Baby Benjamin

Happy Birthday Ben!

2009-08-29T17:58:00.000-07:00

The keeper of this blog is a few months behind on posts, but rather than wait until it is fully up to date, here is a report on Ben's big third birthday. Several of Ben's friends have had birthday parties, so Ben was very excited to have one himself. We held it at Auburndale Cove, a park here in Newton, where Liam had his party a few months ago. We had a bit of a scare because there was a good chance that Hurricane Bill was going to bring storms when the party was scheduled, which would have meant fitting 12 kids and at least as many adults into our apartment, but luckily the weather turned out beautifully. Ben's parents were helped out by Andy's Aunt Joanne, who came to visit us for a long weekend, much to Ben's delight, and Sonia, an assistant teacher at his school. As the kids are mostly 3, we kept structured games to a minimum. There is a playground right next to the picnic area, although many kids also thought climbing a rock was even more fun, so we gave everyone who wanted it a fire hat and they all played. We set up socks, totes, fabric paints, and fabric markers so that anyone who wanted to could decorate socks and bags for themselves, and most kids tried it out and had fun. For the meal, we went with the old favorite, PIZZA. The cake, from a local bakery, was decorated with an excellent fire truck, and everyone went home exhausted and with a full belly. A good time was had by all, but especially Ben, who was so excited he couldn't take a nap, although both of his parents managed to sneak in mini-naps since they were pretty tired by the end of the day.

Sheep and Wool

2009-08-07T12:36:00.000-07:00

This Mother's Day, Ben went to the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool festival with this parents. He had gone 2 years ago, but it was more fun now that he is bigger. It was interesting, although a little scary, to see the sheep (they are loud). It was also very interesting to see the alpacas, particularly as they were dressing up for a show (it was the first time any of us had seen an alpaca in a hoop skirt). Ben decided we should take the stroller in case he got tired; we think it was the stroller's swan song, as he hasn't expressed any interest in it since.

Fire park

2009-08-07T12:31:00.000-07:00

One of Jessica's students has a daughter close in age to Ben, and she told her all about a park near BU that has a play structure that incorporates actual parts of an old fire engine. Ben and his mama took a trip to this park, and Ben had a great time with it. It is a small park and a small structure, but it allows you to hold a real firehose attached to a real hydrant, to play with pumper knobs, and otherwise play fireman in new ways. It was also fun to take the train there with his mama. The train is always fun.

More fun at the fire station

2009-08-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

After visiting inside the fire station, we all went out to see the big platform truck. Everyone got a chance to see what it was like in the platform, which the firemen set up so it was near the ground and easy to climb into. Then they called for volunteers while they showed how the platform could go up really high to fight a fire. Ben's teacher Mary took a ride, and so did his mama! He thought this was very exciting (as did she, although she had temporarily forgotten about her fear of heights when she volunteered), but then he got a little worried about Mama being up so high. He was very relieved when she came back down. He had a good nap that day after they got back to school.

Fire station field trip

2009-08-07T12:08:00.000-07:00

The Turtle Room has been going on several field trips this summer, most thrillingly to the Eliot Fire station. We all went one stop on the train and then walked to the station. The kids are good at waiting in the T station. At the station they were taught about fire safety and got to see the fire pole, the turn-outs (Rhys tried on pants and boots), and the trucks. Everyone got to sit in the truck. Ben was initially quite thrilled, but then got scared.

Feeling crazy

2009-06-22T12:03:00.000-07:00

Some days Ben decides to skip a nap, and then you never know what will happen.

Boston Marathon

2009-06-22T11:46:00.001-07:00

This year, we had a friend, Dave Kezer, Julia and Charlie's dad, in the Boston Marathon. We went down to see the marathon and joined the cheering squad. It was a cold day, but as always, great to see the runners (and Dave did very well too)

Helping mom

2009-06-22T11:40:00.000-07:00

Ben really loves winding balls of yarn with his mama (to the extent that at least once, mama unwound the yarn back into a skein just to give him something to wind). He carefully checks the yarn on the swift to make sure it is unwinding correctly, and he does a great job with the winder. Once he even attached the yarn onto the winder himself, to his mama's great surprise.

Pizza

2009-06-22T11:37:00.000-07:00

Ben loves an episode of Caillou where Caillou and his friends made pizza, so he was thrilled when we found pizza dough at Trader Joe's. Mama or Daddoo stretches out the dough (although he likes to help roll it too) and then he carefully puts on tomato sauce, cheese, and ham. He even makes pizzas for his parents too.

Fire, fire!

2009-06-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of fires at our house. Ben has turned his table and another small (and sturdy) table into his fire truck. He loads up the drawer with axes (stick shuttles) and hoses (flexitubes) and other necessities, puts on his turnout (kept in the nearby fire station, pants on boots just as with real firemen), talks parent or a stuffed animal into joining him on the fire truck (helmet and all), and, siren blaring, goes off to take care of a fire at Bill's pizza, Liam's red house, the TV, the desk, or wherever is burning.

Easter with Max and Isabel

2009-06-03T13:24:00.001-07:00

Jessica's friend Celia was in town Easter week with her family, and we all went over to paint eggs. Ben had a wonderful time playing cars with Max and also playing with Isabel. He liked that Isabel was wearing his favorite color (he's a little obsessed). We also did some egg dying at home. Ben thought it was great fun. He also really enjoyed using the leftover dye to dye wool. He keeps asking to do more dying.

