Kyle's Birthday Party

July 31st, we all headed to Davis Farmland for Ethan's buddy Kyle's birthday. These guys graduated preschool 1 together and together with Henry, they make quite the trio. Both Kyle and Henry are in preK 1 while Ethan is in Preschool 2 (darn late birthday), but hopefully they'll be back together soon. This pushy mommy is going to insist on it before long...

We'd heard great things about Davis Farmland and we were not disappointed! They put on a great birthday and the weather was spectacular. Ethan had fallen asleep on the way there (it was almost an hour drive) so he was a bit shy for a while. Kyle was feeling a bit overwhelmed too so they hung back while the other kids enjoyed petting the farm animals.




But they couldn't hold back from being just a little silly.




They both really came to life when we made a quick stop at the reptile barn. Here's E petting a gecko.




And the 3 musketeers petting a boa constrictor (or was it a python? I don't pay much attention to the whole reptile thing).



Next up was pony rides! We weren't sure if Ethan was going to be up for this as he's strenuously objected to them in the past but he climbed right on and really had fun! I missed him climbing on because I got absurdly hungry and was off searching for a snack, but I did catch the end and he was quite pleased with himself.

Group shot!

Our last stop before lunch was a hayride.

Then we hit the birthday barn for pizza, hot dogs, and of course cupcakes! Ethan and Henry...synchronized pizza eating.

What up?

We all enjoyed the cupcakes and the frosting was so blue that Ethan was pooping blue poops for 2 days!

Off to wash hands with Kyle's mom Cheryl.

There was candy hidden in the hay for the kids to find for their goody bags. The candy was a variety of tootsie rolls and I was rooting for him...and maybe helping a little.

That concluded the party part of our day but our admittance included the splash park so most of us headed over there. Ethan was a wild man running around for over an hour!

In addition to the crazy sprinkler park, there was this weird bubble pool thing that the kids really enjoyed.

At least Ethan enjoyed himself until he fell in and got soap all up in his face.

Then he couldn't get out and back to the sprinklers fast enough!

But, there was too much fun to be had to stay upset about soap in the face for long!

Happy 4th Birthday to Kyle!

Phew...that was my last post for July. It only took me a month to catch up. And now, on to August!!

KaZaK Night at Kimball Farm

Every year Steve's company, KaZaK Composites, hosts a party at Kimball Farm in Westford. There is so much to do there on top of the fact that they make their own ice cream and we get to indulge in a sundae bar after our delicious bbq. When we were talking about it and telling him all of the fun things we were going to do there, he kept saying "I just want to meet other kids". He is such a social little munchkin! I think he was remembering having so much fun with his buddy Nolan last year, but he wasn't going to be there this year. Unfortunately, there were very few kids there this year, but lots of "grown ups" to play with so it wasn't all bad!

Ethan did remember being there last year and our first stop was the bumper boats. This was another activity where pregnant people weren't allowed so Ethan and daddy waited in line in the hot sun while I waited to watch them have fun on a bench in the shade. Ethan could not wait to get on the boat but then held his hands over his ears because of the noise. Once he got past that, his finger went in his mouth for the remainder of the ride.





As soon as they were docked he jumped up, got out, and declared it a really fun time so I guess it wasn't so bad!

We had to force him back to the party so that we could eat dinner and get some water. It was one of those hot, hot, humid days and I was dying! E barely ate before he wanted to go off to his next adventure. Steve and his friends took him to play mini-golf while I regrouped and got up the energy to follow.

I did make it over in time to take a few pictures of Ethan's first time playing mini-golf. As you can tell by his stance, he does have some experience with croquet.

Steve, Nicole, Rob, Kelly and Darcy were very patient with their teammate as he ran around and took multiple turns per hole.

They only made it 7 holes before all lost interest and we decided to head back to enjoy our ice cream. Ethan is a chocolate man, I'm a mint lady, and Steve is an I'll try anything kind of guy. We were all loving every bite but Ethan didn't eat too much before he found out how fun it can be to stick your hands into an ice filled chest to pick out a bottle of water. He was so funny to watch. His hands were freezing and he'd hop around arms flapping trying to warm up and then he'd stick them right back in again. As I mentioned...non-stop fun at Kimball Farm.

After a turn in the bouncy house (which he thouroughly enjoyed. At one point he was all wound up and popped his head out and told me not to let anyone else come in or he would "freak out"), we headed for our last stop of the night...the batting cages.

