First Cider Donuts of "Fall"!

Ok, so it's not Fall just yet. But the local orchards are starting to gear up and we needed our first cider donuts of the year! It's practically a holiday.

Happy 5th Birthday, Adeline!

We went down to Tarah and Ken's house today to celebrate Addy's 5th birthday. The main event of the day was a slip and slide that we set up down a little hill in their back yard. The pics are priceless.

Torin was not so sure about this contraption.

Poor Addy skinned her knee and was reluctant to try again after this run.

And yes, we even got Tarah to do it!!!

 The big girl with her BIG cake. Happy Birthday, (not so) Little A.

Higgins Armory Museum

Since our first attempt at getting here did not work out, we tried again with great success! This museum is in Worcester and we went back to Wild Willy's burgers for lunch again, lucking out a second time with a huge freight train going right by our table during our meal! It's like lunch and a show for little boys.

Then it was off to the museum. The boys actually sat through a whole presentation on different types of armor in their auditorium. I have to admit that by the end of that I was thinking "why exactly and I exposing them to stories of how weapons cause bodily damage?" But in truth I think most of it went over their heads, and much of the rest seemed like fantasy since their concept of what is real and what is in storybooks is not exactly solid yet. Aside from the possibly inappropriate content of the day, it was a fun place!

Giant chess was a huge hit. I played Keagan and he beat me.

The other great part was "make your own shields" in their craft room. These are what the boys designed and there are meanings behind all the colors and symbols.I thought Keagan did a great job in balancing his icons and colors. It looks really cool! Torin's is a bit more "abstract" but also very fun. I think we'll be playing knight a lot in the next few days!

Bolton Fair 2012

This year we all went to the Bolton Fair (instead of me taking the boys on Friday). It was _hot_. Borderline miserable, really, but we made the best of it and drank lots of lemonade :) We saw a lumberjack show, a dog agility show, went on carnival rides, squirted a real fire hose, saw prize winning farm animals and then, the big finish: the Monster Truck Show. I would love to say that the big finish was awesome, but sadly, it was a big flop. Erik and the boys scored some bleacher seats up high while I got some snacks. Unfortunately, the seats ended up not working out because 1) we were facing a setting sun and it was right in our eyes and 2) people filled in the ground in front of us and since they were standing, they blocked the boys' view even though we were up a bit and 3) the trucks were LOUD. Even outside they were deafening. After a really long, hot, adventurous day it was all too much for the boys to handle and we left after about 10 minutes. Oh well! Live and learn.

Boston Greenway Fountain

Another trip to Boston! First stop: Grilled cheese at South Station, where I scored a free sandwich for myself from the nice people there who had made a double order for someone else. Awesome! We ate them outside and watched the fun city traffic go by. 

Then we headed to the playground at Christopher Columbus Park to burn off some energy and get hot.

So that we wanted to cool off in the fountain!

Torin was NOT a fan of the fountain. The water is actually really powerful and squirts very high, plus it goes off in an unpredictable (for a three year old) way so he was getting scared.

Keagan really wanted Torin to go in with him. He tried to help him like it. He was being a really good big brother.

Torin was having none of it.

He wanted to watch cars go by on a bench instead. And no one was going to convince him otherwise.

Then we had ice cream!

Walked over to the Aquarium just to see the seals playing in the outside tank and then back on the T for a trip home.

It was a really great trip into the city, and all the attractions (aside from the food of course) were free! 

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Being silly on Daddy's birthday! The boys were very excited to set up some balloons and presents for Erik to wake up to. Keagan picked out a T-shirt for Erik that has a graphic of one of their favorite computer games on it. He couldn't wait to give it to him (and then make him play the game).
Happy Birthday to the Best Daddy Ever!!!

"Mommy is Crazy" Day

Today was one of the "Free Fun Fridays" in the Summer where certain museums and things let everyone in for free. One of them was the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester. I've been interested in taking the boys there so we head to Worcester and stop first at Wild Willy's burgers (somewhere I have been wanting to try). The food was good, but the best part was watching a HUGE freight train go by right outside the window!

After lunch we head to the Higgins museum and there is a line out the door, down the block and around the corner. ... Not doing it. 

New plan! We head into Boston. I decide to drive and have an EPIC FAIL getting in town. I missed a turn and was suddenly back on the Pike heading out of Boston. Sigh. New plan! Head to a Newton T station. We greenline it in- waking Torin up from a nap in the car to get SMOOSHED on a very crowded green line.

But we got pretzels at South Station, so all was right with the world. 

Then walked over to the Children's Museum.

Shadow play in the Peep and the Big Wide World room

... Toddlers with saws... what could go wrong?

The road/ramp section in the construction site is always a hit.

It was a crazy, hectic, crowded, unplanned, wacky day. But hey, it's Summer and we enjoyed it. Time for bed!