Cousin Laura

2009-06-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

Jessica's cousin Laura came to town from Wisconsin, and we all got a chance to visit with her. Ben thought she was very nice (which she is) and Laura thinks he is the spitting image of her own son when he was little. It was in the height of Ben's fireman phase (which he is still in, just not quite as intensely) so he of course had to wear his full turnout.

Early spring at Broadmoor

2009-06-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

We also took advantage of the warm spell to visit Broadmoor wildlife sanctuary. Because we were visiting before there were any leaves, we spotted evidence of beavers for the first time, which Ben found very interesting. His favorite thing about Broadmoor, however, remains climbing rocks.

Fun on the street

2009-06-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

We had a nice warm early spring day in March, and everyone on the block came out to play. Julia and Charlie's place down the street became the center of activity. They all enjoyed shoveling snow. Ben was particularly thrilled by Julia's scooter, which Charlie also found interesting, if a little hard to maneuver (Charlie is just a little over 1 year old).

Crash!

2009-06-01T07:23:00.000-07:00

Ben likes to set up very elaborate crashes, which his "nomobile guys" respond to in fire trucks and ambulance. The ambulance came with one male and one female figure, so he has named them Tom and Mariah, after Liam's parents, who met on an ambulance crew.

The New New New Children's Museum

2009-06-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

Now that the semester is over, Ben's mama is finally going to update his blog, starting with things Ben did back in March. That was when we first took a trip to the Children's Discovery Museum in Acton, which Ben calls the New New New Children's Museum. It is in a Victorian house, with each room made over in a different theme: water, trains, chain reactions (Rube Goldberg style machines you roll balls through), colors, jungle, treehouse, ocean, and diner. Ben likes them all. He has his parents sit down at a booth in the diner (hard because they are not sized for adults) and brings us all sorts of interesting meals (chicken and asparagus ice cream anyone?) and lots of coffee. They have handmade costumes for most of the rooms, based on vests, mostly. Ben particularly liked the ocean ones, which include a life vest (orange, his favorite), a captain's outfit with epaulettes, a mermaid, and sea creatures such as lobsters.

telescope mount

2009-03-10T13:38:00.000-07:00

Telescope mounts have more uses than just holding telescopes. They also can be fun to ride.

Making things

2009-03-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

Ben loves making things. He does painting projects, like painting a train he built with his daddoo, and art projects of various sorts. He also likes cooking, and had great fun making lasagna with his mama.

Long street

2009-03-10T13:34:00.001-07:00

Ben likes making a really long street with his cars. He has lots of cars, so the street stretches over half the length of our apartment.

Radio telescope

2009-03-10T13:30:00.001-07:00

Ben's daddoo was very excited that there was a very very large radio telescope near the camp. We went to visit it on the way out. It moved while we were there (it is controlled remotely), which was very impressive.

snowshoes

2009-03-10T13:17:00.000-07:00

Ben's mama and daddoo rented snowshoes for the trip, and bought Ben his very own snowshoes (mama also rented skis and went skiing while the other two napped one day). Ben did a great job snowshoeing. He probably snowshoed the better part of half a mile before deciding to ride in the sled for the rest of the outing. He picked up some big sticks, which were useful both to check snow depth and to use like poles, imitating the cross-country skiers who passed us.

2009-03-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

Ben liked climbing the big piles of snow. Pulling Daddoo to breakfast in the sled was a little more difficult (mostly Ben got pulled instead).

Snowy landscape

2009-03-10T12:41:00.000-07:00

It was very snowy that weekend, but warm enough to be very comfortable running around outside. The woods were very pretty, and it was fun to find tracks in the snow.

Snow in New Hampshire

2009-03-10T12:27:00.000-07:00

In February, we went up to New Hampshire, to BU's Sargent Camp (unfortunately due to be shuttered because of the financial crisis) for an American Studies weekend. Ben was quite thrilled by the cabin where we stayed, particularly by the bunk bed. He needed help up the first two times, and help down the first three, but then he clambered up and down all by himself to his great delight.

Working Guy

2009-03-09T16:50:00.000-07:00

Ben likes using his tools to be a "working guy." He has a tool belt and a real tool box and everything. (He is also a little obsessed with the color orange lately.)

On the plane

2009-03-09T16:46:00.001-07:00

Ben is getting to be a real expert at airplane travel. It was fun traveling with his friend, after having to argue with the airlines to give us our seats, rather than seating Ben all by himself in an aisle with strangers.

More pictures of Cancun

2009-03-09T16:40:00.001-07:00

Liam's parents gave us a CD of Ben and Liam's Excellent Adventure. Here are some pictures from them of our Mexico adventure. As you can see, the boys liked the easy life.

Swimming with Dolphins

2009-02-01T13:49:00.000-08:00

Ben's mama swam with the dolphins in front of the hotel.

On the Bus

2009-02-01T13:35:00.000-08:00

The bus was pretty luxurious, with a table and seats facing each other. They gave us soda and snacks too. It was a good place for sleeping. Liam fell asleep during the lunch stop (after Chichen Itza) and Ben stayed up until after a quick stop at a cenote (where his parents each took a quick dip), then joined Liam for a good sleep on the long ride home.

Getting tired

2009-02-01T13:34:00.001-08:00

After a couple hours at chicken pizza, the boys slowed down from running to walking, and finally to being carried.

