Gators
Clara’s Nonna (aka, my mom) came to visit this weekend and treated herself to a stay at The Jefferson, a beautiful and historic hotel in Richmond.
One of the more famous stories about the hotel is that they used to have alligators living in their fountain, so naturally there are alligator statues (and other references) throughout the building. Not surprisingly, Clara was psyched about this development.
She even offered her book up as an afternoon snack.
Such a good little sharer.
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Too cute! What alligator doesn’t like a good book?
Another question that maybe you’ve addressed and I missed: have you stopped updating your Clara flickr? I check it every now and then and I noticed it hadn’t been updated in a while. I didn’t know if you were forgoing flickr and strictly updating Young House Life now.
We mean to keep updating that too! Life is just crazy. I think it’s on John’s to-do list today though.
xo,
s
how sweet!
She’s so cute! I would have flipped, at her age, if I saw something like that. I would have probably cried and made the nearest adult get me out of there ASAP. Things like that freaked me out as a kid. hahaha.
Nom nom nom, yummy books! So cute!
Makes me happy to see a fellow book-loving baby. My daughter loves ‘em too, but so many kids these days don’t. My new mission is baby literacy….I’ve gone to 4 baby showers so far this fall, and given books as a gift at every one! :)
This reminds me of an old movie, the Happiest Millionaire. They have pet alligators that escape their room and end up all over the house. I definitely prefer the statues!
So cute.
Cute! I love Clara’s cute little dress and sandals.
How come your mom didn’t stay in your sweet guest room? :)
We offered! But I think she’s enjoys the comfort / privacy of a hotel room sometimes (plus, can’t blame her for not wanting to be on Clara’s wake up schedule). Plus, she’s been dying to try the Jefferson so she used this trip as her chance. We enjoyed the excuse to check out more of the hotel.
-John
Yeah, sometimes it’s just nice to stay in a new place and check everything out. I’m glad you all had a nice visit!
there are no pictures – just empty boxes with the red x … but I can see everything fine on the main site.
Hmmm, sorry to hear that Lauren. That happens on occasion and we’re still not sure why, but they’re stored in the same place as the main site so I’m surprised to hear you’re just having trouble here. For most folks it clears up in a day or two. Again, apologies that you can see anything at the moment.
-John
That happens to me sometimes – it’s usually gone the next day. I have no idea why!
We don’t either, unfortunately. We thought it had something to do our caching or our image host (Amazon) temporarily going down, but it’s very spotty and so random that we can’t figure it out. Again, sorry for the trouble!
-John
Still not working for me. It’s just this one post, though. Very random.
So sorry about that! Wish we could change something on our end to fix it but we’re stumped!
xo,
s
That is adorable! I can’t believe the hotel kept gators in their fountain. How did they keep them from going after the guests??
Beats me. Maybe just telling the guests to keep their distance?
-John
John-
From my grandfather”s accounts, that’s pretty much what they did. He has worked downtown since graduating from UVA (Wahoowa), and thus has an attachment to all things Jeffersonian. He told me stories about the gators from back in the day when he and his peers would meet there for lunch. Whether or not they were tall tales, they captured my imagination at an early age, when they would revisit the hotel with me for brunch as a tot.
So cute! My mother in law goes by Nonna as well. I thought it was strange at first but now I see “Nonna” mentioned everywhere!
We’re seeing it a lot too! (And yes, we do get told we’re spelling it wrong with only 1 N in the middle – but that’s how Nona says it should be so we’re sticking with it).
-John
Ummm…actually John, Sherry spells it with two Ns at the beginning of the post… ;-)
LOL, well clearly we’re not on the same page about this! Maybe she finally told her mom we needed to correct it. Ha!
-John
lol! ‘nonna’ for sure!
Did you guys ever read Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola? It was one of my favorites when I was growing up. Nona is actually her name in these stories but on Tomie dePaola’s website at Tomie.com, he clears up controversy about spelling Nona with one N:
“Why,” many Italians and Italian-Americans ask me, “is NONA spelled with one N instead of two?” (The Italian word for GRANDMOTHER is NONNA.)
