Stoughton Town Beach

While waiting to pay for my salad one day, I was reading the local paper. They had a picture that was taken at the "Stoughton Town Beach". WHAT? Stoughton has a beach? I knew there was a pond around, but I'd only ever seen lily-pad infested areas and didn't even realize there was a beach area to the Ames Long Pond. A few clicks of the mouse and I found the location!  Score! I thought it'd be a great little afternoon activity for Connor. It's PERFECT for small kids. It's a very small beach area, fenced in from the road, complete with bathrooms just feet away. There's a dock in the water, and kids can walk to it since it's so shallow. The other side of the dock is the "deep end" where bigger kids can swim and jump, but we stayed on the shallow side. There's also lifeguards on duty, who are active in making sure the kids walk on the dock and follow the rules. Even Connor had to be spoken to when he was "stomping" on the dock instead of walking. My little rebel! I did have to keep reminding Connor to stay on the inside of the docks, and after doing so the lifeguard said "thanks for your help, Mom" Anytime, Lifeguard. Just making sure my kid doesn't end up in the middle of the pond!

Anyway, the water was nice and warm, and after convincing Connor all was well, he was a fish! He didn't want to come out of the water. Only his hunger brought him to the shore! I definitely recommend it for an inexpensive afternoon out (there is a cost, but it's minimal).

Connor's "Raisin Hands" after being in the water for so long!

Beach Days

Family vacation in Maine means...

Playing with Emma...

 

Crabbing...

Reading with Emma...

Hangin' out with Uncle Nate...

Making dirt "meatballs"...

Digging in the Sand...

Falling asleep playing Angry Birds....

Braving the water with Daddy...

Smiles...

Releasing lobsters back into the ocean...

Shoulder rides with Uncle Andy...

Eating peanuts with Grampy...

Walks on the beach...

Fishing with Grammy...

Cuddle time with Mom...

Learning to walk JUST LIKE DAD...

And naptime at Nubble.
What a great vacation.

Stars and Stripes

Our annual 4th of July trip to Vermont started with Aunt Con's Kiddie Parade.  Every year she has all of the littles to her house where they can design T-shirts, play, and snack to their heart's content.  After the T-Shirt decorating everyone began to decorate their bikes, wagons, and strollers for the march to the park.  Connor was VERY excited to be able to ride his bike like a big boy, and was very eager to get going.  We had to remind him a few times that we had to wait for everyone to be done before we could go.  Once we started, there was no stopping him.  He rode his bike all the way to the park and back again!  We ended the parade with a great swim in the pool!

Sunday started out pouring rain, and it looked as if the day might have been a wash out, but it cleared up and the sun actually came out long enough for Grampy to take Connor fishing for the first time.  We were unsure of how interested Connor would be in fishing, but he LOVED it.  He picked it up very quickly and it wasn't long before he was holding the pole and fishing by himself!  After we were done, he kept saying "I go fishing again?".  We'll definitely have to take him again soon!

Sunday night were the fireworks, and Connor was not impressed.  He buried his head on Mom's shoulder and would NOT look at the fireworks.  I don't think it was the noise that bothered him as much as the light.  Maybe next year will be better!

The fourth turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day.  A very HOT, beautiful day, which Mom loved, but Connor - not so much.  He took to the shade every chance he got, but there wasn't much shade since Uncle Nate's big tree came crashing down this winter.  Connor finally went to the porch with Dad for a much needed break from the sun.  

He did like the parade - he had a great time counting ALL of the fire trucks (23, according to Connor), and many uncles and cousins marched with the fire department with their sharp new uniforms.  Grampy was driving one of the trucks and Connor was ecstatic to see him.  He still looks at the pictures and thinks it's pretty cool that his Grampy drives a fire truck.  I'll post more another day, but here are a few pics from Mom's camera:

For Mairead, Love, Connor

Connor's friend, Mairead, LOVES the book "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus".  Since she loves it so much, we decided to invest in the book.  Connor absolutely loves it, too!  So, to thank Mairead for the recommendation, Connor read the book for her.  We hope she likes it!

Southwick's Zoo

It was a beautiful day. We finally had a weekend without plans. Southwick's Zoo was offering free admission for teachers. The stars were aligned, so it was off to the zoo for Connor and Mom!

The zoo was huge. We spent 5 hours walking around the entire place. Connor loved it. He declared before we left that he wanted to see zebras. We definitely saw zebras, among a ton of other animals. They had two areas that allowed the animals to walk around with everyone. It was the best part of the entire zoo. Watching Connor's face light up when a goat or deer would come near him was priceless. Thanks to some very generous people, Connor was able to feed both the deer and goats (Mommy didn't have any quarters to buy food).

We also saw a baby chimpanzee. He was the cutest thing! He kept trying to get the "grown-ups" to play with him, but all they wanted to do was sleep. Sounds familiar!

We had a fabulous time, and he was thoroughly exhausted on the way home. We were barely out of the parking lot before his eyes were closed!

We're Back!

I apologize for the blog hiatus.  It's been busy around here, and Mom hasn't felt like getting her laptop out and uploading pics for a while.

A few pictures from our trip to Vermont over April vacation.  It was NOT spring like weather, unfortunately, but Connor still got to help Grammy decorate the tree with Easter eggs.

Then we hit up the ECHO center on Lake Champlain and saw lots of snakes, frogs, turtles, and fish.  Connor loved it, but would get fixated on ONE thing he wanted to see and wouldn't want to move to see anything else.  I think his favorite was the snapping turtle and the special tunnel he could crawl under to see more turtles and fish.  At one time, there was a larger woman in the tunnel when Connor was trying to get in behind her.  He put his hand on her butt to try and balance himself, then realized he wasn't going to get in and says "nope... too big" to the lady.  I don't think she heard him, but I quickly grabbed him and took him far away from her.  Funny now, embarrassing then!

 On Friday we went to my cousin's house to see her mini farm.  She has four horses and some baby chickens.  Connor was in his glory.  He loved the horses, and the horses loved him!  Most of these pictures are with Walker, the Morgan.  I think Walker thinks he's a dog, because he was very cuddly and probably would have sat in our laps if we let him!

After the horses we saw the chickens, and Connor loved them, too!  The chickens weren't tiny, I'd say they were "toddler" chicks, so we let them run around a bit.  Connor was fascinated.  He kept running back to them!  He also loved playing with his cousin, Sarah.  Sarah is four and loved playing with Connor.  They ran, played on the swingset, and jumped on the trampoline.  They had a blast!

 Connor and Grampy played a little baseball on the one sunny day we had.  I think Connor has a little work to do, but he had a blast playing.

Grampy also took Connor to the fire station to see the firetrucks.  Connor was thrilled that he was able  to sit in the driver's seat and "drive" the firetruck.