Exploring Chichen Itza

2009-02-01T13:29:00.000-08:00

The boys mostly liked to run, but they also had fun exploring. They liked going up the stairs to the building known as the market (it wasn't actually a market) and running around the columns there. They also liked the ball court, where the snake sculptures were, though they mostly ran there too.

Trees and trains

2009-02-01T13:21:00.000-08:00

Ben and Liam loved running from tree to tree. They also liked turning everything into a train, including parts of ancient columns. This was useful, because one way to get them to move in an organized fashion was to hold hands and make a train. If you don't mind going "chugga chugga choo choo" as you walk, it is quite effective.

Carvings

2009-02-01T13:18:00.000-08:00

There were some very cool carvings there. Ben was particularly interested in the snake at the ball court.

Chicken Pizza

2009-02-01T13:11:00.001-08:00

Actually, Chichen Itza, but somehow Ben translated that into chicken pizza. Ben and Liam and Mariah and Jessica and Andy all took a bus trip to see the Toltec/Maya city of Chichen Itza (Tom was scuba diving that day). It is quite an amazing site, and crammed full not just of tourists, but also of local Mayans selling wooden carvings, embroidered dishtowels, and other tchotchkes. It was a long ride there, and by the time we got there Ben and Liam were both feeling pretty crazy, and a little hungry. We let the tour go on without us, so they could run and run and run. Also we had a snack.

Movie night

2009-01-27T19:55:00.000-08:00

Every night was movie night for Ben and Liam. They each brought along a couple favorite DVDs, and we would order room service and they would play in one room or the other, have some dinner, and watch a movie. They had lots of fun, and it gave one set of parents or the other the chance to have dinner overlooking the ocean, and eat slowly because not racing with a two year old.

Chilling by the pool

2009-01-27T19:50:00.000-08:00

Ben and Liam ate a lot of hot dogs, to their delight (the hotel had a paucity of Mexican food except at breakfast, which was a shame for Ben, who loves few things better). It was fun for them to eat lunch out by the poolside (complete with a blender drink). It was uncrowded enough that the chairs by the pool could be commandeered to make a train, and no-one minded that the pole on the sun umbrella was used as a fire pole by a couple of young firemen.

Mexico!

2009-01-27T19:43:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of January, Ben went to Cancun with his parents, his friend Liam, and Liam's parents, Tom and Mariah (their school was closed for lead abatement, and bargains were to be had). We all had a wonderful time. Ben and Liam spent as much time as possible in their swim suits in the lagoon, which was relatively shallow, without waves, and had great white sand to dig in. They made lots of use of their matching buckets.

Playing

2009-01-19T12:51:00.000-08:00

Ben has had a great time playing with all his new toys, combined with his old ones and household furnishings, etc. The playmobil figures, who he calls "nomobile guys" are a big favorite. He enjoyed lining them up in the window, putting them all to bed in a box, and having them all ride on a firetruck, even Santa Claus, the cowboy, and the Roman soldier. Most recently they are involved in elaborate rescues, mostly of Liam's family. The grocery cart has also had heavy use. He took all the cans and other groceries from the shelves in the kitchen, brought them to the checkout (kitchen table) and then took them into the front room for his fire fighters to eat. It allowed us to reorganize our kitchen shelves, which we are now continuing to do on a regular basis. (The 'nomobile guys got a grocery cart and groceries for Christmas too, so grocery shopping happens on two scales.) Furniture also remains interesting. The coffee table makes a great train, especially combined with the wooden chairs. The arm of the couch is also a good train, while a corner of the bed is the garbage truck (Ben hangs on to the headboard to ride on the outside like a real garbageman) and his big boy bed has a tent underneath and a rocket ship on top.

Christmas

2009-01-19T12:42:00.000-08:00

Christmas day was lots of fun. Ben had lots of good toys in his stocking, and there were lots of chocolates (Ben is a chocolate fiend; we eventually had to hide the chocolates on top of the fridge). Ben loved opening presents. He got a little worked up and cried when they were all opened, but then he was able to settle into playing with some of the many great toys he got. He got several new stuffed animals, lots of tools, blocks, lots of new playmobil guys (plus a playmobil tent to go camping), books, and a grocery cart, among other things. Ben liked helping to cook dinner, and we all enjoyed having turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and all the rest. Then we took a well deserved nap.

Baking cookies

2009-01-19T12:29:00.001-08:00

Ben has made chocolate chip cookies several times, and peanut butter cookies too, but at Christmas he made molasses cookies with his mom. This was the first time he had made cookies that you cut out, although he's had lots of practice with playdough, so he's a pro. It was an old family recipe in a book that Jessica's Aunt Cindy compiled a long time ago. He had lots of fun rolling out the dough and cutting out gingerbread men, trees, stars, and circles. What was even more fun was that afterward Jessica made frosting and we all decorated a bunch of cookies with frosting and sprinkles. He and his mama took some to some of the neighbors', which made for a fun outing, and they liked the cookies too. Ben also left some for Santa, and he liked them too.

More projects

2009-01-19T12:27:00.000-08:00

Ben kept us busy with projects, especially when his school was closed. He had fun making a train out of paper and some pompoms, and also liked painting frames for xmas presents.