Strega Nona is Calabrese, like my ancestors. Calabria is in the toe of the boot of Italy. As far as my relatives told me, NONA is a slang spelling for “Granny” or “Grandma” which after all is spelled differently than “Grandmother.”
Mystery solved?!?!
So interesting! The mystery is solved. Thanks Megan!
-John
I love the Jefferson, not only because it’s a beautiful hotel but because it’s where I work! If you or your mom sampled anything sweet while you were there, there’s a good chance I helped make it (I’m a pastry chef). Hope she enjoyed her stay!
Oooh, we didn’t eat while stopping by but sure Nona did. We’ll have to ask her if she had any delicious pastries while she was there. Cool to know someone on the inside now! :)
-John
Cute Clara! She always make me smile, even the days with a bad headache like today. Es monísima :-D
She is too cute, so nice to spend some time with your mom. Everytime I see Clara I cannot tell who she looks like more. There are time where I think she looks like Sherry and other times she really seems to have John’s eyes. From what I can tell in pictures of course. Are you told she looks like one more than the other, or when you were kids? Thanks again for sharing your precious pictures with all of us!
It used to be that the majority of people said me (John) but its gradually shifted to be more people saying Sherry. But in general we think she’s a pretty even mix of us… plus we don’t look all that different so it’s no surprise Clara’s kinda ambiguous.
-John
I sure hope that alligator appreciated that book. She clearly was thinking selflessly!
I used to go to the zoo with my parents and they had a section with crocodiles and their komodo dragon… I LOVED the giant statues they had of them! I always had to run over and hug the komodo dragon. I think a lot of parents probably cringed at the sight of a little kid hugging such a terrifying beast of a lizard… Hahaha.
My little niece loves alligators too… She sleeps every night with her beloved green and stuffed toy.
A mini Bindi Irwin you have there! :) And she shares well!
I love Clara with the gator! Too cute!
That dress is adorable on Clara!
So darn cute! Where did her dress come from? I’m mama to a 6 month old girl after 2 boys (5 and 3) and I’m always on the lookout for sweet little girl dresses. Plus we live in AZ, so its sundress weather here for a REALLY long time!
It’s from GAP and it was actually a birthday gift from Will Bower!
-John
I think she’s telling you that she wants to move to Florida in about 17.5 years (GO Gators!!!)
Yes Jenn, I agree…Go Gators! :)
I agree as well!
GO GATORS!
I love all the extra Clara pictures here! Historic hotels are so fun!
They have a children’s teddy bear tea at the Jefferson once a month, it’s super cute.
I too, was not afraid of alligators as a kid. When I was 2, my parents got quite the scare at the zoo when I climbed in the exibit with them. My Dad had to climb in to rescue me. I’m sure I gave the visitors a good show. :)
Wow – you’re brave!
-John
absolutely adorable pictures of Clara!!! But seriously… they had alligators in their fountain back in the day… SCARY!
We have a brave daughter too Sherry & John and her lack of fear has created some for her parents. Good news is we’ve been able to keep her safe for 21 years now. She was so disappointed at Disney World as a child because swimming with the sharks was in a pool with safe sharks not tiger or bull sharks. Go figure, she has always had a fascination with sharks.
Clara is too cute for words, but you already know that.
Happy Life YHL
Glad someone else suggested The Happiest Millionaire. I grew up watching that one as a kid with my brothers and parents – great family friendly entertainment with Fred MacMurray, star of many old comedies. The alligators in the conservatory were my favorite. Clara will feel right at home :).
OMG. Cuteness overload.
I am dying for a “who does Clara look the most like” breakdown.
Johns, eyes, Sherrys nose…etc. So far she looks a lot like John to me. But maybe in person she looks more like Sherry?
