Trips, Presents, OSV, and the Beach

I had seen this cute monkey suitcase (we already have the matching backpack and lunchbox) but resisted getting it since we really didn't have a need for it.  And not that we really "needed" it, but we did go away this past weekend so it gave me the excuse to buy it.  

Bennett was super excited to roll it around- and later put it away in the closet.  The picture is blurry because he had to roll it all around the house.

Also fun things this week in the life of a 3 year old were putting on a fireman's hat to watch Curious George.

And even more birthday presents!

The first package was from someone in my mom's group.  We are a group of knitter/crafters.  (This is the same group who did the knitted monster swap.)  A few of us signed up to do a swap.  One of the few rules was that it had to contain a hand crafted item.

So Bennett received some felt cookies (in the photo below he's putting them in the oven).  The person who made them lives in England, so I tried telling Bennett that they weren't cookies, they were "biscuits". 

But that's not all.  She also made the cutest oven mitts.  And as Bennett said, "so I don't burn my hands".  That's one smart boy!

Also in the package were some British sweets and some Tottenham Hotspur items for Chris- tea towels and a rubber duck.  I tried suggesting that Bennett could have the duck to play with in the tub, but Chris was pretty insistent that he should be able to bring it in to work.

And I don't have pictures to share, but he also got a package from his great Aunt Tonda.  She sent him a sweater and some socks from Paris.  Oo la la!  They are still a smidge big, but better to be too big than too small.

For videos this week, we have Bennett doing a mix of Old MacDonald and Happy Birthday.

And since it was Fire Prevention Week, they learned about "Stop Drop and Roll" at school.  (You can see the Spurs tea towels in this video.)

 On Thursday Bennett had his second visit to the dentist.  Unlike when I went for his first visit, this time parents weren't allowed back during the cleaning.  (This is their normal policy.  I had been surprised that I was able to go last time.)  Since he did so well, Bennett chose FOUR pencils for his prize.  He wanted to bring them all in to school with him but Daddy suggested that he just bring one.  Then it broke- the eraser came out.  Daddy said he would fix it.  When Daddy picked him up from school, Bennett saw Daddy and the first thing he asked was, "Do you have my pencil?"



Our weekend was rather busy.  We started off at Sturbridge on Saturday morning and by the afternoon we were at the Cape.

We wanted to go to Sturbridge because there was a members only talk about the building of the Small House.  Bennett did relatively well, but it was too much standing around for him having to be quiet, so after a while I left Chris to continue listening and Bennett and I went down to the Freeman Farm.

The only picture we took on this visit. 
Advertising Christmas by Candlelight.

So we get down to the farm, check out the animals (notice that Henry isn't in the pen with the others), and go into the kitchen.  Pretty much as soon as we walk in, Victoria notices us and says to Bennett, "you're not dressed like a dinosaur".  (The past few weeks he's worn his dinosaur sweater.)  Then she says to me, "sorry, you're too early to sweep out the bake oven again.  Either that or I'm too late starting it."  If there was ever any remaining doubt, she definitely recognizes us.  We stayed in the kitchen for a while, listening, asking questions, etc.  Eventually Chris joined us and we went back outside to see the animals again.  Then I remembered that I had another question for Victoria.

There was a largish group in the kitchen, but I waited until things quieted down a bit and then I asked if she knew the butchering schedule yet.  Turns out she had just gotten that info!  However, she only had the info in an email.  So she led us into a back room, closed the door, and then sat down on the floor so that no one could see her through the window.  And she pulled out her phone to look up the info.  (Maybe this is the special treatment my mom claims that members get?  More likely just the special treatment for people who go 17 weeks in a row.)  We also chatted with her about how we think she's great, that we plan to do a private Dinner in a Country Village, and that we want to request her for it.  She's game.  I don't think she quite knows what she's getting herself into.  :)


After lunch we headed off to Cape Cod for a getaway with our "game night" group- a bunch of friends who used to work with Chris.

We all finally made it to the house mid to late afternoon.  We had an early dinner because one couple had to leave to get to the Red Sox game.  After dinner we talked and played games.  The kids mostly entertained themselves.  (And I have no idea why Bennett decided that he needed to open his suitcase and bring his toiletries downstairs, but then have his toothbrush upstairs.  Oh yeah, he's 3.  That's why he did it.)  Bennett was extremely excited to see the cot that was set up for his bed.  Just think, in a few years he'll probably grumble about the fact that he gets stuck on a cot.

When everyone was up in the morning we had a big breakfast- monkey bread, pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs...  But all Bennett wanted to know was when York would arrive because he knew that when York got there we would be able to go to the beach.  Bennett has wanted to go to the beach pretty much all summer!

When we finally made it to the beach, the adult males started building a sand sculpture.  Pete is really into this so he had all sorts of tools for the process.

The finished creation was a sandcastle, giraffe, and a dalek depending on what side you looked at.

Sand Castle

Giraffe

Dalek

And here it is in a panoramic/360 degree view.  It's a bit messed up, but still neat to see it this way.

The kids also had fun feeding the seagulls.

After the beach we went back to the house for a late lunch.  Bennett got put down for a nap and then we played more games.  After birthday cake and planning out when we would next be able to see each other for the next 6 months (Seriously. We scheduled times to get together in December, February, March and April), we headed home, arriving just in time for Bennett to go to bed.