Snow

2009-01-19T12:17:00.000-08:00

This is shaping up to be a very snowy winter. We have had several big snows, most recently yesterday through last night. Ben likes going out in the snow and shoveling (we have a long driveway, so unfortunately there is lots of shoveling to be done). He particularly likes to be in charge of cleaning off his mama's car. In the first big snow, we went out and made snowmen, which was thrilling to Ben, who has been quite interested in them. He insisted that they needed carrot noses, so Jessica had to go up and find carrots as well as things to make the rest of the features with (hard candies and m&ms). We made a big one, and then a little one next to it, and he says they are Mama and Ben. More recent snows have been either too wet (slush city) or too cold for snowmen, but we will make some more before the winter is out. Ben also likes taking walks in the snow, especially down to the park, where he leads and makes a path for the rest of us. Today we went to the park and met Liam and his dad, Tom. Ben and Liam had a great time playing on the slide and other equipment in the tot lot (once we had dug them out). We forgot to bring a camera, though. The snowy slide was particular fun, because you slide down really fast and land, plop, at least a foot from the end of the slide, but since it's in soft snow it doesn't hurt. That particular game had to be repeated lots of times, and we had to put a new dusting of snow on each time to make sure the slide was nice and fast.

Sam and Andy's party

2009-01-19T12:10:00.000-08:00

Sam and Andy, twins who Ben has known since they were all tiny infants (and who he hangs out with at the park in the summer and the library in the winter) had a gingerbread house decorating party and invited us all. It was great fun! There were a bunch of kids there, so much playing was done. As twins, Sam and Andy have duplicates of lots of their toys, so it made playing extra harmonious. Ben was particularly fond of their garbage trucks and their tool set-up. Decorating the gingerbread houses was also great. They had icing in various colors and just about every kind of candy you could think of to decorate the houses (or you could decorate a train if you preferred; Ben chose a house). A wonderful time was had by all.

Ballet Boy

2009-01-17T18:03:00.000-08:00

Ben has (inexplicably) begun to do arabesques while holding onto the headboard. He then falls backwards onto the bed and laughs hysterically. His ballet poses are particularly humorous when he is just out of the bath, naked.

Christmas Tree

2009-01-17T17:58:00.000-08:00

Moving the loom also gave us a nice spot to put our Christmas tree, the first Ben has ever had. He had fun going out to find the tree, but kept falling in love with one after another. It was great to see so many trees. We were happy with the tree, but not so much with the job they did tying it to our car; it fell off a block or two away, but luckily we weren't on a busy street and were able to get it into the back of the wagon without too much trouble, and the tree was fine. We found a box in the basement which not only had a tree stand, but also lots of ornaments, almost every one of which was unbreakable. We also made some new decorations out of metallic pipe cleaners. Ben had a wonderful time decorating the tree. He even undecorated big parts of it a few times just so he could hang the decorations again.

Playroom

2009-01-17T17:51:00.000-08:00

While the loom has always been good fun, we decided that as it got colder it was a good idea to do some furniture rearranging. Ben and Daddoo did a project in which they turned Ben's crib into a big boy bed (he likes to pretend to sleep in it, and he did nap in it twice when Sonia from school babysat) and moved it into the bedroom. We then moved the loom into the changing/wool room, and now Ben is able to use the front room as a big playroom. It's a fun place to do a big train set up, or have a fire in the city (a model made by Andy's students), or play with lots and lots of cars. It's also much warmer that the back bedroom, which is important in the winter. (Can you tell that Ben loves his Arizona Sonora Desert Museum shirt and the color orange?)

Projects

2009-01-17T17:47:00.000-08:00

Ben likes doing projects. He keeps both his parents very busy trying to think of projects for him to do (we now have a box full of pompoms and the like to help with this). He is very fond of doing work on Daddoo's scopes, especially if it involves lots of tools (Ben has many of his own to use, too). He also likes painting, and has been taking care of filling in spots where paint was chipped. Baking probably also counts as a project, and we never want for muffins and cookies.

Toys to sleep with

2009-01-17T17:43:00.000-08:00

Ben is beginning to be rather interested in stuffed animals. He insisted on taking Frenchy, his new bear, grocery shopping today, and he often likes to sleep with one or two. Stuffed animals are in a category of "toys to sleep with," which is what he called the ones he got for Christmas. He believes that they are good for everyone to sleep with, so he made sure Daddoo had plenty.

Birthday Party

2009-01-17T17:41:00.001-08:00

Ben's friend Sydney, from school, had a birthday party at Gymboree, and it was lots of fun. Lots of friends from school came, and everyone played really hard. They sang some songs and played with a parachute, and everyone had pizza and cake.

Playing with 'iam

2009-01-17T17:32:00.000-08:00

Ben has lots of fun when he goes to play with Liam in his little red house. They tear around at high speed, take out lots of toys, and generally make a big mess. It is also fun when Liam comes to Ben's house (and Ben liked listening to Mariah tell him stories). On one trip to Liam's in December, his parents made a yummy dinner, and we brought along pumpkin ice cream, which was a big hit, especially for the boys.

Going home

2008-12-26T12:27:00.001-08:00

On the way back from Pennsylvania, Ben visited a children's museum in Poughkeepsie. He played with pretty much everything in the place, but his absolute favorite was the fire truck. They had boots and coats and hats to wear, and buttons to push to make siren sounds and get calls to go rescue a cat from a tree. After playing hard, and some pizza, he had a long sleep during our long long drive home on an icy slushy heavy traffic day.

