4th of July Down South

We had a great week long trip to New Orleans. C had a fun time swimming in "Aunt a Lou's" pool and playing with his cousins, particularly singing and dancing! He saw dad catch two little fish. We went blueberry picking, which C loved once he realized he could eat as he went along. He tried to dive into our stash as soon as we brought them home. We spent an afternoon at the Children's Museum, where he rode a bike, drove a police car, and spent the most time trying to serve us food in the "cafe". It was hysterical to see him have no fear, elbowing his way past 3rd and 4th graders to get his utensils into the serving trays. He cleared some of the adults' tables a little earlier than they were expecting. He was determined to serve us a pineapple on a plate, but it kept rolling off. He must have dropped it five times, but he did not give up...we eventually got that pineapple! C loves to be a Mimi's house. He loved riding his "car" on the sidewalk and going for walks. His new favorite game was hiding in Mimi's closet. We knew that C would miss his Mimi, so we brought home a special book that she recorded so we can hear her tell stories at our house. He loves the book, except he is surprised when she doesn't sing certain songs to him!

Elephant Ride and Fire Truck Tours

If you asked C what he did this weekend, he would tell you that he went on a fire truck and rode an elephant, and he would be right! We went to a family festival and on the way there was a firehouse that let the kids get on the trucks. Then at the festival they were giving "elephant rides" on a what looks like a giant old stuffed animal on wheels. There was a VERY long line for this ride, so C and his dad walked around, had slice of pizza, and listened to some folk music while Ma Ma waited in line. And finally it was C's "turn"! He wore a safari hat and held on tight. Notice that Da Da is wearing the fire hat...C insisted on that.

The fun continued on Sunday. I took C to the playground, and across the street, a middle-aged marching band was practicing on a football field. C thought the music...particularly the "tubas" and the "drums' were really good.

Happy Father's Day

Even though he was a little under the weather, C did a great job showing his dad how much he loves him on Father's Day. This weekend we took C to a big boys barber shop where he was surprisingly patient, still, and quiet. He sat hugging his Ernie, enthralled in the conversations around him (most of them 20-somethings getting ready for an evening out before the Bruins parade!) Speaking of the Bruins, C did manage to find a T-shirt at the last minute for Bruins day at school. It must have been good luck!

We got a portrait taken of C in a special suit...one that his dad, uncle, and grandfather have all had their picture taken in. We can't wait to get the photos to share with our families. As a treat we got C some interlocking building blocks. He loves to build big towers and then exclaim, "Oh no" as he crashed them down.

Today we gave Da Da a "digger" card and some grilling tools. Da Da grilled a tasty chicken and I made an appetizer and dessert from a New Orleans cookbook.

We love Da Da!

Long Hot Weekend

After months of cold weather, we finally had a very hot long weekend. We began the weekend playing with the water table in the kitchen. C loves to have the animals like "pen-Gin" hide under the castle. He was so into the water table when we dried him off and got his dressed for the park, he made a bee line back to the table and drenched himself in 30 seconds.

The next morning we went to the beach. We went during the one cool part of the day, but C still had a great time running the beach and squashing mama's castles. The one thing he was shy about was the water...as soon as the tide got close to his toes, he would back up.

We set up his little art table so now he has a place to "color" with his crayons". Now he says the color he is using as he goes along.

C and I went to a very Memorial Day parade this morning. He was very excited to hear drums, see big flags, and police cars with lights.

Tractors and Trains Trip

This weekend C and I made a trip to Ba Ba's house. Thank to his Uncle, C found out about a farm day going on in town. He got to see a big horse, sit in a "tractor", use a mini wheel barrow, and sit with Ba Ba and little to some music by the farm band. He looked so funny in his Red Sox shirt and using the wheel barrow with such determination, almost like we was thinking "maybe if I do enough farm chores, I can save up some money to buy ticket to a Sox game!" Thanks to some searching in the attic, C hit the jackpot with some of his Uncle's old toys . It took him second to notice the train set and tractor when he woke up, it was like Christmas morning!

Possibly the funniest, and loveliest moment, was when we were playing around with a little dog. Everyone who knows C knows that he LOVES dogs. The dog was sitting on my lap, and all of a sudden C come up and goes "No!" and gently tried to move the dog off of my lap. Then he hugged my knees and put his head on my lap and said, "MY Ma Ma" We are trying to curb his "it's mine" mentality, but this time I let it go. It was too sweet.

We had to drive through some awful rain storms on the way back, so we took a donut break in the car, which C thought was a lot of fun. A great way to end a fun weekend.

Happy Mother's Day

We had a great Mother's Day. Dad took out our very underused waffle iron and made "giant waffles!" with berries. C is the only person I know that will try to eat more strawberries or blueberries than me! Then we went to the Arnold Arboretum and took a nice long walk and got to see tons of doggies and a police horse. C loves to make horse sounds at home, but was a little taken aback by how loud the horse was. So C says that the horse "roared"...a sound that we normally reserve for bears! One of my favorite parts of the day was when C and I both smelled the flowers together! C is always cuddly, but he gave me even more hugs today.

On a separate note, one thing that C discovered this weekend was match box cars. We were given a shoebox full of hand-me-down cars months ago, but kept them in a closet figuring he was too little and wouldn't be interested. I took him to the park on Friday, where he was fascinated with another boy's cars. So I took them out of the closet when we got home. C spent 30 minutes just taking out car by car and lining them up on the couch. And then "cleaning, cleaning" as he put them back in the box. For the rest of the weekend, he would exclaim that he wanted the "box of cars!"

Prince Christopher

While I am definitely not a lady of leisure (or a Princess!) and though we both work really hard, we are so lucky to have the flexibility to spend extra time during the week with C. Whether its going to the park with dad, or royal wedding watching with mom, C gets to spend special time with us both and then we all get to hang out as a family on the weekend.

On Friday I took C to the beach where he tried out the beach toys that the Easter bunny got him. He managed to use his shovel to fill the pail up halfway until he was mesmerized by the "water". Then it was just "run run run" to the water! After church on Sunday we stopped by a park and he got a kiss from dog. The weekend was "fun" and C was "HAP-py"