new words

Little man has been trying and saying so many new words the past week, it's really awesome to hear!  They include: light, peach, uh-oh, and green bean.

He's just so perfect

Tonight as I was nursing little man before bed, hubs quietly came down to give the thumbs up that big guy was asleep. Guess he wasn't quiet enough because little man heard him and looked over.  He put on a huge grin and said clear as a bell, "dada."  Then he said it about ten more times.  It was heart meltingly cute.

last weekend of summer

Labor day weekend was a four day weekend for the boys and I.  We decided to end summer with lots of adventures.  On friday, we went to longwood gardens for the morning.  It was absolutely gorgeous out and I made the abrupt decision to stop putting little man in a stroller. Just too much hassle for me.  I'd rather carry him, chase him, or let his wandering direct us.  Call me crazy.  Anyway, we wandered around longwood for a few hours.  Visited the conservatory.  Played in the kids fountains.  Saw the giant lily pads.  then we climbed the tree house and had a yummy lunch before heading in the car.  where they both stayed awake for the whole ride home!  WTF!  However, little man went right into his crib for naptime when we got home and slept for a long time!

Saturday, hubs was with us and suggested morris arboretum.  We packed up and went on another flower adventure.  We walked the trails, saw the trains, splashed in a fountain, saw the swans and had another yummy lunch.  it was absolutely delightful!  We spent the rest of the day napping and playing outside.

Sunday we went up to lancaster and visited dutch wonderland!  We had only been there a few times before and big guy was still little both visits. But we had a really good time.  WE spent the majority of the visit on dinosaur island, which is new and awesome.  The giant sand pits filled with shovels and paint brushes to move sand off of fake dinosaur skeletons is amazing and perfect for five year old and one year olds alike!  little man cried everytime we took a paint brush away!  Then we went on a little boat ride, followed by visiting the animatronic dinosaurs, and then drove a car around a track.  We had some delicious fast food.  Then headed over to the water park for some good old fashioned water splash time!  Which was awesome. We called it a day and headed over to grandma J's house to hang out and have dinner.

Monday we finally took it easy!  supermarket, laundry, and relaxing were on the menu!

School has started

Big guy has officially started Kindergarten!  It's so scary and exciting at the same time.  He and hubs had bus/Kindergarten orientation on tuesday.  Then big guy went to Kindergarten on thursday.  He has AM kindergarten and then goes to enrichment and then back to school for me to pick him up.  So, he gets to do two short bus rides a day, which have proven to be challenging for him.  The first day he and another boy got into a tussle.  The second day he and the same boy were jumping over seats.  There have been a lot of conversations about bus safety at home and in class.  But his K teacher is just delightful, as is his enrichment teacher. This week I have the welcome back picnic and open house! Public school and the next 13 years...

words of wisdom

this past weekend, big guy has been filled with wisdom.  Here are the best tidbits:

"Don't eat dog food."

"Don't eat poop."

"If you see a megalodon while you are swimming, don't try to eat it.  It'll bite your face off."

"Eating bricks will make you heavy and then you can't move."

Seems to have a lot to do with eating.  We ate like champs this weekend!!!  And luckily we didn't eat dog food, poop, bricks, or get eaten by a giant prehistoric shark!

Holy Crap

How I know it's time to put the parental controls on youtube...

I'm making dinner tonight and I hear big guy yelling "holy crap!" at his toys.  At first I thought I misheard, but then he kept saying it.  After I had a minor freak out about how that isn't a nice word to say, he looks at me and says, "But the guy on the video says it!" Perfectly logical.  Hello, parental controls!

Linvilla Orchards

Last friday I took the boys to linvilla orchards for some good farm fun.  We were there a few hours and barely covered half of the fun that you can do.  But we did get to pick some apples, which the boys devoured.  They both ate 3 apples while we were there.  And then we hopped on a tractor filled with hay and picked the biggest tomato I've ever seen, as well as some peppers.  We then ate a quick lunch before heading over to the playgroud area to burn off some energy.  We managed to get some fun farm related toys (small broom, tractor, farm puzzle that makes animal noises) and then get some cider and of course cider donuts.  mmmmm.  Overall, a great trip.  Both boys were in good spirits and had lots of fun! And the weather was perfect.  Warm, sunny, with a gentle breeze!

 apple eating- after I took this pic, I noticed the sign that said, no eating in the orchard.  oops

 hello, apple

 hayride to the veggie field

 happy apple eating face

 seriously, have you ever seen a tomato this big?

at the playgroud, filling up an old tire with yucky apples.  guess how many of those he tried to eat?

can you tell they are brothers?

big guy- age 2 1/2 years

little man- age 14 months 

Aquarium visit with the boys

On days off this summer, I've taken the boys to the aquarium a few times.  We've had a blast.  We've eaten quite a few soft pretzels, pet a lot of sting rays, got to eat outside on the terrace (awesome), and have seen a lot of sharks! Big guy has been obsessed with ocean life this year, ever since I got the membership to the aquarium, which has been worth every penny, if not more.  It's just opened up his mind, vocabulary, excitement and interest in a whole new way.  He's just awesome.  Also, we've gone over to the camden children's garden and gotten some serious fun in!   See pictures below:

