Busy Birthday Weekend

Saturday started off with Chris heading to work to pick up some things that he had forgotten for the party.  I got Bennett dressed and then we headed off to the grocery store for some cake related items.  We got home and started making the cake.  Chris got home just as it was about to go into the oven.  I put them in the oven, instructed Chris to check on them and take them out when ready, and then headed out to get balloons.  (Yay for hi-float which allows latex balloons to last about a week or so.)

When I got back, Bennett and Chris were on the couch watching Thomas.

Next on the agenda was grocery shopping- both for party food and food for the week.  (Yes, I know I had just gone to the store a few hours earlier, but that was just a quick trip to a close store for a few essentials and this was to a store slightly further away but that we like better.)

On the way home we stopped at the church's yard sale and picked up a game and a book.

Then it was time for lunch and nap.  Chris and I worked on a few party related tasks during nap, which was shorter than we would have liked.

Because nap was short there was a bit of time for playing before we headed out for our evening activity. 

Me: Bennett, please go to the front hall and put your shoes on.
Bennett: Noooo.
M: We're going to go to Sturbridge.
B: Yay! Sturbridge! (As he ran to the front hall.)

Yup, you read that right.  We were off to Sturbridge.  They were having a Harvest Party.  They were firing the kiln, firing barrels, the blacksmith, tinsmith and potters were working, there was a barn dance, fresh mulled cider, musicians, and lots more.  Bennett really liked watching one of the bands and stayed still for quite a while.  He also wanted to know where all the animals were, but by that point we couldn't find any of the regulars to ask.

He fell asleep in the car on the way home and went straight to bed.

On Sunday he woke up to a surprise visitor.  Grandpa had spent the night with us!  Grandpa also took Bennett for a few hours so that we could get the house decorated for the party.  This was helpful as we didn't have to be keeping an eye on Bennett and answering all his questions, but we also wanted to surprise him with all the decorations.  He wasn't quite as excited as we thought he would be, but after lunch and nap he seemed to like the decorations a bit more.  Before nap we were able to get one last monthly photo.

And here are a few pictures of opening presents from us as well as some other people who weren't able to make it to the party.

It's a Texas Longhorn which we're pretending is an oxen.  The horns look like those of Lance and Henry, but the coloring is more similar to Doc and Blue.

Someone likes his oxen!

Zingo Bingo, or as Bennett would say, "Mingo Mingo"

 Stay tuned for all of the party pictures!

Staycation Week

This past week Grandma and Grandpa Tedford were here and we had a staycation (stay at home vacation).


On Monday we went to Kimball's.  We started off all taking a spin in he bumper boats.  Bennett excitedly shrieked each time he got splashed.  It was awesome.

We then moved on to mini golf.  At the beginning Bennett would put his ball down at the start, hit it, and then carry it closer to the hole before putting it down again and pushing it in.  But by the end he was just taking it down to the hole.  Interesting method, for sure, but he was having fun.

After mini golf we did the bumper boats again.  In the end Chris and I went on them three times with Bennett.  Grandma and Grandpa only did the boats the first time.  But that worked well, because then I was able to get this photo.

We had ice cream in lieu of lunch.  Bennett helped me with a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of butterscotch.

And then we wrapped up the day at the arcade.  We were having fun, but then Chris accidentally stepped on/kicked my foot.  This exacerbated an old toenail injury.  It hurt quite a bit, and when I looked at my foot a few minutes later I noticed there was a pool of blood.  The teenage employee gave us a few meager first aid supplies to patch it up.

When we got home we took a closer look and I realized I needed medical attention.  I called my doctor's office and they sent me to urgent care where the doctor removed my toenail and gave me this stylish shoe.  If you want to see what it looked like on Thursday when we changed the bandage, click here.  Now, a little over a week later, it's healing well and I don't really have any more pain.  I'm still wearing my special shoe mostly to protect my foot from myself.  (I have a tendency to stub my toes a bunch.)  We were very thankful that Grandma and Grandpa were here because they were able to keep an eye on Bennett and make dinner while Chris took me to the doctor. 

