In the News...

Bennett had his picture in the paper yesterday!  There was a photographer at Sturbridge while we were there on Saturday.  Here's the clipping.

But let me back up...
More Daddy Daycare on Wednesday.  They started off the morning watching part of the Curious George movie.  Bennett sat in Daddy's lap and hardly moved.

Then it was time to go on a field trip.  First they stopped at Brandeis to visit Daddy's co-workers (and help Alicia fix her lamp) and then they came to my work and we all had lunch together.

When they got to my office Bennett had his first experience walking through a revolving door.  It was just like on TV/ in movies with the person continuing to walk around.

On Thursday my work had our summer outing at Kimball's.  Bennett LOVED the bumper boats and we went on them three times.  Going again in the future may prove slightly more difficult since the boats aren't cheap and he's not going to understand why we can't ride them multiple times.  Plus we lucked out with hardly any lines.

Friday's Daddy Daycare started off with reading a pile of Dr. Seuss books in bed.

Then it was time for a field trip to Woodcraft where Bennett descided to accessorize with dust collection fittings.

Bennett also picked out his clothes and decided that the shirt made him look like a cowboy.

Other highlights of the day included Chris announcing that it was lunch time, Bennett going into the kitchen, opening the fridge, getting the jam out, and then grabbing a grape.  He then ran back into the living room to announce to Daddy that he had taken a grape.

He also announced that he's had hamcheese at Sturbridge yesterday.  Not sure where this came from since he hadn't been to Sturbridge since the weekend.

But speaking of Sturbridge, let's get into some more details from our visit.  Saturday was their annual "Fire and Ice" day.  (Well, technically they also have Fire and Ice in the winter when they celebrate the ice harvest.)  There were lots of fire trucks and other fire aparatus, a bucket brigade contest, and they would be making ice cream.

While we were at home getting ready to leave, Bennett was playing with some dress up clothes.  We mentioned that we were going to go to Sturbrudge and that there would be firetrucks there.  He grabbed one of his firehats (apparently he has 4 of them!) and asked if he could wear it.  We said sure, but swapped it for a different one with an elastic.  Much easier to stay on his head, and as it turned out, also easier to carry when he wasn't wearing it. 

When we got to the parking lot there were a couple of trucks for kids to explore.  One was a canteen (complete with a mobile bathroom) and then there was also a more typical (at least to me) truck.  Bennett climbed around the seats and up on the back.

Once we got inside there was thsi antique truck, a couple more modern ones, and some handtubs.  He wasn't a fan of the siren on this one, but he did like sitting in the seat and ringing the bell.

We checked out this exhibit with a cow that you can "milk".  He loves to visit this spot every time we come, and the cow has been out of order for a while.  I also gave it a try and sprayed some water on Bennett, and then of course he wanted to keep spraying himself.

A highlight of the day was the bucket brigade contest.  Bennett kept asking to do it, and luckily he had a chance when the contest was all over.  In the first round, there was a 3 way tie with a time of 1:01.  In the second round they narrowed it down to 50 seconds, and then in the final round, I think the winning time was 47 seconds.  Wow those people were quick!  And it was one of the teams of teenagers that won.

There also was a chili contest with various local restaurants supplying the chili.  The Publick House (which is where we had our wedding reception) won!

After the teams finished up the bucket brigade, Bennett and some other kids decided to give it a try.  Or at least they had fun dipping buckets (or hats) into the water, spilling some on themselves, and emptying tiny amounts into the barrel.  Good thing they weren't being timed. 

As this was going on I noticed the photographer taking pictures of the kids.  I think initially Bennett didn't have his Fire Chief hat on, but I put it on him and he kept playing.  After a little while the photographer came over and asked for names/ages.  He mentioned what paper he was with and that there would likely be a slideshow on the website later that day and that he wasn't sure if it would be in the Sunday paper or not.

Sure enough, that evening I found the online slideshow.  Bennett's in there and all of us are in the background of another photo as well.  And then on Sunday I found the article online.  I had meant to look for the paper when I was at the grocery store in the morning but I forgot.  In the afternoon we walked to a couple of local drugstores but they didn't have them.  I guess we were just out of their circulation area.

So after Bennett went to bed I went out to a grocery store in a nearby town and found a copy of the paper.  Sure enough, there was Bennett!  Here's a link to the article which is posted above, but now you'll actually be able to read it.  If you scroll down a bit you'll see the photo of Bennett, and you can click to see it larger, as well as another link to see the slideshow with a few other photos.

The other fun from Saturday was hearing the ice cream truck.  Bennett and I went out and I got him a popsicle.  This thing proved to be very messy!  He had red stained hands, face, legs, and even a dribble down his chest.

Before

After

On Sunday we had friends over for food and games.  We started off with brunch- pancakes, donuts, cinnamon rolls, fruit.  Yum!  Then we headed outside for a water fight.  The goal was to get Jason soaked, and I'd say we accomplished that. (For some reason we always pick on Jason, seen here with the hose.)

Bennett had fun, but he didn't quite understand why people kept taking water out of his pool.

After the water fight we went in to dry off/ change clothes and play some more games.  The kids played with Bennett's toys and the adults played Dicecapades.

At the end of the day we asked Bennett what he liked best.  He said "playing choo choos with 'BJ' (DJ) and Davis"  He also had lots of books read to him by Caitlyn.  Thanks for being such a good sport Caitlyn.  The boy certainly loves his books!