We hear that she has my eyes and nose and everything else is John’s (from her long fingers to her head shape). I can’t wait until she gets hair! That might swing her more towards my side (when it’s long and girlie!).
xo,
s
Just wondering if you guys are aware of the sad news about Anna of An Inch of Gray, whose blog I learned about here, when you featured some work of hers a while back. She is a fellow Virginian and recently lost her son in a flash flood accident. It’s just unimaginable. Please visit her blog if you haven’t and let her know you are thinking of her. Thanks.
jbhat
Yes, we heard the sad news on Friday. It’s absolutely heartbreaking. We’ve been thinking lots and lots about her over the past few days and only hope they’re finding some sort of peace and comfort. You said it perfectly – it’s unimaginable.
-John
K. Thanks.
jbhat
Clara always has the cutest outfits!…Totally off topic, I am dying to know if you ventured out to Target today for the big Missoni release?…I went this afternoon and it looked like black Friday gone…way bad. I was shocked and then somewhat amused to see the feverish glares in my fellow shoppers eyes!! Their kids clothing line was the cutest thing I had ever seen and it totally made me think of fashion forward Clara!!
We actually went this morning (a day late) and there was still some stuff but it was mostly picked over. I couldn’t resist the adorable rain boots for Clara (the colorful zig zag ones in extra small) so I got those for her. And I got a vase. And I got a little pack of headbands (for me, I wish they were Clara sized though). John forgot we got the boots (he was just thinking about baby clothes) hence the comment that he posted a minute ago that made no sense about not getting Clara anything (so he deleted it). Haha. Probably should blog about our spoils soon!
xo,
s
too cute! my son uses the same sharing technique… with elmo!
That alligator reminds me of a hotel we stayed at when I was around 7 or so and my sister was 2. They had a grand piano in the lobby and a couple times a day they had a guy in an tuxedoed alligator costume (top hat and all!) come to play the piano. Well, for whatever reason, my sister LOOOVED that alligator and all day no matter where we were she would say “Ah-gee-ga? Ah-gee-ga?” which was her version of “alligator” at the time. The funniest part was when she fell asleep that night she started talking in her sleep and of course, the only thing she said was “Ah-gee-ga…”. That has become a favorite family story of ours over the years. :)
LOL, that’s hilarious. Not sure I understand the tuxedoed alligator, but whatever entertains the hotel guests I guess! :)
-John
I love the Jefferson! That’s where my husband and I stayed for our wedding night. We’re Richmonders and could have easily just gone to our own home, but we wanted to go someplace fancy. :D Glad your mom got to stay at such a wonderful Richmond hotel/landmark!
That gift shop has lots of cute alligator things for sale, and a lot of the people working there tell stories about the legendary gators. Supposedly tiny alligators were popular pets/fashion accessories too at one time, so some of the gators that took refuge in the fountain may have been put there by guests who couldn’t handle them anymore.
So interesting! Love it.
xo,
s
Already a penchant for animal statues? Definitely her mother’s daughter. She was probably imagining how it would look with some white spray paint. ;)
Haha, true!
xo,
s
If you’ve never done tea at The Jefferson, you really MUST some time. So fun! They do a chocolate lover’s version too. You sit in the comfy sofas & chairs in the big main lobby and get spoiled being served tea, finger sandwiches, and petit fours on silver and china. Love it.
Sounds like lots of fun!
xo,
s
I was just going to say that! The tea at the Jefferson is really fun. You get to dress up and sit in big comfy chairs while having afternoon tea. Great for little girls :-)
HAHAHAHAHA your reply about Will Bower sending Clara a birthday present cracked me up – SO CUTE :)
Cute pic, and random question: Where did you get Clara’s shoes?? I’ve been looking for some good “early walkers,” as we have a one-year-old who is on the go! Clara wears those a lot and they look so comfy, so thought I’d ask!
Those are hand-me-downs from her cousin Emanuel who got them as hand-me-downs from his friend Jack. So I guess that doesn’t help, huh? They say Stride Right on them though. Hope it helps!
xo,
s