On Tuesday morning I started the day with some cuddles with Bennett.  This is most unlike him!  He'll sit still (mostly) for a story or to watch Curious George, but that's about it.  Maybe he knew I wasn't 100%, because he snuggled in bed with me for at least 15 minutes or so.

For fun and excitement we went to the Ecotarium in Worcester. 

I liked this tribute to Kenda who was a beloved polar bear of those in the area in the 80s.

After looking at the various exhibits in the museum and looking at the animals outside, we went on a train ride.

Then it was time for lunch before heading home.  After nap we all went outside and did yard work.  I trimmed the extremely overgrown forsythia bushes while others bagged up the branches. And Bennett ran around alternately trying to help and playing.

On Wednesday we went to the Higgins Armory Museum.  Higgins is slated to close at the end of the year so I knew I wanted to take Bennett.  He wasn't interested in most of the museum, but he did enjoy the interactive children's wing.  In fact, I think we all enjoyed that wing!

Daddy tried jousting

Riding a horse

Threatening to knock down the arch.

Nope, it's harder from this side.

Crash!

And then Chris and I built a castle, which Bennett quickly knocked over.

After lunch and nap we all went out to weed my flower beds.  They were overgrown with crabgrass, to the point that some of the other plants were hidden.  They look so much better now!  I'm extremely thankful for all of the help that I got with this project.

On Thursday we went to the Franklin Park Zoo.  We should have learned our lesson from when we went a couple of years ago that it's not a great zoo, but with passes from the library it was the most economical choice.  Bennett was a little bummed that they didn't have elephants.

Looking at the prairie dogs.

His new thing to do these days when you ask for a picture is to pause for a second and then say, "cheese, all done" before he quickly runs away.

Watching the gorillas with Grandma.

Feeding the birds

Before we left we rode the carousel.  At least he enjoyed that.

Not sure what's going on in this next one.  The cow seems to be scratching his back?

And then we asked him to milk the cow.

Oh, and then this happened.  My baby turned 35 months old.  It's actually kind of funny.  Sometimes I say that he's 3 already, and then other times I say that he's two. It really all depends on if there's a benefit (such as a kid rate) to him being under 3.

On Friday we had our weekly trip to OSV.  They were offering tickets for $5 (instead of the regular $24 admission)so it was pretty crowded.

Walking with Grandpa

Riding the stagecoach.

Lance and Henry were plowing the field again so we watched them for a while.

Good blacksmith (Derek) was working.  We could tell this just by listening before we went in.  Yup.  It's bad.  We can now start to identify their voices.  Unfortunately it was extremely crowded and Bennett kept announcing, "I want to go now" so we didn't watch for too long.

Since there were so many people the lines for food were pretty long.  So I entertain Bennett by taking selfies while waiting for others to buy the food.  He actually did a remarkably good job of staying with me.

And then as we were finishing lunch we saw Doc and Blue! They were just finishing up their cart practice so we got to watch Head Animal Guy (Rhys) have them back their wagon up into the barn.  That was a bit tricky.

We then headed home for nap.  After nap we headed out to do some shopping for Saturday's Derby.

Which brings us to Saturday.  We had the 10th Annual Pinewood Derby.  Go here for the official photos, winners, etc. In typical fashion we were not only finishing up our cars the night before but also the morning of the race.  Chris got the wheels on our Blast Cars about an hour before people started showing up.

Strawberry = Daddy, Regular = Bennett, Chocolate = me

Chris had the "dump dump truck" and I had Curious George

Curious George also could wear TMWTYH's hat.

Sunday we slept late and relaxed for a while but then we headed out to play some Candlepin Bowling.  Bennett rolled his balls pretty slowly down the lane, but I think he had fun.

