Quassy!

Last weekend we were in CT for my mom's birthday and to visit Quassy, a local amusement park I grew up going to as did my mom (and dad?).

Steve took Jack on his first real roller coaster (I mean real!)- Quassy's new wooden coaster. He barely made the height requirement and was a bit freaked by the whole thing but seemed cool with it. I think he was most excited they let him on.

Quassy's Wooden Warrior Video



Nate loved the train and the little dipper coaster. He giggled the whole time on the latter. Here is a video of it -Little Dipper

Nate showing off his new lunchbox

I am being organized since we will be away just before school starts.

Weekend in NH

Saturday we drove up to Jaffrey NH to the house Steve's grandparents (and greats) used to live. It is on a pond and has some lovely property beside the sentimentality that Magouns actually built it, really. Unfortunately our trip started off on a bad foot when Jack, Nate and I were stung by something nasty. Upon googling pictures I think it was a bald-faced hornet, but can't be sure at all. I was jumping around trying to get it off my leg! After a regroup on the screened porch we made our way down to "rock meadow" and met some nice people on kayaks that remembered Steve's great-grandfather and grandfather.







We then spent the night at a hotel in Keene, NH. Sunday we met up with Andy and Katie (Steve's brother and sister-in-law) and our niece Molly who were on their way from ME to their home just outside DC. We played at a playground and then went to GG Janet's apartment for a visit with her and Steve's Uncle Matt and Aunt Brigitte. It was great getting to see everyone. Somehow I managed to get no pictures, but Andy may have for those interested in such things.

Seattle Recap - Part 5

Thurs -

The boys and I headed out to the Experience Music Project/SciFi Museum. Steve and I wanted to see an exhibit at the latter as we are about 3/4 through a series called Battlestar Gallactica (the new one) and wanted to see the "real" ships there. The boys were really antsy and Jack was starting to feel ill (we didn't totally know this yet). So Steve ended up seeing a little more than me but it wasn't all that exciting of a place. Certainly far less memorable than the Gehry-designed building with a monorail running through it!




On the monorail



We then took the monorail again to the city center and walked around a bit. Nate fell asleep and then we headed to yet another form of transportation - a streetcar. we took it to the base of Lake Union and checked out some boats and a seaplane dock.
On the streetcar



I think we covered planes, taxis, ferries, rental minivan, monorail, streetcar and moving walk way during the trip. Not too bad.


We then returned on home to finish up the packing my mom had started.


Later in the day Jack was sick to his stomach, but then seemed better. We figured he was just really overtired.


Friday-

We woke up and packed up the car. Jack seemed to be doing ok so off we went. Unfortunately Jack was indeed still sick and threw up all over Steve at the gate about 10 minutes before boarding. Luckily Steve is thin and I wear long running shorts as he was able to get out of his filthy jeans and fit into the change of clothes I had brought. (He had been wearing layers on top so just removed his heavier shirt). Also lucky he was wearing running shoes so he looked quite normal, even if he was a little freaked out by the length of the shorts.

Nate sat with me on the plane and was quite well behaved - though I would have preferred his nap start before our initial descent;/

Jack continued to be sick on the plane, but nobody seemed to notice/mind. He slept much of the way and just vegged out. When we got home he had a pedialyte pop and was pretty much fine from there!

Seattle Recap - Part 4

Tues-

We took a ferry to Bainbridge Island. It is about a 35 min ride from downtown and the Island is a small suburb of the city. The views from the ferry were worth the ticket alone. You can walk to the main street full of shops and restaurants from the ferry and there was also a playground there too. Jack's favorite part was sitting "playing" (no quarters) a car race video game on the ferry. He loved playing with the steering wheel. Nice free fun I suppose.








Weds
Steve wasn't feeling well so my mom and the boys and I went to the Seattle Aquarium. It was nice, not incredible and the boys liked it but pretty much ran through it. Nate only slowed down to view the seals swimming under the water (you could see the seals and the otters from below the water and on "shore." The aquarium was also my first attempt at a "leash" for Nate. I never thought I would use such a thing but he does NOT like to be in the stroller for long periods and won't stay in a carrier (plus he is 30lbs which gets to be a lot!). It kept us from losing him for sure, but he wasn't a huge fan either. It is basically a strap attached to a small backpack with 2 chest straps.






We also found another video game - both boys loved it. Again, no quarters:)

Seattle Recap - Part 3

Sunday-
We had a slow morning (Steve and I were at the wedding late) but in the afternoon we went to Pikes Place Market. It was bigger than I thought and super busy. The flower stalls were most amazing to me - they had incredible bouquets for $10. Jack enjoyed the street performers. Not sure why Jack is pointing that way in the second pick, but it is hilarious!





We also had some gorgeous weather and were lucky enough to be staying about 2 blocks (and a big staircase) to the park with the best view of the city! Our house is actually the middle one (blue) in this shot.

Views from Kerry Park





Monday-
We woke up and went to the Museum of Flight. It was a pretty great museum of planes. I should let Steve write this but my favorite was walking through on an actual Air Force One. Nate is sitting in the stroller in front of it.





In the afternoon we had some more playground fun. That static was hilarious on Nate's hair.

Seattle Recap - Part 2

Friday-

Friday we got up and went straight to the space needle to get there (roughly) when it opened. We waited for tickets for about 10 minutes but didn't have to wait for an elevator at all. Luckily we could watch the monorail come/go at the ticket line so that wasn't even so bad. The view was gorgeous - not much of a rainier view, but we got plenty of those later on in the week. Nate was most excited about the directional letters (NE, S, NW etc) on the ground of the viewing deck. He ran around finding them. Funny enough, another little boy about his age was doing the same thing!

