Call me Jackson

 This morning Ethan went to his first dentist appointment.  He did a great job listening to the hygienist.  She was able to polish his teeth, and he opened big and wide.  He was allowed to pick a prize from the treasure chest.  He chose a rainbow colored bouncy ball.  When we got home, we went outside to do a beautiful rainbow art project.  I introduced Ethan to the spatter technique (yes, I should have my head examined) but he had a great time.  It took almost as long to clean him up as it did to make the mess!

Helper

Tuesday night Ethan wanted corn for dinner.  He helped make it.  He also asked for a green salad (and even ate some of it) and he helped me spin the lettuce.  He is starting to be a good helper, he puts his dishes in the dishwasher sometimes and helps me with laundry. 

Farm Weekend

Amber graduated from high school this weekend.  I went to her graduation Friday night, and James and Ethan came up Saturday morning.  We had a very busy time.  Ethan had fun at Amber's party with all my cousins' kids, including Kobe who Dad dubbed his "twin cousin" because he and Ethan share a birthday, and Lola.  The favorite games included chasing Jonathan, climbing a tree, and playing with the balloons.  Amber even let him bring a bunch home.  Sunday we made breakfast, chased Granny with dinosaurs, decorated cupcakes, planted potatoes, and had a cookout for Ma's birthday.  Shhhhh it's a big one, July 18th :)  It was great to see everyone and we're happy for Amber and really proud of her accomplishments. 

Sturbridge

Ethan and I met up with Jeannie and Elise at Sturbridge Village today.  It was much nicer weather than when we went last time, and we had fun playing outside, riding the stagecoach, pumping water, feeding animals, and having a picnic.  It was a nice visit followed by a long car ride.  We left just in time to be stopped for a pretty terrible accident on 84.  But had Elise not have forgotten her little toys in the stroller (and I forgot to give them to her) we might have been much closer to it, so it could always be worse.  As it was, we were able to go more quickly than the people on the other side- yes, it was widespread enough to stop both directions.  We managed to run in the store quickly then return our movies to the library before we came home for dinner, stories, and bed.  Whew. I'm tired.

Visit

After the train ride we had company, Amber was on her way to college orientation so she, Uncle Tom and Jonathan stayed at our house.  I think you can see what we did.  Ethan proclaimed his victory and I'm not sure that if we tallied up the score he would have been wrong.  Though I am the only one who got two holes in one.

Father's Day

Sunday morning Ethan made James breakfast, then he gave him the "tea cup" he made at school.  He also made him a box to put small things in and got him a few tools to go inside, as well as a new Elephant and Piggie book and a Froggy book. Then we gave him tickets to ride the Naugy.  I think they had a good time.  They even got to look out the front of the train at the tracks. 

Charlottesville

Last week I had a class at UVA in Charlottesville.  At the end of the week, James and Ethan came to join me.  They went to check out the discovery museum and downtown while I was still in class.  On Saturday before we headed home we stopped at Monticello.  You can see Ethan holding hands with his second favorite founding father- he much preferred Mount Vernon because George Washington's house had livestock. He did have a lot of fun learning how to use a dumbwaiter and a skeleton key though.

Fun Thursday

Yesterday Ethan and I had a busy day.  We went to the store to get some groceries, then we came home and packed a picnic.  We went to the mall to find a few things we couldn't seem to find locally, then we headed to the park for a picnic and some playtime.  Ethan made some friends there, they played some games they made up and they made him king of the castle.  He loves the digger even though it's obviously a little to big for him.  He can manage to fill it with dirt and dump it, but can't quite turn it yet.  Then we came home for a nap which we followed up with some craft time for an upcoming holiday, a Popsicle and some swim time.  We were thwarted in our plans to attend the outdoor concert though, as we headed off to the library the rain started.  By the time we got there, it looked a lot like the day I was at work when a tornado came through.  It was insane outside, but we ran in the building anyway thinking it would be a bit more secure if there were a tornado- and wouldn't you know after we played for a while, they came around and told all the people in the kid's department to head downstairs because there was a warning.  When it finally let up we headed home. 

Back to the Zoo

Saturday the zoo was having a walking tour of Beardsley park, so we decided to go.  We got there early and looked at all the animals- this is the first time we actually saw the tiger move.  Ethan really enjoyed checking out the new playground area.  You can see he milked the cow in an inventive way- he told us he had to get a drink.  He had lunch as we strolled around for the walk, and we got some special gifts including the great binoculars, and a small book about the zoo.