share a big hug back in the hotel lobby.

I’ll write more later (especially about the Museum of Natural History), but I wanted to get these pictures up quickly.

A big thank you to Tedy Bruschi for all the years. Lucy proudly wears her #54 jersey at game time.

I hope the Patriots inscribe this on his Patriots Hall of Fame plaque:
Tedy Bruschi. He wanted the ball more.

This has to win the “baseball geekery of the day” award. Larry Granillo at Baseball Analysts does an insanely detailed analysis of Walk-off Wins. If you love baseball or numbers (or both, like me), you’ll love this post.

Papi’s close to cracking the walk-off home run list. Just need a couple more.

I’m very excited that the NFL is coming back. It’s been a long time, and I’m looking forward to seeing the Patriots make another run at the Super Bowl.

Here are today’s football thoughts, for what they’re worth:

For the past few years, my favorite player on the Patriots has been Vince Wilfork. His number 75 is the jersey I wear on the Patriots game days. (Sadie has number 12; Lucy has number 54). It looks like he’s gone after this season. I hope it’s not the case, but I’ll wish him the best of luck on hope we can send him off with the another Super Bowl ring, matching the one from his rookie season. Plus, he’s the only member of the Patriots to ever comment on my blog. How cool is that?

My man Darius Butler has looked really good in the first two pre-season games. I hope that he ends up doing really well, because it would be ten tons of cool if I can get us all jerseys with “Butler” sewn on the back. (It’s the little dreams in life that count…)

I wish that the NFL Network would stop taunting me with the promos for NFL Red Zone. I had it for the few weeks we could tolerate DirecTV in 2006, and it’s truly hypnotic. Come on Verizon Fios, bring it on board!

I’m not thrilled with Brett Favre, but I think that the Minnesota Vikings will be the team coming out of the NFC in January to meet the Patriots in the Super Bowl. They have so much beef on the lines, they have the best running back in football in Adrian Peterson, and Percy Harvin is going to have a Randy Moss-like impact on defenses. I’d rather see the Chicago Bears make it, but I think that it’s going to be the Vikings.

We watched a little bit of the Kansas City Chiefs exhibition game. Matt Cassel looked good, but the rest of the team looked really bad. I lived through the endless 2-14 seasons. I know how bad it is, and I’m dreading the days those seasons return to New England. We just need to enjoy this Bill Belichick / Tom Brady magic for as long as the ride lasts.

If you haven’t already, you should sign up for WEEI’s Patriots podcast. It pulls together all the Patriots interviews, including Brady and Belichick. It’s a great will to fill up the iPod for your commute.

Alright. That’s enough for now. We’ll see if I can pull it together enough to write some more during the season.

I’ve been doing a lot of librarian work this week, so the links have piled up a bit.

Chicken, Bacon, Cheese, Chicken
How insane is this sandwich from KFC. Make a bacon and cheese sandwich, then replace the bread with fried chicken. I believe this is the very definition of awesome.

Orlando is having some tough times
Live by the specialty, die by the specialty. Apparently, the federal government banned government conferences in Orlando. This is taking a toll on a city designed for one industry. “Central Florida, without any other true industry, now grovels at the government’s feet to restore itself into good graces and allow a National Park Service meeting to take place at the Ramada Inn again.”

Why Zack Grienke is the best pitcher in baseball
Joe Posnanski runs the numbers.

Watch out for ripoffs after you buy something
I’ve seen this a bunch of times. You buy something online and then see an offer for a “rebate” or “$10 off.” If you click it, then your credit card will be billed forever by these scam artists.

Traffic control in downtown Holliston
When are we finally going to put the stop light at the corner of Washington and Central Streets? We’ve needed for as long as I can remember. 1982, maybe?

McArabia
How McDonald’s is localizing its recipes around the world — Morocco in this case. If nothing else, it has to be better than the McRib.

Check those medical bills
Sometimes you get more than you expected. The Red Tape Chronicles takes a look at how to handle the inevitable billing mistakes. Don’t worry about your doctor hating you; they’re removed from the billing process and usually just as annoyed as you are.

Why Kind of Blue is so great
Kind of Blue was released 50 years ago this week. Slate analyzes what made this record so great.

I’m not a jazz geek, but I have a few of these records in rotation. If you haven’t already, you should check out:

Miles Davis: Kind of Blue, Sketches of Spain, Bitches Brew, In a Silent Way, Dark Magus

John Coltrane: A Love Supreme, Blue Train, Giant Steps

Thelonious Monk: Solo Monk

Charles Mingus: The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

If you like vocals, then you should absolutely check out these two records, two of my all-time favorites

Billie Holiday: Songs for Distingue Lovers

John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman

Flipping through Amazon to find all these links, I was delighted to have the yellow bar saying things like “You Purchased this item on February 8, 1999.” Shows how long Amazon has been around.

Barney Frank’s Town Hall
Barney Frank seemed to have a lot of fun at his town hall to discuss healthcare reform. This is a ridiculously slanted account of the night, but there’s some truth buried in there. Here’s a more nuanced coverage from CNN. Here’s the Barney Frank video

Consumer detox?
Can you try a couple of weeks or a month of buying nothing at all?

Is it now a crime to be poor?
“[T]he law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges.”

Choosing how to build your own house
Scott Adams has some thoughts on how you could design a house to be as efficient, green and livable as possible. A. and I are highly unlikely to ever build a custom house, but this is still really interesting reading.

Everything that went into the Lost panel at Comic-Con
It was quite an effort to do the Lost panel at Comic-Con. A lot more than you’d expect.

What would the grownup do?
Interesting article throwing a parenting-book writer into a challenging family.

Total Eclipse of the Heart: Literal Video Version
What if you had the song describe what was happening in the video? Very entertaining.

Bomb exploded in Holliston
All sorts of excitement. Holliston Reporter has the pictures of the unexploded bomb that was found in a Holliston backyard. State Police and the Military Bomb Squad were called in. It ended up being blown up on Marshall Street.

What to do about the tweens/teens hanging out downtown?
Interesting article in the Holliston Reporter about how the kids hanging out downtown are impacting local business. Do we need a youth center here in town?

Looks like the new Holliston Police Station is pretty snazzy
Memo: Children: I do not wish to see the inside of this station in reference to anything you end up doing.

Update on the Congregational Church
I can’t wait to see when this is all done.

Don’t forget, Serendeputy can pull together and personalize all your Holliston news for you. Check it out! (Other towns are coming soon – I’m waiting to see how to do it well before I spread it out…)