Came back yesterday from 2 nights at Anne's house.  Had a nice time.  Great to see how Alex just fits in with anybody and is content hanging out with adults - who all like him and appreciate his dry sense of humour.  Joey a bit edgy with all the commotion and also, I think, get knocked out of his stride a little bit when things aren't quite what he expected.  So not a great couple of days for him - a bit niggly, a bit impatient - but not too bad.

Izzy was fantastic - just at that age when she is old enough to really understand Xmas but young enough to still believe in Santa.  She just goes with the flow and enjoys herself.

Downside was that we were staying in a furnace.  Anne's parents have their house heated more that we are used to, which is fine and understandable.  But they had left the heating on upstairs and it is a forced air heating which sucks the moisture out of a body.  Dreadful.  We managed to close down most of the vents for the second night, and open the windows, so not too bad.  But all the heat was then forced into the bathroom which was, literally, like a Swedish sauna!

I am taking Alex in to NYC today for two nights, about which he is really excited.  We will go to see the show 'Spiderman' (ridiculously expensive!) and have pre-theatre dinner at the revolving restaurant on the 48th floor of a building on Broadway.  Apart from that, he wants to........... go shopping!  Clearly gets that from his mother's genes rather than mine.  5tyh Avenue, here we come!