David's Half Birthday

When your birthday is the same week as Christmas your Mom worries about how to best make you feel that your day is special. This year after several disasters we concluded that it was best to have a party for David in the summer.

The first disaster was the more-snowy-than-usual-snowy-New-England-Winter. Forget having a bunch of people over...where would they park? On the street that could barley let one car through?

The second was a scheduling error of the church building. I'm glad we didn't show up wanting to have a birthday party when there was a Stake Relief Society leadership meeting/lunch happening.

The third was that I accidentally sent these little photos to a military base in South Africa. I don't know that they ever really went there but they certainly didn't get to our house very fast. Darn you drop down menus!

It was looking like David wouldn't have his Curious George party. I was tempted to skip it because he'd really never know but I had talked it up all winter so I couldn't break my promise to him.

This is just in case you couldn't see the small photos on the invitation:

The Man in the Yellow Hat for Halloween 2009.

Meeting Curious George in person not long after William was born!

I found some clearance monkey invites at Target!

We decided to have the party while my parents were in town in June...this way they could meet some of our friends. It ended up being really good that all those helping hands were around. I don't know if we could have pulled it off without my Mom and Brooke hanging balloons and cutting rolls minutes before everyone arrived.

Digging in bark mulch for potatoes. Both David and William loved this activity at a festival we'd been to in the spring and I was anxious to see how it worked as a birthday party game.

Curious George Bean Bag toss.

Pin the hat on TMITYH.

The half birthday boy. He tells everyone he's 3 and half now.

The family.

The monkey cake made by Brad.

And the moment that was worth all the work! David really did enjoy blowing out those candles. I think all the kids liked the cupcakes too.

Here is William happy to be sitting with his grandpa Von.

It was a great little birthday party. The weather cooperated, it didn't rain, and it wasn't sticky! We maxed out the capacity of our backyard with good friends and neighbors. And man were we all exhausted afterwards. I think David (and everyone else) had a good time.

Mom's Beach

My Mom really wanted to see Cape Cod. Brad and I have not spent much time there either. I would have liked to go too but I've heard in the summer the beaches are incredibly busy so I convinced her for somewhere else. We loved our last visit to York, Maine two years ago. And this way Brooke could cross New Hampshire AND Maine off of her "states I've been to list."

My boys take a look at the scenery.

After a precarious climb down some slippery rocks Danielle dips her feet in.

Holding onto him so he won't slip away!!!

While we were enjoying the dangerous rocks a scuba diver was coming up out of the water. It was very interesting to watch. Someone (I think grandpa) told David that it was a monster and I also capitalized on that idea. He believed us and literally was CLAWING at me to get away. He was terrified! I was sad that I'd made him feel that way. Even when he saw that the scuba diver was a nice grandpa he was pretty freaked out.

The best part!

David and Brooke

Will on the beach.

We didn't come fully prepared for an all out beach trip but we spent around a hour getting dirty and enjoying the sand and water. It was a perfect day trip and I think my Mom was happy with the destination.

My Parents Visit

My family decided to come for a visit...I'm sure the fact that Danielle was already here helped with that decision just a little but it was great to have everyone in our neck of the woods together! It has been over two years since we've seen Grandma here and it was a first time visit for Von and Brooke.

Dave and Will waiting for the bus with Grandma Kathy--this is where they first learned about "bribes." Grandma kept feeding them fruit snacks to help them be patient until the 70 bus (which is notoriously late-when-you-are-early-and-early-when-you-are-late) arrived.

Love this photo of the boys!

Since Danielle had to work and I'd already been on a tour of the statehouse with her and the boys last summer I took the kids to the Boston Public Library. Of course couldn't find the stroller entrance and had many trouble with stairs. But we were able to play in the kids section while Brad, Mom, Von, and Brooke went on their tour.

I met everyone at Boston Common and we headed out for another freedom trail trip. Brad was kind enough to take the kids home and I got to spend some time with my parents and Brooke. I was surprised to find four places along the trail I hadn't been in but had passed by many times.

1) The Old Statehouse Gift Shop and self guided tour 2) The Fanuiel Hall town meeting room where there was a tour run by the national parks service 3) Kings Chapel and 4) The Kings Chapel burying ground. I spent a lot of time reading all of the informational signs and it was nice to be able to do that and get lost in the fun details that are hard to notice when you have a 2 and 3 year old with you. I'm always amazed by how small the community in Boston was during revolutionary times especially since we live near what is now such a huge and bustling city.

Brooke and I inside Fanuiel Hall

We took a horribly long and crowded bus ride home after we got off the train. It wasn't ideal but it would have been even worse with a stroller and kids so I'm glad we didn't have that to worry about. Even though Dave and Will LOVE public transit I found myself being thankful for our car and the fact that Brad braves the T every single day so we can easily get where we need to go.

More Goodbyes!

We keep sending off some of our favorite people! Here are the kids playing at the park one last time before the Clark's move.

Goodbye Jeff, Cheryl, and kids; you will be missed.

Sports Class

I registered David for a community sports class. It was such a sweet thing! Most of the coaches seemed to be retired and just teaching the class for the fun of it. They were fantastic with the 3-5 year old group and did a good combination of being easy going but acting like they were serious sports instructors.

David with his friend Bryson and two of the coaches.

Hitting the t-ball.

I was a little surprised that after the first couple of classes David tried to pull the "mom I don't want to go to sports class" thing. He loved the first few classes and put up a fight for some of the others. I think it was just asserting his independence? I know he loves to be active! Hopefully he can kick a soccer ball a little better now. I think this won't be the last time that we try a sports class!

Memorial Day

We did pretty well after three nights in a tent. I just wish we would have thought to bring something to sleep on besides the sleeping bag!

The boys are entertained by the iPod touch for a few minutes.

Raising the flag.

Trying to show some reverence for the flag.

Playing with friends again. It wasn't quite as hard to keep track of the boys as I thought. There was a lot of collective child watching going on. Hopefully everyone felt the same way!

We must be terrible parents--being entertained by the iPod touch once again. This time while we packed up! I guess camping isn't what it used to be. :)

Brad and Dan did some service edging some of the grass and the kids played on the swing set. We had fun talking to the senior missionary couple that ran the place. We asked if they'd be back next summer and they said they would "as long as the creek don't rise and God is willing."

At the last minute we decided to make a stop at King Arthur Flour. The kids were done but it was worth it. Coolest. Store. Ever! The one sad part is that we were so enthralled with the kitchen gadgets and flour products we forgot there was a bread-making demonstration!

I feel like this was a super successful camping trip. I would have never dreamed of camping with our kids a year ago. I think it went smoothly because Brad did most of the work for preparing to go and cooking and we were able to spend a lot of time with friends too. Maybe I should chip in and help out a little more next time!

Camping Sunday

Today we attended sacrament meeting (it was just down a path a stone's throw from the camp) it was really neat to be right next to the Joseph Smith birthplace. The rest of the day was quite relaxed. We spent some time at the birthplace with friends.

The rest of the day was all about relaxing and playing games.

We might just have to get this game for our boys. They LOVED it!

Fellow campers.

Some of our tents.

A delicious dinner made by Brad and Chris. Some of the girls chipped in with the cutting and preparing but the men really did an awesome job. It was a delicious dutch oven dinner with every course including vegetables and dessert.