Kids' Day All Around

Last Saturday was Burlington's Kids' Day Festival, which began with a parade down Main Street:

Hehe, I thought this was Humpty Dumpty (until a lady standing nearby informed me it was, in fact, a fishing bobber).

It was kind of a rinky dink parade, But Elijah and Ariana (my friend Sara's daughter) seemed to enjoy it. Afterward, Sara and I took the kids down to the waterfront, where the festivities continued.

Here, the kids are anxiously awaiting their chance to "fly" a helicopter.

Elijah loved it (he's such a boy). Ariana looks as though the whole affair was highly overrated.Free toothbrushes for posing with "Mr. Tooth" Fun with noodles:

Saving the best for last- Elijah's very first train ride on "the Lollipop Express." Elijah is crazy about Thomas the Tank Engine, so this was a huge hit for him! The wait was excruciating.

Our view of Lake Champlain:

Later, Ed tilled the garden to get ready for next weekend's planting.

It was fun times with Peltors and worms!

The following day (Monday) our daycare was closed, so I stayed home with Elijah and invited Rhiannon for the day. Rhiannon is my friend and co-worker Talia's daughter. She was born 2 days after Elijah.
First off, they absolutely cracked me up with their "toddler talk" in the car that morning. I've never actually heard Elijah carry on such an extensive conversation before.

Here are some of the things they did together. They were SO good and SO darned cute!

This first picture is funny because Elijah looks like a BEAST compared to Rhiannon. He's bigger than her, but not actually THAT much bigger. Just the angle of the shot, I guess.

Pancakes for breakfast:

Taking a hike up to the sandbox:

Watching "World World" and winding down while I made lunch:

Picnic time!

This was Elijah's first "real" play date at our house with a child of his same age. It was super fun- we look forward to many more fun times with Rhiannon in the coming years!

Why I Love Being a Mom

I'm sure there was a time something so...well...MESSY would have driven me crazy. But today, these messes are a part of our everyday life, and I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Shelburne Farms

Friday we decided to have a picnic at Shelburne Farms with my friends Beth, Liz, and Jen and all of their children. The Farms aren't open yet with their normal games and activities, but you can still use the grounds and see the animals. If Quinn and Elijah were actually talking to each other, I think the conversation would go something like this:

"Poor rabbits, stuck in this cage all day."

"Hey, I have an idea. Let's figure out a way to get them out of there."

"If we just separate these two panels from each other, and then twist this one bar..." Elijah, on his first "Tractor Date" with Acadia (quite the movie star in her big sunglasses).
Posing on the apple wagon:

(Quinn 3; Elijah 2.5; Acadia 3)

And here's one with Emma, who will soon turn one:
Trying to get a group shot, but then... Hey, where'd that chicken come from?

(Elijah 2.5; Dianna 3; Acadia 3; Emma 1; Quinn 3)

Good friends, enjoying a lovely sunny day at Shelburne Farms.

Our Trip to Southern New England

For our April break, we decided to go on our first real family vacation with Elijah. On Sunday, we headed down to Rhode Island for my Aunt Nancy's surprise birthday party. Here's Ed and Elijah, glad to finally be out of the car! The "Birthday Girl" arrives!
My aunts and uncles, enjoying a delicious Italian meal at Marchetti's:
My brother-in-law Jim and nephew Kyle (5):After dinner, we headed to my Dad's house for a quick visit while we were in town. Auntie Carole (my older sister) and Elijah:

My Dad and me:

That evening, we drove to Woburn, MA to check into our hotel, approximately 10 miles north of Boston. Here's Elijah on Day #1, getting ready to go to the Boston Children's Museum:The very first exhibit was this set of amazing climbing platforms. It was all good until Elijah lost his shoes and had trouble getting around in just his socks. He started freaking out and Ed had to climb up into the contraption to rescue him!Once we all recovered from the big rescue mission, there were all kind of cool gadgets and exhibits to play with:

A favorite, the sand tables:

And a second favorite, the huge train table:

The next day, we started with the New England Aquarium:

Elijah loved this bronze turtle:

A little interactive play with one of the aquarium educators:

And then back to the Children's Museum,where we hardly repeated a thing from the day before- there's just so much to see and do there!

Ed and I agreed that this was a wonderful trip- very fun and exciting. Elijah was amazing and everything went so smoothly. We would definitely recommend the Children's Museum to anyone who has not yet been there with their kids. It's an incredible, tactile adventure!