Happy Birthday Ben!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Boston Marathon

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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).