And that wraps up our week.  It was busy, but I think if we didn't have activities planned we likely would have gotten bored just hanging around the house.

I know I didn't take it as easy as I likely should have, but I did take advantage of wheelchairs at the various museums.  We quickly learned that not all wheelchairs are created equal though!  Broken footrests, lack of footrests, difficulty pushing on uneven terrain... Ugh!  But I guess I should be thankful that they at least had wheelchairs to borrow.  Not sure I would have managed earlier in the week if I'd had to walk everywhere.

Stunning Summer!

It's time for the weekly recap!

Puzzles continue to be an almost daily activity.  He zips through them pretty quickly now.  Time to either mix them up a bit so that he isn't doing the same ones all the time (tricky since he likes these so much) or get him some more difficult ones. 

This week he wanted to play wiht his LEGOs again.  He hasn't used them in a while. One night he built a fence and then got the horses from his Little People farm sets to put behind the fence.  Cute! 

Silly glasses from school got played with.  Given how cheap they are and the fact that the lens from one is popped out, maybe it's time they got relocated to the circular file, but Bennett doesn't seem to mind.

For a while now I've been thinking about getting Bennett a child-sized carrier so that he can wear his dolls.  I wasn't sure he would be into it.  But then one night we wrapped George on his back with a towel while Bennett was on his way to bed after his bath.  Ever since then, Bennett wants George on his back after bath.  So maybe he would like a carrier after all.

I went ahead and got one for him and when it arrived he happily tried it on.  But then after a couple of minutes he wanted it taken off.  Apparently, in his mind, the Boba (this is the brand) is only for use at Sturbridge.  I guess this kind of makes sense since that's pretty much the only time that I wear him in my Boba.

So on Saturday when we went to Sturbridge we brought the Boba Mini and George along.  He was very happy to wear George!  He took George off for potty breaks and at lunch but then happily put him back on again.  Now we just need him to use the Boba at other times and maybe it will really have been worth the expense.

Speaking of Sturbridge, here's our traditional photo in the cut-out.

Doc and Blue, the two oxen shown below, were out and about when we arrived.  Bennett was very excited to see them and showed off his knowledge of which one was which.  We were told that they needed a bit more cart training, so they had the lovely task of hauling some manure. 

For months we never went in Cooper shop. Then a couple of months ago we went in and now Bennett always wants to go in and try out the draw knife.

Betsy had a calf her day before, right after closing time.  She was keeping her distance from everyone.

As we were leaving I put Bennett up on my shoulders.  The only thing that could make it even cuter would be if George was on his shoulders rather than his back.

We forgot to take this picture on Saturday so we were a day late.  (Which is better than I've done in some previous months.)  Bennett is now 33 months old.  I like that he has the Curious George book in his lap.  Very fitting of his life right now.  Thought about switching Paddington for CG but decided to stick with the traditional stuffed animal.  And since Bennett is such a creature of habit, he may not have even allowed me to make the change.

On Sunday morning we went to visit Mimi.  Before we left I was cleaning up the front hall and came across a picture of a giraffe that Bennett had colored.  I suggested that he bring it to Mimi since she likes giraffes.  He was cool with that and then he ran off to get a library book of his (Cecily G and the 9 Monkeys) since it was about a giraffe.

After our visit we came home for lunch and nap and then headed off to Auntie Mel's house.  The boys played outside for a bit and then we headed off for the pool.


I think I have this less than awesome expression on my face because I was getting splashed.  The downside of Bennett still being pretty young is that I had to get into the water more quickly than I wanted.  But he was rushing in, so I had to keep up with him.

 

He had a blast jumping off the side of the pool!  Sometimes I held onto him and sometimes we just let him jump on his own.  He kept jumping over and over again. 

After the pool we went back inside, got changed, played outside a bit longer, ate dinner, and then headed home for a late bedtime.  It was a great summer day!