Visiting Gramps

Last Sunday we visited Gramps in NY. We had a beautiful day. We enjoyed nature, found a few caterpillars and saw a lot of deer and a few turkeys. We helped Gramps pick a few things from his garden and helped eat a few of them too. Ethan enjoyed picking and eating the green beans. He insisted on going to Aunt Vonne's to pick blueberries. We were pretty sure they would be gone. There was one late bush that actually still had berries. Most were overripe but we did manage to pick some berries. We also visited the cemetery to see all the work Gramps and Jonathan have been doing. And while I didn't take a picture this time, he was wiped out and looked just like the picture from last Sunday on the ride home.

The Ride Home

See what I mean about exhausted?

Birthday Fun

We had such a busy Saturday that Ethan didn't open all of the presents from his party until Sunday. Elise helped him. After that, we went to Lake Compounce for amusement! Ethan and Elise had a great time. I should have probably checked the height requirements first though as they were slightly insane. He wasn't tall enough for the bumper cars or the log flume. It's the first time we've been anywhere that he wasn't allowed on those. Oh well, there was plenty to keep them occupied and although they were exhausted from the "sleepover" we had a great time.

Pirate Birthday Party!

September 7, 2013
Ethan had a beautiful warm sunny day for his pirate party! It was quite a contrast to last year's weather. He and his friends had a swashbuckling good time attacking each others ships, hunting for treasure, having sword fights, walking the plank, and eating cake. Elise, Jeannie and Kurt were kind enough to stay over and celebrate Ethan's birthday weekend with us. We went for a birthday dinner at 121 which is at the airport in Oxford. The kids didn't see many planes, but there was one just as we were leaving.

Goshen Fair

September 1, 2013
We took a break from unpacking and party prep to take Ethan to the Goshen Fair. It's the only one we've managed so far this year. He enjoyed seeing all the animals and riding on a few rides.

Birdhouse

August 30, 2013
Ethan has been admiring these birdhouses that a lady at the farmers market sells for at least a few years. She makes them from gourds. They are quite lovely, and I promised him after we were in the new house he could choose one. He wanted a red apple. Of course the day we were there, they only had blue. But the lady's husband was nice enough to actually offer to go home and get a red one because they have watched Ethan grow up and enjoy seeing him every week. This explains the long wait and posing for pictures. A few days later, James and Ethan hung it outside.

Party Prep

While we didn't even make it through half of the items on my pirate party pinterest board, we did make some pretty awesome party stuff. Ethan helped at least a little with all of these things. We ended up with fabulous message in a bottle invitations for his friends, awesome goody bags thanks to Grandma Jo Ann, and lots of jellyfish thanks to Liz eating tons of applesauce. The friendly folks at Lowes unpacked a refrigerator to make this pirate ship possible. Everyone at work helped make octo-pops. It didn't hurt that everyone who helped got a tootsie pop.  

First Day of First Grade

August 27, 2013
Can you believe it, a first grader? He was so excited to start school! And he gets to ride the bus back and have some play time with his best buddy Jack who is now in Kindergarten in his school. He had a great day.

Lunch Date

August 26, 2013
I took of the last day of Ethan's summer vacation to spend with him. We decided to have lunch (and dessert) at Denmos!

Gymastics Party

August 24, 2013
Ethan was invited to a birthday party to celebrate his friend Addison's 5th birthday. It was at a gym in Newtown where the kids had the chance to tumble, balance, do handstands and jump on trampolines. There was even a bounce house! He had a great time.

Busy Day

August 23, 2013
Also on our summer list were a visit to the Yale Peabody and taking James out to lunch. So we decided to head to Yale in the morning and then go over to Shelton. Well, we got a later start that intended and then someone absolutely raced through the museum because he wanted to go to the shop. He was told very clearly that he was there to choose a present for his friend's birthday party, and that he could spend no more than $5 on something that was not a toy for himself. He proceeded to spend half an hour trying to talk me into plastic junk, by which time we had to leave to go have lunch with James. I warned him at least five times that we would leave with nothing. We did. The scene, you wouldn't believe it. He behaved like a three year old screaming and crying and kicking, I finally got him calmed down outside and he started up again. Then he told me he was going to throw a temper tantrum if I didn't let him go back in! As if he hadn't already. I think next time I tell him to make a choice he might actually do it. Somehow he recovered and we had a nice lunch with James. Then we went to get him some school shoes, and found these fabulous light up shoes. After that, we decided to visit the ice cream place in Shelton where we also got to feed the goats.