Playing outside

2008-12-26T12:24:00.000-08:00

It isn't Thanksgiving without a little football. Ben got a new football and a new soccer ball in his Christmas presents, so he tried them out outside with his parents and his cousin Katie. He's got a pretty good arm. He also stopped, once or twice, to check out his grandpa's famous green truck.

Christmas presents

2008-12-26T12:18:00.001-08:00

Ben got to start Christmas early by opening presents from Grandma and Grandpa. He was very happy with them all, including a Curious George book, a penguin, fun interlocking blocks with a platform to build them on, a lion towel that lets him be a lion at the end of every bath, and monkey pajamas that he absolutely loves. His love for them does not keep him from sometimes pouting in them, however.

Goldfish Barn

2008-12-26T12:09:00.000-08:00

On the day after Thanksgiving, Ben went to the Goldfish Barn, where Aunt Dodo works, to visit with her. As we were hanging out there, Ben's Aunt Caroline came by too, which was very nice. Ben loves to look at all the fish at the Goldfish Barn, and play with the toys.

Hide and Seek

2008-12-26T12:06:00.000-08:00

Ben had a wonderful time playing hide and seek with Katie. He almost always hid in the same place (behind grandma's chair) and he often ran out before he was found, but boy was it fun.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-26T12:01:00.001-08:00

Ben enjoyed thanksgiving dinner. He loves turkey and potatoes, especially. He also was very happy to have his very own chair, which raised him up to just the right height, so he could eat with everyone at the big table. In the afternoon, after dinner, pretty much all the Johnstons came over, which was fun but sometimes a little overwhelming. He was still the youngest cousin there, but one of Andy's cousins has a little baby, and another is expecting one soon, so next year he may get to be a big kid. Ben enjoyed the chocolate fountain, which comes out for the event every year.

Grandma and Grandpa

2008-12-26T11:53:00.000-08:00

It was great fun seeing Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy again. Ben had lots of fun playing with them, and sitting with them. He also was extremely happy to be with his cousins Katie Mae and Dean. He joined in the Johnston family tradition of leg wrestling, but once you get three involved, it gets complicated.

To Grandfather's House We Go

2008-12-26T11:41:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving, Ben and his parents went to Pennsylvania to see all the Johnstons. It's a long enough drive that they split it into two days (maximizing nap time in the car) and stop in northern Pennsylvania each way. On our way out, it snowed overnight, so that there was snow on the ground at breakfast. Ben, who doesn't remember having seen snow before, was very excited. After breakfast and a snowball, we went to the Steamtown national historic park in Scranton, where Ben got to go for a ride on an old train, and was very excited to get to climb on lots of train cars, most notably a caboose. Andy was very taken by the well-named Big Boy engine.

Spaceman

2008-12-09T08:12:00.000-08:00

As the weather gets colder, and on wet days, we have been doing more visits to the Museum of Science, aka the Dinosaur Museum. Ben loves to visit the dinosaurs (they have just added a very cool and rare triceratops) and he always needs to go on a little trip to outer space.

Sonia

2008-12-09T08:11:00.001-08:00

Sonia's getting around pretty well in spite of her broken leg. Ben went over to visit her one day, and she also came around to play and to have some mac and cheese. It is always fun to have friends over, and they play together very well.

Congratulations Daddoo!

2008-12-09T08:06:00.000-08:00

We got great news! Ben's Daddoo has been granted permanent appointment, which is the equivalent of tenure, at Wentworth! We all celebrated with champagne (we think still left over from Mama and Daddoo's wedding).

Mama's birthday

2008-12-09T08:04:00.000-08:00

Ben's mama had a birthday in November. Ben thought it was fun, especially singing happy birthday and helping to blow out the candles.

Dancing

2008-12-02T08:04:00.000-08:00

There were belly dancers there to celebrate with Tania, and Jessica joined in a little. Ben was upset when his mama danced, but then he wanted to dance with her, so we all joined in, including Adrienne with Sebastian and Tanya.

Party!

2008-12-02T07:57:00.000-08:00

Saturday night was the party to celebrate Tanya and David's marriage. It was at Tanya's dad's house in the foothills, and all the kids had a great time running up and down the hill in the desert, climbing into pots, and otherwise being as crazy as possible. Both Ben and Sebastian were crazy tired, so they had a particularly good time chasing each other around on the carpet that was set out for dancing, falling down, rolling around, and laughing with great hilarity. Ben wore his new shirt from the Desert Museum, which has a Gila monster on it. It is now his favorite shirt (especially worn with an orange long-sleeve shirt and orange pants).

Javys

2008-11-21T14:06:00.000-08:00

On the way out, Ben and Sebastian had fun sitting on the javelina sculptures. We got a children's book about javalinas for Ben at Sabino Canyon. It is called "Don't call me pig." He doesn't, instead he calls them "don't call me pig," which is the name of the stuffed animal javelina he has been sleeping with almost every night.

Ice cream

2008-11-21T14:04:00.000-08:00

It was hot, so we all took a break and had some ice cream.

Cacti

2008-11-21T14:00:00.000-08:00

There are all sorts of wonderful cacti at the desert museum, as in the Sonoran desert everywhere. They also had a cool exhibit of things made from cacti. We hadn't realized that Sisal was cactus fiber.