This was a little hard to watch, but Steve set it to slow pitch softball and Ethan had such a blast! Of course we were most worried about him, but one of the first pitches came off the bat and hit Steve in the face! Steve tried to give him some space, but he liked to wander forward into the area where the pitches were coming so they played together for the most part.

We all had a great time, but I have to admit, I was so happy to go home. The heat and humidity kill me and I was exhausted by the time we left. I spent a lot of July hiding in the central air that I am so, so, so grateful for.

A Visit with Grandma Jan

One gorgeous July weekend, Ethan and I headed to the Cape for a weekend with Grandma Jan. She and Chris had a very exciting surprise waiting for our little water lover...a big ol' pool! He was in and out of this thing a million times and enjoyed every minute.





Grandma started her garden from seed this year and Ethan was happy to help her pick some green beans.



And sample the results...



Saturday afternoon Auntie Jamie came to visit and we all went for a late afternoon trip to the beach. Jamie and E got a bit creative with the sand toys.

Then Ethan wanted to "help" carry the picnic basket. It's very sweet, but sometimes he just makes it harder.

Sunday morning we hit the beach before heading home. We were back at Dowses but on the front side for a change where it was less mucky. I love my little surfer dude. He's pretty much outgrown the suit and SPF shirt at this point, but I love the look and got a lot of use out of both.

A Long Weekend in Atlanta

Thursday July 8 we headed to Atlanta for a visit with Grandma Suzanne, Pop-Pop, Auntie Beth, Uncle Jared and...MAYA!!! We couldn't wait to meet her. Before I get to that, Steve and I were surprised by a new word in Ethan's vocabulary. We were waiting in line to board the plane at Logan and out of nowhere Ethan says "Stupid line". It caught us so off guard that we cracked up! However, his increased use of the word has not been cool and we're trying to discourage him now. We figured out that he learned it from Toy Story. These kids do retain everything!

We jumped right into the fun with a model Hummer from GS and PP. Ethan couldn't wait to put it together and daddy and PP were all too happy to oblige.



Beth and Maya came over for a visit the afternoon we arrived. She was asleep but I couldn't wait any longer to get my hands on her! As soon as she woke up Ethan came over to meet his first cousin.

Somehow we went the whole visit without attempting a family photo, but here's one of the Schoenholtz kids with their kids.

Thursday night Uncle Jared joined us for dinner and brought the little man lots and lots of toys. Ethan was in heaven as he pulled toy after toy out of the bag! One of the big hits was a foam rocket launcher that E couldn't wait to try.

Friday morning we went straight to the pool as little man loves water and the forecast was to have temps close to 100. It was not quite 95 when we left but we were dragging on the walk back to the house!

Friday night we went to Beth and Jared's for dinner and more quality time with Miss Maya. Ethan was excited to hold her and very proud to be the big cousin.

He even sang to her when she got fussy and she seemed to be into that.

Uncle Steve!!

Grandma with her grand kids. She was hating every minute of this... ;-)

While we were at Beth and Jared, a crazy storm blew threw Alan and Suzanne's neighborhood. We drove in and realized that all of the electricity was out in the whole place. Luckily Ethan was fast asleep in the car and went straight up to bed. The rest of us pretty much went to bed too since it was late and there's not a whole lot to do in the dark! The next morning we woke up to find huge branches from 2 trees had come down in the yard! They looked like whole trees themselves so the boys got busy with chainsaws and started the cleanup. As much fun as I'm sure that was, Suzanne and I opted to take Ethan to the Atlanta Children's Museum instead.

Ethan was very amused that he could actually milk a cow! OK, a pretend cow, but still...

As I came around the cow to get a better shot of the kid in action, the "cow" mooed and scared the crap out of Ethan! So this is the picture I got instead.

On Sunday Steve and Suzanne took Ethan to a place whose name is escaping me to check out their dinosaur exhibit. They had a great time but I forgot to get those pictures from Suzanne. While they were off having fun, I was home with Alan and sick as a dog. Ethan had a stomach virus the day before we left and I think that's what got me, but I had that plus flu-like symptoms and could barely get out of bed all day.

In the meantime, Ethan enjoyed a tractor ride with Pop-Pop...

and a little Dark Tower with daddy. This was a board game from when Steve was young and it was a big hit with the little man (and big man...).

We had a really wonderful visit with family we do not see enough of during the year. Thank goodness for Skype!