The family pic below is indeed on a fake backdrop. They do it for free there.







We then walked over the to small, but fun, Children's Museum. The boys LOVED it there, really. I had a really hard time getting them to leave for lunch.



We then relaxed at home and then hit a playground. Jack LOVES these 'merry-go-rounds.' We don't have any at our regular parks at home but they were at many in Seattle.



Finally Steve and I went to a Mariners/Padres came at Safeco field with about 40 other wedding attendees. Grandma Linda watched the boys. It was a lot of fun and made us realize how difficult everything is here in Boston. First the tickets were cheap (about $25 group rate vs. well-over $100 for similar at Fenway if you can get them), we parked a block away and there was no traffic on the way to the game (we had to go through downtown) at 6:30pm on a Friday. They also compost at the game and don't let people walk to their seats during at-bats (people listen to the ushers and everything). AND, they sell real (glass) bottles of beer. WOW. The experience isn't quite as emotional/exciting with less crazed fans though. The prices were about the same though (crazy!).



Saturday -

In the morning we went to Ballard Locks. I have no idea what it is like normally, but on a gorgeous Saturday on a holiday weekend they were PACKED with boats. I have never seen one in action (Steve has) but it quite amazing to see the difference in water levels - it is HUGE and also insane how close they pack the boats - everything from small boats for 2-3 people to enormous gigantic yachts. There was also a train bridge nearby which had Nate riveted.



I then had a wedding-related change of schedule and I headed over to get my hair/make-up done for the wedding and the boys and my mom headed back to the house.

The wedding couldn't have had a nicer day and the rose garden was stunning. The ceremony was touching and original (Indiana Jones theme as an entrance!) which was no surprise given the couple. The reception was also lots of fun and it was great seeing some old college friends and acquaintances. I also reconnected with the bride's family that I have not seen in almost 10 years (but saw them loads during college).




I don't have any other pics of the wedding except the fire eater/dancers that performed (he was a groomsman!) late in the evening.

Seattle Recap - Part 1

Day 1 - Weds.

We flew into Seattle early on Weds June 29 and had a marathon day. The boys were much better on the plane than expected. Jack was pretty much perfect, and Nate, though squirmy and demanding non-stop attention from both Steve and I, didn't have a meltdown. We picked up the rental minivan (wow, those are big!) and headed to the city from the airport which is a bit south of the downtown. We had no problem finding our way around and randomly stopped at a restaurant for lunch I saw called the "old spaghetti factory" which turned out to be a hit with the kids. Not only did it have a an "old" train car inside but it overlooked real train tracks where numerous freight trains and passenger trains went by. It also was next to the Olympic Sculpture Park which was a great chance to view some scenery and run around!


We then took a little drive and found a playground to let the kids run around some more. It still wasn't time to get into the rental house so we all headed to Whole Foods to stock up on some food for the week. Due to Nate's allergies it can be a pain to eat out. Places are usually quite accommodating, but I am always a nervous they don't really "get it" and feel like a nuisance. The boys were amazing throughout this LONG day. We had an easy dinner at the house and headed to bed.

Day 2 - Thurs
As most of you know we went to Seattle so I could be a bridesmaid in a close friend's wedding and Thursday was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The ceremony was at a Rose Garden abutting the Woodland Park Zoo. We all went to the zoo in the afternoon after an easy morning. It is a great zoo (unless you hate all zoos:). We got to see lions, elephants, penguins in nice open habitats. From the rehearsal we went to the bride/grooms house. They had a nice "river" water feature in the back yard which made keeping an eye on the boys easier than usual! They loved throwing rocks into it with a new friend (another boy between their ages) that was also there.

Two Year Update & Birthday Re-cap

Nate's Big 2nd Birthday!

We had a relatively low-key birthday since we just arrived home from Seattle the evening before. During the day he opened a few presents and we relaxed and unpacked. We then went to a Lowell Spinners game again this year. I think this is Jack's 3rd time there. Nate really enjoyed the clapping and singing. His favorite though was the frisbee-catching dog. (Honestly, that might have been everyone's favorite - it was not a cleanly played or compelling game!). We then headed home and sang and had some cake. Chocolate cake before bedtime not the brightest move on our part as Nate had some real trouble getting to sleep. Of course we are also still on Pacific time so that also impacts things:)








2 Year Update!
Nate is talking a lot more - he has many words- I would guess about 40? He will often try to repeat things if you ask him. It often isn't intelligible out of context but he gets the idea. He hasn't put words together in a sentence yet though (he does sign things together - "more cookie please" etc).

Nate is still a super climber - we call him our little "monkey man."

Nate is not at all good at stopping things when we tell him to. He clearly understands but obeying is NOT his strong point.

He may have inherited dads inclination to electronic things. He is quite good at turning on the tv/dvd player and can use an iPad/iPhone to get to an app he wants. Scary and embarrassing.

He is still napping 1x a day - from about 1 until about 2:30-3ish. He is an early riser at 6-7ish. There is a pretty big range.

He loves to eat: waffles, turkey burgers, fries (especially with ketchup), cookies, pretzels, grapes, corn on the cob and pasta. He eats a variety of food but still has his allergies so many things are cooked special and it is hard to take him out. We have his 2 year check-up this week and I will discuss with his pedi next steps.

He LOVES trains of all sorts. He can look at pictures or videos of them pretty much all day.

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Birthday boy!

Nate is two!!

Blog is on hiatus for this:

We are enjoying our 10 day trip to Seattle!