Sheep and birds

2008-11-21T13:56:00.000-08:00

One of the many animals we saw was the bighorn sheep. They had a docent by the exhibit with horns we could feel (they have lots of docents and hands-on activities, which is great), and Sebastian figured out that it fit his lap very nicely (it's amazingly heavy, though). Ben thought that looked like a good idea and he tried it too. Another great exhibit we saw was the birds. They are in a big outdoors room that has mesh around it so they can't get out but are otherwise in a natural environment. Ben was fond of the ducks, but his mom's favorite was the quail.

Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

2008-11-21T13:49:00.001-08:00

On Saturday we went on a big expedition to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, Ben and family, Sebastian and Julien and family, Grandma Jan and Grandpa Bill, and Aunt Mary and Uncle James. It is a wonderful museum/zoo/desert arboretum that shows all the plants and creatures that live in the Sonoran desert. We had been there many times when we lived in Tucson, and it was great to go back. The kids loved seeing the animals (the otter is always a big hit), as did the adults. If you look carefully at the last picture here you can see the "kitties" (bobcats) hanging out in the shade -- it was a hot day so lots of animals were resting. Ben's T-shirt was a big hit in the restaurant when we stopped for a lunch break. He has some new fans in Tucson.

Trick or Treating

2008-11-20T07:54:00.000-08:00

On Halloween night, Tanya arranged for the various folks in town with kids to all go trick or treating. Ben caught on pretty fast, and had lots of fun, although it got a little overwhelming at times. He and Sebastian often went up to houses together, a sheep and a transformer. Adrienne brought glow bracelets, which Ben thought were fabulous and helped us see the kids in the low lit subdivision. Jessica's aunt and uncle, Mary and James, came along too, in costume. Ben went out to dinner with them on Thursday, and got along with them really well (and put away a great deal of delicious guacamole, chicken, and beans -- Ben highly approved of food in Tucson).

Sabino Canyon

2008-11-20T07:41:00.000-08:00

We went for a short hike in the Sabino canyon area on Friday A,R,J, and S. It was in the low 90s so quite a change from Boston weather. Everyone enjoyed walking and seeing the cacti, but it was hot. We got a taco picnic and carried it along, picnicking in a nice shaded picnic area before we walked back to the cars and a nap. It was great fun for Ben being with cousins, and the cousins thought both Ben and Andy were fun too.

Tucson!

2008-11-20T07:37:00.000-08:00

Over Halloween weekend we went to Tucson to celebrate Tanya's wedding to David. Tanya is a close family friend, really my unofficial sister, who we've known since we moved to Tucson in 1980. Adrienne found us a great condo to rent, right near the campus and 4th avenue, where we stayed with Adrienne, Richard, Julien, and Sebastian. It was a great thrill for Ben to get to spend some time with his cousins.

Walking

2008-11-13T15:17:00.000-08:00

Ben had lots of fun walking. He liked the curbs, which are fun to balance on. He also liked running back and forth on part of the elaborate new student union building, and of course kicking the leaves. We also walked next to the lake for a while, and he enjoyed taking a little break and having a snack.

Hill

2008-11-13T15:15:00.001-08:00

There is one very steep hill, which we saw some kids sledding on last year. Ben insisted on climbing up it. The view from there is rather nice (very New England collegiate), but it is very steep.

Walk in Wellesley

2008-11-13T15:09:00.000-08:00

A week after the camping trip, we took advantage of another beautiful day to take a walk on the Wellesley campus. Our trees had made it up to peak by then, so it was quite beautiful (they are now well past, unfortunately).

Tagine

2008-11-13T15:08:00.000-08:00

Andy has been perfecting his Moroccan cooking. Ben was quite fascinated by the Tagine, but he decided to stick with mac and cheese.

Sonia

2008-11-13T15:05:00.000-08:00

Sonia came over again in October, and she and Ben had lots of fun playing. As they get older, they interact with each other more and more. He also went over to her house last weekend, while his mom was off at a spinning conference, but we didn't get any photos of that encounter. Poor Sonia has broken her leg, so she won't be swimming for a while (she stops over before her swimming class) but we hope to do another playdate with her soon.

Morning walk

2008-11-13T15:01:00.000-08:00

In the morning, after breakfast and taking down our campsite, we took a nice walk by the lake and had a picnic. Ben loves picnics almost as much as hot dogs.

Running game

2008-11-13T14:57:00.000-08:00

Ben and Andy invented a game that mostly was running fast, screaming, from one stump to the next. They had a great time playing it. Since then they have invented a more elaborate game, "skidoodle," which involves running from one door to another in our living room, but in various funny runs and walks, and yelling "skidoodle" each time they reach a door.

Leaf Peeping

2008-11-13T14:53:00.000-08:00

The trees were quite glorious up in NH. New England's weather has its drawbacks (February can be hard to take), but the fall sure is pretty.

Camping yet again

2008-11-13T14:44:00.000-08:00

We've been so busy in October and November that I haven't had a chance to post. While we had thought we were all done camping, it was so nice over Columbus Day weekend that we decided to go on one last camping trip. It was the last weekend the campground is open until the Spring, and it was pretty full. We got a nice site, though, and commenced to put up the tent and find hot dog sticks, which Andy whittled to Ben's great interest. Along with the hot dogs, and before the smores, we also had some potato chips, including Utz crab chips, which were quite delicious, although Ben found them a little 'picy. We bought a third camping chair for this trip, and Ben made good use of it (he made his mom use the littlest chair, commandeering a big one with arms for himself), both at dinner time, and in the morning, when he used the cup holder to hold his "milky milky coffee" (milk).