 We caught some butterflies

 Ok, a lot of butterflies

 played in a giant sand pit

 had some hippo encounters

 all while eating a giant pretzel

 looked at some fish

hung out together watching some sharks

Down the Shore

The second weekend in july we went down the shore to Ocean city, nj and it was awesome!  We drove down saturday mid morning and little man napped.  Big guy played with his ipad mini (who we named Jorge while we were in NH a few weeks later!) We got there around noon.  We checked into the hotel, ate some lunch, and then hit the beach.  It was actually the most perfect beach day.  Mid 80's.  Not too hot in the sun.  Not too cold in the water.  Just perfect.  Hubs and big guy were out jumping big waves.  Little man and I were digging and getting splashed by the littler waves.  Just awesome.  We went back to the hotel to shower and get changed and then went to walk the boardwalk.  We ate dinner at manco manco's pizza, a staple of course.  Then had Kohl's custard for dessert.  Then randomly ran into a friend of mine on the boardwalk!  We slept well for sure.

The next day we took an early morning walk on the beach and big guy and I collected a ton of really great shells.  Then we got changed.  Little man and I went to the beach.  Big guy and hubs went swimming at the hotel's pool.   we met up around 10 at the pool and we all went swimming.  We packed up to go and little man passed out in the car while we were looking for a parking spot in a lot a block away from the hotel.  So instead of lunch on boardwalk, hubs and big guy got out and got a huge bucket of johnson's carmel corn and a big jilly's lemonade.  We munched and talked about how great a trip it was the whole way home!

 hubs on the balcony

 Little man and I on the balcony

 pizza for dinner

 My dear friend J- who we randomly saw on the beach

 View of sunrise from our balcony/room

 morning walk

 morning swim

 brother love

 asleep on ride home

look at all of our shells!

NH- day 9

Our last day we took it easy.  We went to the library for a puppet show, which was really entertaining.  We then had an early lunch, took an early nap, and spent the rest of the day at the beach, it was really awesome!!!  The next day we insanely drove the entire way home.  Which was tough, but at least we were home before everyone embarked back to the real world!

 eating crackers and hanging out during nap time

The last day was the most beautiful beach day.  It was warm in the sun, great sky, and just a wonderful ending to our trip!

NH- day 8

We went on the annual Hobo train ride.  It was really hot that day and wasn't the best ride, but we did our best.  The balloon animal guy was there and big guy got a frog.  Very cute.  We had pizza for lunch and then went to the beach in the afternoon.  It was really hot for a few days!

 We checked out the new swings pop pop and dino had hung up

Hobo train ride

NH- day 7

Another new adventure.  First we went fishing, which big guy did an amazing job at, catching 10 fish all by himself.  Ok, pop pop helped!  He had a great time and it was just beautiful out.  Then we had lunch in wolfeboro before going on a boat ride around Lake Winnipesaukee.  It was awesome.  Great breeze, fabulous views, and got to see where all the rich and famous own houses.  Also, we saw a loon!  Which is a very good indicator of how healthy the lake is.  That afternoon, back to the beach!

apparently all babies/toddlers fall asleep on the boat ride!

NH- day 6

The next day we went on a new adventure to the Lost River Gorge and Caves.  It was super cool.  We climbed many steps and went up, down, and around a mountain.  We climbed through caves where we had to twist and turn to get out.  It was super cool and we only dropped one hat! A definite place to visit again.  Everyone was really tired after that trip.  We got home and went to the beach, of course!

 Taking a break 

 On the suspension bridge

Dont' we look so sporty?

NH- day 5

We visited the squam lake natural science center on day five.  We met a porcupine, which was super cool and interesting.  Little man paid attention for a good 7 minutes before getting squirrely.  He of course loved the mountain lion and bobcat.  I thought the deer were fantastic, as usual. Big guy thought the birds were super cool.  That afternoon we went to the beach.

 the boys

 annual measurement pic with deer

 beach in the afternoon

 the boys getting measured

at the botanical gardens where we eat lunch every year- guess what you aren't supposed to do at this fountain?  Yup, throw rocks on it!

NH- day 4

the next day was the relax day. Hubs left for his conference in boston, so we relaxed at home and then later that afternoon went to spider web gardens for some outdoor fun.

 Little man found a really big pile of dirt

 Big guy and little man snuggling for a wagon ride

 Solo wagon ride

Where big guy convinced gmom dino to pull the wagon!

NH- day 3

Our first full day in NH was a bit cool, in the 70's and cloudy.  We went to the libby museum of stuffed NH animals.  We did a scavenger hunt and played with shells.  Then we headed to downtown wolfeboro to have a pizza lunch.  We also did a bit of shopping at Black's, the everything and anything store.  Then that afternoon, we went to the dump and went into the swap trailer where we got a boat for the beach, a pushy toy for little man, and a new-to-us snow shovel.

 Lunch

 new to us shovel

 Little man hitched a ride in the swap trailer

 this shovel makes a great smile

Libby museum fun- big guy was looking and touching a fake pile of moose poop!