Saturday, March 27, 2010

The Visitors

My parents got to come see us in mid-March. We had a great time. Here are some highlights, though the camera really didn't get brought out as much as it should have.

Annie and her Papa. She was lovin' the company.
We took a day trip to Plymouth, MA to visit the Plimoth Plantation and the Mayflower II along with good old Plymouth Rock.

A fun picnic lunch before our sightseeing began.


Here are Whit and Nanny inside a Wampanoag home, similar to what the natives shelters would have been like when the pilgrims arrive. They were really cool and I never would have pictured what they really look like, all made out of tree bark and actually really large.
There were suggestions and 'warnings' on the plantation website as well as there that we should not use the word 'Indian' to talk about the Wampanoag people but instead call them "Native People." We tried to get it into the kids brains. We met one really great native man named Bob (gotta love it); Mary and Andrew kept asking him questions and we kept flinching and being paranoid about what would come out of their mouths. Overall they did well but Mary did refer to them as Indians at one point and Andrew was asking him about his headress and wondered "do you wear that so that the rest of us know that you are different from us?" Oh.....we tried.

The kids are 'canoeing'.

The old colonial village was really cool. The only part that I didn't like was that all of the people were in character. I had a hard time talking to the characters without feeling like a fool.



How beautiful is that, really? Right on the water. So pretty.

The kids with Nanny and Papa. Andrew trying to shoot me, I guess.


On the Mayflower II. It was really interesting, and SMALL. I don't know how they all fit on that boat!

An attempted family picture

I love that Mary chose to lay down on this nasty bag/pillow/who knows what thing. My daughter who can't handle a little dirt or any 'gook'--obviously this thing was really inviting or something. :)

Wow, check out that great rock. I had heard that Plymouth Rock was a disappointment so I was prepared. If you haven't been, be prepared...it's small and disappointing and has cruddy presentation. But, on a happy note, I can cross it off my list!

Mary had her choir concert the last night that Nanny and Papa were here. She was so excited that they were able to come. It was a lot of fun to see her, especially since at last years concert she was sick.

Other highlights of the trip were mainly just hanging out and going out to eat and awesome parents bringing me a Wii Fit all the way from MO; it has been sold out all over CT. Thanks for coming Mom and Dad!

Today is Your Birthday

Andrew turned 5 on St. Patty's Day. We had a full and fun day! It fell on a pre-school day, so we headed to pre-school early and made a detour with our school buddies at McDonalds.

Andrew 'blew out' the Smarties candles. :)

Happy meals, star wars toys, a play land--these boys couldn't have been happier.
Andrew, Jake, Joey, and John--in hindsight we should have named our boy Jandrew.

Whitney looks so thrilled to be there, huh? It was the only attitude face of the entire day and I was lucky enough to catch it! Lucky me.

Grandma and Grandpa got Andrew some cowboy stuff--boots, bandana, guns and holster, and a cowboy shirt. Rita sewed it...is she amazing or what!!??

The final cake theme was decided, and after about 1000 possibilities, Andrew chose a camping cake. It turned out pretty well and he was excited.


I think I see a gift theme here....my boy LOVES his weapons!
(there were also roller skates, a sleeping bag, soccer/hockey goal, and some bakugan)

And, after a full and great day, he crashed hard!

It's Not Easy Being Green...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Are You Sleeping? Are You Sleeping?

A few weeks back Andrew was feeling pretty crummy. He had had a headache all day and was practically asleep at the dinner table. I asked him if he wanted to take a bath and he thought that sounded good. He got in and I kept checking on him every couple of minutes. Then I came in to check on him and he looked like this. . . .


He was 100% ASLEEP! How scary! Fortunately he was safe but, eek, whose kid falls asleep in the bathtub? Hopefully that was a first and a last!