Playground at the orchard

2008-10-16T08:17:00.000-07:00

The play area at the orchard was the universal kids' favorite. They have a whole playground with farm-themed equipment (Ben and Liam were particularly fond of the bouncy tractor), a petting zoo, a haystack, and lots of action. The boys were very excited to run into their friend Matt, who was in the Rainbow Room with them last year, but now is home with his mom and little sister, Katy. The train was fun as always. A good time was had by all, a good nap was had practically from the moment we hit the car, and we all ate lots of yummy, if pricy, apples.

Apple Picking again

2008-10-16T08:13:00.000-07:00

We all went apple picking again this year, this time with Liam and his parents and grandparents. The previous week in the Turtle room had been all about apples, so the timing was perfect. With a friend along, Ben was a little less focused on picking than last year, but he did enjoy eating the apples, walking the rows of trees, and checking out the watering system with Liam.

Weaving

2008-10-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

Another fun thing to do at home is to help mama with her weaving and other textile projects. Ben loves the swift, which holds a skein of yarn when you make it into a ball and spins around when you pull on the yarn. He also enjoys weaving, and is collaborating with his mama on a scarf for the winter on the little (rigid heddle) loom. Recently, he is also expressing an interest int he big loom. Just as he likes putting a stick shuttle through in the little loom, he likes throwing the boat shuttle on the big loom, and has amazingly good technique. Mama makes a shed, Ben throws the shuttle through (actually, sends in gliding along the bottom of the reed), and mama catches it. He woke up from his nap yesterday and came right out to the loom, climbing up on the bench and inspecting the shuttles between yarns.

Fun at home

2008-10-05T13:09:00.000-07:00

Ben also has fun at home, playing with his ever-growing car collection and the rest of his toys, singing and making music, playing with trains, taking bubble baths, and cooking. He loves baking, and makes us make many more muffins than we really want. He loves baking cookies, and his specialty is chocolate chip cookies made with daddoo. Daddoo also made a fort with Ben out of the kitchen table, and they hid underneath and ate chocolate chips, which was big fun.

Science Museum

2008-10-05T13:03:00.000-07:00

As the weather has turned cooler and wetter, we decided to join the Science Museum, since it's a good place to go on yucky days when the library is not enough and you can't stand a mall. Ben has already been three times, and is raring to go again (he was very upset at 6 pm yesterday when I told him it was closed, so we couldn't go). Ben calls it the "dinosaur museum" and is very fond of seeing the dinosaur, as well as riding in the space capsule. They have one area, the discover room, which is focused on little kids, and that is always lots of fun, but he enjoys it all.

Drumlin Farm

2008-10-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

One nice day, Ben and his parents went to Drumlin Farm, a working farm and wildlife sanctuary run by Mass Audubon. Ben thought it was lots of fun to see all the animals, including a sleeping skunk. They have a fabulous collection of chickens, a pig with nine piglets, and young goats who are great fun to watch playing, along with lots of other animals.

Morning hike

2008-10-05T12:53:00.000-07:00

After our pondside breakfast, we packed up and went to another part of the park, where we saw a statue to the many CCC workers who had created most of the amenities there. We went for another short hike, until Ben was all tuckered out, then had a little picnic, and went back home. Another fun camping trip was over. We are looking forward to many more, next spring and summer, and to more hikes this fall.

Campfire

2008-10-05T12:44:00.000-07:00

Ben's favorite part of camping is the campfire. He really loves eating hotdogs, and nothing is better than hotdogs that have been cooked on a stick over a fire. He loves telling stories about finding big sticks to roast the hotdogs and marshmallows. He even put marshmallows on sticks himself, although he didn't eat much of them. All this camping excitement did lead to a little craziness, however.

Camping again

2008-10-05T12:34:00.000-07:00

Ben has been very busy in the last month (as have his parents; thus the paucity of posts). He is having fun in the Turtle Room, his new room at daycare, and he's been having various adventures with his parents. He's been quite obsessed with the idea of camping. For example, he pulls the sheets way over his head and says he's in a tent, and asks us to read him stories in there. He also was telling his teachers all about camping. So a couple weeks ago when the weather was nice we went on a one-night camping trip to Bear Brook State Park in New Hampshire, near where we went camping last time. We were camped very close to a pond, where several of the campers went fishing. You could rent canoes, but we are waiting until after Ben knows how to swim to do that, so we went for a nice walk part of the way around the pond on the first day (some treeman activity was, of course, included). Ben also decided that we had to eat breakfast there in the morning, so his mama carried the plates of eggs and bacon to a table next to the pond, where we could eat with a beautiful view. (As you can see, it was rather chilly in the morning, as well as at night, so we all cuddled close together).

Labor Day

2008-09-06T12:29:00.000-07:00

On Labor Day, we played on the beach again in the morning, after having a little breakfast in the room. We did more castle building and some smashing, and walked a little by the shore. The tide was coming in very fast, and Ben was a little spooked by the waves. His mama made a series of 10 little castles as sentinels, so we could watch the progress of the tide coming in as they were swept away. We brought leftover muffin along to the beach so that Ben could feed the gulls, because feeding the gulls is central in Curious George Goes to the Beach. Ben had a fun time feeding them, although one of them stepped on one of the sentinels. After the water came up near our castle, we took a quick swim in the hotel pool (Ben enjoyed it although it's very different from the lake), went out to breakfast, and went home to get ready for the beginning of the new semester.

Pillow Fight

2008-09-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

Ben loves staying in hotels. He likes to jump on the bed and explore everything. This time, he also had great fun having a pillow fight with Andy. He now keeps trying to start pillow fights with his parents at naptime. Luckily they don't use pillows at daycare, or he might be starting them there too.

Labor Day trip

2008-09-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

On the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, Ben and his parents went off for a one-day trip to the coast of Maine to have a last little summer vacation. We were in a town called Wells Beach. The water was very cold, so we just waded a little in it, but Ben had a great time playing in the sand with his buckets and shovels. He and his parents made a nice sandcastle, and Ben had an even better time stomping on it than he did making it.

Week without school

2008-09-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

The last week of August, Ben's school was closed, so he spent lots of time in playgrounds with one parent or the other. One day we all three together went on an outing to Ikea and a nearby toy store. Ben liked the meatballs and had lots of fun in the children's area, trying out all the little beds. He was particularly fond of one with a canopy. At the toy store, Ben got a baseball mitt, ball, and bat. His friend Liam has a mitt, and Ben thought it was great. He has been practicing catching with it and loves throwing the ball with his daddoo. He tends to throw the ball with his mitted hand, but he's still pretty good at throwing. Catching he's still working on.

Carshow and more cars

2008-09-06T11:57:00.000-07:00

While Joanne was visiting, we all went to a carshow at a local car museum. Ben thought it was very interesting to see all the old cars, and particularly liked the play area in the museum, which was full of all kinds of car toys, especially ones to climb in. He also liked climbing in the firetruck in the elementary school playground at Newton Center, where we all went to play and have a picnic. There's also a big new playground there that he likes but I don't have any pictures of it yet. Back at home, Ben got several more toy cars for his birthday, so his collection is somewhere over 60 vehicles by now. He likes to set up car shows with them, and also to arrange them into an "apple street," his name for a traffic circle. He started making apple streets in England, where there are lots of them.

Birthday presents

2008-08-29T10:56:00.000-07:00

Although Ben opened a few presents on earlier days, and on Sunday too, we celebrated his birthday the most explicitly on Saturday (so he wasn't tired out from school). He enjoyed the cake and ice cream and especially the presents. He got nice clothes and buckets and shovels from Roy and Roberta, and a whole range of things from Aunt Greta and family, most notably a headphone with monkeys on the ears, which he loves to wear to listen to Dan Zanes on his mom's ipod. He got a bunch of things from Dodo, but his favorite was a duck that sings "if you're happy and you know it". He sings along and claps his hands with it. He also took it for a ride on the back of his new ride-on firetruck (from his parents), which he insists on taking to bed with him every night. He is also fond of a new collection of "guys," including some little goats he carefully feeds milk to. It also included a little guy with a charcoal grill and hot dogs, "just like Grandpa and Jan."

Picnic!

2008-08-29T10:46:00.000-07:00

Ben loves picnics. On Friday after school (his last day in the Rainbow Room; poor Sara was in tears because she loves the kids so), where they had cupcakes for Ben's birthday and cookies for Rhys', Ben went to our local park, Cabot Park, for a Chinese food picnic with Mama, Daddoo, Dodo, and Liam and his family. Ben and Liam thought this was the most fun ever (at least since the party at Bella's). As well as eating their noodles, they ran around, got buckets out of the sandbox to be firehats, and did somersaults and "fleeps" (Ben carefully distinguished between these, because Liam calls his flips, and Ben calls his somersaults). (Ben wore his new swan boat T-shirt, a present from Dodo.)

Ben is two!

2008-08-29T10:34:00.000-07:00

On Friday, the 22nd of August, Ben turned two. He ended up celebrating it over several days, especially because his great aunt Joanne (Dodo to Ben) came to visit. On Thursday, Dodo was here and Ben doesn't go to school, so we all went on an outing to the Public Garden in Boston. Ben is a very big fan of "Make Way for Ducklings," so he was thrilled about the idea of going on a swan boat. He also thought it was very cool to see the statue of the ducklings and their mama, which is about twice life size, so toddlers can sit on their backs. We had a picnic, played in the grass, and took a little walk, and a wonderful time was had by all. Ben keeps talking about it and "Ducklings" is back on the top of the book request list.

Party at Bella's!

2008-08-21T10:41:00.001-07:00

There was a party at Bella's to celebrate the end of the school year and say thank you to the Rainbow Room teachers. A wonderful time was had by all. Ben loves going to Bella's, especially because she has a nice yard with a jeep and a lawnmower, which were also very popular with the other kids. They took turns, though, and worked on gassing them up and pushing each other in the jeep (usually without steering, though. Ben pushed the jeep into bushes and the picnic table. Their teacher Sara helped after Ben steered himself and Rudi into the picnic table.) and played with all the other fun things. They also had pizza and watermelon and cookies and brownies.

Bye-bye Crystal lake

2008-08-19T11:06:00.001-07:00

Sunday was the last day Crystal Lake was open until next June. We all went both Saturday and Sunday after nap. We will all miss it.